LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

asthma

Inhaled Steroids Reduce Linear Growth in Asthmatic Children – (09-11-00)

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Inhaled Steroids Reduce Linear Growth in Asthmatic Children

With incidence of asthma rising at alarming rates, we need to focus on more natural ways to prevent, control or cure the condition that does not have long term side effects. I remember discussing with a well known physician in the Mesa area about how his group did a study in which they kept asthmatic kids out of the hospital with treatment. He just doesn’t understand that keeping kids on medications is not a cure.

Pediatrics 2000;106:e8 A meta-analysis of results from five clinical trials indicates that “moderate” doses of inhaled steroids lead to a decrease in linear growth velocity in asthmatic children. The researchers identified a total of 159 studies covering the subject and performed a meta-analysis on five that met their inclusion criteria. Four studies covered the use of beclomethasone (328 to 400 mcg/day) and involved 450 subjects aged 18 year or younger. The remaining study was of fluticasone (200 mcg/day) in 183 subjects. Beclomethasone therapy was associate with a decrease in linear growth velocity of 1.51 cm/year. Fluticasone treatment led to a growth velocity reduction of 0.43 cm/year. This negative influence on linear growth velocity, the investigators conclude, “needs to be weighed against the known positive effects of inhaled steroids.” In addition, they point out that the effects of these agents “on final adult height remain unknown.”

Inflammation Continues After Prednisolone Rx in Asthmatic Children – (09-11-00)

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Inflammation Continues After Prednisolone Rx in Asthmatic Children

Is this a great example of just covering up the symptoms?? This study shows that despite apparent benefits of using predisolone (a steroidal drug with many damaging side effects) the underlying inflammation that causes the actual problem is not touched. There are many natural ways to control the inflammation associated with asthma.

Arch Dis Child 2000;83:158-162 The researchers examined the levels of markers, before and after 5 days of oral prednisolone therapy, in 20 children who were hospitalized for acute asthma. Prednisolone treatment was associated with clinical improvement and with significant reduction in serum levels of interleukin (IL)-5, soluble IL-2 receptor and eosinophil cationic protein. However, serum concentrations of these markers “remained significantly higher than in controls, even after treatment with oral glucocorticoids.” Because of this, the researchers conclude that following the usual course of prednisolone “there is evidence of continuing airway inflammation despite resolution of symptoms and normalization of pulmonary function.”

 

Complementary Medicine May Have Scant Effect in Asthma – (01-22-01)

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Complementary Medicine May Have Scant Effect in Asthma

Sometimes I’m not sure if we’ll ever “get it.” When it comes to using natural medicine to address a chronic disease, we are not looking for one magic bullet to solve everything. This is how the pharmaceutical companies think. Instead, the patient with asthma would eliminate intake of common allergens (milk, corn, wheat…), load up on probiotics, manipulation, exercise, make sure living space is clean and as dust free as possible, high dose Vit C to prevent release of histamine from mast cells, and several natural anti-inflammatories to boot. Of course this study does not show a benefit of individual complementary medicine!! How ’bout doing a study with all of these interventions compared to standard pharmaceutical intervention??

Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2000;85:438-449 There is little evidence that complementary or alternative medicine is useful in asthma treatment, according to a review of the subject. Drs. Donna Melissa Graham and Michael S. Blaiss of the University of Tennessee, Memphis, note that “complementary/alternative medicine is commonly used by patients with chronic conditions including asthma.” Despite the lack of supporting evidence, they add, one third of the US population has tried such remedies. The researchers reviewed the literature covering a wide range of therapies, including traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, aromatherapy, chiropractic manipulation and reflexology. The study was supported by an unrestricted grant from Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. However, they came across few well-controlled studies that supported the efficacy of such approaches for asthma or atopic disorders. Among significant design flaws often encountered, were “insufficient numbers of patients, lack of proper controls, and inadequate blinding.” In addition, “subject groups are often not well characterized in regard to asthma severity and use of conventional medications.” The team found some indications for which “certain herbal therapies…could possibly be helpful in the treatment of allergic diseases.” Nevertheless, they conclude that “available scientific evidence does not support a role for complementary/alternative medicine in the treatment of asthma.”

 

Margarine Linked to Allergic Sensitization in Boys – (03-15-01)

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Margarine Linked to Allergic Sensitization in Boys

The use of margarine was shown to increase levels of IgE in the blood stream of boys. IgE is typically considered our “allergic” antibody and is responsible for many of the unwanted side effects found in hayfever and asthma. Margarine is one of those “foods” that is very hard to understand why it is on the market at all, and even harder to understand why anyone would actually ingest this substance.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001;163:277-279 Margarine consumption appears to be associated with an increase in IgE production in young boys, German researchers report. Dr. Bolte and colleagues, from the GSF National research Center for Environment and Health in Neuherberg, used data from a cross-sectional study to examine the link between margarine and butter consumption and IgE production in 2348 children. Prior studies had indicated a relationship between dietary fat and IgE, and the authors sought to further characterize this association by fat type. The use of margarine, as compared with butter, was associated with a 30% increase in the risk of allergic sensitization and a more than 40% increase in rhinitis symptoms, the investigators say in the January 1st issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Further analysis revealed that this association was restricted to boys, in whom the corresponding odds ratios for sensitization and rhinitis symptoms were 1.57 and 1.76, respectively. Exclusive margarine consumption did not appear to increase the risks of physician-diagnosed asthma or hay fever in the population as a whole.

Perinatal Factors Tied to Asthma in Childhood – (01-08-01)

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Perinatal Factors Tied to Asthma in Childhood

C-section is a risk factor for development of childhood asthma. Sometimes research arises that supports concepts that you have been promoting for some time. Follow this: a newborn’s first exposure to Lactobacillus is through the vaginal vault during delivery; this does not happen with C-section. This finding further supports the idea that probiotics are protective against atopy and asthma.

J Asthma 2000;37:589-594 Children delivered with the help of procedures such as cesarean section appear to be at greater risk of childhood asthma than other children, according to UK researchers. Dr. Baizhuang Xu, of Imperial College School of Medicine, London, and colleagues note that perinatal factors have been reported to be associated with asthma and allergic disorders later in childhood. To investigate, the researchers examined obstetric complications and the incidence of asthma at the age of 7 years in a cohort of 8088 Finnish children who had been followed since birth. Children whose birth was accompanied by special procedures were at greater risk of asthma, they report in the October issue of the Journal of Asthma. The adjusted odds ratio was increased to 1.38 for cesarean section and 1.32 for vacuum extraction. The use of forceps and other procedures raised the odds ratio to 2.14. In addition, children with a low Apgar score at 1 and 5 minut! es after birth were at heightened risk of later asthma compared to those with an Apgar score of 9-10. These results, the investigators conclude, “encourage further evaluation of the association between obstetric complications and risk of asthma among children in other populations.”

Screening for Celiac Disease in Healthy 2.5-Year-Old Children – (01-08-01)

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Screening for Celiac Disease in Healthy 2.5-Year-Old Children

This study points to a higher than previously believed incidence of gluten allergy (found primarily in wheat). Throw in dairy, corn and soy sensitivities and the numbers of infants and toddlers would grow. So why do many patients look at me strange when I suggest that allergies may be contributing to their child’s ear infections, constipation, asthma or frequent colds? Allergies do not always manifest as overt rashes and hives–the sooner we get this idea out of our heads and realize that food allergies/sensitivities are major contributors to disease, the better our overall health will be.

Pediatrics — Abstracts: Carlsson et al. 107 (1): 42

Read entire article here

Childhood Atopy Predicts Asthma Severity in Adulthood – (01-15-01)

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Childhood Atopy Predicts Asthma Severity in Adulthood

Many problems in childhood that many people would consider “minor” or “normal” such as allergies and constipation, concern me a great deal with regards to long term health. This research supports this concern and strengthens the need to truly address allergies in children, not just medicate them, to maintain health in adulthood. This would mean addressing healthy intestinal flora, identifying and removing food allergies, avoidance of food preservatives and colors and adherence to healthy eating habits.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000;162:2177-2181 Atopy in children with asthma appears to increase the risk of having more severe disease later in life, Australian researchers report in the December issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Rory Wolfe, of Monash Medical School, Prahran, Victoria, and colleagues sought to examine a number of relationships including whether “the presence of allergic features in childhood is a predictor of the subsequent course of asthma.” The researchers followed a cohort of 378 asthmatic children from the age of 7 to 35 years at intervals of 7 years. Among items recorded were the presence of eczema or hay fever and sensitivity to rye grass or house dust mite. Having an atopic condition in childhood was associated with a higher risk of severe asthma in later life. For eczema, the odds ratio increased to 1.66, for hay fever, it was 1.39. A positive skin test result increased the odds ratio of severe asthma to 2.25. Conversely, greater severity of asthma in childhood was related to increased odds of having eczema and hay fever later in life. These findings, the researchers conclude, may “improve the clinician’s ability to predict probable long-term outcomes in children with asthmatic symptoms.”

Common Disorder May Underlie Asthma and IBS – (06-25-01)

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Common Disorder May Underlie Asthma and IBS

Hey!! We’re getting closer to the mark!! One of these days it may occur to the medical powers that be that the GI tract has a major impact on our overall health. Antibiotics, poor lifestyle habits, acid blockers, stress, NSAIDs can all alter the flora of the GI tract and lead to IBS symptoms. Antibiotics have shown to increase risk of asthma and this risk is most likely mediated through alterations in the flora. So of course a common disorder may underlie–destruction of normal, healthy flora!

Am J Gastroenterol 2001;96:1511-1516 Asthma appears to be more prevalent among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) than among individuals without IBS, which suggests that there are pathophysiological processes common to both conditions, according to Turkish researchers. Dr. Aziz Yazar and colleagues, from the Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, in Mersin, performed pulmonary function tests and noted respiratory symptoms in 133 men and women with IBS and 137 controls. In the IBS group 33.8% of patients had respiratory symptoms, significantly more than in the control group, 5.8%. In addition, 15.8% of the IBS patients but only 1.45% of controls were diagnosed with asthma, Dr. Yazar’s group found. Compared with controls, IBS patients had impaired pulmonary function, including significantly lower forced expiratory volume in 1 second, flow after 50% of vital capacity had been exhaled, peak expiratory flow rate, and maximal midexpiratory flow rate. In a previous study, the research team notes, patient responses to a questionnaire showed that & quot;IBS, gastroesophageal reflux symptoms, and symptomatic bronchial hyper-responsiveness occur together more often than expected and that the conditions are independently associated with each other.” Some of the lines of evidence for an association between IBS and asthma, according to the researchers, are that in both disorders there is an altered contractility and smooth muscle tone, the autonomic nervous system is involved, and inflammation probably has an etiologic role.