So, for researchers, the question becomes “How can we test this?” A study in the journal Manual Medicine: Diagnostics in 1990 shows how. At specific areas of the spine, researchers injected a strong salt solution into the muscles, ligaments and joints or simply scratched the periosteum (covering of the bone) with a needle. In every case “referred pain was elicited” at the levels corresponding to the area that was irritated. In other words, the area that was injured referred pain to its functional partner in the spine in every case.

Commentary: How does this relate to every day experiences of chiropractic patients? It’s simple. Occasionally patients will experience pain in one area of their spine and their chiropractor will work on another area, perhaps not even touching the area that hurts. Many times the areas that hurt are not where the problem is. Your chiropractor is a specialist in finding and correcting the problem. If the problem (cause) is taken care of, the pain (effect) generally takes care of itself.

Doctor’s Neckties Can Spread Infection

Reuters Health news service reports on May 24, 2004 that a presentation made to the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology finds that doctor’s neckties were eight times more likely to carry pathogens than the neckties of other hospital workers who do not come into contact with patients.

Lead researcher Steven Nurkin, a medical student at the Bruce Rappaport Facility of Medicine in Haifa, Isreal noticed that doctor’s ties often came into contact with patients or their bedding. After seeing the patient or doing a procedure, the doctor’s would wash their hands and then adjust their tie, likely contaminating their hands.

Nurkin and his colleagues swabbed 42 neckties of doctors who regularly saw patients and 10 neckties of hospital security guards.

Twenty doctor’s ties contained numerous pathogens. Only one tie from the security guards contained a single pathogen, the common Staphylococcus aureus.

Recommendations to correct the problem ranged from having doctors switch to bow ties, or use tie tacks, detergent spray or “necktie condoms.” They also came up with the brilliant idea of simply not wearing them.
 

Mood Disorders Common With Long-Term Steroid Use

A study in the May 2004 issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology reports that people who take steroids long-term for conditions such as asthma stand a higher chance of developing mood disorders such as depression or manic depression.

The study involved 20 patients who had been using steroids at least six months for asthma or rheumatic disease and 14 similar patients not using steroids. Both groups were tested to evaluate mood.

60% (12) of the steroid users were formally classified as having a mood disorder. Additionally, one of the tests indicated that the steroid users were at increased risk for developing manic symptoms.

 

Children’s Cancer Treatments Increase Cancer Risk

The May 2004 International Journal of Cancer highlights a study that shows children with cancer who are treated with radiation and certain chemotherapy drugs stand a higher risk of developing soft tissue sarcomas later on in life.

The records of 4400 patients who survived childhood cancer were analyzed. Sixteen soft tissue sarcomas occurred at least three years after the first cancer was diagnosed. While this rate of occurrence is only 0.6%, it is 54 times higher than that seen in an average population.

Of the 16 sarcomas that developed, 14 of them occurred in or near the site where the radiation was given for the first cancer. It was also found that as the radiation dosages increased, so did the risk of soft tissue sarcoma later on.

Additionally, the researchers found that treatment with a drug called Procarbazine also seemed to increase the risk of sarcoma.

Commentary: In a surprisingly brilliant flash of genius, the researchers concluded that the risk of sarcoma could be decreased by limiting the exposure of healthy tissues to high doses of radiation.

New NSAID Pain Drugs Cause Stomach Bleeding

The June 12, 2004 issue of the British Medical Journal reports that increased use of the new generation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) known as cox-2 inhibitors has been linked with an increase in stomach bleeding.

Even though they are much more expensive, cox-2 inhibitors have become very popular in recent years because the makers claim the new drugs are safer than aspirin. This study, done at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Canada suggests that may not be the case.

The researchers found that a 41% increase in use of cox-2 inhibitors (Celebrex, Vioxx, Mobicox and others) in Ontario caused a 10% increase in gastrointestinal bleeding cases. In fact, the rise in bleeding incidents rises proportionally with the rise in use.

In the elderly population the study focused on, this figure would represent an additional 650 stomach bleeding hospitalizations each year in Ontario alone. “That’s a lot of people going to the hospital,” said lead researcher Muhammad Mamdant, a doctor of pharmacy.

“I was actually not expecting such a rise – just because everyone really does believe these drugs are safer,” he said. “And I think there is a need for a more judicious use of these drugs, by both patients and physicians.”