An excellent new study was just published demonstrating a nearly 50% reduction in the incidence of the flu in children supplementing with vitamin D.  The study followed more than 300 children for 4 months of a school year.  Half of the students received 1200IU of vitamin D3 daily, and the other half received a placebo.  By the end of the study 18.6% of the placebo group had, at some some point, tested positive for flu, compared to 10.8% of the vitamin D3 group.

It was also of note that in children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, "asthma attacks as a secondary outcome occurred in 2 children receiving vitamin D₃ compared with 12 children receiving placebo".  That is 6 times fewer asthma attacks!

It's a good idea to supplement your child with vitamin D during the winter months.  Also, If you have not had a vitamin D test in the past year I recommend that you get one!  Vitamin D can affect your immune system, your thyroid and energy levels, and your bone health. 

I have an excellent vitamin D product in my office, and kids like it!

Read the article here.

With flu season about to arrive, and increased worry due to the swine flu, I wanted to remind you about Andrographis Paniculata.  This herb, known as Kan Jang in China and as Kalmegh in India, is potent against the flu.  One study conducted on 540 people with the flu demonstrated the following:

"The differences in the duration of sick leave and frequency of post-influenza complications indicate that the Kan Jang phytopreparation not only contributes to quicker recovery, but also reduces the risk of post-influenza complications."

Other studies have demonstrated Andrographis to be more effective than Echinachea in fighting viral infections.  There is also a large amount of research on Andrographis for the common cold--all of it positive (do a search on my site for "Andrographis" for more research).

I carry an excellent Andrographis in my store and at my office--I recommend having some on hand to take if you're around people with cold/flu, or at the first sign of illness.

Over the years there have been numerous case reports of chiropractic curing tinnitus.  Recently, the International Tinnitus Journal published a paper titled "The Potential Role of Joint Injury and Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in the Genesis of Secondary Meniere’s Disease." 

This paper states the following:

• “Chiropractic manipulation of disorders of the cervical spine has been successfully used to treat patients with vestibular symptoms.”
• The cervical spine can be related to Meniere’s disease through either vascular or neurological mechanisms:
• The vascular mechanism includes the observation that the vertebral artery supplies the middle ear,
  the vestibulocochlear nuclei, and a cervical joint dysfunction could affect the artery and compromise regional blood flow.
• The neurological mechanism includes that the vertebral nerve which contains the sympathetic
  control of the vertebral artery “may be irritated by cervical injury and become dysfunctional.”

In essence, what the authors are saying is that a dysfunctional cervical spine causes a disturbance in the nervous system where the sympathetic, or "fight or flight" nervous system, becomes hyperactive.  This results in blood vessel constriction to organs, including the middle ear.  It also results in "neurogenic inflammation"--a state where inflammation occurs even in the absence of injury.  The authors also acknowledge the power of chiropractic to reverse these changes.  I can attest to this, as I have seen it in my clinic.

The most important take-away from this article is that spinal dysfunction disturbs the nervous system such that distant organs can suffer.  "Back pain" is just one symptom in a system wide disorder, and chiropractic has the answer!

Read the article here.

One of the most common childhood surgeries, tympanostomy tubes for earaches, are most often done inappropriately says a new study.  Many people are familiar with tympanostomy tubes as they are used commonly in the treatment of earache.  These tubes puncture the eardrum allowing secretions from the ear to drain out.  A study published in the British Medical Journal made the following conclusion:

"Most insertions of tympanostomy tubes in the New York metropolitan area were for inappropriate reasons according to two different standards. These findings suggest a serious discrepancy between the clinical care of children and the recommendations that experts suggest should be the standard of care in the US."  The researchers found that over 70% of these surgeries were inappropriate according to expert guidlines!

Most often childhood earaches are not bacterial in origin, they are viral (like the common cold).  As such it is inappropriate for them to be treated with antibiotics, and they often do not respond to antibiotics.  Chiropractic care, dietary changes, and herbs should be used to treat these "ear infections".  These treatments will support your child's innate immune defenses and help him/her to build health!

Read the study here.

A new study shows that regular consumption of probiotics can ease seasonal allergies.  Holistic doctors have been prescribing probiotics for allergies for years--this new study lends credence to the practice.  Researchers found that people who regularly consumed a fermented milk product had a decreased immune response to grass pollens that they were previously allergic to.  The following is extracted from an article on yahoo on the study:

"The probiotic strain we tested changed the way the body's immune cells respond to grass pollen," added Kamal Ivory, a researcher who worked on the study. In the study volunteers with a history of seasonal allergies drank a daily milk drink with or without Lactobacillus casei -- a bacteria widely studied for its beneficial properties -- over a five-month period. The researchers took blood samples before the grass pollen season, at its peak and after the end of season. They found that people who had been drinking the probiotic drink had lower levels of an antibody that help produce allergy symptoms.  At the same, these people also had higher levels of a different antibody, called IgG, that may play a protective role against allergic reactions.

These same mechanisms are in part why raw milk is far superior to pasteurized milk--raw milk is full of beneficial bacteria and enzymes, whereas pasteurized milk is sterile.  Other health-giving that are full of beneficial bacteria include kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, and kimchee.  I recommend daily consumption of fermented foods.

Read the study here.

 

 

 

The use of high-dose antibiotics to treat children's middle-ear infections increased over 20-fold between 1996 and 2004.  One would expect that dramatic results are obtained by this treatment in order to justify the huge increase in a treatment riddled with side-effects.  A new study shows that this is not the case.  Failure rates in treatment have dropped only 1.3%, and relapse rates have increased by only .3%!

We would be much more productive if we treated with a combination of prevention and natural remedies.  Most research over the past decade has actually supported using less antibiotics for ear infections (see this paper that supports rational guidelines for antibiotic use).  We also know these things:

• Using herbs during cold and flu season, or when your child's immune system is run down, decreases the risk of developing colds, flu's, and other upper respiratory problems that put your child at risk of developing an ear infection.  These include:  echinacea, propolis, and Andrographis .
• Eating fermented foods rapidly increases the presence of healthy bacteria in mucous membranes--the bacteria compete with "bad" bacteria to help prevent ear infections.
• Chiropractic adjustments reduce the risk of ear infections and hasten recovery.

We also know that there are a host of side-effects associated with antibiotic use--some of which can be life long (read more here).  That being said, there absolutely are times when antibiotics are appropriate--if your child has a sustained high fever (over 103 degrees f), is listless, or is unable to kick an ear infection after several days, take him or her to see your holistic doctor for an opinion.

Read the study here. 

Flu and cold season is upon us, and I hope you are keeping in mind my past blogs on the potent effect of Andrographis Paniculata in the treatment and prevention of these pesky problems (if not, read them here, then buy it here in my store—I haven’t had a cold or flu in 2 years since using this stuff!).

A new study shows more benefits from Andrographis.  Researchers found that it both has an antiplatelet effect and a vasorelaxive effect.  This means that blood vessels are able to relax—lower blood pressure and decreased likelihood of blood vessels going into spasm around a clot as happens in a heart attack, and that the blood is less likely to form a clot in the first place. 

Check out the abstract here.

Another new study just came out documenting the incredible effects of the herb Andrographis Paniculata on the immune system.  The study reported the following findings:

• Andrographis supplementation increases the production of cytotoxic T cells—an immune cell that destroys caner cells.
• Mice with thymoma—a cancer of the thymus gland (which produces immune cells) live more than twice as long when treated with Andrographis extract for 10 days.
• Andrographis extract exerted beneficial effects on several cytokines (chemical messengers that direct the immune response), resulting in suppression of tumor growth.

I recommend the use of Andrographis anytime you feel signs of flu or cold coming on.  I offer an excellent product in my office and in my web store.  Since I have been using this product I have not had a cold or flu—2 years!

(NOTE: a very similar study to the one described above was done using another of my favorite herbs, ashwagandha.  The results were similar with a large increase in immune function and a suppression of tumor growth—here is a link to that study.)

Read the study here.

A new study reports an increased incidence of a severe neurological disorder in people who get the flu shot.  The disorder, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, is potentially life threatening.  Victims report pain and numbness in the toes and ankles, then the fingertips.  The discomfort moves inward toward the trunk, and muscle weakness develops.  In many the disorder moves trunk-ward until it affects the diaphragm and breathing is affected--some people have to be put on respirators.

I have seen this disorder 3 times in 3 years of practice--each time was within 6 weeks of getting the flu shot!  Other facts to consider this flu season are that the CDC reports the flu shot to be less that 20% effective in the general population, and that it contains aluminum--a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease.

 Remember too that Andrographis Paniculata is an excellent, proven preventative and treatment for flu--and its safe!

Link to the research.

We're getting closer to having medical policy that limits antibiotic use to cases where it is actually necessary. The September 15th, 2006 edition of The American Family Physician noted the following: otitis media (ear infection) with effusion (inflammatory fluid behind the eardrum) should not be treated with antibiotics unless accompanied by several signs that indicate bacterial infection--most ear infections are viral, "nearly all cases of acute bacterial sinusitis resolve without antibiotics"--this means that even when you spike a moderate fever and have thick, green mucous, your sinus infection will most likely resolve without antibiotics, and finally that bronchitis and upper respiratory infections should almost never be treated with antibiotics! The researcher's primary concern in limiting antibiotic use was the development of antibiotic resistant bugs. They did not consider the huge individual health burden caused by antibiotic use. These include cancer, gastrointestinal problems, and greatly increased prevalence of immune dysfunction and autoimmune disease (see my article "Fostering A Healthy Immune System" in the article archive). They go on to note "Increased antibiotic resistance is not inevitable. For example, Finland demonstrated the success of a nationwide effort to reduce antibiotic resistance following an increase in erythromycin resistance among patients with group A streptococci in the early 1990s. Nationwide recommendations were developed for the appropriate use of macrolide antibiotics; these efforts led to a reduction in the use of macrolides and a subsequent decrease in the rate of erythromycin resistance." So get on the wagon--eat right, rest, enjoy your relationships and your work, exercise, and have faith in the innate intelligence acting through your immune system! Link to the study.