LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

mortality

Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition – (11-21-02)

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CVD, diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents’ and grandparents’ slow growth period

Hold onto your socks for this one. This study evaluated times of feast and famine and whether this would have an impact on the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes along the male’s line of CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. This answer? Definitely so. Low food availability = low risk. High food availability = high risk. The implications of this go beyond what most clinicians and people are willing to accept. With this in mind, what do you think will happen to the grand-kids of today’s obese children? Not to sound like a pessimist, at this time of the greatest knowledge of impacts on human health, our health is poorer than it ever has been. This will lead to a reduction in the life expectancy here in the US. If we keep at the same rate as we are now, medicating rather than addressing the true root of most chronic diseases, there is no way we can continue to life longer and longer lives.

Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents’ and grandparents’ slow growth period.

Read entire article here

EFFECTIVENESS OF INFLUENZA VACCINES IN HEALTHY CHILDREN – (04-04-05)

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Assessment of the efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines in healthy children: systematic review

To quote: “no studies assessed reductions in mortality, serious complications.”  Well, isn’t that just wonderful considering how much of a push there is to get every child vaccinated with the flu vaccine.

Compare this with a recent review of the flu vaccine in the elderly used over the past 40 years or so with no reduction in mortality in those receiving the vaccine.  And remember this next flu season–the push will be on again to get vaccinated and the scare tactics will be employed.  We’ll forget these pesky little studies and line up like lemmings…

Read entire article here

RISK OF THYROID IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CELIAC DISEASE – (09-01-09)

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Risk of Thyroid Disease in Individuals with Celiac Disease

Again speaking to the disconnect between research and clinical practice, I have had more than my fair share of patients presenting with autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism that have gone to drastic lengths to manage their condition. Radioactive destruction, surgery, lifetime medication use. I do not believe I have had a single one alerted to the strong association between celiac disease and thyroid problems.

So, not only do we destroy a rather important gland in the process, we miss the opportunity to guide the patient in avoiding a condition that will shorten their lives, because untreated celiac disease increases all cause mortality. The problem is it that this link has been known in the medical literature for at least a decade.

Read entire article here

COMBINED IMPACT OF LIFESTYLE FACTORS ON MORTALITY -(08-24-09)

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Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality

This is definitely one of those “How much did we spend on THIS” studies. The conclusion is that more should be done to reduce cigarette smoking, increase physical activity and improve our diets. What an altogether shocking conclusion!

Read entire article here

CUTTING MORTALITY AND HOSPITALIZATIONS IN HEART FAILURE – (05-18-09)

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids, but Not Statin Therapy, Cuts Mortality and Hospitalizations in Heart Failure.

I think the title really states it all. Looking into the data, while not jaw dropping at preventing deaths, the data completely blows away the data on statins. Understand this…this study was done on DEATH, not heart attacks. Statins have not been shown to strongly affect death rates. To prevent even a single heart attack (NOT death) we have to treat in excess of 150 patients for 3 years.

In this study, treating 44 patients was needed for 3.9 years to prevent one DEATH. Then we consider that EFAs are beneficial for a large array of other conditions, are much safer and much cheaper. Again, I reiterate that I do not believe that the statin class of drugs should even exist, let alone generate over $20 billion / year in sales for one single drug company alone.

Read entire article here (note: link to this article may require access).

YOUR KIDS GET VITAMIN D…BUT ARE YOU ADDING THIS?

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I’m not going to drill the point home about taking vitamin D and how we should also be sharing this vitamin with our kids. If you haven’t picked this little gem up yet, you’re obviously not going to. But did you know that vitamin D plays very closely with another vitamin?

Both vitamin D and vitamin A are needed to bind together on the nuclear receptors of our cells’ DNA. Without enough of one or the other we may experience a relative deficiency. This is why combining supplementation of vitamin D with vitamin A is a very good idea, although not normally recommended.

One of the strong benefits of vitamin A is on immune function, and studies have clearly shown that supplementation can improve immune status, especially in children, and usually in third world countries. This article takes this much further and looks at the risk of morbidity and mortality and vitamin A supplementation.

They found an overall reduction of about 25% in a child’s risk of dying from any cause with vitamin A supplementation. This is far superior to what most vaccines deliver, and indeed, the risk of measles deaths also went down in the studies.

Interestingly, the researchers looked at how the supplementation was given. Either a single dose of 100,000 IU for (ages 6-11 months) / 200,000 IU (1-5 years), doses given every 4-6 months, or smaller more frequent doses.

They were all effective, but there was some indication that the more frequent doses may have been more protective. Based on this, it would seem that giving vitamin A along with the vitamin D you and your family are already taking is a smart idea. In line with this study, a dosage of around 10,000 IU would be recommended.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR ALK PHOS LEVELS?

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First, let’s talk liver “function” testing.  Or any other type of “functional” testing done in mainstream medicine, for that matter.  There are enzymes produced in cells.  We can check the levels of these enzymes in the blood and a certain level of them is expected.  This includes enzymes like AST, ALT and alkaline phosphatase (ALP).  AST and ALT are generally associated with the liver while AP is associated with the bone, although the enzymes is also present in the liver.

When cells of the body begin to die (such as the liver, heart, brain, muscle or bone) they spill out their enzymes into the bloodstream, causing the levels of these enzymes to rise.  So we’re looking for dying cells.  Does NOT really sound like a “function” test to me–sounds like a “cells are dying because the organ is really, really sick” test to me.  In other words–it is NOT a good thing.

This particular study, like others before it, is beginning to suggest that just because a lab value is “normal” does not mean it’s good.  With enzymes in the bloodstream, it’s becoming accepted that lower is better.  In this particular case, those with higher levels of ALP had up to an 84% increased risk of dying–generally the outcome we all want to avoid as much as possible.

Couple this with multiple studies finding elevated normal levels of ALT being very strongly associated with the risk of diabetes, meaning that any elevation means you are prediabetic.  Remember–this is within the normal range!!

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934311001847