Happy Easter!

I am finishing this ENewsletter on a Saturday morning and I am having a hard time concentrating because Eileen is making me the Lemon cake below.  The smell going through the house as I left for the clinic was wonderful!  I can't wait to get back home. (I think that it was for me!?)

This issue of ENews brings you some interesting topics that I feel need considerably more exposure that they are getting.

The Insurance Industry, and yes it is an Industry, is continually trying to find new ways to generate profits for themselves.  This is usually at the expense of each of us.  I do discuss two ways in which the Insurance Companies put more money in their pocket and less in yours

The article on driving is becoming more important as our cities grow and the behavior of drivers becomes more irresponsible.  I am continually amazed at the risks people take with their lives.  Life is fragile and, unfortunately, only temporary.  Why rush to the inevitable?

With the Legislative Sessions in full swing, strategic posturing is blatant.  The Medical profession continually strives to control all aspects (and money) in the healthcare arena.  To discredit your 'competition' means that you gain a greater piece of the healthcare pie.  Every time they want to discredit Chiropractic they bring up ridiculous studies that report how unsafe Chiropractic is.  No one even questions if they were the culprits behind the unsafe behavior...you'll know what I mean when you read the article!

Allergy season is coming and I have already seen quite a few patients with just such complaints.  There is more to the allergic exposure and reaction than most people realize.  Fortunately....we have answers!

I hope that you enjoy this issue of my ENews!

Dr. Frisch

The Dumbing Down of Health Care

This might seem like a fallacy or an impossibility to some, but if you watch healthcare trends closely you will see that this is exactly what is happening, and why!

If you have ever wondered why you are not allowed to see certain doctors under your health plan or why certain tests or medications are prohibited, you are not alone.  In fact, few people are actually pleased with their healthcare options.  Who, for example, would consider a $1200 yearly premium for $1000 worth of coverage a good plan?  I wouldn’t, but this is an optional plan under one of Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s service contracts!  This also means that people are actually enrolling in these types of health plans.  I wonder if the phrase “I’ve got insurance” has become more important than really having any serious healthcare coverage?

We all need to face that fact that Insurance Companies are not really into health, home, auto or life ‘insurance’….they are into money.  Insurance Companies are investment bankers!  As such, they do not really produce a product.  They merely make a veiled offer (promise) that requires each of us to give them money.  They consider your money their money and you are merely holding it for them.  They will provide you the least amount of benefit for the maximum dollar amount possible.

The cost of healthcare is not you being treated by your doctor.  The real costs of healthcare are within the tiers of the Insurance Industry.  They drive their own fees.  The exorbitant Insurance premiums that we pay are supporting bad business practices and greed.  Thinking that, “If I take good care of myself and my property, my Insurance rates won’t go up.”, is just wrong.  Your Insurance rates are going to go up anyway!  The industry will take as much from you as they can get.  Remember, you are merely holding their money for them…and they want it all!

Now that I have touched on how you will be relieved of your hard earned dollars, I will shift gears a bit and move into how you are being ‘dumbed down’ for profit.

When people suffer from trauma or an illness or disease, which requires medical attention, few people ever consider the fact that they might die.  We have such superior medical care, when compared to the rest of the world, that we expect to get better just by ‘going to the doctor’.  Even our worst care is better than many countries best care.

Because of this, it is easy for Insurance Companies to play with the services they ‘will allow’.  If healthcare services provide true, measurable benefits to one or more patients, which can be supported by objective research, all services should be covered by Insurance.  Why then aren’t they?  Medical, Chiropractic and Dental services that are not covered under an Insurance plan are excluded for one reason….profitability!

If an Insurer can eliminate a procedure, which it finds less profitable for them, that procedure or service will be deemed ‘experimental’, ‘unnecessary’ or a ‘non-covered’ service.  It does not mean that the patient didn’t need the service or procedure, but rather, it might cut into the profits of the Insurance Company.  The Company doesn’t want a revolt by their subscribers so the employ a couple of ‘hidden remedies’:

1. Usual and Customary Reduction.  This is the penalty that the Insurance Company applies to your doctor for even seeing you.  The doctor or clinic incurs real costs to treat patients, but the Insurance Company has them over a barrel.  They say “Either you accept our UCR (often 50% or more) or we won’t let you see any of our subscribers!”  The patient thinks that they got a great deal or that the doctor was ‘overcharging’ them for care.  Neither of which is true!!!  The only real truth is that the Insurance Company ripped off the doctor or clinic ‘by force’ and they kept the residual profit.  They also know that they will ultimately increase the patient’s premiums.
2. Lower Value Services.  In an added attempt to maximize profits, Insurance Companies will offer coverage for lower value services, even if they have minimal to no documented benefit. A lower value service would be allowing payment for a Nurse Practitioner or Physicians Assistant, but excluding payment for a ‘real’ Doctor (MD,DC,DO).  Another example would be to pay for services like supervised exercise therapy, massage or dance therapy, rather than true physical treatment like Chiropractic, Osteopathy or Physical Medicine.  The patient is not getting the appropriate care for their injury or condition, but they are being offered ‘something’ that looks like real care.  In any other business this would be considered ‘bait and switch’ (which is a crime), but Insurance Companies get away with it all of the time because people don’t complain.  Uncorrected problems, however, often fester and bloom at a later date, which usually requires more extensive treatment at that time.  The Insurer then invokes the UCR reductions on the doctor, clinic, or hospital and cuts their fees.  Guess what….they raise your premiums too!  

Demand What You Are Already Paying For!

How Safe are You on the Road?

We all like to think that we are competent and safe drivers, but are we really?  Driving is a skill that takes training, practice, daily challenges to continue to perform at a high level of safety.  There is more to driving a car or truck than just getting in, turning on the ignition and simply steering the vehicle in any one direction.  Driving is dangerous.

The human body was not designed or intended to be placed in a metal box that travels at speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour.  Quite frankly, our bodies are not structured to safely operate an automobile! 

The muscles, ligaments, bones and nerves of the human body are designed to provide us physical support and motion as it relates to gravity.  As infants we all have to learn skills like sitting, followed by walking and then running.  We are not born with these skills, even though they are a natural function of the body as it develops.  I rather suspect that even if a child had no models to teach him or her to walk or run, eventually, that child would figure out how to do it!  We are genetically programmed for motion-related activities.  We are not, however, genetically programmed to drive a vehicle.  In fact, we begin forgetting how to drive very quickly, if that activity is not continuously reinforced.

Have you ever gone on a vacation for 4-5 days without driving during that time period?  If you have, you will know exactly what I mean when I say we quickly forget how to operate a vehicle.  When you got back into your vehicle after an extended absence, it felt a bit weird to be behind the wheel again, didn’t it? (I know that I’m not the only one!)

Because we actually forget learned activities like driving when that activity is not reinforced, we need to make sure that when we are driving, we are paying attention to that activity alone. 

Driving while reading or talking on a cell phone is not only dangerous to you and those around you; it also erodes you driving skills.  When you learned to drive, you developed a set of skills that allowed you to successfully drive.  Once that skill set became easy to perform, however, other ‘disintegrating’ activities began to infiltrate your driving experience.  This included playing with the radio, readjusting the mirrors while driving, talking to a passenger, putting on makeup, eating, etc.  Each nuisance activity that you brought into your skill set decreased you ability to drive and placed you at greater risk of being involved in an accident.  With technological advancements like the IPod and the cell phone, the rates of auto-related accidents and injury have increased dramatically.

A recent study performed through the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine¹ found that teenage drivers sustained more nighttime accidents that result in trauma to them and to child passengers than they did during daytime driving.  The skill level of driving at night is different and more difficult than during the day and it takes years of night driving to become competent behind the wheel.

To think that only night driving is a more dangerous activity and results in more accidents, would be a falsehood.  A study published in the Journal of Childhood Accidents (2004)², found that more children are struck and injured by motor vehicles when the driving conditions are optimal (good light, dry road and good weather) than when the driving conditions are poor.  This might be because we take our driving ability for granted and get lazy and less cautious when the driving conditions are optimal for our skill level.  The results may also be, at least somewhat, attributable to children also taking less precautions of the roads when they are playing on a dry, sunny, summer day.  Kids do run into traffic to retrieve a ball or chase a pet. 

For all of the reasons that I listed, which contribute to accidents and injury, there are probably a hundred more that apply.  With Spring here and Summer approaching, each of us needs to pay more attention to our driving habits.  This includes our speed, reckless behavior with our vehicles, and actually focusing on driving our cars and trucks, rather than steering and coasting down the road.  Accidents are called accidents because we didn’t see it coming, but I wonder how many accidents could be prevented by paying attention to the details that contribute to accidents.

BE SAFE THIS SPRING!

Note: Several States are actually considering banning cell phone use in a vehicle because the level of accidents and injuries is surpassing that of impaired and drunk drivers!

They’re At It Again!

On a fairly regular basis, I am beginning to see more negative Chiropractic press within the media, as well as Medical and research circles.  This is unfortunate because it is deceptive to the American public, driven by the almighty dollar and flat out dishonest!

Here is an example, the South Medical Journal (Feb, 2007)¹ published a report this year that was titled, ‘Cervical Spinal Manipulation: an alternative medical procedure with potentially fatal complications’.  This article reported on one young female with neck pain and a headache who died after CSMT (cervical spine manipulation therapy).  The author gave no specifics of the manipulation therapy performed or if there was an actual correlation between the manipulation and the young lady’s death. 

The author did state, however, that complications are infrequent and complications occur only in one per 100,00 to one in 2,000,000 manipulations, but he followed that up with a negative comment, “That although strokes are rare, it is a well-recognized problem.”

Here is my interpretation of this paper:

1. A General Practitioner (MD) or a physical therapist likely performed the manipulations in question.  Neither of who are qualified to perform manipulations of the spine.  Had a Chiropractor performed the procedure, you can be assured that the word Chiropractic would have been used 15 times in the paper.  MD’s trying to be Chiropractors and hurting people, drive most of the negative, cervical manipulation papers published!  The Medical attitude of “If we can’t do it, then they certainly can’t do it” has, unfortunately, led to many biased and untrue attitudes of Chiropractic Therapy.

2. The word ‘manipulation’ was used as a blanket statement for any treatment (or adjustment) to the spine.  It was not defined what type of treatment was performed.  Had an Activator Instrument been used to deliver the ‘manipulation’ the stroke would not have occurred. That research has already been published!

3. Timing!  It is not surprising to me that negative studies appear just in time for Legislative bills and voting policy into law!  There is a dirty side to Healthcare that most people would rather ignore.  But, unless people stand up and profess what they know, the evil profiteers in healthcare win!  How serious is that?  Well, do you want your MD, PT or even you hair stylist ‘adjusting’ your neck?

In respect to all patients, accidents can happen in the course of some treatment, but cervical care resulting in stroke or death is very rare.  In fact, there are only 117 cases of stroke resulting from neck manipulation ever reported!²  This includes all Medical, Chiropractic, PT and research publications!!!!  With millions of neck adjustments administered each year to a broad spectrum of patients, physical manipulation of the body, including the neck, is about as safe as it comes.  Manipulation (adjusting) segments of the body is not just physical, it is also neurological.  Education and training is mandatory to perform this form of therapy.  People trying to manipulate the body without the necessary training and education (Think Doctorate Degree!) are taking great liberty with someone else’s body and possibly their life.  Although death is rare from manipulation, other trauma, like fractures, ligamentous injury, discal tearing and cord damage are real possibilities with improperly delivered care.  Most people would not walk on a plank 50 feet in the air without a net, but it is surprising how many people let their friends try to “crack their back”.  The risk of possible trauma is about the same!

Be Smart and Be Safe!

Let your Medical doctor perform your surgeries and treat your infections, but let your Chiropractic doctor treat your pain and bodily dysfunction!

Eileen's Corner

Get Rid of Your Allergies?

(Go To The Farm!)

It has long been supposed that the more time that a person spends outside or with animals, the greater their likelihood for developing allergies.  This, however, is a falsehood.  An allergic reaction is a hypersensitivity to one or more substances, which results in sinus tissue inflammation, congestion, dermatitis and often, respiratory distress.

There are varying degrees of hypersensitivity, and for that reason, varying levels of reactions.  An allergic reaction may be a simple itch that goes away on its own.  Reactions, however, can also be severe in nature and result in death.  Can the same person have a mild allergic reaction sometimes and severe reactions at other times?  Sure, why not?  Usually, though, allergic reactions begin mildly and over time develop consistently stronger reactions, rather than the other way around.  There appears to be a cumulative affect with allergic exposure.

Recent research (2007) published in Journals Blood and Trends in Immunology have investigated the role that mast cells and others play in the allergic response.  Mast cells and basophils are actually formed in our bones and then release into the system.  Basophils are released as mature cells, while mast cells are released as immature cells and mature when they reach their target tissue. 

Within the mast cells are histamine and other neurotransmitters.  When exposed to an allergen/toxin, the mast cell breaks down (degranulates) and histamine is released into the system causing a dilation of blood vessels, swelling of tissue and an irritation to nerve endings (itch, pain, etc).  This is why we take antihistamines for Spring and Summer allergies.  The antihistamine inhibits the systemic action of histamine within the body.

Studies have shown that in addition to allergic response, mast cells and basophils actually have an autoimmune affect within the body.  When these types of cells were artificially inhibited and the animal was exposed to the toxin/allergen there was no systemic reaction and the animal remained healthy.  Future research will likely look more closely at how are own body either ‘works too well’ or ‘misfires’ and places us at risk for illness and disease.  The internal defense mechanisms within each of our bodies will likely hold the key to our longevity.

Until we find ways to manipulate the body to perform better, we may have to look to our farm kids for answers!  The University of British Columbia published a study in the Clinical Journal of Experimental Allergy (2006) that investigated the allergic response and asthma rate among 1158 kids in 4-H.

They discovered, surprisingly, that kids living on a farm with constant exposure to grains, grasses, feed and animals had a significantly lower rate of allergies and asthma than did kids without daily animal and farm exposures.  This would indicate that the allergic reaction is a much more complicate process than just exposure alone. 

The allergy work that I have done to this point supports this study and also points to involvement of brain activity in the allergic response, rather than just a body exposure and reaction.  The Allermune Program is our 4-day in-clinic program, which aids in desensitizing your body to the affects of allergens, and it has shown to provide a long-term reduction in allergy-induced, blood histamine levels with standard medical testing!  Medical arenas are just beginning to look at this type of therapy because of its safety and effectiveness!

Get Prepared….Spring is Here!

See You Next Month,

Dr. Frisch