Terry A. Rondberg's blog

Early retirement? Not for this DC!

Last week, I came across an article online that brought a smile to my face. While many young people are trying to figure out how to retire at 35, some DCs have put off retirement so they can continue serving their patients as long as possible.

It's clear from the article about Dr. Alan Hall of LaGrande, Oregon, published in the La Grande Observer, that chiropractors aren't stamped with a "sell by" date.

Dr. Hall started in practice in 1949, before I was born. He's 87 now and finally decided it was time to pack in the old adjusting table. He admits toying with the idea of retiring for the past couple of decades but explains, "I … liked what I was I doing so I continued.''

I wonder how many of us love what we're doing so much that we'd be willing to keep doing it until we're 87 years old. If we don't -- and wouldn't -- we owe it to ourselves and our patients to change what we're doing. We don't necessarily need to give up our career, but we should do whatever it takes to rekindle the passion.

What's doubly interesting about Dr. Hall is that although he devoted his life to chiropractic, he didn't limit his life to chiropractic. According to the article, he also found time to devote countless hours to community service. He's been a member of the La Grande Lions Club, the Eagles Lodge, the Elks Lodge, and the American Legion for more than 50 years. Dr. Hall also used to be a Boy Scout leader, and he served as president of the Oregon Chiropractic Association.

He's a true role model for all of us.

Chiropractors reaching out to help

This heart-warming story, printed in the June 28 edition of The Joplin Globe, a newspaper serving the Joplin, Missouri area, spotlights an individual who represents the best of the chiropractic profession: its generous, compassionate nature.

The article focuses on chiropractor Roy Meek, DC, who offered adjustments in exchange for a $15 donation to benefit those affected by the Gulf Oil spill. Chiropractic Assistant Joy Osborn said the money that is collected will be used to purchase retail store gift cards so families that depend on the Gulf for their income can buy groceries, gas, and other essentials.

"It's just so much worse than what you hear on TV," Osborn said. "They need help right now so that they don't lose their homes, so they can eat."

Dr. Meek set a goal to raise $500 during the one-day effort. “Five hundred dollars may not seem like a lot, but to someone who has nothing it’s a lot,” he pointed out.

The sad side of the story is that Meek approached five other groups of chiropractors in his area to join him in raising even more, and all of them refused.

From my own experience, I'm convinced that Meek is in the majority, not the minority and that the response he received from colleagues was an aberration.

To prove my point, I'm going to scan the news each week and highlight as many of the "good guys" in chiropractic and the wellness professions as possible. They deserve to get more attention!

Tai Chi not just for elders

Although my preferred exercise routines are yoga and martial arts, I've always been intrigued by Tai Chi. There's something about the slow, disciplined movements that appeal to me. Regrettably, Tai Chi is often associated with elderly practitioners. The first image that comes to mind is several ancient Chinese gentlemen practicing in the park. That's too bad, because the benefits of Tai Chi rank it high on the list of exercises that can help both physically and mentally.

A report published in the May 2010 edition of BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine concluded that "Tai Chi appears to be associated with improvements in psychological well-being including reduced stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance, and increased self-esteem."

 

Researchers reviewed 40 prior studies involving 3,817 people that revealed Tai Chi significantly increased psychological well-being including reduction of stress, anxiety and depression and enhanced mood and emotion.

 

That mirrors what the Mayo Clinic said last year when it recommended Tai Chi. "For an investment of 20 minutes each morning, the payback is reduced stress, a sense of calm and peace, improved strength, limberness, better immune function and lower blood pressure."

 

Although you have to be careful when following Mayo Clinic advice (it's all too often locked into the old-style medical paradigm) they were absolutely correct when they explained that:

 

"An important advantage of yoga and Tai Chi is that they combine key elements of exercise -- aerobic, strength training, core stability, flexibility and balance -- into unified approaches. Certain benefits, particularly stress reduction, can be seen in as little as one day. People report better sleep and improvements in digestive health within the first few days. Better digestive health can mean better bowel function and decreased constipation. Practiced regularly, yoga and Tai Chi may help reverse some effects of aging, such as restricted and narrowed movements. After 10 to 12 weeks of regular sessions, practitioners often notice significant health benefits in other areas. For example, a study of yoga and people who experience migraines found that those doing yoga had less frequent and less intense headaches than did those taking medication."

 

For information on Tai Chi, check out the following:

 

Tai Chi Research

 

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Tai Chi paper

 

Wikipedia

 

U-turn at age 50

There are many good things about growing older, including (hopefully) increased wisdom. Now, researchers have found that the over-50 crowd has another thing going for it: life perceptions are more positive and feelings of worry or stress decline. It doesn't appear to matter whether we're married, have kids, or even a job -- after age 50, we perceive life more positively.

The findings of the survey -- conducted by Arthur Stone, Ph.D., distinguished professor and vice chairman of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University and colleagues at Columbia University, Princeton University, and the Gallup Organization -- were reported online in the June 1 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research findings confirm earlier evidence that between ages 18 and 50, perceptions of global well-being tend to decline but once we hit 50, perceptions become more positive, creating a U-shaped curve when ratings are plotted by age.

"The study is important because it compares patterns of response using two distinct methods for measuring well-being," explained Dr. Stone, Lead Investigator. "One is a single measure of global well-being, as in how satisfied are you with your life, and the other a series of measures of positive and negative aspects of emotional well-being, as in how did you feel yesterday."

Two negative emotions -- stress and anger -- showed declines throughout life. The pattern for another negative emotion, worry, showed a different pattern. It tended to hold steady until about age 50, when it took a sharp decline.

The complete report is available online.

Hug two trees and see me in the morning

"Get out of the office and go to a park." Now there's a prescription I like!

A series of articles in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology (JEP) all agreed that being in touch with nature makes people feel more alive and full of vitality, even more than can be attributed to simply the physical activity involved.

"Nature is fuel for the soul," said Richard Ryan, lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. "Often when we feel depleted we reach for a cup of coffee, but research suggests a better way to get energized is to connect with nature."

A "nature fix" helps both our mental and physical health. "Research has shown that people with a greater sense of vitality don't just have more energy for things they want to do, they are also more resilient to physical illnesses. One of the pathways to health may be to spend more time in natural settings," Ryan added.

This isn't the first time that research has shown being in nature can increase our energy and heighten our sense of well-being. Studies have already proven that people on wilderness excursions report feeling more alive and that even just recalling the outdoor experiences increased their feelings of happiness and health.

Other research showed that getting out into a natural environment helps ward off feelings of exhaustion -- 90% of people studied experienced increased energy when placed in outdoor activities.

In the JEP study, researchers found that being outside in nature for just 20 minutes was enough to significantly boost vitality levels.

The paper built on earlier research by Ryan, Netta Weinstein, a psychologist at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and others showing that people are more caring and generous when exposed to nature. "We have a natural connection with living things," said Ryan. "Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments."

So, next time you're feeling droopy, don't reach for the coffee pot. Find the nearest park and commune with nature.

America Needs Health, Not More Doctors

It's been reported recently that more doctors are needed, even though we are already pouring 20% of our economy into healthcare. But the problem isn't that there is not enough doctors, it's that there's too much sickness. The only way to solve this conundrum is to promote healthy eating, exercising, and lifestyles across the nation, which will drastically improve health nationwide. Perhaps the best thing the government could do is mass distribute vitamin D supplements, which are very inexpensive, do not require a prescription, injection, or doctor's visit and have been proven to prevent nearly heart disease, diabetes, depression, seasonal flu, kidney disease, and nearly four out of five cancers. America has the choice to invest in health of its people and save much-needed revenue, or continue the expansion of the "sick-care industry," and help forge widespread pharmaceutical dependence.

Double standard is obvious

Dr. Andrew Wakefield made headlines when his research linked MMR vaccines with autism and bowel disease. But he also made powerful enemies in the drug and medical industries.

That's why he was struck off the medical register in Britain and no longer allowed to practice there.

The move came after three years of "investigation" by the General Medical Council (GMC). The outspoken opponent of vaccines was found guilty of serious professional misconduct because of what the GMC called his "unethical" research.

The medical industry used the news to urge parents to give their children the triple vaccine which supposedly protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

One of the charges against Dr. Wakefield is that he had received a £50,000 grant to carry out research on behalf of parents who suspected that MMR could lead to autism, which was published in The Lancet in 1998.

Such abhorrent practices are common in medical research, which is primarily funded by drug companies that not only pay for the studies but then suppress any unfavorable results. As far as I could determine, not a single researcher who was "bought and paid for" by the drug industry has ever been barred from practice because of it.

Take the case of Richard Page, chairman of the department of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Page's research paper on the drug Multaq was published in The New England Journal of Medicine and as a result it was praised as a "miracle drug." Yet, it turns out that drug maker Sanofi-Aventis had PAID for the research, collected data, and performed the analysis with no external audit. Page put his name on the paper but never even saw the raw data. He just trusted the company to be honest, and ignored the fact that major financial experts, including Morgan Stanley, estimated the drug could reach nearly $3 billion in revenues.

Not only that, Page and four co-authors were Sanofi-Aventis paid consultants and/or speakers, and two co-authors worked directly for Sanofi-Aventis, and owned stock in the company (read my more detailed report at www.terryarondberg.com).

Absolutely NO disciplinary actions were taken against Page or any of his drug company cronies. Why is this case so different from Wakefield's?

I think it's fair to say that the damage Wakefield has had on the bottom line for drug makers that reap enormous revenues from vaccines had far more to do with the GMC's decision than their disapproval of his research methodology.

Just a couple of months ago, the big drug maker Novartis AG saw its first-quarter profit climb 49%, boosted by sales of pandemic flu vaccines (which accounted for $1.1 billion in sales worldwide). A report released in March called the Global Vaccine Market Forecast to 2012 http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Report/global-vaccine-market-forecast-to-2012-55909.asp?prk=513b825014d99e61681ed9000c893b8f

noted: "Vaccine has emerged as one of the most profitable business segments in the healthcare industry. The segment registered revenues of around US $27 billion in 2009… the vaccine industry is anticipated to enjoy a double digit growth in future."

A week or so before the GMC announced its decision, The Lancet officially retracted Wakefield's research, claiming it had failed to do due diligence at the time. Supposedly Wakefield's article was, as the GMC put it, "irresponsible," "misleading," and "dishonest," yet that fact had been missed completely because it hadn't been properly reviewed? Such a claim rings false since The Lancet has used the same stringent peer review process for decades and, in 1998, even began imposing stricter standards for letters to the editor.

"The panel is profoundly concerned that Dr. Wakefield repeatedly breached fundamental principles of research medicine," Dr. Surendra Kumar, a GMC investigating panel member told the hearing in central London. "It concluded that his actions in this area alone were sufficient to amount to serious professional misconduct."

Wakefield countered the announcement of his "disbarment" by saying: "Efforts to discredit and silence me through the GMC process have provided a screen to shield the Government from exposure on the MMR vaccine scandal."

No one is "innocent" in this sordid mess, but if I had to choose, I'd come down on the side of Wakefield in this one.

Health begins at home

According to a new article on Inc. Magazine's website, one of the best "industries" for business startups is home health care. Everyone from physical therapists to elder care specialists will be kept busy in the future, as the trend away from hospitals and doctors' offices continues. According to Inc.com, nonmedical home care hiring is expected to grow more than 50 percent before 2018.

 

This trend might also mean a change in the way alternative care is delivered. I can easily see more and more chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, massage therapists and the like making house calls. Hybrid practices, combining traditional office visits but also offering house calls for routine care sessions, may be a great way to benefit from the home health care trend.

 

Read the article on Inc.com 

Message from a supporter of Chiropractic

Hi friends, I wanted to share this message with you all. It makes me feel good to know BJ Palmer's vision is being fulfilled by the efforts of people like Kelly and so many other wonderful, dedicated people. -Terry

Dear Dr. Rondberg,

About eight years ago, I was seeing a medical doctor for all kinds of health challenges, and to make a long story short, I found out that she was seeing a chiropractor for "health and wellness" and prescribing me drugs, physical therapy and surgery. I left her office confused, bewildered and feeling very betrayed. I started seeing a chiropractor a few days later, still not sure It would help me, and I my first visit I was given your book, "Chiropractic First" by Dr. Ramboer in Clarkston, Michigan. I could not put it down--it made sense--too much sense! I read it in one day and a new me was born...

Today, I am a new mother, wife of a chiropractor here in Michigan-Dr. Sam Tocco (Sherman Grad-1980), and founder of www.internetmom.org --a website for mothers, chiropractors, and their patients based on the vitalstic healthcare model. 

I have come a long way, and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate your book, your work, and committment to chiropractic. Essentially, your book was like my first "chiropractic kiss", so to speak--unforgettable. Thank you so much. I hope to cross paths with you in the future.

Vitally Yours,

Kelly Warnos-Tocco

 

U.S. Health Insurers - Billing Administrative Costs as Medical Costs

An informative article on the ChiroOrg Blog reports that some large health insurance companies are trying to sidestep laws of the new insurance industry reforms.

The new requirement under the healthcare law passed in March calls for insurers to adjust their spending. Large group plans need to be spending 85 cents per premium dollar on medical costs vs. administrative costs. Some companies’ expenses for 2009 show certain markets spending only 74 cents instead of the 85 cents that will be required upon implementation of the new legislation.

“This new data makes clear that too many health insurance companies are still putting profits before people,”  said Senator John Rockefeller, the committee’s chairman, “and they have a lot of work to do to meet the consumer protection requirements of the health care reform law by the end of this year.”

Insurance companies have until Jan. 1, 2011 to comply with these new regulations.