For years I have run a casual email
list serving the chiropractic profession, its students
and various interested non-chiropractor supporters.
Issue 4
08/07/07 21:43
Welcome
to Issue 4
Direct Gaze
Seductive eyes: Attractiveness and direct gaze increase desire for associated objects
Madelijn Strick, Rob W. Hollanda and Ad van Knippenberga. Department of Social Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Available online 28 June 2007.
Abstract
Recent research in neuroscience shows that observing attractive faces with direct gaze is more rewarding than observing attractive faces with averted gaze. On the basis of this research, it was hypothesized that object evaluations can be enhanced by associating them with attractive faces displaying direct gaze. In a conditioning paradigm, novel objects were associated with either attractive or unattractive female faces, either displaying direct or averted gaze. An affective priming task showed more positive automatic evaluations of objects that were paired with attractive faces with direct gaze than attractive faces with averted gaze and unattractive faces, irrespective of gaze direction. Participants’ self-reported desire for the objects matched the affective priming data. The results are discussed against the background of recent findings on affective consequences of gaze cueing.
This one may come as a surprise.
Are people with back pain really in need of exercise?
Curiously, how many times have you gotten a patient well, and they stated that they tried other therapy and all they got was exercises prescriptions?
Disuse and physical deconditioning in the first year after the onset of back pain
Pain; Volume 130, Issue 3, August 2007, Pages 279-286
Abstract
For years, physical deconditioning has been thought to be both a cause and a result of back pain. As a consequence physical reconditioning has been proposed as treatment-goal in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP). However, it is still unclear whether a patient’s physical fitness level really decreases after pain-onset.
The objectives of the present study were, firstly, to test the assumption that long-term non-specific LBP leads to a decrease of the level of physical activity (disuse), secondly, to evaluate any development of physical deconditioning as a result of disuse in CLBP, and thirdly, to evaluate predictors for disuse in CLBP. A longitudinal cohort study over one year including 124 patients with sub-acute LBP (i.e., 4–7 weeks after pain onset) was performed. Main outcome measures were change in physical activity level (PAL) and physical fitness (measured by changes in body weight, body fat and muscle strength) over one year.
Hypothesized predictors for disuse were: pain catastrophizing; fear of movement; depression; physical activity decline; the perceived level of disability and PAL prior to pain. Results showed that only in a subgroup of patients a PAL-decrease had occurred after the onset of pain, whereas no signs of physical deconditioning were found. Negative affect and the patients’ perceived physical activity decline in the subacute phase predicted a decreased level of PAL over one year.
Based on these results, we conclude that as to the assumption that patients with CLBP suffer from disuse and physical deconditioning empirical evidence is still lacking.
Surprise? Medicine not always using its own evidence?
Having recently had one of these, I was interested if what my cardiologist was doing was 'scientific'...apparently not...of course only chiropractors are unscientific, right?
Metoprolol Treatment to Prevent Restenosis following Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty
Damian Franzen, Nathalie Seifert, Angela Metha, Hans W. Höpp Klinik III für Innere Medizin, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Deutschland
Cardiology 2002;97:94-98 (DOI: 10.1159/000057679)
Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that metoprolol reduces the restenosis rate after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in native coronary arteries as compared to placebo. Apart from prognostic clinical effects in the treatment of patients with coronary heart disease, several in vivo and ex vivo studies have demonstrated antiproliferative and antiatherogenic effects of beta-blockers. In the present study, 192 male patients were randomized in a double-blind fashion to metoprolol sustained-release treatment or placebo starting at least 1 day before angioplasty. Lesion diameters and restenosis rates were evaluated using automatic edge detection systems. The study endpoint was the angiographic restenosis rate 4 months after PTCA. Ninety-seven randomized patients had a control angiography a mean of 4.5 months after PTCA. Dropouts were evenly distributed between the metoprolol and placebo groups. Lumen loss in the target lesion was 0.36 mm in the metoprolol group and 0.32 mm in the placebo group. Restenosis rates averaged 57.5% in the metoprolol group and 44.2% in the placebo group using conventional restenosis criteria. Taking metoprolol serum levels above 50 mmol/l as an indication of definite compliance with the metoprolol treatment, the restenosis rate was 58.3%. In conclusion, 95 mg of sustained-release metoprolol failed to reduce the restenosis rate following angioplasty in native coronary arteries.
Copyright © 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
As the growing awareness in "natural medicine" escalates in proportion to drug reaction problems...
ECHINACEA MAY PREVENT COLDS, SAYS STUDY (News in Science, 26/6/07)
Echinacea may not only help reduce the symptoms of a cold but may help
prevent infection with some cold viruses, US researchers say.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1962026.htm
Talking about yourself too much?
This article talks about Drs talking for the sake of self focus.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/doctors-talking-too-much-about-themselves-study/2007/06/27/1182623960915.html
PTs discover instrument assistance....
Of course, chiros discovered instrument assisted adjusting decades ago. I always marvel at the physiotherapy profession for never quite acknowledging the chiropractic profession for anything much at all. As in my comparison of various professions that specialise in musculo-skeletal care, one can see that this profession largely ignores facts in a historical context.
Manual Application of Controlled Forces to Thoracic and Lumbar Spine With a Device: Rated Comfort for the Receiver's Back and the Applier's Hands
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
Volume 30, Issue 5, June 2007, Pages 365-373
Abstract
Purpose
High volumes of manual therapy work can lead to overuse hand and wrist injuries. This study evaluated hand and back comfort in asymptomatic volunteers during spinal mobilization carried out with an instrumented manual therapy tool.
Methods
This crossover design study examined 36 asymptomatic physiotherapy students that were tested in pairs. One participant assumed the role of the simulated therapist and the other the simulated patient, before reversing roles. Posteroanterior mobilization conditions formed by using 2 spinal segments (thoracic/lumbar), 2 force application methods (hands/device), and 3 grades of mobilization were applied in a random order. After each combination, both participants in each pair rated hand or back comfort, respectively, on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance.
Results
Rated back comfort was greater for hands than for the device and decreased with greater applied force. When the original hard rubber device tip was changed to one of soft molded rubber, both back and hand comfort improved significantly. Although tool mobilization was still rated as significantly less comfortable than mobilization with hands only, this difference was approximately half the discomfort experienced as the grade of mobilization increased from grade I to grade III. For hand comfort when using the softer device tip, the method of force application was no longer a significant determinant of comfort.
Conclusions
The mobilizing tool with a molded rubber tip was acceptably comfortable in use with asymptomatic backs and hands. Further research is indicated in manual therapy settings with therapists who have experienced hand pain.
Dramatic Drop in Cerebral Palsy Prevalence Among Very Premature Infants
Caroline Cassels
Medscape Medical News 2007. © 2007 Medscape
June 27, 2007 — A new study shows the prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) among very premature infants has dropped dramatically over the past decade.
Led by Charlene T. Robertson, MD, investigators at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, found that from 1974 to 1994 there was a steady increase in the prevalence of CP, which peaked at an all-time high of 131 per 1000 live births in 1994. However, a decade later (2001 to 2003) it dropped to 19 per 1000 live births.
"The prevalence of CP in 2001–2003 of 19 per 1000 live births for more than 3-year-old survivors of extreme prematurity is, to our knowledge, the lowest reported to date in the literature," the authors write.
The study is published in the June 27, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
30-Year Study Period
According to the authors, determining true CP prevalence in this patient group has been challenging. In part, they write, this has been due to a lack of consistency in study criteria used by different research groups, including the use of different birth years, gestational ages, selection of study population by birth weight vs gestational age, and reporting rates among hospital survivors rather than gestation age–specific live births.
To examine changes in prevalence of CP in extremely premature infants over a 30-year period, the investigators conducted a population-based, longitudinal outcome study.
The study included all live-born infants with a gestational age of 20 to 27 weeks with birth weights of 500 to 1249 g born in Northern Alberta, Canada, from August 1 1974 to December 31, 2003.
During the study period 2318 very premature infants were born in this region. Of these, 1437 (62%) died by the age of 2 years and 23 (1%) were lost to follow-up. Of the 858 survivors, 122 (14.2%) were diagnosed with CP.
Increased CP Prevalence Parallels Survival Rates
Considered a source of major morbidity among preterm children, CP's steady 20-year increase paralleled an increase in population-based survival rates among very premature infants, with similar trends for gestational age groups of 20 to 25 weeks and 26 to 27 weeks.
For example, over the 30-year study period, population-based survival among infants 20 to 25 weeks increased from 4% to 31%, while CP prevalence per 1000 live births increased from 0 at study outset to 110 until 1992 to 1994, when it dropped to 22 in the years 2001 to 2003.
Neither preterm multiple birth or low birth weight for gestational age were associated with an increased prevalence of CP in this study. In addition, infants delivered by cesarean section did not have a lower rate of CP. While it is not clear why CP prevalence is dropping, the authors suggest it could be due to a number of factors, including a reduction in postnatal corticosteroid use.
JAMA. 2007;297:2733-2740.
Direct Gaze
Seductive eyes: Attractiveness and direct gaze increase desire for associated objects
Madelijn Strick, Rob W. Hollanda and Ad van Knippenberga. Department of Social Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Available online 28 June 2007.
Abstract
Recent research in neuroscience shows that observing attractive faces with direct gaze is more rewarding than observing attractive faces with averted gaze. On the basis of this research, it was hypothesized that object evaluations can be enhanced by associating them with attractive faces displaying direct gaze. In a conditioning paradigm, novel objects were associated with either attractive or unattractive female faces, either displaying direct or averted gaze. An affective priming task showed more positive automatic evaluations of objects that were paired with attractive faces with direct gaze than attractive faces with averted gaze and unattractive faces, irrespective of gaze direction. Participants’ self-reported desire for the objects matched the affective priming data. The results are discussed against the background of recent findings on affective consequences of gaze cueing.
This one may come as a surprise.
Are people with back pain really in need of exercise?
Curiously, how many times have you gotten a patient well, and they stated that they tried other therapy and all they got was exercises prescriptions?
Disuse and physical deconditioning in the first year after the onset of back pain
Pain; Volume 130, Issue 3, August 2007, Pages 279-286
Abstract
For years, physical deconditioning has been thought to be both a cause and a result of back pain. As a consequence physical reconditioning has been proposed as treatment-goal in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP). However, it is still unclear whether a patient’s physical fitness level really decreases after pain-onset.
The objectives of the present study were, firstly, to test the assumption that long-term non-specific LBP leads to a decrease of the level of physical activity (disuse), secondly, to evaluate any development of physical deconditioning as a result of disuse in CLBP, and thirdly, to evaluate predictors for disuse in CLBP. A longitudinal cohort study over one year including 124 patients with sub-acute LBP (i.e., 4–7 weeks after pain onset) was performed. Main outcome measures were change in physical activity level (PAL) and physical fitness (measured by changes in body weight, body fat and muscle strength) over one year.
Hypothesized predictors for disuse were: pain catastrophizing; fear of movement; depression; physical activity decline; the perceived level of disability and PAL prior to pain. Results showed that only in a subgroup of patients a PAL-decrease had occurred after the onset of pain, whereas no signs of physical deconditioning were found. Negative affect and the patients’ perceived physical activity decline in the subacute phase predicted a decreased level of PAL over one year.
Based on these results, we conclude that as to the assumption that patients with CLBP suffer from disuse and physical deconditioning empirical evidence is still lacking.
Surprise? Medicine not always using its own evidence?
Having recently had one of these, I was interested if what my cardiologist was doing was 'scientific'...apparently not...of course only chiropractors are unscientific, right?
Metoprolol Treatment to Prevent Restenosis following Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty
Damian Franzen, Nathalie Seifert, Angela Metha, Hans W. Höpp Klinik III für Innere Medizin, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Deutschland
Cardiology 2002;97:94-98 (DOI: 10.1159/000057679)
Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that metoprolol reduces the restenosis rate after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in native coronary arteries as compared to placebo. Apart from prognostic clinical effects in the treatment of patients with coronary heart disease, several in vivo and ex vivo studies have demonstrated antiproliferative and antiatherogenic effects of beta-blockers. In the present study, 192 male patients were randomized in a double-blind fashion to metoprolol sustained-release treatment or placebo starting at least 1 day before angioplasty. Lesion diameters and restenosis rates were evaluated using automatic edge detection systems. The study endpoint was the angiographic restenosis rate 4 months after PTCA. Ninety-seven randomized patients had a control angiography a mean of 4.5 months after PTCA. Dropouts were evenly distributed between the metoprolol and placebo groups. Lumen loss in the target lesion was 0.36 mm in the metoprolol group and 0.32 mm in the placebo group. Restenosis rates averaged 57.5% in the metoprolol group and 44.2% in the placebo group using conventional restenosis criteria. Taking metoprolol serum levels above 50 mmol/l as an indication of definite compliance with the metoprolol treatment, the restenosis rate was 58.3%. In conclusion, 95 mg of sustained-release metoprolol failed to reduce the restenosis rate following angioplasty in native coronary arteries.
Copyright © 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
As the growing awareness in "natural medicine" escalates in proportion to drug reaction problems...
ECHINACEA MAY PREVENT COLDS, SAYS STUDY (News in Science, 26/6/07)
Echinacea may not only help reduce the symptoms of a cold but may help
prevent infection with some cold viruses, US researchers say.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1962026.htm
Talking about yourself too much?
This article talks about Drs talking for the sake of self focus.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/doctors-talking-too-much-about-themselves-study/2007/06/27/1182623960915.html
PTs discover instrument assistance....
Of course, chiros discovered instrument assisted adjusting decades ago. I always marvel at the physiotherapy profession for never quite acknowledging the chiropractic profession for anything much at all. As in my comparison of various professions that specialise in musculo-skeletal care, one can see that this profession largely ignores facts in a historical context.
Manual Application of Controlled Forces to Thoracic and Lumbar Spine With a Device: Rated Comfort for the Receiver's Back and the Applier's Hands
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
Volume 30, Issue 5, June 2007, Pages 365-373
Abstract
Purpose
High volumes of manual therapy work can lead to overuse hand and wrist injuries. This study evaluated hand and back comfort in asymptomatic volunteers during spinal mobilization carried out with an instrumented manual therapy tool.
Methods
This crossover design study examined 36 asymptomatic physiotherapy students that were tested in pairs. One participant assumed the role of the simulated therapist and the other the simulated patient, before reversing roles. Posteroanterior mobilization conditions formed by using 2 spinal segments (thoracic/lumbar), 2 force application methods (hands/device), and 3 grades of mobilization were applied in a random order. After each combination, both participants in each pair rated hand or back comfort, respectively, on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance.
Results
Rated back comfort was greater for hands than for the device and decreased with greater applied force. When the original hard rubber device tip was changed to one of soft molded rubber, both back and hand comfort improved significantly. Although tool mobilization was still rated as significantly less comfortable than mobilization with hands only, this difference was approximately half the discomfort experienced as the grade of mobilization increased from grade I to grade III. For hand comfort when using the softer device tip, the method of force application was no longer a significant determinant of comfort.
Conclusions
The mobilizing tool with a molded rubber tip was acceptably comfortable in use with asymptomatic backs and hands. Further research is indicated in manual therapy settings with therapists who have experienced hand pain.
Dramatic Drop in Cerebral Palsy Prevalence Among Very Premature Infants
Caroline Cassels
Medscape Medical News 2007. © 2007 Medscape
June 27, 2007 — A new study shows the prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) among very premature infants has dropped dramatically over the past decade.
Led by Charlene T. Robertson, MD, investigators at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, found that from 1974 to 1994 there was a steady increase in the prevalence of CP, which peaked at an all-time high of 131 per 1000 live births in 1994. However, a decade later (2001 to 2003) it dropped to 19 per 1000 live births.
"The prevalence of CP in 2001–2003 of 19 per 1000 live births for more than 3-year-old survivors of extreme prematurity is, to our knowledge, the lowest reported to date in the literature," the authors write.
The study is published in the June 27, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
30-Year Study Period
According to the authors, determining true CP prevalence in this patient group has been challenging. In part, they write, this has been due to a lack of consistency in study criteria used by different research groups, including the use of different birth years, gestational ages, selection of study population by birth weight vs gestational age, and reporting rates among hospital survivors rather than gestation age–specific live births.
To examine changes in prevalence of CP in extremely premature infants over a 30-year period, the investigators conducted a population-based, longitudinal outcome study.
The study included all live-born infants with a gestational age of 20 to 27 weeks with birth weights of 500 to 1249 g born in Northern Alberta, Canada, from August 1 1974 to December 31, 2003.
During the study period 2318 very premature infants were born in this region. Of these, 1437 (62%) died by the age of 2 years and 23 (1%) were lost to follow-up. Of the 858 survivors, 122 (14.2%) were diagnosed with CP.
Increased CP Prevalence Parallels Survival Rates
Considered a source of major morbidity among preterm children, CP's steady 20-year increase paralleled an increase in population-based survival rates among very premature infants, with similar trends for gestational age groups of 20 to 25 weeks and 26 to 27 weeks.
For example, over the 30-year study period, population-based survival among infants 20 to 25 weeks increased from 4% to 31%, while CP prevalence per 1000 live births increased from 0 at study outset to 110 until 1992 to 1994, when it dropped to 22 in the years 2001 to 2003.
Neither preterm multiple birth or low birth weight for gestational age were associated with an increased prevalence of CP in this study. In addition, infants delivered by cesarean section did not have a lower rate of CP. While it is not clear why CP prevalence is dropping, the authors suggest it could be due to a number of factors, including a reduction in postnatal corticosteroid use.
JAMA. 2007;297:2733-2740.