Steroid Treatment Have Negative Effects for Both Young and Old

Separate studies have shown steroids to be harmful for two age groups, although these drugs are common treatments.

The first report, from the October 23rd issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, states, “men and women older than 60 who take corticosteroids for longer than six  months are at greatly increased risk of deformities of the bones in the spine.” (FYI … inhalers used to “treat” asthma are corticosteroids!)  This report was based on a study of 229 patients who had taken corticosteroids for longer than six months, and was compared with 286 people the same age who did not take the drugs. The results showed that 28% of the corticosteroid-treated patients had at least one deformity of the vertebrae in the spine.

The second study examined the use of steroids in children for asthma and related problems. This study was published in the October 12, 2000 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The article stated long-term administration of systemic corticosteroids is a cause of impaired growth in children. The study showed that children treated with inhaled corticosteroids had less growth in height (1 to 1.6 cm [23 to 27 percent] less) than those assigned to other treatments. One of the concerns of the study was that they were unable to predict if this change in growth rate of the skeletal system was also accompanied by a change in organ system growth, including the brain. The authors urge caution.

The NEJM article did not mention studies showing the benefits of chiropractic for children with asthma. Such studies concerning chiropractic treatment for asthma included a 1996 study published by the Michigan Chiropractic Council and one from the Alberta Childrens Hospital in Calgary, Canada.

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Antibiotics During First Year of Life Increases Risk for Asthma

Antibiotic Usage in Babies Linked to Asthma

Antibiotic Usage in Babies Linked to Asthma & Allergies

The opening remarks of an article from the October 1, 2003 BBC News states, “Babies given antibiotics are more likely to develop asthma and other allergies, research suggests.”

The article reports on research done at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Senior researcher and epidemiologist Dr. Christine Cole Johnson studied 448 children, whose development was tracked for their first seven years. The children were studied to see if there was a relationship between the early usage of antibiotics and the onset of asthma or allergies.

Assessing the children repeatedly, the research team discovered that by the age of seven, children who were given at least one antibiotic in the first six months of their lives were found to be:

• 1.5 times more likely to develop allergies by age seven than those who did not receive antibiotics, and 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma.
  
• 1.7 times more likely to develop allergies, and three times more likely to develop asthma, if they lived in those early years with fewer than two pets.
  
• nearly twice as likely to develop allergies if their mother had a history of allergies.
  
• nearly twice as likely to develop allergies if they were also breast-fed for more than four months, when combined with taking antibiotics.
  

Interestingly, babies who were breast-fed for more than four months, and who received antibiotics in their first six months were three times more likely to develop allergies, although they were no more likely to develop asthma. Also, interesting was the result that exposure to pets seemed to have a protective effect.

Those given antibiotics who lived in a family with fewer than two pets had 1.7 times the risk of allergies and three times the risk of asthma. However, when a family had two or more pets, the risk of allergies or asthma for the child was back to normal levels.

The biggest risk of all – an 11-fold increase – was found among children who were prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic, such as penicillin, were breast-fed for four months, and did not have family pets. The researchers also found evidence that the more courses of antibiotics a child received during their first six months, the higher their risk of developing an allergy.

“I believe we need to be more prudent in prescribing them for children at such a young age,” said Dr. Christine Cole Johnson. “In the past, many of them were prescribed unnecessarily, especially for viral infections like colds and flus when they would have no effect anyway.”

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Antibiotics During First Year of Life Increases Risk for Asthma

Steroid Treatment Have Negative Affects

Antibiotics During First Year of Life Increases Risk for Asthma

A new study published in the June 2007 issue of the scientific journal Chest shows that the risk of asthma is one and a half times greater in babies who received more than four courses of antibiotics before age 1. The research was reported on the June 15, 2007 Medscape website and in several news outlets including the online June 11, 2007 Toronto Star.

Researchers reviewed healthcare and prescription databases in Manitoba, Canada of over 13 thousand children to see if there was an association between antibiotic prescription use during the first year of life and asthma at the age of 7. The results showed that children who had been given antibiotics in the first year of life were more likely to develop asthma by age seven. Children in this group who were given four courses of antibiotics were most at risk.

Study author Anita L. Kozyrskyj, PhD, from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, commented, “Since oral antibiotics are frequently prescribed for upper and lower respiratory tract infections in children, an understanding of the relation between antibiotic use and asthma is critical to clinicians and health-care policymakers worldwide.” She continued, “To address the major methodological issues of reverse causation and selection bias in epidemiologic studies of antibiotic use in early life and the development of asthma, we undertook a cohort study of this association in a complete population of children.”

The authors noted that further studies were needed but suggested, “In the interim, it would be prudent to avoid the unnecessary use BS antibiotics in the first year of life when other antibiotics are available.” They concluded, “Antibiotic use in early life was associated with the development of childhood asthma, a risk that may be reduced by avoiding the use of BS [broad-spectrum] cephalosporins.”

The authors noted that further studies were needed but suggested, “In the interim, it would be prudent to avoid the unnecessary use BS antibiotics in the first year of life when other antibiotics are available.” They concluded, “Antibiotic use in early life was associated with the development of childhood asthma, a risk that may be reduced by avoiding the use of BS [broad-spectrum] cephalosporins.”

The Toronto Star interviewed Dr. Sheldon Spier, a pediatric respirologist at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Dr. Spier commented that this study may help explain why asthma develops in some children. “This study really is quite important,” he continued, “It tells us a lot more about asthma and the possible factors that lead to it. But we do have to be careful in our interpretation of it.”

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Antibiotic Usage in Babies Linked to Asthma

Steroid Treatment Have Negative Affects

Effectiveness of Chiropractic in Correcting Asthma

Asthma has become a major health concern for children, doubling in the past 20 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that in 1998, approximately 17,299,000 people in the United States, or 6.4% of the population, had asthma, with cases among very young children up 160%. As reported in the June 16, 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Medical  Association, the number of people self-reporting asthma grew 75% between 1980 and 1994.

In another study conducted in 1996 by the Michigan Chiropractic Council (MCC), a panel of doctors tested the effectiveness of chiropractic care on children with asthma. The high demand of parents seeking alternative care for pediatric asthma was shown by the overwhelming interest in the study _ more than 500 parents called the MCC to participate.

The study, which took place during May and June of 1996, examined the impact of chiropractice care on asthmatic patients from birth to age 17. The average age of the participant was 10 years. “After 30 days of chiropractic health care, patients averaged only one attack, whereas prior to the study they were experiencing more than four attacks,” said MCC Dr. Bob Graham, who directed the study. “Medications, which can be costly, were decreased by nearly 70 percent. Finally, patient satisfaction was rated 8.5 on a scale of 10.” More than 70 chiropractors from 62 cities in Michigan studied more than 80 children suffering from asthma.

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Asthmatic Children In Canada Use Non-Medical Care

Chiropractic Helps Infant with Serious Lung Condition

Link Made Between Asthma and Subluxations

Chiropractic Helps Infant with Serious Lung Condition

A case study published in the February 19, 2008 issue of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR), documents a case of an infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia being helped with chiropractic. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, (BPD), is a serious lung condition that affects infants who are born premature and have resulting breathing and lung problems.

The usual course of medical care for infants with BPD is continual administration of oxygen for the first 28 days in an intensive care unit. The National Institutes of Health estimate that the average length of intensive in-hospital care for babies with BPD is 120 days. In most cases after the child leaves the hospital, the infant will be placed on antibiotics and will need ongoing breathing treatments, and intermittent oxygen.

In this case a female infant was born premature at 24 weeks gestation, weighed only 593 grams and was diagnosed with BPD. As a result of the premature birth she had surgery for retinopathy, several rounds of antibiotics, and a feeding tube for three months. After 17 weeks in the hospital she was discharged. Her medical care continues and consisted of nightly requirements of 1/8-liter of oxygen, a ventilation machine and continuation of antibiotics.

Three months after her release from the hospital she was brought to a chiropractor for an analysis. At that time she weighed twelve pounds, and it was observed that she was listless, constipated, colicky, with pasty skin and sinus congestion. Additionally it was noted that her breathing was short and rapid, her limbs were rather flaccid and she did not make eye contact. She had also recently completed her last round of antibiotics.

Chiropractic care given was specific adjustments initially twice daily—morning and afternoon for two weeks, then three times per week for two weeks; reducing to twice a week for one week, then once a week and eventually once every two weeks. The case report noted that after the initial adjustment, her mother reported when her baby was placed on her back, she used her abdomen more to hold her legs up; she was not colicky and was able to pass gas easily for the first time. After the second visit, her sinuses drained and congestion resolved. After the third adjustment, the baby made a loud noise and was drawing in more air.

As care continued other improvements noted included, the ability to hold her head up with more control, and improved facial color and symmetry. Additionally, her bowel movements improved and she became verbally louder and more alert. After her 14th chiropractic adjustment, the baby girl was breathing fully on her own with no signs of cyanosis There was no medical intervention during her chiropractic care.

After 24 visits this baby’s life had been changed as she was then able to roll over on her own, was asymptomatic and has not needed to be readmitted to the hospital nor administered antibiotics.

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Asthmatic Children In Canada Use Non-Medical Care

Effectiveness of Chiropractic in Correcting Asthma

Link Made Between Asthma and Subluxations

Asthmatic Children In Canada Use Non-Medical Care

An article from Reuters Health Information, printed in the Journal of the AMA, reports a survey that showed many children with asthma were seeking complementary medicine.

Dr. Sheldon Spier, of Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, surveyed the parents of 117 pediatric asthma patients. Thirty percent reported using complementary medicine to help manage their children’s asthma symptoms, most commonly herbal medications, chiropractic, homeopathy, and vitamin C supplementation. The most common reason given for turning to complementary treatment was that the non-medical practitioners were perceived as treating the whole patient.

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association lists several studies on its web site discussing the benefits of chiropractic for children with asthma. Some excerpts:

76.5% of patients with bronchial asthma said they benefited from chiropractic treatment. Peak oxygen flow rate and vital capacity increased after the third treatment.

Significantly lower quality of life impairment rating scores were reported for 90.1% of children after 60 days of chiropractic care. During this same time period the average number of asthma attacks decreased an average of 44.9%, and asthma medication usage was decreased an average of 66.5%.

Among parents of asthmatic children who had received chiropractic treatment, 92% considered this treatment beneficial.

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Chiropractic Helps Infant with Serious Lung Condition

Effectiveness of Chiropractic in Correcting Asthma

Link Made Between Asthma and Subluxations

Link Made Between Asthma and Subluxations

It is estimated that up to 15 million people suffer from asthma. Of those, 14.8 million are children under the age of 18. In 1993 alone, there were 198,000 hospitalizations for asthma. In that same sample year, 342 people under the age of 25 died due to this problem. In money terms, the direct cost of managing a patient with severe asthma has been estimated at more than $18,000 per year.

The following statistics about asthma come from the Better Health & Medical Network.

• Asthma has increased 46% from 1982-1993 with an 80% growth in children under 18.
  
• In the 5-17 age group, asthma causes an annual loss of more than 10 million school days per year.
  
• Asthma accounts for more childhood hospitalizations than any other childhood disease.
  
• Children with asthma spend approximately 7.3 million days per year restricted to bed rest.
  
• In 1990, there were 7.1 million physician visits for asthma.
  
• Health care costs for asthma were estimated to be $6.2 billion, which is almost 1% of the total US health care costs.
  
• More than 5,200 Americans died from asthma in 1991.
  

Recent articles in publications such as “The American Chiropractor”, and “Today’s Chiropractic” describe strong links between people who suffer from these conditions and nerve interference from subluxation. Subluxations are when bones in the spine pressure or irritate nerves causing abnormal nerve function. An article appearing in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research Vol. 1 No. 4, also demonstrated the positive effects of chiropractic care on 81 children with asthma.

According to Richard Pistolese, research assistant for the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, “Based upon information currently available, chiropractic care represents a safe non-pharmacological health care approach, that may be associated with a decrease in asthma-related impairment, reduced respiratory effort, and a decrease incidence of asthma attacks.”
Pistolese goes further to say, “The correction of vertebral subluxation is a non-invasive procedure, which could reduce or eliminate the need for medication, and potentially ease the severity of the asthmatic condition.”

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Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Asthmatic Children In Canada Use Non-Medical Care

Chiropractic Helps Infant with Serious Lung Condition

Effectiveness of Chiropractic in Correcting Asthma

Medical Treatments for Asthma

Lifestyle Modifications for Asthmatics

Advanced Clinical Lab Testing for Asthma

Some of the following laboratory testing can provide information necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma. In addition, the tests listed may also give insight to functional metabolism and functional nutrient status in the body.

• Intestinal Bacterial and/or Parasitic Stool Analysis: Gastrointestinal pathogens play a role in efficient digestion and absorption of nutrients as well as the production on toxic metabolic products. A stool evaluation for these microbial agents can provide useful information regarding causes for nutrient deficiencies contributing to the disease process in asthma.
• Allergy and Food Sensitivity Assessment: Allergic responses to foods, inhalants, environmental chemicals, and other substances can cause a variety of responses that induce or aggravate asthma.
• Fatty Acids: There is evidence that increased omega-6 fatty acids and decreased levels of omega-3 fatty acids are involved in the etiology of asthma.
• Organic Acids: Organic acids analysis is a useful method for measurement of biochemical intermediates in urine. Vitamin B12 has applications in preventing bronchospasm. Organic acids assay provides an excellent functional assessment of B12. A subset of organic acids, the dysbiosis markers, may provide useful information regarding gastrointestinal pathogens that can contribute to immune compromise.
• Magnesium Level: There is considerable attention in the scientific community regarding the significance of magnesium in various chronic disease conditions, including asthma.
• Histamine Levels: Histamine is a neurotransmitter that is released during inflammatory processes.  These levels are easily measured through urinary ouput testing through NeuroScience.  If histamine levels can be reduced, symptoms associated with inflammation can subside.

Common Causes of Asthma

Environmental Contributors to Asthma Attacks

• Additives
  
• Air pollution (ozone, smog)
  
• Chemical odors (cleaners, nail polish, paint)
  
• Coal smoke
  
• Cooking fuel (kerosene, natural gas, propane)
  
• Heating units (coal, gas, kerosene, wood)
  
• Paint fumes
  
• Scents (air fresheners, colognes, perfumes)
  
• Tobacco smoke
  
• Wood smoke
  

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  Other Stressors Contributing to Asthma Attacks
  

• Antibiotics
  
• Candida Albicans overgrowth
  
• Cold air
  
• Cold drink
  
• Emotional stress
  
• Exercise
  
• Foods (wine)
  
• Gastroesophageal reflux (heart burn)
  
• Infection (upper respiratory)
  
• Nutritional deficiencies (magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C)
  
• Weather changes
  

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  Allergic Contributors to Asthma Attacks
  

• Grass/Tree/Plant pollens
  
• Animal dander
  
• Cat hair, saliva, urine
  
• Dog hair, saliva
  
• Cockroaches
  
• Dust mites
  
• Mold
  
• Foods (peanuts, corn, citrus, milk, wheat, yeasts)
  
• Food additives (sulfites, MSG, dyes, other preservatives)
• Pharmaceutical drugs (ASA, beta-blockers, estrogen, NSAIDs, PCN)

Steroid Treatment Have Negative Affects for Both Young and Old

In two separate studies steroids were shown to be harmful for each of two separate age groups even though these drugs are common treatments. From the October 23rd issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine comes the first report that states, “that men and women older than 60 who take corticosteroids for longer than 6 months are at greatly increased risk of deformities of the bones in the spine.” (FYI … inhalers used to “treat” asthma are corticosteroids!)  This report was based on a study of 229 patients who had taken corticosteroids for longer than 6 months and was compared with 286 people the same age who did not take the drugs. The results showed that 28% of the corticosteroid-treated patients had at least one deformity of the vertebrae in the spine.

The second study on steroids was on their usage in children for asthma and related problems. This study was published in the October 12, 2000 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In that article it was stated that studies showed that long-term administration of systemic corticosteroids is a cause of impaired growth in children. The study showed that children treated with inhaled corticosteroids had less growth in height (1 to 1.6 cm [23 to 27 percent] less) than those assigned to other treatments. One of the concerns of the study was that they were unable to predict if this change in growth rate of the skeletal system was also accompanied by a change in organ system growth, including the brain. The authors urge caution.

The NEJM article did not mention or take into account the studies showing the benefits of chiropractic for children with asthma. Such studies concerning chiropractic included a 1996 study published by the Michigan Chiropractic Council and one from the Alberta Childrens Hospital in Calgary, Canada.

More on Asthma...

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