March 2021 Health Newsletter

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) states that approximately 31 million Americans suffer from back pain at any given time. This adds up to over $50 billion in healthcare costs annually. And then that price tag more than doubles when you factor in lost wages and decreased job productivity.

For decades, chiropractors have not only been saying chiropractic maintenance care for back pain is beneficial, it’s also cost effective. A research project called "The Nordic Maintenance Care Program" was launched with the aim to increase knowledge regarding maintenance care, utilizing chiropractors in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. A leading chiropractic publication, Chiropractic Economics, explained that this team put in hard work from 2008-2018 with four objectives:

1. To define the concept of maintenance care and the indications for its use.
2. To describe chiropractors’ belief in maintenance care and patients’ acceptance of it.
3. To establish the prevalence with which chiropractors use maintenance care and possible characteristics of the chiropractors associated with its use.
4. To determine its efficacy and cost-effectiveness for various types of conditions.
   

Maintenance

One study specifically investigated the patient perspective of maintenance care; patients were interviewed and asked to explain why they would visit their chiropractor on a regular basis. Patients stated that the purpose was:  

• To prevent recurrences (78%);
• To remain pain-free (68%);
• Maintenance care as a wellness approach (17%).
  

Regarding the spacing of maintenance care treatments, most visits were scheduled by patients within a range of 1-3 months.

Cost-Effectiveness

A health-care register-based study found that health care use was smallest among the patients who received maintenance care from a chiropractor as opposed to those receiving care from other health care professionals.

A 2015 study by Simon Dagenais, et. al., gathered data from over 1300 studies. They discovered that compared to private health plans, chiropractic health care costs were lower. There are a lot of variables to control, but the bottom line is chiropractic maintenance care can be more effective and less costly than other forms of back pain care.

New guidelines released from the American College of Physicians indicate that preventing kidney stones may be as simple as drinking more water.  Experts suggest drinking enough fluids to generate two liters of urine daily in order to keep kidney stones at bay. Kidney stones are formed from solid crystals in the urine and increasing the consumption of water dilutes the solids and decreases their abilities to form into stones. It should be noted that drinking any fluids does not generate the same benefits of drinking water alone. Certain fluids such as sodas, especially those containing phosphoric acid, can actually increase the formation of kidney stones. Stick with water and consume two to three liters daily with the goal of generating 2 liters of clear urine daily. If the urine is yellow, you're likely not consuming enough fluids.

Experts have been debating bacon for years, but could this delicious food really lead to cancer? According to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), there's a link between the regular consumption of bacon, along with other processed meats like hot dogs, and the risk for contracting colorectal cancer, which is cancer of the bowels.  WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer also found a link between prolonged processed meat consumption and the risk for both pancreatic and prostate cancer as well. The IARC report estimated that for every 1.8 ounce of bacon consumed per day, the risk for bowel cancer rises by 18%. The findings from this report led WHO to deem processed meats as true carcinogens, just like tobacco. But not everyone is buying the argument that processed meat is as bad as tobacco. Almost a million deaths a year are caused by smoking cigarettes. While experts agree that over consumption of processed meats isn't healthy, bacon and other meats can be enjoyed in moderation without concern according to the National Resources Defense Council. The advocacy group also urges people to avoid the processed meat section and to buy fresh meat from high-quality sources instead.