Welcome to May!

I hope that this past month has found you all happy and healthy.  If not, you do know who to call!  

Spring is such a busy time of year.  We begin to use muscle groups that were inactive during the winter months,  Also, our Spring gait changes from a 'stepping gait' to a 'striding gait'.  This is because the surface that we walk on changes from snow and ice to dry and secure.  This change of gait does cause people pain.  

If the back or leg pain lasts longer than one week it may signal something else.  If this is the case with you, call the office schedule and evaluation.  It is a quick and painless procedure.

You may have noticed that I did not put out an April newsletter.  It's not that I forgot or that I had nothing to say, but rather, I was too busy to take the time to write out an E-Newsletter.  The past 6 weeks have been a blur of accumulating research data, writing and recording.  I will explain this further in the first article of this newsletter.

In addition to the research news, I will discuss topics on:

1.      Brain shrinkage with pain.

2.      Nervous system dysfunction after a whiplash.

3.      Modern Cars 'causing' whiplash.

4.      Eileen's Spring Tuna Salad

I hope that you enjoy this issue of E-News.  It does take time to research and support the material before I bring it to you.  For that reason, it always makes me happy when someone says that they actually gained knowledge about a topic that they didn't previously know.

There is so much garbage on the internet that people, unfortunately, often take it as factual medical information.  I have seen such a steady degradation of the information pool over the past several years that I am somewhat amazed when anyone cites a reference that is actually credible!

I promise to continue bringing you relevant and credible information that you can be comfortable sharing with your family and friends. 

Have a great month!

Dr. Frisch

!!!!! Habitack^® Smoking Cessation Research !!!!

I have finally gotten back all of the data regarding the Habitack^® Smoking Cessation Program and the results are very exciting!  The data is being further analyzed by an expert statistician, who is a credible, published researcher on the topic of smoking cessation.

The Habitack^® Program offers smokers, at least, a 58% chance of quitting smoking!

In the field of smoking cessation, including drug therapy, that number is astounding!  This means that more than 1 of every two people going through the program will easily quit without relapse.  Sit back for a moment and think about that level of success.  If I were a baseball player I would be headed to the Hall of Fame because, 

"I batted .580 for a whole career."

What most people do not realize is that Zyban^® , a non-nicotine derivative of the anti-depressant Welbutrin^®, has a only a 10-28% success rate.  Even that reported rate, however, is deceiving.  The studies that were used to determine the success rate of over 20% included counseling.  When the counseling ended, the success rate dropped as well.  Zyban^® is marketed each and every day to countless thousands of people who don't know that their true chance of success is probably less than 20%.  Over-the counter products like Nicorette^®, Nicoderm^® or Nicotrol^® offer no greater chance of success than Zyban^®.

There were other significant findings in the Habitack^® research study as well:

1.      Subjects attributed their success at quitting smoking to the program more than to their self-efforts, even though they realized that they had to make, at least, an attempt at quitting to be successful.

2.  The Habitack^® Program proved easier to use than other methods that they had tried for quitting smoking.

3.  Subjects did not have to "really want to quit" prior to beginning the program.  A simple attempt along with the program was enough for the results to occur.

4.  A support group of family and friends was not needed to achieve success with this program.

5.  No outside counseling was used during the 6 month-1 year period.  This means that the Habitack^® Program has  longevity as a stand-alone program.

There are other significant benefits to this program that I will report on in an upcoming paper that will be submitted for publication.

I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of this program's success!  Just as medication has a predictable outcome each time that someone uses it, the Habitack^® Smoking Cessation Program is now clinically predictable.  Predictability is what sells a product.  If you like to wear Nike tennis shoes, Levi Jeans or even expensive Italian shoes, it is likely because you can predict how they fit and feel on you.  

Predictability means that you never have to apologize for the product!

Because Habitack^® now has an established rate of true success based on a core relationship group of subjects, I don't have to make promises of hope to anyone ever again.  The rate of success is at least 58%!

I was recently talking with someone who said that he did want to quit smoking, but that he wanted me to give him a guarantee of success.  Since I couldn't follow him around for 24 hours a day, I couldn't promise him success.  What I did tell him was this,

"When you were in school and you had to take a test, if you didn't get, at least 60%, you would fail the test.  With this program, you start with at least a 58% success rate.  There is no magic wand.  It is up to you to either pass or fail the test!" 

Predictability is an indicator of success above chance, but it does not guarantee success!  I have, however, made additions to the original 2-day program that should increase the rate of success to even greater levels.!  I have developed three significant additions to the original research-supported program.

1.      A Text book that applies to many aspects of life for both the smoker and the non-smoker.  There is an abundance of self-help tips throughout the text.  The book also includes a very educational 'Photo Gallery'.

2.      A home Booster Series. This 7-day series allows a person to continue the smoking cession program at home or they may simply choose to use it as a refresher months or even years later!

3.      The Daily Affirmation Series™ .  This is an educational 'life' series that addresses topics like 'focus', 'purpose', 'goals', and 'hope'.  This 7-session informative series can be listened to in  a vehicle, as well as at home.

There is more to quitting smoking than just not picking up a cigarette. The text book, Booster Sessions, and Daily Affirmation Series™ should be of great benefit to anyone who is serious about quitting smoking. 

In closing, I would like to thank the people who participated in the research collection process and to those 'former smokers' who voiced their opinions and wishes regarding remaining smoke-free for life.  It has taken many years and much work to bring the Habitack^® Smoking Cessation Program to what it is today.  I feel that I now have a program that surpasses any smoking cessation program on the market.  Hypnotic techniques may be used at times, but anyone who has gone through the program can tell you that there is so much more to this program than hypnosis.  That is the reason for the level of this program's success!

"58% ain't bad"

Dr. Frisch

(P.S.  There will be more news coming regarding this program, but everything takes time!)

Brain Shrinkage as a Result of Pain

The November 23, 2004 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience published a study that discovered a shrinkage in the brain size of individuals suffering from chronic back pain.

The gray matter in the brain may shrink as much as 11% in one year when accompanied by chronic pain.  To lose this much brain matter would normal take between 10-20 years with a normal aging process.  The gray matter of the brain is the area that processes and integrates memory and emotion.  This does indicate that the brain responds internally as a direct result of pain experienced in the body.

The researchers were not sure why this phenomenon occurs, but they did posit that it may be due to a constant high level of excitatory actions that 'exhausts' the brain and results in a toxic, inflammatory mechanism that induces atrophy of the brain size.

The study involved using an MRI to analyze the brain size of 26 healthy people and then compare it to the brain size of 26 people suffering from pain of, at least, one year duration.  The MRI study determined that there would be a 1.3 cubic centimeter loss of brain matter for every year of chronic pain.

In addition to the theory of excitotoxic atrophy, the researchers stated that the atrophy of brain size did not result in a substantial loss of brain neurons.  This was an exciting finding because it means that brain matter regeneration is a possibility. 

25% of Americans experience back pain and 1/4 of those suffer with chronic pain.  Now, I'm not sure if there is anyone on the planet who has not heard of Chiropractic, but if not, this is the time to listen up!

Chiropractic successfully treats acute and chronic pain.  The Activator Technique, which I specialize in, specifically fires 74% of joint neurons with each correction made.  I'm sure that patients get tired of me talking about vibration wave frequencies in treating injuries, but this is exactly the stuff that I am talking about.  

"Physical, structural correction of injuries will improve brain function and memory."

If you suffer with chronic pain, and you haven't been using chiropractic, you need to seriously step back and re-evaluate what you are doing with your body.  The research that supports chiropractic continues to pile up, but you need to become informed.  This was a medical study that supports chiropractic's claims.  It doesn't get any better than this!

Nervous System Dysfunction with Whiplash

A recent Australian study investigated why some patients develop chronic pain with radiating arm and hand symptoms as a result of a whiplash injury.  You may remember from previous reported studies that a whiplash is actually an 'acceleration/deceleration'  trauma to the neck that results in ligamentous, discal or spinal cord injury.  This injury destabilizes the neck joints and the degenerative process begins.   This study goes hand-in-hand with the previous study on brain atrophy as a result of chronic pain and it takes the explanation of chronic pain one step further.

Three groups were selected for comparison in this study:

• 30 whiplash associated pain patients were selected.  The average  length of their symptoms was 18 1/2 months.
• 20 patients with a history of non-specific-origin neck pain for an average of 50 months were also chosen.
• A sham group of 20 healthy people were used as a control.

Four different objective measures were used for comparing the three groups:

• Pain Pressure Thresholds (PPT) were measured using a electronic digital Algometer.  
• Hot and Cold Pain Thresholds.
• Anxiety Measures using a 6-item questionnaire.
• Neck Pain Disability Index Scores.

 The results of this study reinforced the common assumptions and reported clinical claims that whiplash-related pain is something specific, unique, and chronic in nature.   When comparing the non-specific-origin of neck pain group and the sham control to the whiplash chronic pain group the following findings were present:

• The Whiplash group had significantly lower pain thresholds to pressure in all areas tested.
• The Whiplash group had lower pain thresholds to both hot and cold than the other two groups.
• Anxiety levels were similar in all three groups.
• The Neck Pain Disability Index was higher for the whiplash patient, but for a shorter duration.

The real significance of this study is that whiplash patients showed a greater sensitivity to hot, cold and pressure (sensory) changes in multiple areas when compared to the other groups.  These findings are significant because the anxiety index showed that the pain was independent of psychological anxiety.  In other words, it wasn't all in their heads.  Something real, physical, and chronic happens to the whiplash patient that does not occur in other forms of general, chronic neck pain.

This is also why whiplash patients respond to chiropractic care.  The physical nature of the treatment is coupled with the re-education of the nerves, spinal cord and brain.  To simply apply medication for pain will not fix what's wrong.  The treatment is often initially aggressive and demanding for both the patient and the doctor.  Stabilizing a whiplash-type of trauma is usually one of the more dedicated activities that a person can go through because it touches nearly every aspect of their life.

In regards to  the chronic neck pain sufferer, they will also respond to chiropractic care, but the type of treatment will be different than that of the whiplash-related trauma. 

All injuries are not created equal!

Eileen's Corner

Cold Tuna Salad

Enjoy your spring!

Eileen

Modern Cars Increase the Risk of Whiplash

It has been a long-held, public belief that the speed of an accident is what causes injury in a crash.  For those of you who have read my monthly newsletters, you will know this to be a falsehood.  A recent Canadian study supports my conviction that it is the acceleration, not the speed of the collision, that causes injury.

You may be asking yourself how the acceleration of a crash differs from the speed of a crash.  It goes something like this.  When two objects collide, there is a displacement of energy based on the collision itself.  The ability of an object to absorb and/or dissipate the energy created will determine how much injury or trauma is sustained.  I hope that I explained that clearly enough.  

An example of this would be a race car driver who is involved in a high-speed crash against the wall.  If the wall can absorb and dissipate the energy (mass) created, the car stops and the driver is unharmed.  If the wall is rigid and cannot absorb and dissipate the energy, there will be an acceleration/deceleration 'shearing force' that tears through the driver's body.  The shear created by the impact may be fatal to the driver.  This recently happened to a very well known race car driver.

What this recent study found was that the bumpers on newer cars are being made differently than before.  The newer bumpers are more rigid than older bumpers.  This was done for cost savings to the car manufacturers.  The cheaper bumpers are more rigid and unable to dissipate the energy (mass) of an impact.  This means that any passenger in the vehicle is at greater risk for significant trauma should they hit or be hit by another vehicle.

Having the most expensive car seat with the proper neck and lumbar supports will be meaningless if the force generated on impact cannot be absorbed by the bumper.  I don't know if this frightens you, but it does concern me.  We are now required by law to wear our seatbelts to protect us during a crash, while at the same time, we are being sold vehicles that are intentionally made to place us at greater risk of injury.  If this is the case, the seatbelt no longer becomes a safety net during a crash because it actually increases the 'shearing effect' that the bumper should have absorbed.  This is absurd! 

I think that the release of this study will generate an incredible amount of attention and, hopefully, reverse this foolish and dangerous behavior by the auto manufacturers.

Siegmund GP, Heinrichs BE, Chimich DD, DeMarco AL, Brault JR. The effect of collision pulse properties on seven proposed whiplash criteria. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2005;37:275-285.

I hope that you enjoyed this issue of ENews!

Have a great month,

Dr. Frisch