Your Child’s Health:  Having the Right Backpack and Using It Correctly Now May Prevent Big Problems Later

Healthcare researchers and providers alike are growing increasingly concerned that American kids are suffering from back pain earlier in their lives and in larger numbers than ever before.  And experts closest to the problem believe that overweight, improperly designed, and misused backpacks may be a big part of the reason why. 

Short-Term Injuries and Longer-Term Concerns

With an estimated 40 million school-age children carrying backpacks in America, it’s not surprising that there are some book bag-related injuries every year.  Since 2000, the U.S. Product Safety Commission has reported that children and their backpacks make roughly 7,000 trips to the emergency room annually.  However, many observers believe that the real toll is actually far higher since the vast majority of such injuries go unreported and many kids are treated by a family doctor or not treated at all.

While it is not clear how many acute injuries actually result from wearing backpacks as opposed to tripping over them or being hit by them, doctors who treat back problems regularly—especially chiropractic physicians—see worrying signs that heavier backpacks are setting the stage for more serious health issues in the future, including chronic back, neck and shoulder pain.  Some chiropractors estimate that as many as 75% to 80% of the teenage patients they treat have postural problems directly related to overweight backpacks.    

Why the Heavier Bags?

Across the past ten years, several factors have come together to increase the amount of weight young students are carrying in their book bags:

·         Increases in the amount of homework being assigned to students at a younger age typically mean more heavy books carried between home and school.

·         A trend toward removing lockers and individual desks from schools in many cases requires kids to carry all their belongings with them during the day.

·        Reduced time between classes or fewer trips to the locker can mean heavier loads for students.

·       Longer school days or increased participation in before-school and after-school activities often translates into more supplies and equipment as well as more time wearing the backpack.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends that a backpack should not be any heavier than 15% of a child’s body weight.  But as early as 2001, researchers at Simmons College in Massachusetts found that 55% of the 345 children they studied were carrying backpacks that exceeded the recommended weight limit, often by a substantial amount.  One third of those students said that they had already experienced back pain.  Today, the American Chiropractic Association advises parents to limit the weight of a child’s backpack to no more than 5% to 10% of body weight.      

Warning Signs

If you see any of the following signs, it may be time to lighten the load, help your childchoose a different backpack or talk about how it’s being used.  

·       Pain in the back, neck, shoulders or knees

·       Red marks left on shoulders by backpack straps

·       Tingling or numbness in the arms

·        Trouble getting the backpack on or off

·        Bending forward or “hunching over” to shift weight from the shoulders to the back

Choosing the Right Backpack and Using it Correctly

A good quality backpack with proper ergonomic features doesn’t have to be expensive.  They’re available at many sporting goods stores and discount outlets.  Experts offer the following advice:

·        Get the size and fit right first.  The right backpack should fit between the top of your child’s shoulders and lower back.  Bigger is not better, since having more space available creates the potential for a heavier backpack.

·        Find one with shoulder straps that are wide, padded and adjustable.  These distribute the weight more broadly across the shoulders and chest while allowing the backpack to be fitted snuggly to your child’s body.

·        For older students, consider a backpack with chest straps and a hip belt.  Chest straps and a hip belt redistribute weight even further and bring the pack closer to the wearer’s body.

·        Look for a padded back that will add comfort and protection.

·        Choose a backpack with multiple smaller compartments.  These help distribute the weight inside the bag and keep it stable.

Once your child has the right bag, it’s just as important to encourage him or her to use it correctly.  Chiropractors and physical therapists generally agree that means wearing it on both shoulders with the straps tightened so that it hangs no more than four inches below the waist.

How Your Chiropractor Can Help

Using a backpack should not cause any pain or discomfort under normal circumstances.  If your child is showing signs of back, neck or should pain, we encourage you to call your chiropractic physician today.  In addition to addressing any current problems that your child may be experiencing, your doctor of chiropractic can recommend an exercise program designed to strengthen muscles, and improve posture and coordination.  He or she can also offer instruction about good nutrition and sleep habits that will support your child’s healthy development.      

Doctors Give Advice to Parents on Selecting a Good Backpack for Their Children.  Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  August 3, 2011.  Accessed August 2011 

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/about/news/release/2011/backpack-safety-tips-08-03-2011.htm

ACA Offers Backpack Safety Checklist.  American Chiropractic Association.  August 28, 2007.  Accessed August 2011

http://www.acatoday.org/press_css.cfm?CID=2479

Protect Young Backs From Too Much Weight:  Heavy Backpacks Cause Variety of Health Problems.  NBC Home/Education.  Accessed August 2011. 

http://www.nbcmontana.com/education/2332881/detail.html

Avoid School Strain: Unstuff that BackPack.  CNN Health.  September 10, 2007.  Accessed August 2011.

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-09-10/health/hm.backpack.pain_1_backpack-heaviest-items-book-bags?_s=PM:HEALTH

The Effect of Backpacks on the Lumbar Spine in Children:  A Standing Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.  Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2010 Jan 1;35(1):83-8.  Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Diego, CA.  Neuschwander, et. al.  Accessed August 2011. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20023607

Surgery or Chiropractic for Chronic Sciatica Sufferers?

Pain coming from compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve is called sciatica. Sciatica – which can include pain, tingling, numbness and muscle weakness – is really a symptom indicating an underlying problem, not a diagnosis in and of itself. This article will explore in detail the findings of a recent controlled study comparing spinal manipulation (chiropractic) and surgery for people whose sciatica did not respond to traditional medical treatment approaches.

The study discussed here was conducted by the National Spine Center in Alberta Canada and published in October of 2010 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics[1]. The 40 study participants all had sciatica lasting over 3 months which had not responded to treatment with pain medications, lifestyle modifications, physical therapy, massage therapy or acupuncture. They had all been referred by their primary care physicians to spinal surgeons who had deemed them appropriate surgery candidates.

Instead of having all the patient proceed with surgery, they were split into two groups – one group to undergo a surgical microdiscectomy and the other group to be treated with standardized chiropractic spinal manipulation by a single chiropractor. (If not satisfied with the results they obtained from their assigned method, the patients were allowed to switch to the other treatment plan after 3 months.)

So what happened? Both groups made significant improvements over baseline scores – meaning  that they saw noticeable improvements whereas previous approaches had failed. A full 60% of the study participants benefitted from chiropractic spinal manipulation to the SAME degree as if they underwent surgery. And, after 1 year there was no difference in outcome success based on the treatment method. That means that a full 60% of people referred for surgery by their primary care physicians and accepted as surgical candidates by the neurosurgeon could actually get similar results with chiropractic. That is a lot of potentially unnecessary cutting, anesthesia and ER time.          

There is one paragraph in the results section of this study that is easy to overlook, but incredibly important. There were originally 120 candidates of which 60 met the study criteria and were asked to participate. Of these 60, 20 refused. Why? Because they had never been offered spinal manipulation as an alternative to surgery! They didn’t want to participate in the study and be randomly placed in the surgery group without first trying the spinal manipulation! This is incredibly telling. Not only does it demonstrate that there is still a lot of education about chiropractic that needs to happen among the public and among primary care providers, it also demonstrates that people understand the risks and costs of surgery and want to exhaust other possibilities first.

This was the first study to ever look at people who had failed traditional medical management of sciatica. Currently most patients that fail ‘conservative care’ are referred for a surgical evaluation. Now we know that 60% of these folks could avoid surgery and get similar long-term outcomes with chiropractic.

Please share this article with anyone considering surgery for sciatica.

All About Vitamin A

You may have heard from your grandma that eating carrots can improve you vision. That may not be exactly true, but carrots do contain something called provitamin A carotenoids. These are pigments in some plants that can be converted by the body into vitamin A, and vitamin A is important to your vision.

Vitamin A is also helpful to bone growth and your immune system. As with other vitamins, there are different forms of vitamin A. One of the forms that is most usable to the body is called retinol, which is found in liver, eggs, and milk. One of the most common provitamin A carotenoids that the body converts easily to retinol is beta carotene. Beta carotene is found in yellow and orange fruits and vegetables including carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and cantaloupe. Vitamin A is also one of the vitamins often used to fortify breakfast cereals.

Vitamin A is fat soluble, which means that the body stores it, mostly in the liver. That also means that it is possible to build up toxic levels of Vitamin A. This rarely happens from food sources because as the body builds up supplies of vitamin A it will slow down the conversion of beta carotene. When people do get vitamin A toxicity, it is usually from taking too much in supplemental or pill form. Toxic levels of vitamin A can cause liver problems, central nervous system problems, deterioration of bone density, and birth defects.

True deficiency of vitamin A is rare in the US, but common in countries where malnourishment is widespread. As mentioned earlier, vitamin A is important to the immune system and vision. This is because the body uses vitamin A to make various internal tissues, such as those lining the eye, lungs, and intestinal tract. When these linings are weakened by vitamin A deficiency, it is easier for harmful bacteria to penetrate them and thus, people with vitamin A deficiency are more prone to infections, illness, blindness, and respiratory problems.

Aside from the malnourished, other people who may be prone to vitamin A deficiency include those who consume large amounts of alcohol and those with certain metabolic disorders that affect how fat and other nutrients are absorbed by the body.

Some recent and ongoing studies involving vitamin A and beta carotene include investigations as to whether high amounts of vitamin A contribute to osteoporosis, and whether beta carotene can lower the risk of some forms of cancer.

As of this writing the Recommended Daily Intake for Vitamin A was 2,310 IU for females and 3,000 IU for males. For a current list of recommendations and list of foods that contain Vitamin A from the National Institutes for Health visit

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamina/

First, it’s important to note that there’s no question that the flu is a substantial health risk and measures should be taken to prevent it.  The issues that have been raised are over the ingredients in a flu vaccine, a lack of any long term safety studies regarding the ingredients in the shot, and whether or not these shots are effective in preventing hospital stays, lost work days, deaths, or the flu.

I first became compelled to research flu shots after having an autistic child come in to my clinic whose mother (and later – father) shared with me that the child’s problems started after being injected with a flu vaccine.  This particular child has had great success utilizing a program involving a grain-free diet, nutrients to boost intercellular glutathione, heavy metal detoxification, and corrective Chiropractic care.
 
Ingredients to Be Aware Of

The first established concern is that the vaccine contains neurotoxic agents like mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde.  Concerns over neurotoxins in vaccines came to light when Senator Dan Burton, who was elected to his twelfth term in November 2006 and is Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, stated in Senate, “My only grandson became autistic right before my eyes – shortly after receiving his vaccines."

Burton called for a removal of all vaccines containing the preservative Thimerosal (Which is present in the flu shot). "We all know and accept that mercury is a neurotoxin, and yet the FDA has failed to recall the 50 vaccines that contain Thimerosal."

Burton wrote, adding "Every day that mercury-containing vaccines remain on the market is another day 8,000 children are put at risk."

While various medical groups have said there is no connection between these vaccine ingredients and disease, others in the scientific community and many parent groups have another side to the story.

Recently this issue exploded in the media after parents and actresses Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete (21 Jump Street star and Wife of form NFL quarterback Rodney Peete), who both have autistic children, appeared on Oprah.  They both stated they had normal children until right after a vaccination. They stated, “We vaccinated our baby and then something happened."

Effectiveness in Preventing Hospital Stays, Reducing Lost Work Days, and Lowering Death Rates

On Oct. 31, 2006 an independent analysis by the internationally renowned Cochrane Collaboration of worldwide influenza vaccine studies, published in the British Medical Journal on Oct. 28, concluded there is little scientific proof that flu vaccine is safe and effective for children and adults and no evidence that it prevented or reduced deaths from the flu, hospital stays, or time off work.  "There is a big gap between policies promoting annual influenza vaccinations for most children and adults and supporting scientific evidence," said epidemiologist and vaccine expert Tom Jefferson who coordinated the comprehensive analysis for the Cochrane Collaboration. 

Additionally, Jefferson points out that potential confusion between respiratory infections caused by influenza viruses and those caused by non-influenza viruses can result in misdiagnosis and gross overestimation of the true impact of influenza on death and illness in a given influenza season. On October 24th, 2007 The front page headline of the English Daily Mail read, “QUESTION MARK OVER FLU JABS ; Vaccine Does Not Reduce Hospital Admissions, Claim Experts”

The article sited research that showed, “Vaccinating millions does nothing to cut hospital admissions.  There is no evidence that the annual campaign, which costs the NHS Pounds 115million, saves people from developing more serious illnesses.  The study, following others which have cast doubt on the campaigns effectiveness, led to calls for it to be scrapped. ”

The same article points out, “Researchers from George Washington University, Washington DC, said recently that no study had found a decline in flu deaths since 1980, even though vaccination coverage had increased from 15 to 65 per cent.”
 
Concerns Whether or Not It Prevents the Flu

The process of creating the annual flu shot is a complicated one and actually begins almost a year ahead of time. The World Health Organization monitors flu activity around the world, looking for predominant strains.  The WHO then selects the strains that they think are most likely to predominate in the northern hemisphere the next year. 

This year, they missed 2 out of 3 strains making the vaccine only 1/3rd effective at best at affecting the flu.  “There is an inherent vulnerability in trying to develop a vaccine now for what might happen six months from now when flu season starts," says infectious disease specialist Dr. Neil Rau.

In a book by Tim Oshea on vaccination, Michael Decker, MD of Aventis, the flu vaccine manufacturer admits: 'By the time you know what's the right strain, you can't do anything about it.' “
 
Alternatives to Preventing the Flu
 
This short article is not designed to give you medical advice on whether or not to get a flu shot.  After consulting your doctor about your risks, there are many very effective, natural ways to keep your immune system healthy and help boost it, if necessary, to keep you well during “flu season.”

The founder of a leading natural health care site, Dr. Joseph Mercola states, “People are dying from the flu not because they didn’t get their annual flu shot, but because they are already sick and have compromised immune systems. Therefore, the ultimate treatment for the flu, as Dr. Joseph Mercola puts it, is straightforward: proactive prevention.”

Eating a junk food diet, leading a sedentary lifestyle, and burdening yourself with little sleep and unresolved physical and emotional stress will only serve to bring your immune system down, where it will be of little protection from the flu or any illness.  If you really want help to fight against flu and infection without dangerous side-effects, consult physicians that use means of getting there that make sense.  In our clinics, through the proper alignment and function of the spine and nervous system combined with a lifestyle also in alignment with immune function, our children and adults are not catching or concerned about the flu.  Simultaneously, they’re not at risk of being harmed by the treatments themselves.

<sup>British Medical Journal on Oct. 28,
 
Oct. 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA),
QUESTION MARK OVER FLU JABS ; Vaccine Does Not Reduce Hospital Admissions, Claim Experts Daily Mail; London (UK), Arrival Time: 2007-10-25   By Daniel Martin
 
Birmingham University public health lecturer Dr Peymane Adab, as told the GPs magazine Pulse
BMJ, Oct. 28, 2006

Cochrane Study, Oct. 31, 2006

The Lancet, Sept. 23, 2005Danger Lurking In Flu Shots, Ciola, Greg, Oct. 8, 2007
O'Shea, Tim, The Sanctity Of Human Blood: Vaccination Is Not Immunization, eighth edition, pages 40, 41, 90, 91, Two Trees, San Jose, CA, 2004.

www. 909shot.com

www.mercola.com</sup>