Swine Flu Part II

You must watch the video to the right on the swine flu and the way history tends to repeat itself.

Science, Philosophy and Art Weekend

We just had a fantastic weekend at S.P.A. days for chiropractic licensure. It was awesome! There is so much energy and buzz going around about the chiropractic approach to health, and so many excited chiropractors out there--so why are people still crawling to the pharmacies? It is OUR fault, the chiropractors. We are the ones acting like we are doctors of pain (not optimal health) and we use our hands to heal the pain, not a prescription pad and pen. We often times become expensive ibuprofen.

Listen. In chiropractic care, our focus needs to be on prevention and correction by removing vertebral subluxations of the spine. Most often, we should be having patients doing exercises and sustained traction so that they can hold the adjustment longer and have long-term results. End of story. Yet, we think that all we can treat is pain. We are the ones with the problem!

As health care comes around in full circle, as allopathic approaches to health change to holistic, and as the world finally turns against the ones telling us how OUR own health should be managed, we in chiropractic need to stand a little taller and join hands and hearts and be united.

Let's change our thinking as a society to prevention--focus now on our health and not rely on an emergency vehicle later. Do you change your oil every 3-5 thousand miles, even without an oil light on? Do you go to the dentist every 6 mos even without a tooth ache? That is prevention thinking folks, and if you haven't (including all chiropractors out there) had your spine checked for a subluxation in a while I suggest it is time, because that is prevention of disease.

Let's all jump on board and aim for the cause of prevention. Seize the day.

Study: Parents Skeptical About Swine Flu Vaccine

Germ-spreading schoolchildren are expected to be the focus of a massive U.S. vaccination campaign against the novel H1N1 flu.But if their parents are hearing the rallying cry to have their kids vaccinated, they're not buying it, says a new national survey.
In a poll of 1,678 U.S. parents conducted by the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, 40% said they would get their children immunized against the H1N1 virus -- even as 54% indicated they would get their kids vaccinated against regular seasonal flu.Among those who said they do not intend to have their kids vaccinated against H1N1, almost half -- 46% -- indicated they're not worried about their children becoming ill with the pandemic virus. Twenty percent said they do not believe the H1N1 flu is a serious disease.
There were differences along racial and ethnic lines in parents' responses, which were collected Aug. 13 to Aug. 31. More than half of Latino parents said they would bring their kids to get vaccinated against H1N1. Among white parents, 38% said they would do so. African American parents were the least inclined to vaccinate: 30% said they planned to do so.
About half of the parents who said they'd pass on the H1N1 flu shot for their kids expressed concern about possible side effects of the vaccine.The chatter about seasonal flu and novel H1N1 flu, and the differences in their relative virulence, has certainly confused parents, the survey suggests. Half of respondents said they believe that, for children, seasonal and H1N1 flu pose roughly equivalent risks.
"That perception may not match the actual risks," Dr. Matthew Davis, the poll director, said in a statement. Davis is a University of Michigan professor of pediatrics and internal medicine.
Not surprisingly, parents who believe that the H1N1 flu will be worse for children were most likely to say they will have their own children vaccinated.

More than Half Million Kids Get Bad Drug Reactions

By LINDSEY TANNER, APMon Sep 28, 6:13 AM EDT

More than half a million U.S. children yearly have bad reactions or side effects from widely used medicines that require medical treatment and sometimes hospitalization, new research shows.

Children younger than age 5 are most commonly affected. Penicillin and other prescription antibiotics are among drugs causing the most problems, including rashes, stomachaches and diarrhea.

Parents should pay close attention when their children are started on medicines since "first-time medication exposures may reveal an allergic reaction," said lead author Dr. Florence Bourgeois, a pediatrician with Children's Hospital in Boston.

Doctors also should tell parents about possible symptoms for a new medication, she said.
The study appears in October's Pediatrics, released Monday. It's based on national statistics on patients' visits to clinics and emergency rooms between 1995 and 2005. The number of children treated for bad drug reactions each year was mostly stable during that time, averaging 585,922.
Bourgeois said there were no deaths resulting from bad reactions to drugs in the data she studied, but 5 percent of children were sick enough to require hospitalization.

The study involved reactions to prescribed drugs, including accidental overdoses. They were used for a range of ailments including ear infections, strep throat, depression and cancer. Among teens, commonly used medicines linked with troublesome side effects included birth control pills.

Bad reactions to these pills included menstrual problems, nausea and vomiting.
Children younger than 5 accounted for 43 percent of visits to clinics and emergency rooms; followed by teens aged 15 to 18, who made up about 23 percent of the visits.
Similar numbers of hospitalized children — about 540,000 yearly — also have bad reactions to drugs, including side effects, medicine mix-ups and accidental overdoses, recent government research suggests.

The new report indicates children at home are just as vulnerable.
Michael Cohen, president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, said a common problem involves giving young children liquid medicine. Doses can come in drops, teaspoons or milliliters, and parents may mistakenly think those amounts are interchangeable.
Cohen said doctors should be clear about doses and parents should be sure before leaving the pharmacy that they understand exactly how to give liquid medicine.
The study was funded by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
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The Swine Flu

This swine flu craze is unbelievable. Lately, we are hearing that the swine flu vaccine should be out as early as Oct 5th, and be provided to 6-7 million people. The states are even talking about going room to room at the local grade schools to vaccinate children. There is an expectation to have 250 million doses of the new vaccine, and some of it is going to be shipped to other countries.

There are a few points that upset me the most. First of all, there is not an exact count of the amount of swine flu deaths and hospitalizations (perhaps due to the fact that a "regular" flu virus, not the H1N1 is causing more deaths than the H1N1) but a guestimate of 600 deaths and 9,000 hospitalizations. THe CDC doesn't know for sure, but hey, what about an estimate? Second, do you know how much money the company behind 250 million doses is making? How much is the government getting in return? Why is this so important, when there are over 1,300 deaths PER MONTH due to Tylenol and ibuprofin drugs? What's more important folks, 600 deaths in one year or 1,300 per month, about 16,000 per year from NSAID's? There are also over 48,000 deaths per year due to psychotropic drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxel. That is over 4,000 deaths per month! Who is governing this program here? I am completely dumbfounded.

It is so unfortunate that we as a people do not notice this and many just follow the crowd. The swine flu does not exist because of a vaccination shortage. If higher "intelligence" says you have to get a shot, then people just get the shot. No thought. Just do.

Let's look at it from a natural way folks. How many are taking supplements loaded with vitamins and minerals to strengthen the immune system? How many are getting the exercise they need to keep their hearts healthy and functioning optimally? How many are eating the right foods, fruits and vegetables daily in order to strengthen and support their bodies?

Let's change our thinking folks and approach health in a different way--a way God intended it to be, not "health" out of greed, but out of love and compassion and prevention. Get the Big Idea, and let all else follow.

Dr. Carter

Get The Big Idea...and All Else Follows

Another summer almost over and back to school time! I hope that everyone has enjoyed the summertime fun! I thought it would be appropriate to get back to basics in this month’s newsletter.
Recently I was speaking with a woman who had some general questions about chiropractic care. She had been having some low back problems, and I was doing my best to assist her. She then asked me, “So, can you prescribe me a painkiller?” I responded with a “no, it’s against my licensure,” and she walked away disinterested.
I pondered on that for a while, and realized what went wrong. There were a few points in that conversation that were unable to be addressed, and I would like to share those with you. Chiropractic is based on many principles of philosophy and science, many that most of those who did not go to chiropractic school don’t even know of (even some chiro schools don’t teach these principles).
There is an energy that lives inside all life—plants, animals, and humans. This is called a spirit, or an Innate Intelligence, etc. An intelligence that, when you die, is taken from your body and your body is just matter—no innate intelligence controlling cells and tissues any more. Our bodies have an energy, a life force, that connects Intelligence to the matter of your body (to the cells and organs) and it flows along our spinal cord and nerves. Our brain controls this intelligence. If you cut the brainstem from the spinal cord, you will die (the spirit or intelligence will leave) and you will lose all intelligence.
Because of different stresses in our lives the bones in our spinal columns can shift out of place. These shifts are what we call vertebral subluxations. When a subluxation occurs, it blocks the life force or energy from going to the organs at that level. It’s like a dimmer switch on the wall in which the energy is turned down, and the organs are not going to get that vital energy they need to stay healthy. So a subluxation is a bad thing. If you have a subluxation, you may get organ symptoms, such as frequent nausea, heart palpitations, constipation etc., because all of the organs are totally dependent on the energy from your spine.
One of the first principles that I learned in chiro school was about “symptoms.” Chiropractors do not treat symptoms. This is the practice of medicine. This is why that woman asked if we prescribe painkillers. That is medicine to treat a symptom, and that is what most of us have been raised with is medicine. Chiropractic is a completely different theory and philosophy. One that was derived back in the late 1800’s—early 1900’s by the Palmer’s, the founders of chiropractic. And in my opinion is a genius theory.
Many don’t realize that some symptoms may actually be a good thing. Say you ate some bad fish and had flu symptoms of nausea, vomiting etc. Is it better to take medicine and cover it up? Or should you get the bad fish out of you due to your symptoms? Your body has reached a crisis state and cannot adapt to the bad fish, so your innate intelligence says, “We better get rid of this stuff!” It is the same with a fever. A fever is a good thing. What does it do? It kills virus and bacteria. You get an infection and innate intelligence says, “Let’s turn up the body temperature to kill everything!” Often times, we take medicine to get rid of the fever; that is not a good thing,

except the bacteria and virus love it.
The focus of chiropractic care is to remove subluxations in the spine. You may have different symptoms due to vertebral subluxations, or you may not. Many don’t even know that they have a subluxation. By the time you’re in pain, it means that the nerves are inflamed and your body is in a crisis mode. Symptoms may or may not be manifested from subluxations.
That is why if you came in with some low back pain, we also check the rest of your spine. You probably have subluxations throughout that aren’t manifesting as “pain.” However, you may have different organs that are being affected by it, and have other symptoms such as high blood pressure, acid reflux disease, etc.
Chiropractic care is one of the best ways to treat for back pain, neck pain, etc. You can get fast results. However, is this medicine? Just to relieve from pain (symptoms) is a pure medical model. Our goal as a chiropractor is to not only get your body out of crisis mode (relieve the pain and follow a medical model) but continue to remove subluxations in your spine until your body is able to express itself at an optimal level, whatever that level may be. Who doesn’t want that?
The last thing that I want in my body are vertebral subluxations. I understand that nutrition, exercise, water, supplements, are all important. But if you have a subluxation in your spine that is blocking the energy to your organs that control hormones, digestion, muscles etc., are you going to be able to process those nutrients, exercise at your optimal level, utilize oxygen and water like your body is supposed to, or even process a supplement? How can it? The information from the brain is not getting to those vital organs! It’s like a computer system that is gone crazy. “Garbage in=garbage out.” Whatever you put in is not going to be processed properly. A subluxation is a bad thing.
That is why we say “Chiropractic first...and all else follows.” We adjust subluxations, and that’s all. You want your body’s nervous system functioning at an optimal level, then you will process nutrients, water, etc. like you are supposed to, and that intelligence inside of you will express itself at it’s optimal performance. So the next time you get adjusted, which may be right now after reading this, remember, more energy is flowing to your organs that ever before after the adjustment, and watch your health improve and thrive!
Dr. Carter

New Blog for Health!

We have just implemented a blog space that will update you on all of the health news, technique, lifestyle etc. that will help you achieve optimal health! whether your condition is back pain, weight loss, strength training, etc we will have updated info and contacts for you to accomplish your health goals. Follow us and we will keep you up to date.