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September 2005 |
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Vol. 3 No. 2 |
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In the News Study links cigarette smoking with progression of multiple sclerosis (MS)Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health recently discovered that cigarette smoking may contribute to the progression of MS, suggesting that quitting smoking could limit or delay central nervous system deterioration. This is the first time that a modifiable risk factor for MS progression has been identified, providing a new strategy for patients hoping to control neurological damage from the disease. The study results appear in the March 9, 2005 issue of Brain. Current and past smokers were 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with MS than those who had never smoked and were 3.6 times as likely as patients who had never smoked to develop secondary progressive MS, a later stage of the disease marked by steady deterioration of the central nervous system. Harvard School of Public Health, May 12, 2005. Elderly might not benefit from regular aspirin A daily baby aspirin is often recommended by doctors to help prevent heart attacks or stroke, but for people older than 70 years old the benefits may be offset by the risk of bleeding, investigators report. Investigators say the balance between harm and benefit could tip either way. Elderly individuals are at increased risk of having adverse reactions to drugs, noted Dr. Mark R. Nelson and colleagues from the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia. The findings appear in the online British Medical Journal. The benefit was offset by an extra 499 episodes of gastric bleeding in men and 572 in women. On top of that, the team calculated that 76 more men and 54 more women would suffer bleeding in the brain. British Medical Journal, May 19, 2005. Yahoo! News, May 20, 2005. For chronic low back
pain patients, chiropractic “maintenance care” cuts acute Over the course of nine months, chronic low back pain patients who received regular chiropractic care (one treatment every three weeks) noted more than 50 percent fewer significantly painful episodes. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, October 2004. Vitamin D studies may prompt doctors to prescribe sunshine Scientists are excited about a vitamin again. And if research bears out, it will challenge one of medicine’s most fundamental beliefs: that people need to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they’re in the sun. Doing that may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents, some researchers think. The vitamin is D, nicknamed the “sunshine vitamin” because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays. Because sunscreen blocks vitamin D’s production, some scientists are questioning the long-standing advice to always use it. Vitamin D increasingly seems important for preventing and treating many types of cancer. In the past three months, four separate studies found that it helped protect against lymphoma and cancers of the prostate, lung and even the skin. The strongest evidence is for colon cancer. Boston Sunday Globe, May 22, 2005. Spinal manipulation is twice as effective as medical care for shoulder pain Six treatments with manipulation help twice as many patients become “recovered” than up to 12 weeks of medical treatment (medication, injections, physical therapy, etc.). Annals of Internal Medicine, September 21, 2004. Average number of days of missed work for workers with low back pain (LBP) injuries: Medical patients vs. chiropractic patients Injured workers who undergo chiropractic care for LBP miss an average of 25 days of work, which is 86 percent less than the 175-day average for medical care.
Bronchitis and antibiotics A five-year study found that bronchitis sufferers who were otherwise healthy did not get better any faster by taking antibiotics. The study, based on 640 patients in England ages 3 and older, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In the study, coughing lasted an average of 11 days after patients saw their doctors, whether they got antibiotics or not. The New York Times, June 22, 2005.
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