March 10th, 2010
In a study published in Lancet 26 February 2010 researchers reported that a type of psychotherapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) significantly improves subacute and chronic back pain both short term and for up to 1 year compared to medical advice alone. Seven hundred patients with low back pain were in the study and 468 were treated with up to 6 sessions of group cognitive behavioral therapy and 233 received a 15 minute session of medical management advice that included information on staying active and the appropriate use of pain medications. After 12 months, 59% of those in the cognitive behavioral group reported recovery from their low back pain compared to 31% in the other group. In addition, 65% of those in the CBT group reported satisfaction with their treatment compared to 28% in the other group. The researchers concluded that CBT is a cost effective treatment for low back pin when compared to the cost of chiropractic care, and acupuncture.
Tags: chronic back pain, cognitive behavioral therapy, research
Posted in back and neck pain, research | No Comments »
March 7th, 2010
Dr Carl O Helvie, Host, interviewed three experts on yoga and massage on the Holistic Health Show last night. They were Elaine Masters (left), Dr Kathy Gruver (Right) and Peggy Hall (lower right).
Elaine is award winning author of Drive Time Yoga and has launched the Flytime Yoga Passport Wallet and Booklet. She holds degrees and certification in yoga and has been teaching for years. More information can be found on an earlier blog on this site and at www.drivetimeyoga.com
Kathy holds a doctorate in traditional naturopathic medicine, a masters in natural health and is pursuing a PhD. She has been featured in national magazines and interviewed on numerous radio shows. Her upcoming book the Alternative Medicine Cabinet will be on the market next month. She also produced an instructional massage DVD titled Therapeutic Massage at Home: Learn to Rub People the Right Way. More information can be found on an earlier blog or at www.healingcirclemassage.com
Peggy Hall is a featured wellness expert for ABC Radio Network with the Weekly Segment syndicated to 200 stations coast to coast. She is the creator of the best selling Yoga for Surfers instructional DVD. More information was presented on an earlier blog and can be found at: www.PeggyHall.com
The interviews are below. Enjoy them.
Tags: alternative medicine cabinet, Dr Carl O Helvie, Dr Kathy Gruver, Drivetime Yoga, Elaine Masters, massage, Peggy Hall, Yoga, Yoga for Surfers
Posted in Podcast, Yoga, back and neck pain, massage, naturopathic medicine | No Comments »
March 5th, 2010
A new study in the March issue of Radiology reported that combining mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be a cost effective way to reduce the chances of dying for high risk breast cancer women. An increased lifetime risk of developing breast cancer occurs in women with mutations of the BRCA1 gene and using mammography for screening this group (the usual method) detects less than half of the breast cancers.
The researchers compared the cost and benefits of mammography and of MRI’s separately and in combination in a hypothetical group of 25 year old women with BRCA1 mutations. Using a statistical modeling technique to estimate the number of quality adjusted years added by screening and the lifetime costs they concluded that an annual combined screening was best at detecting early stage cancer and at providing the best relative reduction in deaths. Using the combination was most cost effective as the risk of breast cancer increased and least cost effective as it decreased. These findings support the current screening recommendations of the American Cancer Assn.
Tags: BRAC1 mutation, breast cancer, mammography, MRI, research
Posted in breast cancer, research | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2010
A recent study presented at the annual meeting in Texas of the American Academy of Pain Medicine reported that patients with a variety of back pain conditions could benefit from a minimally invasive procedure called facet arthrodesis. In a prospective study the procedure was used with 102 spine joints in patients who had suffered from recurrent joint mediated low back pain. All subjects had previously had relief following a procedure where heat was used to cut off the nerve supply to the site of the back pain but this relief lasted only about 10 months.
The minimally invasive procedure included a small incision and placing pins by the joints in the affected areas. A bone graft was then placed into the joint and designed to grow into the joint and relieve pain.
a year after the procedure most patients reported a reduction in pain on a visual analogue scale from 79 to 23, and their functions improved on a separate disability index from 33.46 to 8.32. Ninety two percent also reported no longer taking narcotic drugs for pain. The researchers believe this has the potential to be a long term solution for back pain resulting from joint disease.
Tags: facet arthrodesis, joint back pain, minimal invasive surgery, research
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February 28th, 2010
Guests of Dr Carl O Helvie on Saturday on the Holistic Health Show on BBS Radio are: Ms Elaine Masters (left), Dr Kathy Gruver(right), and Ms Peggy Hall (below). Elaine Masters has baccalaureate degrees in fine arts (Cornish College and San Francisco State University)and is certified as a yoga teacher with the yoga alliance in kinepathics, hatha yoga and somatic movement. Elaine has been practicing yoga for decades and commutes to speaking engagements throughout southern California. She is a mom, and the award winning author of Drivetime Yoga. She recently launched the Flytime Yoga Passport Wallet and Booklet. Her company, the YogoProject, creates yoga inspired products for travel ease. She will share some small simple techniques to do safely while driving or at stop lights or while flying in order to arrive relaxed and ready to play. More information is available at www.drivetimeyoga.com
Dr Kathy Gruver has a doctorate as a traditional naturopath, a masters in natural health and is pursuing a PhD. She is also a liscensed massage therapist and has 20 years and over 10,000 hours of medical massage and natural health experience. She works with people having back pain using deep trigger point massage and mind/body medicine to see a decrease in pain and an increase in range of motion. She has been featured as an expert in publications such Massage Magazine, Discovery, First for Women, Dermascope Magazine, and Pacific Coast Business Times. She has written many health and wellness articles and appeared as guest on 30 radio shows covering topics such as back pain, mind/body medicine, healthy pregnancy, homeopathics, nutrition, and patient advocacy. Kathy’s first book the Alternative Medicine Cabinet will be available in April. She also produced an instructional massage DvD titled Therapeutic Massage at Home: Learn to Rub People the Right Way. More information is available at: www.healingcirclemassage.com
Peggy Hall was called America’s Ultimate Wellness Expert by Woman’s World Magazine. She is the featured health and wellness expert for the ABC radio network with her weekly wellness segment syndicated to 200 stations coast to coast. She is also a contributing writer for Clean Eating Magazine, and the creator of the Three Day Detox Diet.
Peggy holds a baccalaureate degree in political science, a masters degree in iinternational relations, and is certified in nutrition and yoga. She is the creator of the best selling Yoga for Surfers instructional DVD series. More information is available at www.peggyhall.com
Tags: back pain, Dr Carl O Helvie, Dr Kathy Gruver, Elaine Masters, massage, Peggy Hall, Yoga
Posted in Yoga, back and neck pain, body alignment, exercise, massage, nutrition, wellness | No Comments »
February 26th, 2010
A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that “aspirin can significantly reduce the risk of cancer spread and death in women who have been treated for early breast cancer.” Researchers at Harvard Medical School studied 4,164 female registered nurses taking part in the Nurses’ Health Study. Starting in 1976 they looked at who took aspirin, who developed breast cancer and all causes of death up until 2006. During this time 341 nurses died of breast cancer. Of this group women who took aspirin two to five days a week had a 60% reduced risk of their cancer spreading and a 71% lower risk of breast cancer death. Other non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) in the same class as aspirin had the same effect and included ibuprofen and naproxen but not acetaminophen. This relationship was not as clear because of limited data. Although aspirin is relatively benign compared with chemotherapy drugs it can cause bleeding and should not be taken without medical supervision. It also should not be taken while undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy because of the possible side effects.
Tags: aspirin, breast cancer, cancer spread, death rates, Harvard Medical School, research
Posted in breast cancer, drugs, research | 1 Comment »
February 24th, 2010
A recent study published in Clinical Rehabilitation compared three treatment interventions with patients having non-specific low back pain. Four hundred forty three patients who reported having non-specific low back pain often or always over a 6 month period were evaluated for the study. Baseline data on pain related disability, pain-related use of medications, and demographic information was collected. Those who had any of the following were excluded: complicating factors such as neurological signs or symptoms, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions, previous fractures, psychiatric disease, cognitive impairment, or pain-related litigation. The experimental group comprised 210 patients who met all of the eligibility requirements.
Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups with 70 in each. The groups were: back school, individual physical therapy, and spinal manipulation. The back school group were given 15 hours of group education and exercises for one hour a day on 5 days a week spread over 3 weeks. Classes included training in back physiology and pathology, ergonomics and group exercises.
The physical therapy group received 15 hours of passive and active mobilization, active exercise, massage/treatment of soft tissue and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. The emphasis was on education and active treatment by a physical therapist with the same amount of education and experience as the back school therapists.
The spinal manipulation group attended four to six weekly sessions of 20 minutes each for a total of 80 to 120 minutes of treatment. Treatment was aimed at restoring movement in the vertebral segments by direct and indirect mobilization and manipulation by chiropractors with at least 9 to 12 years of practice.
Two hundred five patients completed the study including 68 in the back school group, 68 in physical therapy, and 69 in spinal manipulation. All three groups reported a significantly lower rate of pain-related disability, subjective experience of pain, and low-back pain related use of medications at the end of the treatment period and after 12 months. Results were most striking for those assigned to the spinal manipulation group. Spinal manipulation provided more functional improvement than the other interventions at the end of the study program and at follow-up one year later as measured by lower scores on the Roland Morris Disability Scale. Their average score was 1.6 compared with 5.9 for the back school group and 5.3 for the physical therapy group. There was also less need for medications among this group than the others as measured by a 49% reduction in the need for pain medications in this group compared to a 23% drop in the back school group, and a 14% drop in the physical therapy group.
Tags: back school, non-specific low back pain, physical therapy, research, spinal manipulation
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February 21st, 2010
Dr Carl O Helvie interviewed two back pain experts and two CEO’s of companies providing natural products for back pain and arthritis pain. These are pictured from left to right: Dr Andrew Fleschner, Dr Andrew Block, Mr Daniel Chapman, and Mr Tamer Elsafy.
Dr Andrew Fleschner is a board certified physician who is in private practice in Bala Cynwdy, Pennsylvania and has a consultancy in Miami, Florida. He is author of Back Together: Hands-On Healing for Couples Other aspects of his background were discussed earlier on this site and can be found at Http://stretchzone.com/Fleschner.htm
Dr Andrew Block is on the staff of the Texas Back Institute and has multiple national and international presentations on the spine and spine surgery. He has also contributed chapters to many of the major books on spine surgery, chronic pain, and other back problems and has authored or co-authored 5 books. The latest of these is The Psychology of Spine Surgery More information is available on an earlier blog here or at: Http:www.texasback.com
Mr Daniel Chapman is the Founder and CEO of Redd Remedies, a leading natural health supplements provider and advocate ffor a holistic health approach to wellness. His company dates back to 1961 when his family opened their first Sunrise Health Food Store in Reseland, Illinois. More information on Daniel and his company was presented earlier and can be found at: www.reddremedies.com
Mr Tamer Elsafy is President and CEO of Flexicon International a producer and supplier of natural products for joint pain and arthritis that incorporate CM8. his products have been formulated under the direction of physicians and nutritionists. More information was presented earlier and can be found at www.flexicon.com
The interviews follow. I hope you enjoy and learn from them.
Tags: back and neck pain, Back Together, causes, CM8, COPE Program, couples, Daniel Chapman, decompression surgery, deconditioning syndrome, Dr Andrew Block, Dr Andrew Fleschner, Dr Carl O Helvie, exercise, facebook, flexicon, gout, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, immune system, kindney functioning, lifestyle, multidisciplinary team, muscle ease, muscle functioning, nerve shield, nutritional counseling, OSTeO, pain evaluation, pain management, prevalence, psychological testing, Redd Remedies, spinal surgery, Tamer Elsafy, Texas Back Institute, trigger point injections, types, uric acid
Posted in Podcast, arthritis, back and neck pain, exercise, integrative medicine, natural products | 1 Comment »
February 19th, 2010
A new study reported online January 12, 2010 in Cancer Research concluded that leafy green vegetables, folate, and some multivitamins may serve as a protective factor against lung cancer in current and former smokers. This first step in understanding a complex association was funded by the National Cancer Institute.
Researchers studied more than 1,100 current and former smokers who submitted sputum specimens and completed questionaires about their dietary intake. Most of the sample (75%) were women. Sputum samples were examined for the methylation status of eight genes that are linked to the increased risk of lung cancer in previous studies. Gene Methylation is believed to be a major mechanism for lung cancer development and progression and also a potential marker for the early detection of lung cancer.
The researchers investigated the association between 21 dietary variables and methylation and found that higher intakes of leafy vegetables and folate were significantly associated with a reduced probability of high methylation. Additional research is needed to validate these findings.
Tags: folate, green leafy vegetables, lung cancer, methylation, nutrition, research, smokers
Posted in lung cancer, nutrition, research | No Comments »
February 17th, 2010
Current research published in the journal Sleep Medicine concluded that cognitive therapy can significantly improve sleep for patients with chronic neck and back pain and relieve pain so they can perform more normal daily activities. This included patients who were on medications but did not want to take more for an sleep disturbances.
A nurse therapist delivered eight weeks of cognitive -behavioral therapy including sleep restrictions, stimulus control, sleep hygiene, and a discussion of catastropic thoughts about the consequence of insomnia. They talked about habits such as the use of caffeine or alcohol, and the use of the bed only for sleeping or sex. A user-friendly manual describing each step was developed that can be used to train other therapists.
Twenty- eight patients participated in the study. They kept sleep diaries, reported on pain and mood standardized tests, and were followed for 6 months after the in intervention. Further research is ongoing to determine the duration of the effects of treatment.
Tags: chronic pain, cognitive therapy, normal functioning, research, sleep
Posted in back and neck pain, research | 1 Comment »
