The effects on the population regarding this increased soft drink consumption and the health of individual drinkers was the research topic of a recent study at the Boston University School of Medicine through the Farmingham Heart Study. Researchers found that persons consuming more than one soft drink per day had an increased risk of the factors that are associated with heart disease. Interestingly, both regular and diet soft drinks were seen as equal contributors to these threats to heart health.

These factors of heart disease risk have been clustered into a group of symptoms know as “Metabolic Syndrome.” This grouping includes excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides (fats), elevated glucose lev­els, and a lower level of the good HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein). According to the researchers, three or more of these factors present in the body indicates a higher risk for heart disease and for diabetes as well.

“We were struck by the fact that it didn’t matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present,” said Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., and professor at Boston University School of Medicine. “In those who drink one or more soft drinks daily, there was an association of an increased risk of develop­ing the metabolic syndrome.”

The Farmingham Study involved some 9,000 personal observations made in middle-aged men and women at 3 differ­ent times over a 4 year period. When this study began, researchers immediately observed that persons consuming more than one soft drink per day had a 48 percent higher presence of metabolic syndrome than those consuming one drink or less a day.

Also interesting was the increased risk noted over the course of the study for persons who had no evidence of a meta­bolic risk at the start, but who consumed one or more soft drinks per day. At the end of 4 years, those who consumed this amount of soft drink had a 44 percent higher risk of developing new-onset metabolic syndrome. Also noted for this group was a 31 percent greater risk of developing new on-set obesity, a 30 percent increase in developing increased waist size, a 25 percent increase in triglycerides and glucose levels, and a 32 percent risk of having lower HDL levels. These results were published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

With obesity statistics for American adults and children rising each year and with the onset of diabetes also rising, a return to some of the more healthy dining practices of yesteryear may be something to consider. A glass of milk along with a meal for children and a few sips of water, milk or coffee for adults might be worth a new look in modern day United States. It would certainly present a different picture at a local fast food restaurant with everyone drinking more healthy beverages from a 12 ounce glass rather than soft drinks from a 44 oz. super-sized refillable plastic cup.

Source: The Boston University School of Medicine. “Diet and Regular Soft Drinks Linked to Increase in Risk Factors for Heart Disease.” July 2007. http://www.bu.eduiphpbininews/releases/display.php?id=1376

In Chinese Medicine, chi is known to travel on pathways in the body called meridians or energy channels. Acupuncture can be used to stimulate various points along these meridians to keep the energy flowing or to unblock the flow when something occurs to reduce its flow. The unblocking of a meridian can go a long way to restore good health to a person suffering from some malady.

In conjunction with Acupuncture, or at times when Acupuncture is either not readily available or used, there are some excellent lifestyle considerations and actions that can help to promote the healthy flow of chi. A good, solid energy foundation can be enhanced and life energy boosted by following these good lifestyle practices.

m A healthy, balanced diet is very good for promoting the proper flow of chi. Vegetables, fruits and nuts will be an important component, but meats, fish and fowl are also encouraged. Some excellent chi-fortifying foods include brown rice, carrots, onions, chicken, fish, lamb, potatoes and eggs. Herbs are also important includ­ing ginseng, nutmeg and china root. Mainly, it’s important to choose natural foods with no chemical addi­tives. Consistency in food intake is also considered important with the warning to avoid both over- and under-eating.

• Breath is an vital part of life and breathing deeply brings in more oxygen and activates chi.
• Believe it or not, bright colors in a person’s life are also excellent for chi enhancement. This includes the wearing of bright colored clothing and having colorful flowers in the environment.
• Items and activities known to be “chi robbers” should be avoided. These would include spending too much time in crowed areas, watching an excessive amount of television, talking too much or having too many negative emotions. On the other hand, pleasant and spontaneous activities that a person enjoys are known to enhance the flow of chi.

Keep the energy flowing with Acupuncture together with a healthy lifestyle that enhances chi. And, just as an acupuncturist will tailor an Acupuncture program specific to a person’s needs, so can the acupuncturist be a source of lifestyle, diet and herb suggestions specific to good health and the proper flow of chi energy through the meridi­ans of your body.

Source: Acupuncture.com. “Boost Your Chi Naturally.”
September 2008 http://www.acupuncture.cominewsletters/m_sept08/boost%20chi.htm
and “Secrets of Longevity.” http://acupuncture.cominewsletters/m_aug03/mainl.htm

The story of Michael Phelps and his eight gold medal performance continues to rocket around the globe faster than a 50 meter “splash and dash” race in an Olympic pool. Following immediately on the heels of this record shattering effort is one of even more Herculean significance. Michael Phelps and his family – together -beat the symptoms of ADHD and gave him a drug-free handling.

This does not mean that teachers, psychologists and doctors did not push the drugging choice into Michael’s life. This highly energetic child who could not sit still or be quiet in school did get huge pressure to accept the drugging solution that is almost immediately pushed in our society today. Michael’s mom Debbie, an educator herself, was not happy with this solution and worked to pursue alternatives.

Yes, there was a period of time in Michael’s life where he and his family agreed to give the drugs a try. It ac­tually went on for almost two years prior to Michael’s teenage years. After awhile, Michael decided to say no to the drugs. He decided he could handle the situation without the medication and he did. Swimming provided a major outlet for his energy and certainly a focus for his attention that doctors and teachers, especially, said he’d never be able to achieve without drugs.

Michael’s performance in the Olympics and the way he and his family dealt with his problems is highly laudable and has drawn praise from many. This comment from the board president of the national organization Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) basically says it all.

“It’s important for people living with ADHD to pursue interests they enjoy and at which they excel,” said Marie Paxson, board president. “Phelps’ success demonstrates that being a part of a supportive family, setting goals, engaging in enjoyable activities and receiving positive feedback are all important in the building of self-esteem. Phelps is clearly an exceptionally talented athlete and a source of pride for millions of people affected by ADHD.”

Michael Phelps and his mom Debbie Phelps are to be commended for standing up against the pressures of the drugging industry and beating his symptoms of ADHD with family involvement, athletic activity (in his case) and lots of support. It is hoped that this one person’s ability to embrace a drug-free solution will be an in­spiration to many more youngsters and their families in handling their own ADHD solutions without drugs.

Eight gold medals in one Olympic Games is a truly magnificent performance. If this feat serves to enlighten a world that there are solutions to ADHD that reach beyond drugs, it will be the Olympic story for all times.

Source: Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Press Release. August 2008.
http://www.chadd.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releasesi&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=7437

The U.S. National Institutes of Health recently sponsored a study that involved 302 older adults aged 70 to 82 years old. Researchers worked extensively with this group for 2 weeks to determine how many calories they burned in the course of conducting their daily activities. This calorie-burning activity was dubbed “free-living energy expenditure.”

Some six years after the original test, the researchers got back into contact with partici­pants while collecting mortality figures at the same time. While 58 of the original partici­pants tested in 1998 were no longer living, the rest were still available to provide results in 2006. The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The best news to come out of this study was that death rate decreased as daily energy expenditure increased. For purpose of analysis, it was found that the persons in the highest third of the study in terms of calories burned had a 69 percent lower risk of death than those in the lowest third of the group in terms of energy expended. Specifically, it was esti­mated that for every 287 calories burned per day, an individual reduced their mortality risk by 30 percent.

It was interesting, according to researchers, that no single activity was sited as most significant in terms of results. Doing any kind of activity-be it walking, climbing stairs, engaging in high-intensity exercise or doing house work – all helped to burn calories and reduce mortality.

“Our study suggests that any activity energy expenditure in older adults can help lower mortality risks,” said the study authors. “Efforts to increase or maintain free-living activity energy expenditure will likely improve the health of older adults.”

Therefore, persons who have no strong interest or ability to participate in an exercise program can still benefit from the activity of moving about in the course of living. This may be bad news for health clubs trying to sell memberships to seniors, but it’s good news for anyone who has a willingness to get up and about in the course of daily living. Any exercise that burns calories can be beneficial.

Source: The National Institutes of Health Weight Control Information Network “Young and Old Alike Benefit from Exercise and Physical Activity”. Winter 2006. http://win.niddk.nih.gov/notes/winter07/winnotes_winter07.htm#res-not2 and the Journal of American Medicine. Press Release. “Higher Levels of Common Daily
Activity Associated with Lower Risk of Death”. http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2006j/0711.dtl#higher

That’s what researchers at the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine wanted to find out when they embarked on an anticipated laughter study. Their goal was to determine if they could detect positive changes in the body of a person who was anticipating the enjoyment of a future event.

Sixteen men at Loma Linda University volunteered for the experiment. The study involved the entire group sitting down and watching a funny video. Half of the group was informed 3 days in advance that this is what was going to occur. The rest of the group received no such advance infor­mation.

Researchers then tested the entire group to see if the movie had any effect on hormones in their body that affected stress. Interesting changes were noted in the group that had the advance information. Those men who watched the video had an average 39 percent decrease in cortisol, a 38 percent drop in dopac and a 70 percent reduction of epinephrine. These are all known to be hormones related to stress. At the same time, their endorphin level went up 27 percent and their growth hormone levels rose 87 percent. According to researchers, endorphins and growth hor­mones are known to reduce the effects of stress and have a beneficial effect on the immune system.

Interestingly, none of these positive changes were experienced by the 8 men who were not told they would be watching a funny video.

This information raises some interesting possibilities for dealing with stress and helping people to stay healthy, according to Lee Berk, an assistant professor of family medicine at the Susan Samueli Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. “This study shows that even know­ing you will be involved in a positive, humorous event days in advance reduces levels of stress hor­mones in the blood and increases levels of chemicals known to aid relaxation,” said Berk. This has profound implications for complementary treatment of disease and for maintaining a person’s well­ness.”

Using this data, it makes good sense to plan a date in the future to do something enjoyable, rather than running out on the spur of the moment. A person can really get their full value out of an event by making a plan to do it, fully anticipating its arrival and then enjoying it in the moment. It seems that planning to have a good laugh is just about as valuable as the laughter itself.

Source: The University of California, Irvine. “Expecting a Laugh Boosts Stress-Busting Hormones.” Press Release. November 2002. http://www.today.uci.eduinews/release_detail.asp?key=942

The following is the opening line of the letter: “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an inspection of Merck and Company, Inc., West Point, Pennsylvania, between 2007 and January 17, 2008. During the inspection, the FDA investigators documented significant devi­ations from current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) in the manufacture of licensed biologi­cal vaccine products, bulk drug substances and drug components.”

Numerous failures and inadequacies were sited in the FDA letter. These were particularly noticeable in the areas of controls on production, quality of product, strength and purity. Here are examples of the numerous items detailed:

• Failure to establish test procedures or other laboratory control mechanisms designed to assure that drug products conform to appropriate standards of identity, strength, quality, and purity.
• Failure to assure that equipment used in the manufacture, processing, packing and holding of a drug product is calibrated, inspected, or checked according to a written program designed to assure proper performance.
• Failed to assure that container closure systems provide adequate protection against fore­seeable external factors in storage and use that can cause deterioration or contamination of bulk drug substances and sterile solutions used in production.
• Failure to exercise appropriate controls over computer or related systems to assure that changes in master production are instituted and input and output from the computer or related system of formulas are checked for accuracy and maintained.

Production of two vaccines was halted at this facility last year when 1.2 million doses of PedvaxHlB and Comvax were recalled for sterility reasons following discovery in October. The plant also produces ProQuad for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox protection; hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningitis vaccines for children and adults; and Gardasis, used to protect young women against cervical cancer.

As of April 2008 the FDA has given Merck a period of 15 days to respond. If this demand is not met, the FDA can take further enforcement action if the items mentioned in the warning let­ter are not promptly and adequately corrected.

Source: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Warning Letter. April 2008. http://www.fda.gov/foi/waming_letters/s6756c.htm and http://www.fda.gov/cber/faq/merckga.htm

The investigation into alleged billing inequities began some 7 years ago. It was brought to government attention by a private citizen, known as a whistleblower. The suit, known as a qui tam, allows the whistleblower to take the position of suing for “the government as well as for himself” This allows the person initiating the suit to receive a percentage of the settlement.

Drug companies are required by law to report to the government the lowest cost they are selling a product to any of their buyers. This would ensure that Medicaid programs get the same discounts that are being offered to any other purchasing organization. According to the suit, Merck was hiding the fact that steep discounts were being offered to hospitals while higher prices were being charged to Medicaid.

Several drugs were involved in the higher priced billing, including Vioxc^® and Zocor^®. The civil resolution of this suit involved the federal government, the District of Columbia and all 49 states that participate in the Medicaid prescription drug program. Two separate matters were included, one in Louisiana and one in Pennsylvania. The amount of settlement for the matter in Louisiana totaled $250 million. The agreement reached for the suit in Philadelphia came to $399 million. Interest charges brought the total settlement to $671 million.

As part of the settlement, Merck also agreed to enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This compliance program includes specific policies and procedures that govern a com­pany’s interaction with healthcare professionals and is designed to prevent, detect and resolve potential violations of law and policy.

In agreeing to the settlement, Merck pointed out that their acceptance did not constitute an admission of any liability or wrongdoing by the company. Also, in bowing to the corporate integrity agreement, they were quick to point out that the company had already instituted some of their own policies and procedures governing their sales and marketing divisions going back to 2001.

Attorneys for the case pointed out several landmark occurrences in this case. This was the first case in history that involved a recovery from an investigation in the marketing of Zocor^® and Vioxx^®. It was also the first fully-coordinated whistleblower-federal-state Medicaid fraud investigation. It was also the second largest False Claims Act recovery involving federal and state Medicaid programs.

Sources: Merck & Co. Inc. Press Release. “Merck Resolves Federal and State Investigations Related to Certain Past Pricing and Certain Past Sales and Marketing
Activities.” http://www.merck.com/newsroom/press_releases/corporate/2008_0207.html and PRforLAW. Press Release. “Merck Pays More Than $400 Million to Settle Federal, State Medicaid Fraud Investigation…” http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080207/neth077.html?.v.36

The importance of such a study is certainly made clear knowing that over 780,000 adults in the United States experience a stroke each year. It is usually fatal for about 150,000 of these peo­ple. It is rated the number one cause of long-term disability in the country and ranks as the num­ber three cause of death.

More than 61,000 people participated in a study at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, Texas, which began in 1970 and ended in 2001. Participants who entered the study were fol­lowed for an average of 18 years each. They ranged in age from 18 to 100 years old, none of whom had any known cardiovascular disease. Of those who participated 46,405 were men and 15,282 were women. During the course of the study, 863 participants had strokes – 692 of the men and 171 of the women.

When the test began, each person took a treadmill test to determine their level of cardiorespi­ratory fitness. They were then divided into four separate groups based on their results.

What researchers found was that the top quartile of male participants had a 40 percent lower risk of stroke than did the men in the bottom quartile. Additionally, they found that the benefits of exercise also extended to those who engaged in a moderate level of exercise described as about a 30 minute brisk walk 5 days per week. Interestingly, the positive effects of the exercise out­weighed such potentials for causing ill health such as smoking, history of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and alcohol intake.

Moreover, he same benefits were noted among women participants. Those in the highest quartile of fitness had a 43 percent lower risk of stroke than did those in the bottom level fitness group. “We found that a low-to-moderate amount of aerobic fitness for men and women across the whole adult age spectrum would be enough to substantially reduce stroke risk,” said study leader Steven Hooker, Ph.D.

Even though study participants were mainly white, well-educated and of middle upper income and more research is needed in other ethnic groups and lifestyle levels, it does show that stroke risk factors can be positively addressed through exercise. Even if a person does not have a tread­mill or aerobic exercise equipment available, a walk in the countryside, in the shopping mall or a good hike with a friend or relative could fit the bill. Just get out and walk for 30 minutes, 5 times a week, and your chance of a debilitating stroke will be considerably reduced.

Source: Science Daily. “Moderate Level of Aerobic Fitness May Lower Stroke Risk.” Press Release February 2008.
http://www.sciencedaily.corn/releases/2008/02/080221161356.htm

Milwaukee and other cities are working hand-in-hand with an organization known as Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA) to provide information and incentives for local businesses and organizations that offer wellness programs to their employees. In addition to Milwaukee, these municipalities are now involved: Greeley, CO., Fort Collins, CO., Fremont, NE., Morgantown, WV., Charleston, SC., and Mesa County, CO.

The aim of the campaign is to get business organizations motivated toward providing and pro­moting wellness programs to their employees. When this happens, the employees, the company, and, hopefully, entire cities and regions of the country benefit as well.

“More and more organizations are recognizing the contribution healthy lifestyles can have on the health and well-being of our entire region,” said Dick Tillmar who is the Co-chairman of the Well City Milwaukee campaign. “We’ll not only benefit from lower healthcare costs and healthier, more productive employees, but we’ll all benefit from making our region a healthier, more attrac­tive place to work, live and play.”

The Well City Milwaukee group is receiving excellent support throughout their community. It’s become a partnership that includes the City of Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. The initiative gained strength with the recent addition of the YMCA, the Wellness Council of Wisconsin and several associations with healthcare providers and local businesses.

The area is now engaged in a 3-year campaign to get at least 20 percent of area workers employed by Well City award earning companies. When that happens, Milwaukee will be awarded Well City status with WELCOA. So far, nine cities and locales around the United States have achieved this status. They are: Jacksonville, FL., Omaha, NE., Chattanooga, TN., Hobart, IN., Lincoln, NE., Kearney, NE., Kanawha Valley, WV., Gainesville, FL., and Bangor, ME.

Well City Milwaukee launched a website on Valentine’s Day to provide information on the ini­tiative, data on how employers can get involved, plus numerous resources and support for compa­nies who wish to provide better wellness programs for their employees. “We are really gaining momentum,” said Co-chairperson Mary Meechan. “Our commitment to bringing the entire com­munity into the initiative is paving the way for participation and support from corporations across the community.”

Source: Well City Milwaukee. Press Release. “The City of Milwaukee gets Special Valentine.”

Researchers in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, England were curious as well. In addition to wanting to know, they also wanted to find out if people’s reasons had changed from a similar query back in 1988. The information assembled came from a survey of 9,408 British Acupuncture patients. Some of the demographics, reasons for treatment and who paid for the office visits are quite interesting.

The first finding of the study is that women are more likely to visit an Acupuncturist than men – 74 percent of the patients were women. Their average age was 51 years, and 87 percent of the patients had received Acupuncture at least once before. Of note is that 95 percent paid for treatment out of their own pocket.

The most common problem reported, with relief for symptoms being sought, was for muscu­loskeletal issues at 38 percent. This was followed by psychological concerns at 11 percent, general (unspecified) at 9 percent, neurological problems at 8 percent, and gynecological/obstetric prob­lems at 8 percent. An additional 5 percent of the patients said they were seeking treatment for their own “general well-being.”

As for what prompted them to become an Acupuncture patient, a self-referral was most com­mon with 39 percent of the visits falling into this category. However, 78 percent of the patients surveyed said they had discussed their problems or symptoms with a doctor.

The study results compared to 1988 were quite limited, but researchers did point out that the number of people seeking help for musculo skeletal problems had dropped significantly. To the researchers, this indicated a wider case mix (a greater variety of reasons for people seeking treat­ment) than among patients from 20 years ago.

Acupuncture brings over 5,000 years of help and treatment knowledge to bear on numerous conditions. Help can be only a single treatment away or achieved through a series of visits over a specified time period. Solutions are drug-free and generally quite painless. Whatever the symp­toms, there is a good chance there is a solution waiting with a visit to an acupuncturist.

Source: Chiro.org. “Patients Seeking Care from Acupuncture Practitioners in the UK: A National Survey.” March 2006.
http://www.chiro.org/acupuncture/ABSTRACTS/Patients_Seeking_Care.shtml

This evidence comes from a recent study that used new detection methods to determine if a child was harmed by an administered medication. The study was conducted through the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality and the results were published in Pediatrics, the offi­cial journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A new monitoring method was developed for this study which named 15 different “triggers” on a young patient’s medical chart that could suggest that an adverse drug event (ADE) had occurred. Using these identifying “triggers” the ADE could then be evaluated for severity of the incident, the ability to mitigate any circumstances connected with it, the ability to identify an ear­lier event of a similar nature and also to be able to do an analysis for future preventability. Previous statistics relied solely on hospital staffers reporting problems and lead to a much lower detection rate than using the new method of discovery.

The study evaluated 960 randomly selected medical charts from 12 different children’s hospi­tals. Researchers evaluated the charts looking for the specific “triggers” that would indicated an adverse reaction in a child. What they found was an adverse reaction of 11.1 per 100 patients, 15.7 per 1,000 patient-days in a hospital and 1.23 per 1,000 doses of medication. It was found that a number of the children had more than one incident of an adverse reaction. Data showed that roughly 1 in every 15 children hospitalized suffered from some form of adverse reaction.

Basically, the study shows that the rate of medical error is much higher than previously thought, according to Dr. Charles Homer of the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality. “These data and the Dennis Quaid episode are telling us that these kinds of errors and experiencing harm as a result of your healthcare is much more common that people believe. It’s very concerning,” he said. (Regarding actor Dennis Quaid, in the fall of 2007, whereby his twin daughters each received a dangerously high dose of the drug heparin as a result of a medical mix-up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.)

This “trigger” study showed that 22 percent of all adverse drug events were considered to be preventable. In addition, 17.8 percent could have been identified earlier and 16.8 percent could have been handled better. It was also noted that using the traditional staffer reporting system, only about 3.7 percent of the incidents would ever have been identified. Advances made by this study could be very significant in reducing such events in hospitals in the future.

Source: Kid Chiropractic. “Drug Errors Hurt 1 in 15 Hospitalized Kids.” April 2008. www.kidchiropractic.com

bring a new life into their family.

A survey was recently undertaken to determine if Acupuncture is a complementary approach to improve the success rate of in vitro fertilization. The study was undertaken at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Integrative Medicine. Eric Manheimer of the Center and colleagues conducted a systematic review spurred on by the fact that Acupuncture has been used in China for centuries to help regulate the female reproductive system.

With this in mind, the review team analyzed the results of seven different clinical trials of women who had undergone in vitro fertilization. They wanted to see if pregnancy results were improved through the use of Acupuncture. The study looked into the data of some 1,366 women. The comparisons were drawn between those women who had received Acupuncture treatment within one day of embryo transfer and those who did not. Assessments were made against those who had either received sham Acupuncture or no additional treatment.

The reviewers found from their analysis that Acupuncture, given as a complement to in vitro fertilization, increased the odds of achieving pregnancy over sham treatment or no treatment at all. The researchers said the results indicated that one additional pregnan­cy would result for every 10 women who received Acupuncture. While the researchers did indicate that more study needs to be done into this area, the findings did show an increased pregnancy rate of 10 percent with Acupuncture.

The results of this study were published recently on-line by the British Medical Journal.

University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Integrative Medicine is one of two schools that shared in a $1.1 million grant in 2005 to examine the role Acupuncture plays in improving pregnancy rates among couples who try in vitro fertiliza­tion. The center received $400,000 of that grant money from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

Source: Science Daily. Press Release, “Acupuncture Shows Promise in Improving Rates Of Pregnancy Following IVF.” February 2008. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210085601.htm and Acupuncture Today. December 2005. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=30260

“Wrong-site surgeries in Pennsylvania should never occur,” said Dr. Stan Smullens who is vice-president of the Patient Safety Authority Board of Directors. “However, every other day in Pennsylvania we have a report of a wrong-site surgery being caught either before or after the start of an operation.”

The causes of these problems are multiple, according to the Authority, including the fol­lowing: multiple procedures and/or multiple surgeries being performed; communication breakdowns; time pressures; incomplete preoperative assessments; and organizational cultural factors that are not conducive to promoting teamwork, such as an attitude that a surgeon’s decisions should never be questioned.

Dr. Smullens went on to further comment on the types of errors involved. “Of those events that reached the patient in the operating room, 69 percent were wrong side surgeries, 14 percent were wrong body part surgeries, 9 percent were wrong procedure and 8 percent were wrong patient.” The extremities of the body, the eyes and the spine were the areas of the patient’s body where the errors most frequently occurred. Orthopedic and ophthalmolog­ic procedures were the most common for wrong-site surgeries.

And, how does the state of Pennsylvania compare to the rest of the nation in reporting this apparent high level of medical error? “Wrong-site surgeries are no more common in Pennsylvania than they are in other states,” said Dr. Smullens. “We also have in common with other states the problem of trying to fix them.”

Some protocols have been established in the state in an attempt to reduce the problem. Basically, it starts with a commitment in each hospital and hospital organization’s leadership to fully attend to patient safety. Some simple reminders as posters and special stickers are placed in hospitals to promote a “time out” before a surgery starts. This is done to be certain that the procedure is being performed correctly and that it is being done on the right patient.

Additionally, patients and family members are an important component in making certain that procedures are correct. “We’ve developed a consumer tip sheet that provides patients and family members with advice to ensure they participate in their healthcare and reduce the like­lihood of a wrong-site surgery,” said Dr. Smullens.

Source: The State of Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. Press Release. “Patient Safety Authority Releases Wrong-Site Data.” June 2007.
http://www.psa.state.pa.usipsdlib/psa/press_releases/press_release_wrong_site_2.pdf

This figure comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To arrive at this total, a CDC study reviewed 2004-2005 data provided through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. The information came from a cooperative adverse drug event surveillance project done to describe emergency department visits due specifically to cough and cold medications. The results were published online in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, Pediatrics.

The study noted that approximately two-thirds of the incidents requiring emergency room treatment were due to “unsupervised ingestion.” This would fall into the category of children taking the medication without a parent’s knowledge or supervision. Children between the ages of 2 to 5 accounted for 64 percent of the adverse drug events from

cough and cold medications. More than 80 percent of these cases involved an “unsuper­vised ingestion.” Among all age groups, 93 percent of the children did not require a hos­pital admission, but one-fourth did need additional treatment to eliminate the medicine from their bodies.

“Parents need to be vigilant about keeping these medicines out of their children’s reach,” said Dr. Denise Cardo, director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion for CDC. “They should refrain from encouraging children to take medicine by telling the children that medication is candy.” Dr. Cardo also suggested that adults should avoid tak­ing adult medications in the presence of their young children as this may encourage a child to do the same without the proper supervision.

On January 17, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advi­sory recommending that over the counter cough and cold medications not be used for children. Several months earlier an advisory committee of the FDA had reached the same conclusion. In anticipation of these actions, major manufactures of cough and cold med­ications had begun voluntarily withdrawing these medications from the market in November.

Currently, the FDA is continuing an investigation into the safety of cough and cold medications for children ages 2 to 11. In the meantime, the FDA warns that parents should definitely not give cold and cough medications to younger children that were intended for older children. One final advisory to parents is that they should dispose of any previously purchased products that were intended for children age 2 and younger.

Source: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Press Release. January 2008. http://www.cdc.goviod/oc/media/pressrel/2008/t080128.htm

The FAA was quick to respond to a report provided by a medical safety group that found evi­dence for health reactions that could prove detrimental to pilots. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices studied Chantix and found that users could suffer seizures, loss of consciousness, heart attacks, vision problems and a variety of psychiatric instabilities. Approximately 150 pilots and 30 controllers are known to use the medication. (The Institute for Safe Medication Practices is the nation’s only nonprofit organization devoted entirely to medication error prevention and safe med­ication use.)

When a new drug comes on the market, the FAA is slow to approve it for use by pilots. After the FDA gives its approval for a medication to be used by the general public, the FAA requires a waiting period of one year to assess its safety for people who are trusted with airplanes. So when Chantix was approved by the FDA in 2006, it wasn’t allowed for pilots and controllers until July of 2007.

By November of 2007, the FDA was beginning to get reports that there might be a problem with Chantix. At the same time, the FAA’s Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Fred Tilton was becoming aware of anecdotal information circulating about the drug. “There were indications, but no clear data,” he said. “We don’t just act indiscriminately.”

However, when more conclusive data began to surface, Dr. Tilton’s Office of Aerospace Medicine was quick to move forward with the ban. To make certain the word got out, the FAA sent a notice to all registered pilots and air controllers. Aviation medication examiners across the United States, major pilot associations and the air traffic controllers union were all quickly notified. It is very evident that the Federal Air Surgeon and his team took the threat of Chantix-caused health problems very seriously.

Following on the heels of the FAA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a statement prohibiting the certification of commercial vehicle operators (truck and bus drivers) who use Chantix. Also, 32,000 U.S. veterans, some of whom participated in Chantix safety studies, will be receiving a warning letter that alerts them to the possibilities of adverse Chantix reactions.

Currently, approximately 6.5 million people in the United States take Chantix. The product was recently approved for sale in the United Kingdom as well. Chantix is purported to help smokers quit the habit by easing withdrawal symptoms and also blocking the desire to take up the habit in the future. The drug has become a top seller for Pfizer, Inc. but the issuing of new prescriptions have fallen off markedly following these announcements.

Source: The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration. “Anti-Smoking Medicine Chantix Banned:’ May 2008 http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=56363

This continues the rising trend of life expectancy in the United States over the past 50 years. Back in 1955, the life expectancy for Americans was only 69.6 years. By 1995, it had increased to 75.8 years. Now, for 2005, life expectancy is up again over just a decade ago to 77.9 years.

These figures are complied by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is based on approximately 99 percent of death records reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for 2005. This research documents the latest trends and the leading cause of death and infant mortality rate.

“This report highlights the continued reduction in deaths from the three leading killers in the United States – heart disease, cancer and stroke – which is most likely due to better prevention efforts and medical advances in the treatments of these diseases,” said Hsiang-Ching Kung, a survey statistician with NCHS and one of the report’s authors. “If death rates from certain leading causes of death continue to decline, we should continue to see improvements in life expectancy.”

Several statistics were of particular interest in the report. The life expectancy for the white population is a bit higher than for African Americans. Whites can expect to live 78.3 years, while the expectation for African Americans is 73.2 years. While deaths from the top 3 killers – heart attack, cancer and stroke – dropped, deaths from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease both increased by approximately 5% in 2005 over 2004 totals. Alzheimer’s is the 7th leading cause of death and Parkinson’s ranks 14th.

Increasingly, individuals and the companies they work for are pointing in the direc­tion of taking full advantage of health and wellness programs. A higher awareness of the benefits of a proper diet, reduced smoking, vitamin intake and exercise can all con­tribute to longevity and to putting more life in people’s years. With more public uti­lization of good health programs, attention to personal fitness and wise choices offered through alternative medical treatment, it may take only a couple more decades for life expectancy to top the 80 year old mark.

Source: The National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Press Release. “U.S Life Expectancy Hits New High of Nearly 78 Years.” February 2008. http://www.cdc.govinchs/pressroom/07newsreleases/lifeexpectancy.htm

Osteoporosis, meaning “porous bone”, is a decrease in bone mass and density with an increased risk of fracture and has long been perceived as a problem of insufficient dietary calcium, one of the primary build­ing blocks of bone. The condition occurs with aging in men and women but is seen most often in women fol­lowing menopause.

Numerous studies have since shown that calcium supplements are virtually useless for preventing or treating osteoporosis, and that soft tissue calcification can be a serious risk factor when too much calcium enters the system and cannot be used by the body as nature intended. But calcium supplements continue to be heavily advertised for the purpose of preventing osteoporosis, and millions of women continue taking them.

Magnesium, however, is required by the body to utilize calcium correctly, as well as for many other vital functions. We cannot live without magnesium, and the lower the cellular level of magnesium, the faster dis­ease states develop and the faster aging progresses.

A total dietary program emphasizing magnesium instead of calcium has proven effective for preventing bone loss.

Dr. Guy Abraham suggested that postmenopausal osteoporosis is predominately a chronic magnesium deficiency, facilitated by estrogen withdrawal during the postmenopausal period. To test the theory, 19 post­menopausal women on hormonal replacement therapy were given 500 mg calcium supplements (50% of RDA) and 600 mg of magnesium (200% of RDA). Serial bone density studies were conducted every 3 months. Subjects receiving the treatment showed an 11% increase in mean bone density versus 0.7% in the untreated group.

Results also showed that the magnesium-emphasized program resulted in bone densities 16 times greater than that of simple dietary advice. At the start of the study, 15 subjects were below the fracture threshold. After a year of treatment with magnesium supplementation, only 7 of them were below the fracture thresh­old.

Dr. Abraham also suggested raising the RDA of magnesium to 1000 mg/day and lowering the RDA for calcium to 500 mg/day. His proposed daily intake for calcium would be more in line with the World Health Organization’s “practical allowance” of 400 to 500 mg daily for adults. Such a reversal of the magnesium/calcium ratio would most probably lower the incidence and prevalence of many other degenera­tive diseases as well.

SOURCES: Dr. Lam.com, 1999, http://www.drlam.com/A3R_brief in_doc_format/1999-No3-
MagnesiumandAging.cfm#CommonSymptomsofMagneshunDeficiency

Hospital-associated infections are the 6 highest cause of death in the United States as reported by the Centers for Disease Control in March 2007. “Nurses are the hospitals’ safety officers,” said Columbia’s assistant professor of nursing Patricia W. Stone. “However, nursing units that are understaffed and that have overworked nurses are shown to have poor patient outcomes. Improvements in nurse working conditions are necessary for the safety of our nation’s sickest patients.”

The study looked into the records of 15,846 patients who received treatment in 51 intensive care units in 31 hospitals. A total of 1,095 nurses were surveyed. A wide variety of working condi­tions for nurses were taken into consideration including hospital organization, staffing, overtime and wages. Also considered was hospital profitability and Magnet Accreditation (a national pro­gram recognizing excellence in nursing working conditions in hospitals). The Centers for Disease Control, the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System and Medicare files were studied for patient data. (Nosocomial means taking place or originating in a hospital.)

The findings revealed that hospital ICUs with higher staffing had lower incidence of infections that are the common cause of mortality in intensive care settings. Additionally, patient problems such as ventilator-associated pneumonia and skin ulcers, which are common among hospitalized patients who cannot be moved regularly, were also reduced in units with high staffing levels. Patients were also less likely to die within 30 days in these higher-staffed units. Finally, with increased overtime hours in ICUs, increased rates of additional problems occurring through catheter-associated urinary tract infections were also noted.

“Our careful analysis found that decisions related to staffing, overtime, and overall work envi­ronment directly affected patient safety outcomes,” said Andrew W. Dick, a senior health econo­mist at the RAND Corporation and a co-author of this study. “Involvement from hospital adminis­trators, staffing professionals, legislators and consumers is needed in order to address problems in the ICU work environment. Our hope is that with concentrated efforts, we can prevent hospital infections and improve patient safety in ICUs.”

The report suggested that adding a trained and qualified “float nurse” could be a way to relieve pressure on the nursing staff. It also called for a systematic improvement in working conditions in all ICUs that could have a direct and positive affect on safe and effective patient care.

Source: The Columbia University School of Nursing May 2007 ttp://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/press_releases/stone_nurse_working_conditions.html

This long-term study was undertaken by The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders. The organization produced a 236-page review of the current research on neck pain and published its results in the journal Spine. A multi-national and inter-disciplinary study team included Canadian, American, South American, Australasian and European researchers.

“Neck pain is not a trivial condition for many people,” says Task Force president Dr. Scott Haldeman, clinical professor, Department of Neurology at the University of California, Irvine, and adjunct professor, Department of Epidemiology University of California Los Angeles. “It can be associated with headaches, arm and upper back pain and depression. Whether it arises from sports injuries, car collisions, workplace issues or stress, it can be incapacitating. Understanding the best way to diagnose and manage this problem is of high importance for those who are suffering and for those who manage and pay for its care.”

Researchers suggested that people suffering from neck pain should avoid using neck brace devices in an attempt to handle the condition. Also, they failed to find favor with corticosteroid injections and surgery. Treatments with corticosteroid injections and surgery for neck pain relief should only be considered when there is associated extreme pain in the arm or in the case of a fracture or a serious disease. Surgery should be seen only as a last resort for severe and persistent pain.

Which alternative therapy a neck pain sufferer should embark upon was not designated by researchers. They did advise that alternative treatments to manipulate the neck should be considered. Often, relief can be provided through Chiropractic adjustments as well as the intervention offered through Acupuncture and massage.

Researchers cautioned consumer awareness toward anyone that makes a “big claim” to solve neck pain. They also suggested that some relief should be noticed within 2-4 weeks of beginning treatment. If there is little or no relief after this amount of time, another form of alternative therapy should be considered.

Source: Bone and Joint Decade Task Force. Press Release. “Seven Year Neck Pain Study Sheds Light on Best Care.” February 2008. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2008/15/c2658.html

Researchers in Spain under the direction of Dr. Jorge Vas, M.D., surveyed 5,981 patients who received Acupuncture treatment over a 9-year period. Their aim was to determine the effectiveness of treatment programs in helping patients deal with pain. A telephone survey was conducted to inter­view each of the patients. Persons with cancer-related pain were not included in the study.

In undertaking this task, researchers recorded the type of pain medications taken by each patient prior to beginning their Acupuncture regimen and at the end of their treatment plan. They also recorded information about the retail cost of those drugs. A 5-point scale was then used to assess consumption of the pain-reducing drugs, as follows:

0: No painkillers were required.

1: Occasional painkiller use, but below the recommended amount.

2: Using the recommended dosages in accordance with clinical guidelines.

3: Taking an increased dosage from the recommended amount.

4: The continued increase of painkiller types and amounts.

First off, it was interesting to note from the study’s findings that of the 5,670 patients who com­pleted the survey, there were no adverse reactions recorded from Acupuncture treatment. Next, headache sufferers enjoyed the greatest relief from their pain. In addition, headache sufferers had the greatest dollar savings on drugs. Finally, persons with sub-acute (less than severely sharp) pain expe­rienced a greater degree of relief than those with continuing or chronic painful symptoms.

Upon further assessing the information collected, here is what the researchers discovered about Acupuncture and drug cost savings:

1. The average savings in drug costs was $9.70 per week per patient.
2. The greatest savings was for patients with headaches at $35.70 per week. 3. The smallest savings was for patients with neck pain at $9.02 per week.

“The favorable response rate obtained for most of the patients, the absence of severe adverse events and the reduction in the consumption of analgesic (pain reducing) and anti-inflammatory drugs all suggest that our experience could profitably be extended to other primary healthcare clinics for the treatment of nonmalignant pain,” said the researchers.

Source: Acupuncture Today. October 2007. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31586

But what about younger athletes? Has the search for better athletic performance found its way into our youth programs? To what extent has the search for heightened ability on the playing field reached the high school level?

According to a 2007 survey of 48,025 students who attend 403 public and private schools in the United States, the use of steroids was deemed to be remarkably high. In this study, 2.2 per­cent of high school seniors reported that they had used a steroid drug at least once in their life­time.

Anabolic and androgenic steroids are synthetic hormones that increase a person’s metabolism and are aimed at producing greater muscle growth and strength. Basically, they are simulated sex hormones that cause the body to develop at a faster rate and produce greater physical strength. While the use of these enhancing substances is banned by professional sports governing bodies and considered illegal in many countries, this does not seem to stop athletes from seeking them out at every level of sport.

“Steroid use among America’s youth who are emulating professional athletes is a serious problem that can lead to serious and often disastrous health outcomes including baldness, acne, nausea, liver damage, even heart disease and stroke,” says Gerald W. Clum, D.C., who is presi­dent of Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, Calif.

Dr. Clum warns student athletes away from taking steroids as youngsters will usually be disap­pointed that steroid use will not produce the promised results. At the same time, they can have some potentially deadly ramifications. He warns parents to be aware of changes in a child that could signal steroid use.

“It is imperative for parents to be on the alert for signs of steroid use, especially among teenage athletes,” said Dr. Clum. “When teens become overly concerned about physical perform­ance, undergo significant changes in their physical appearance, exhibit serious mood swings or rage-like behavior, these could be signals of steroid use.”

A consultation with a natural healthcare provider about healthy diets and exercise can lead to enhanced performance in a very natural way. Parents who are concerned that a child might be taking measures to enhance their performance would be wise to check with their chiropractor or acupuncturist about the warning signs. Together, they could work toward a solution and offer an educational program that would lead to the performance level the youth seeks, but in a very healthy and safe manner.

Source: The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. “Steroid Use Among American Youth Alarms Health Professionals.” March 2007. http://www.f4cp.com/press_releases/SteroidUseAmongAmericanYouthAlarmsHealthProfessionals.htm

Gardasil is aimed at preventing the cancer-causing risks of the Genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which is considered to be the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. Of the 30-some known strains of the virus, many are not harmful and go away on their own. Fifteen known strands of the virus can lead to cancer, with two of them causing the most cases. The drug Gardasil is aimed at protecting woman from only four of these known viruses.

The FDA approved Gardasil in June of 2006 after only 6 months of review. Typically, new drugs are reviewed for at least 10 month, but cancer drugs are often put on this fast-track approval process. Gardasil received unanimous approval from the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) and full FDA approval followed soon after. Since then, it is reported that some 8 million young women between the ages of 9 and 26 have been injected. Three separate doses of the drug are given over a 6 month period at $120 each for a total of $360.

Now it has been learned by the watchdog group Judicial Watch that there have been 8,864 adverse reaction reports to the FDA since Gardasil was approved. These include the 18 deaths, 140 “serious” complications (27 considered life threatening), as well as 45 spontaneous abortions or miscarriages, plus cases of neurological disorders and blood clots.

As these issues come to light, parents and young women will have decisions to make regard­ing the advertised benefits of the drug versus a growing number of adverse reaction reports. “Given all the questions about Gardasil, the best public health policy would be to reevaluate its safety and to prohibit its distribution to minors. In the least, governments should rethink any efforts to mandate or promote this vaccine for children,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.

This seems sage advice given the fact that Merck is advertising this drug by alleging to protect women from cancer, and while it does not even know if Gardasil itself might cause cancer! A report to the FDA on Merck’s testing protocol said this: “Gardasil has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity or genotoxicity.” In plain language this means, that they don’t know if Gardasil causes cancer or genetic damage to the cells that can cause cancer.

Merck also doesn’t know for sure how Gardasil will react when given in conjunction with any one of the common teenage vaccines. One in particular is the Menactra^® vaccine for meningitis. Some very severe reactions to this vaccine alone are part of the 8,864 reports.

Additionally, while Merck says that Gardasil should not be given to pregnant woman, they have not studied the potential for adverse effects on nursing mothers and breastfed babies.

Finally, there is no information known on how this drug will affect the future fertility of women currently taking it as well as the fertility of the next generation. Basically, this will only become known after 20 to 30 years when the women who are being experimented on now have additional adverse reactions with the future generations.

Questions have been raised as to whether a drug to protect young women against cancer is even a necessity. According to the American Cancer Society, cervical cancer deaths have decreased dramatically in the past several decades. Between 1955 and the early 1990s there has been a 74 percent decline in cervical deaths, which now continues to decline at a rate of 4 percent per year. The Society estimates that cervical cancer deaths in 2008 will be around 11,000. The majority of these occur in women in their 40s.

Considering all of this, here are some important items to weigh in making a decision to take Gardasil:

• Long-term effectiveness is an unknown, as is whether or not a booster shoot will be required in the future.
• It is still not really known if the drug will prevent cancer, cause future cancers, or if there will be other unforeseen consequences.
• Safety tests on the drug are not slated to be finished until September 2009.

It is also known that the major reason Merck was anxious to fast-track Gardasil to the market was to beat out rival drug maker GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix. Well, they won the race to the mar­ket, but at what price to the health and safety of the world’s young women? The results are start­ing to come in and many of them aren’t very pretty.

Source: Judicial Watch. “Judicial Watch Uncovers New FDA Records Detailing Ten New Deaths and 140 ‘Serious’ Adverse Events Related to Gardasil.” June 2008. http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2008/jun/judicial-watch-uncovers-new-fda-records-detailing-ten-new-deaths-140-serious-adverse-e and “Examining the FDA’s IIPV Vaccine Records.” July 2008. http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/2008/JWReportFDAhpvVaccineRecords.pdf

The test was conducted in Henan, China, at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Luohe Medical Higher Training School. Here 60 patients who had undergone orthopedic surgery were divided into two equal groups. The first group of 30 received Acupuncture and the second 30 comprised a medication group.

The patients in the Acupuncture group received treatment at two separate points. The first, known as Xuanzhong (GB39) is a specific point located several inches above the malleolus bone near the ankle joint. (This is the pronounced bump on the outside of the ankle just above the heel.) A second location of Acupuncture treatment know as an Ashi Point was also used on each person. (An Ashi point is a general term for a tender or painful place on a person’s body where Acupuncture is performed. These are not fixed points but are unique to each indi­vidual.) Acupuncture treatments lasted for 30 minutes.

The members of the medication group were treated by intramuscular injection of Bezoxazocine. They received a 20 mg injection a total of 3 times each day.

The results of the study showed that Acupuncture provided superior pain reduction over treatment with medication. The criterion used was the “good rate” of pain reduction at 24 hours and at 48 hours respectively following surgery.

Members of the Acupuncture group showed good rates of 89.2% at 24 hours while the medication group only achieved 81.4%. At 48 hours, the good rate for Acupuncture was 100% with the medication group achieving 96.3%. From these results, the researchers were able to report that Acupuncture at the GB39 and Ashi points has a better analgesic effect than does the more commonly used injection of medication.

Source: Acupuncture.com. “Acupuncture…Points for the Treatment of Orthopedic Postoperative Pain.” March 2008. http://www.acupuncture.cominewsletters/m_mai08/res.htm

Actual Acupuncture was compared to sham (minimal Acupuncture) treatment in the cases of 864 persons involved in four different clinical trials. The study was conducted by Klause Linde and colleagues from the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research of Munich, Germany.

Patients were asked the following two questions before receiving three treatments. How effective do you consider Acupuncture in general? What do you personally expect from the Acupuncture treatment you will receive? After the three treatments, the participants were also asked: How confident do you feel that this treatment can alleviate your complaint?

Analysis of patient responses showed the following according to researchers: “In our four randomized trails, patients with high expectations were more likely to report better out­comes than patients with lower expectations, both after treatment and four months later.”

Interestingly, the sham Acupuncture recipients did show greater improvements if their expectations were high as well. “The effect was observed both in patients receiving the “true’ and the minimal Acupuncture,” the researchers said.

Further examinations lead the researchers to speculate that perhaps a nurturing environ­ment helps to foster this positive attitude. “Intense and frequent provider-patient interac­tion, touch, needling pain, and an ‘exotic’ framework could make Acupuncture a strong `ritual’ which is associated with stronger expectation effects than other interventions.”

The findings clearly emphasized that fostering a positive patient attitude toward Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can have a pronounced influence on clinical results. If patients understand and appreciate Chinese healing, that alone might contribute to enhanced results as much as the actual Acupuncture procedure, said the researchers.

Source: Acupuncture Today. 2007 http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31536

The study involved teaching students to self-administer Acupressure to a variety of body points on their legs, feet, hands and heads. Some of these points were known to cause more stimulation, others greater relaxation. A total of 39 students in a 3-day On Job/On Campus pro­gram took part in the study. The results were published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

“Our findings suggested that Acupressure can change alertness in people who are in class­room settings for a full day which could be very good news for students who have trouble stay­ing alert at school.” This comment comes from the director of the study, Dr. Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., in the Dept. of Internal Medicine and a researcher with the U-M Health System’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center.

The 39 students were taught to self-apply Acupressure regimens on either 5 stimulation points or 5 relaxation points. Techniques consisted of light tapping with the fingers and massag­ing with thumbs or forefingers. On day one, the first group self-administered Acupressure to the stimulation points followed by the relaxation points on days 2 and 3. The second group used relaxation points the first day and stimulation points on days 2 and 3. The Acupressure was administered mid-day during the student lunch period. Students rated their level of sleepiness in the morning, afternoon and after class using the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) for evaluation. (The SSS is a self-measurement tool for assessing sleepiness on an 8-point rating from wide awake to fast asleep.)

In each case, the stimulation group had significantly less fatigue than the other group and this has interesting implications for future studies, said Dr. Harris, who himself is a trained acupuncturist. “The study showed that a stimulation Acupressure regimen leads to a statistically significant reduction in sleepiness compared to an Acupressure treatment that focuses on relax­ation,” he said.

“The idea that Acupressure can have effects on human alertness needs more study, includ­ing research that can examine the scope of influence Acupressure can have on alertness and fatigue,” said Dr. Harris. That research can have an impact on performance in the classroom and in other areas of life where a high state of alertness is mandatory or desirable.

Source: University of Michigan, September 2005. http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/acupressure.htm