TC Online -- Volume 1, Issue 61 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTENTS - Wednesday, May 16, 2001 ** INTRODUCTION ** SITE OF THE WEEK ** HOT NEWS - The latest health-care news ** UPDATE - Chiropractic news ** RESEARCH - Research and other interesting findings ** THE OTHER SIDE - Medical sites and other sources _______________________________________ INTRODUCTION Welcome to the 61st issue of TC Online, a weekly E-newsletter for those interested in chiropractic and alternative health care news. As always, please distribute this to friends, discussion lists and other groups as long as the entire issue is included. Best Regards, Pattie Stechschulte Associate Editor/Webmaster _______________________________________ SITE OF THE WEEK EPICURIOUS A fun and informative site that features healthy and decadent recipes, cooking tips and even restaurant reviews in your area. ______________________________________ HOT NEWS BUSH TO BACK FRIST-BREAUX PATIENT-RIGHTS BILL President Bush plans to endorse a managed care "bill of rights" in the Senate that includes lower limits on verdicts against insurers, aides said Monday. Bush will urge Congress to pass the "patients bill of rights" being offered by Sens. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and John Breaux, D-Louisiana, this year. 65 MILLION NEED TO WATCH CHOLESTEROL New heart disease guidelines issued Tuesday will dramatically increase the number of Americans who should change their diets or take cholesterol-lowering drugs. If everyone followed the guidelines, 65 million Americans would go on heart-healthy diets, up from 52 million under the old guidelines. The number of people who should take cholesterol-lowering drugs would increase to 36 million, from 13 million. US COMMISSION: NEW HUMAN TRIAL OVERSIGHT NEEDED In an effort to improve oversight of human research, the US National Bioethics Advisory Commission plans to recommend that a new federal office create a national databank for reporting mistakes and side effects occurring in research. Under the recommendation, a new National Office for Human Research Oversight would work with other agencies to create a ''uniform system for reporting and evaluating adverse events occurring in research,'' according to a draft copy of the recommendations commission members were finalizing on Tuesday. CHILDREN, PARENTS SPENDING MORE TIME TOGETHER Despite a surge in the number of working mothers, children in two- parent households are spending more time with Mom or Dad than kids did 20 years ago, according to a study released Wednesday. Children between the ages of 3 and 12 in two-parent families spent about 31 hours each week with their mothers in 1997, compared with about 25 hours in 1981. Time spent with fathers increased from 19 hours to 23. HARVARD INVESTING IN ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE PROGRAMS Harvard Medical School, acknowledging that patients are increasingly experimenting with holistic and other alternative treatments, is creating an institute for nontraditional medicine. Researchers at the prestigious medical school will examine the effectiveness of such treatments as acupuncture, herbal therapies and massage, and look at how they work or interact with traditional medicine. _______________________________________ UPDATE "ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ADJUSTING TABLE" TO BE AUCTIONED For the first and only time, international film star Arnold Schwarzenegger has put his signature on a chiropractic adjusting table that will be auctioned June 1 through July 31 by the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) as part of a fundraising campaign. The table, a motorized Leader 900 Z, was signed by Mr. Schwarzenegger at the 13th annual Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Fitness Expo, which is held each year in conjunction with the ICA's Symposium on Natural Fitness. CHIROPRACTOR TO RIDE IN 2,100-MILE ENDURANCE RACE ALONG HISTORIC PONY EXPRESS TRAIL When an estimated 100 riders mount their horses June 5, 2001, to embark on a 2,100-mile, eight-week endurance race from St. Joseph, Mo., to Virginia City, Nevada, chiropractor Dublin J. (Tinker) Hart, 30, will be among those chosen for the unique event because of an outstanding record in equine endurance competition. "HEALTHY SOLUTIONS" LOOKS AT SOURCES OF CHIROPRACTIC INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET "Where does a consumer find reliable information about alternative care on the Internet?" This is the topic of a segment on the award- winning national television program "Healthy Solutions"(please see their website at http://www.healthysolutions.tv for more details). Host Mariette Hartley examines the need that health care consumers have for reliable information on line and features Dynamic Chiropractic's website, ChiroWeb.com, as the choice for chiropractic news and information. PATIENT FINDS RELIEF OF SEVERE HICCUPS FROM CHIROPRACTIC CARE A 58-year old woman found relief from a severe case of hiccups after seeking chiropractic care, reports the May 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Chiropractic Association. The woman first consulted her family medical doctor for her condition, who concluded that her problem was psychosomatic. The doctor recommended psychiatric counseling. The desperate patient then visited a chiropractic clinic, having endured ten straight days of hiccups. Since the onset of her hiccupping, the woman reported that she had lost ten pounds, was feeling depressed and had difficulty sleeping and eating. _______________________________________ RESEARCH BREAST-FEEDING MAY PREVENT OBESITY IN KIDS Two new studies show that breast-feeding may play a role in preventing chubbiness in children, adding to the growing body of evidence of the health benefits of breast-feeding. In one study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, Harvard researchers surveyed about 15,000 children, ages 9 to 14. They found those who were fed only or mostly breast milk during their first six months of life had a 22% lower risk of being overweight during adolescence than those who were mostly or only fed formula as babies. BRAIN STILL DEVELOPING IN MIDDLE AGE, SCANS SHOW While the rest of the body stops growing long beforehand, the brain seems to keep on developing into middle age, new research suggests. The findings could prove important in the prevention of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's, the investigators say. CONSUMER GROUP WARNS OF SPORT SUPPLEMENT DANGERS Few healthy individuals would allow themselves to be guinea pigs for drugs that promise to deliver unsubstantiated results. Yet many teens and adults do just that as they spend money on unregulated dietary supplements, according to a report in the June issue of Consumer Reports. ______________________________________ THE OTHER SIDE DRUG FIRMS USE PERKS TO PUSH PILLS In the past few months, Dr. Joseph Gerstein could have enjoyed a Broadway show, a Texas Rangers baseball game, golf outings and a stay at an Austin, Texas, resort ã all paid for by the prescription drug industry. Gerstein refuses such offers. But such pitches ã he says he gets one free travel offer a week ã raise a growing concern about the role such marketing efforts play in what doctors prescribe for patients and how much the USA spends on drugs. MISUNDERSTANDINGS RIFE ABOUT ANTIBIOTICS In certain cases they are potent disease-fighting tools, but in other cases, such as colds or flu, they may be worse than useless. Some feel that the public may not totally understand the proper use of antibiotics. "When you have a parent come in, who is very upset, very concerned about the child, the pediatrician feels its probably not a bacterial infection, probably it's a viral infection and it will go away on its own but we still give antibiotics because that's what the family wants," said Dr. Robert Macauley of Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Conn. IT PAYS TO LISTEN: THE IMPORTANCE OF DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION Across the country, physicians are meeting in groups to figure out how to communicate better with patients ã or risk having them walking out of their practice forever. A study published in the February Journal of Family Practice found that dissatisfaction with personal interactions, communication of information and trust for their primary care physicians was the major reason about 20% of Massachusetts state employees switched their health plans between 1996 and 1999. _________________