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Your Health & Salmon Arm Observer/Shuswap Market News
Wellness
INFORMATION DESIGNED TO PROMOTE AND ENHANCE YOUR WELLBEING
Friday, February 16, 2018 Page A23
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Opioid crisis solution FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC Dr. Warren Gage A few of the speakers at our recent California Jam seminar that our staff attended spoke on the opioid crisis that is occurring in North America. As this was an American seminar, the stats were mostly based on the USA but they were shocking as this is the worst drug epidemic in US history. Some of the newest stats are that opioids cost the USA $56 Billion per year. The state of Ohio was given as an example and already in 2012 there had been 793 million doses of opioids prescribed – which adds up to 68 pills for every man, woman and child. More recently, in 2016 a full 20% of the population of Ohio was prescribed an opioid and it now leads the nation in overdose deaths.
Across the whole country, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 years old and there are 140 deaths per day in the states. Sadly, stats for Canada are not much better as it is estimated in 2017 there were around 4000 overdose deaths or 11 deaths per day – as our population is around 1/10th of the USA, we’re not far behind our neighbors. The Title of this weeks article is the “Opioid Crisis Solution” because the research shows that Chiropractic can play a large role in the solution to this crisis. One of the most common medical reasons for prescription of opioids is for low back pain. Today’s reality is that far too many people are eating
wrong, thinking wrong (stressed), and moving wrong (sitting and not exercising). It is no wonder 80% of the population now experiences low back pain at some point. The British Medical Journal states that Canadian and Americans are prescribed opioids 3x more often than Europeans; and, the same research shows: “Opioids do not seem to expedite return to work in injured workers or improve functional outcomes of acute back pain in primary care. For chronic back pain, systematic reviews find scant evidence of efficacy.” What is the solution? The current practice is for most Medical Doctors to most commonly resort to recommending drugs, physiotherapy, then surgery. However, studies like the 1993 Manga Report done by the Ontario government have repeatedly shown that Chiropractic care is by far the most effective
treatment for low back pain. Another study known as the Bishop Study was done in Vancouver in 2010 and published in the Spine Journal and it showed similar results. Patients suffering low back pain were randomly divided between standard medical care which included pain killers, anti inflammatories, opioids, massage and physiotherapy. The other group received Chiropractic adjustments and both groups were followed for 16 weeks. It should be noted that the Chiropractic group only received care for 4 weeks while the standard medical care group had unlimited care and medications through the entire 16 weeks. By the end of the 16 weeks 78% of the usual care group were still taking opioids compared to none in the Chiropractic care group. The most telling result was that when all subjects
completed a disability score questionnaire the Chiropractic group was 2700% better than the standard care group. The unfortunate part of the above story is that this research is readily available to our governments and policy makers that control funding for healthcare. Despite what the research shows, Chiropractic continues to receive nearly no medical coverage and the majority of Doctors have not significantly changed their prescribing and referral habits. As usual, the patient is left to fund their Chiropractic care out of pocket in order to try and avoid going down the slippery opioid slope. Meanwhile, the governments pour Billions of dollars into this crisis. Dr. Warren Gage is a family wellness Chiropractor who can be reached at Harbourfront Family Chiropractic at (250) 803-0224.
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What you should know about testosterone Testosterone is a hormone that is produced in the human body. Although testosterone is largely associated with males, females produce it as well. Testosterone is responsible for stimulating sperm
production and giving men their reproductive drive. Testosterone also helps build bone and muscle mass and causes hair to grow on a man’s chest and elsewhere. WebMD says that, after age
30, most men begin to experience a gradual decline in testosterone production. Some men may even exhibit symptoms that suggest that their testosterone levels have dropped considerably. The American
Urological Association says roughly two out of every 10 men older than 60 have low testosterone, often referred to as “low T.” Signs of low T include reduced sex drive, difficulty achiev-
ing or maintaining an erection, low semen volume, hair loss, fatigue, and increased body fat. Men can have their testosterone levels checked by taking a blood test to see if their levels are normal.
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