Cell Phones, Microwaves and Your Brain
from Dr Sears MD

Recent reports suggest that cell phones may cause cancer. Yet 1.5 billion people in the world use them. What’s the truth?

In today’s Health Alert, we’ll look at the latest research on cell phones and their dark side -- one that goes far beyond the cancer connection.

Cooking Your Brain with Microwaves

Cell phones contain power transmitters near the phone’s antenna. The phone sends out (even in standby) an encoded signal through the antenna that a receiver in a cell phone tower picks up. This encoded signal contains electromagnetic radiation, specifically RF radiation (radio frequency). In addition to traveling to the mobile receiver, RF travels through your skull and into your brain.

Depending on how close the cell phone antenna is to your head, studies show that as much as 60% of the microwave radiation penetrates your skull, reaching an inch and a half into your brain.

While the FDA claims, “the available scientific evidence does not demonstrate any adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile phones” the research is accumulating to show exactly the opposite.

For instance, we know that cell phone RF exposure makes the temperature in exposed tissues rise; we call this the “thermal effect.” Body tissues heat up by the same mechanism that heats food in your microwave. This increases free radical formation and oxidative damage to DNA, damage linked to aging, cancer and impaired brain function.

A four-year study in seven European countries found mobile phone radiation harms human cells and irreparably damages DNA. A ten-year study in Sweden directly linked mobile phone use with a rise in tumors. In that study, heavy mobile phone users were twice as likely to suffer cancerous and benign tumors in the ear and the brain. These tumors were also four times as common on the side of the head where the user held the phone.

Studies are also linking RF radiation from cell phones to other health problems, including higher blood pressure, infertility and Alzheimer’s disease. A German study found mobile phone use during a 35-minute call increases resting blood pressure between 5 and 10mm.

How to Protect Yourself from Cell Phone Radiation

You should attempt to minimize your exposure to RF radiation. First, you should find out the level of RF emissions of your cell phone. If you have a higher rating, think about replacing it with a phone with a lower rating. They rate cell phone emissions in specific absorption rates (SAR). They range from 0.5 to 1.6 W/kg (Watts of power absorbed per kilogram of body tissue).

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

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Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
Volume 30, Issue 7, September 2007, Pages 514-521

Copyright © 2007 Published by Mosby, Inc.

Interexaminer Reliability of the Prone Leg Length Analysis Procedure

Michael Schneider DCa, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, Robert Homonai DCb, Brian Moreland DCb and Anthony Delitto PhD, PTc
aPrivate practice, Spine and Pain Care Center, Pittsburgh, Pa
bPrivate practice, Fay West Chiropractic Health Center, Mount Pleasant, Pa
cChair, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa
Received 8 September 2006; revised 8 March 2007. Available online 14 September 2007.


Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study was to perform an interexaminer reliability evaluation of the prone leg length analysis procedure.

Methods

Two chiropractors each examined a series of 45 patients with a history of low back pain. Patients were in the prone position, with the knees in both extended and flexed positions, and with the head rotated right and left. The clinicians were asked to determine the side of the short leg with knees extended and if a change in leg length occurred with head rotation or when the knees were flexed. They were also asked to visually judge the amount of leg length differential by categorizing the difference as either less than 0.25, 0.25 to 0.5, 0.5 to 0.75, or more than 0.75 in. The head rotation portion of the test was performed only with patients (n = 22) in whom the leg length differential was determined to be less than 0.25 in.

Results

κ statistics and frequency distributions were calculated for each of the respective observations. Reliability of determining the side of the short leg with knees extended was good at 82% agreement (κ = 0.65) but fair for determining the amount of leg length difference at 67% agreement (κ = 0.28). Reliability of the head rotation testing procedure was extremely poor, with only 50% and 45% agreement about the observed change in leg length with the head rotated left and right, respectively (κ = 0.04, κ = −0.195). There was no significant correlation found between the side of reported pain by the patient and the side of the short leg as noted by either clinician (χ2 = 0.55, P = .91, and χ2 = 1.55, P = .67). All of the patients (100%) were judged to have a leg length difference by both clinicians. When the knees were flexed, there was 93% agreement that the short leg became longer (43/45 cases), with no reported cases of the short leg getting shorter. Calculation of κ statistics was confounded for these last 2 observations because of extremely high prevalence bias.

Conclusions

The results indicate that 2 clinicians show good reliability in determining the side of the short leg in the prone position with knees extended but show poor reliability when determining the precise amount of that leg length difference. The head rotation test for assessing changes in leg length was unreliable in this sample of patients. There does not appear to be any correlation between the side of pain noted by the patient and the side of the short leg as observed by the clinicians; all 45 patients in this sample were found to have a short leg by both clinicians.


This study was approved by the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa, institutional review board, IRB no. 0501147.
Corresponding Author Contact InformationSubmit requests for reprints to: Michael Schneider, DC, 1720 Washington Road, Suite 201, Pittsburgh, PA 15241, USA

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Boy wakes up with posh accent after brain surgery

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/boy-wakes-up-with-posh-accent-after-brain-surgery/2007/09/18/1189881506532.html

I guess it might have potential in some areas of the outback or Georgia :-)

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Rating Your Pain from 0 to 10 Might Not Help Your Doctor



September 17, 2007 | INDIANAPOLIS -The most commonly used measure for pain screening may only be modestly accurate, according to researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the University of North Carolina.




In a study that appears in the October issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, they evaluate the usefulness of a scale that asks patients in primary care to rate their current pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain).

Universal pain screening is an increasingly common practice, largely because of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization’s requirement that accredited hospitals and clinics routinely assess all patients for pain. JCAHO is the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.



http://healthorbit.ca/login1.asp?msg=1&neidws=012170907

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Garlic vs. Brain Cancer


CHARLESTON -- Numerous studies provide evidence that garlic and its organo-sulfur compounds are effective inhibitors of the cancer process, most notably for prostate and stomach cancers.

Free Preview http://healthorbit.ca/login1.asp?msg=1&neidws=053170907

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sent this out once before
you may have ignored it
quote from the article:

the association between the stroke and the office visit was no higher in patients who seek the care of a chiropractor than in patients who seek the care of a general physician.

Haldeman still powers on for the profession when there is need, it seems...


Chiropractic and Stroke Risk: Setting the Record Straight

A groundbreaking study on vertebral artery dissection (VAD) and stroke following chiropractic office visits is pending publication in Spine and the European Spine Journal. The study, conducted as part of the Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders, looked at the association between chiropractic office visits and the incidence of vertebral artery strokes. “Current research suggests that dissections are probably multifactorial in origin,” said Task Force President Scott Haldeman, DC, MD, PhD. “They appear to occur in a person with a genetic predisposition to arterial dissection. They also appear to require a second factor such as viral infection or possibly estrogen.

They can then be triggered by a minor head movement, including activities of daily living, an adjustment or an examination of the neck.”

According to the study authors, their findings suggest that the risk of suffering a stroke following a chiropractic treatment might be due to the fact that a VAD is already in progress prior to the chiropractic adjustment. The dissection results in neck pain that brings the patient to the chiropractor’s office seeking relief.

The authors also documented only a handful of stroke cases following chiropractic cervical manipulation in a massive study population spanning nearly 100,000,000 person-years. Even more impressive, the data suggest that while spinal manipulation may increase the risk of an embolism in those with a VAD in progress, which can then lead to a stroke, the association between the stroke and the office visit was no higher in patients who seek the care of a chiropractor than in patients who seek the care of a general physician.

The findings, released confidentially at the May WFC Biennial Congress in Portugal, were presented on Aug. 18 in Orlando, Fla., to attendees of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s National Convention & Expo. Dr. Haldeman, Eric Hurwitz, DC, PhD (a member of the task force secretariat), and Linda Carroll, PhD (task force co-scientific secretary) interpreted the study results for session attendees during a panel session.

From a chiropractic perspective, the study offers important data to explain the longstanding contention that chiropractic cervical manipulation causes vertebral artery dissections. Organizations such as the Chiropractic Stroke Victims Awareness Group, headquartered in Connecticut, have based much of their anti-chiropractic campaign on misunder standing of the mechanisms that result in a stroke that can occur after a chiropractic office visit. The study also should help chiropractors explain the association when involved in litigation brought about when a chiropractic patient suffers a stroke following cervical manipulation.

The Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain was created to complete a best-evidence synthesis on neck pain and associated disorders. The mandate of the task force was to present the current state of the scientific literature on this topic and to make clinical and research recommendations related to the management of such conditions.

DC will feature a comprehensive review of the VAD/stroke study when it is published in Spine and the European Spine Journal.

Written by DC Staff

Dynamic Chiropractic - September 24, 2007, Volume 25, Issue 20

Page printed from:
http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/25/20/05.html

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Original Articles

The Effect of Combining Manual Therapy with Exercise on the Respiratory Function
of Normal Individuals: A Randomized Control Trial

Roger M. Engel, Subramanyam Vemulpad
pages 509-513

http://www.jmptonline.org/article/PIIS0161475407002084/abstract
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Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation for Low Back Pain of Pregnancy: A
Retrospective Case Series
Anthony J. Lisi, DC
Journal of Midwifery & Womens Health
January 2006;51:e7-10.

ABSTRACT
Low back pain is a common complaint in pregnancy, with a reported prevalence
of 57% to 69% and incidence of 61%. Although such pain can result in
significant disability, it has been shown that as few as 32% of women report
symptoms to their prenatal provider, and only 25% of providers recommend treatment.

Chiropractors sometimes manage low back pain in pregnant women; however,
scarce data exist regarding such treatment.

This retrospective case series was undertaken to describe the results of a group of pregnant women with low back pain who underwent chiropractic treatment including spinal manipulation.
Seventeen cases met all inclusion criteria. The overall group average
Numerical Rating Scale pain score decreased from 5.9 (range 2-10) at initial
presentation to 1.5 (range 0?5) at termination of care. Sixteen of 17 (94.1%) cases
demonstrated clinically important improvement. The average time to initial
clinically important pain relief was 4.5 (range 0-13) days after initial
presentation, and the average number of visits undergone up to that point was 1.8
(range 1-5).

No adverse effects were reported in any of the 17 cases. The results suggest
that chiropractic treatment was safe in these cases and support the
hypothesis that it may be effective for reducing pain intensity.