Your name, website, phone
number, and contact info here
Last month I covered the topic of Chronic and Recurring Ear Infections – a very controversial and
little understood issue that tends to tug a parents’ heart strings more than anything else.
So, let’s continue what we started last month:
Chronic Ear Infections – cont’d
“The bottom line was there wasn’t any difference in the
development outcomes as best we could measure them
at age 3,” said Dr. Jack Paradise of Children’s Hospital of
Pittsburgh.
Dr. Paradise, however, warned that there is a risk of
complications from the anesthesia – you do not want to
hear these.
“Also, the tubes sometimes leave perforations in the
eardrums or scar them, or cause chronic drainage from
the ear. If tubes were absolutely harmless and free, then I
think you might say, ‘Well, let’s have the tubes to be
sure,’” Paradise said. “But tubes themselves carry risk
and, of course, there’s cost involved. So it becomes a
matter of.....which set of risks would you rather take?”
Hmmmm……
Paradise said he would hold off inserting tubes if the only
concern was developmental problems from hearing loss.
There you have it! Yet millions of these operations are
performed in Canada and the United States each year
when controlled clinical studies have determined that
there was “no benefit gained from the surgical placement
of tubes.”
As a matter of fact, they actually create complications Paradise mentioned - such as scar formation on the
eardrum leading to hearing loss. Not a desirable side effect! The biggest problem with these medical
treatments is that they attempt to interfere with the body’s own healing ability and discount the power of the
body to heal all by itself! As a result, they’re not effective!
Let’s look at this closely: The Eustachian tube (the small tube which connects the nasal cavity to the inner
ear) is at a different angle in children and, therefore, they are prone to infections - at least that is what most
parents are told.
(If that was the reason for ear infections, then ALL
children would have ear infections until the tube
matured. And that is simply not the case!) The other
reason parents are given as to why their children have
chronic ear infections is that it is just a normal part of
childhood.
Nonsense!
OR: “Your child has a tendency toward ear infections
so we’ll just put him on a low dose of antibiotics as a
preventive measure.”
(That is dangerous thinking).
Research indicates that children, who have been given antibiotics prior to their first birthday, have a
tendency to develop Asthma as a result.
I’ll tell you what is true: The normal propensity is NOT to have ear infections!)
From my perspective as a Chiropractor, I see ear infections as a malfunction of the immune system and
lowered resistance. In other words, the child’s body is not able to fight off or prevent the infection on its
own.
The main cause of lowered immune resistance in a child is nervous system interference most often from
a Vertebral Subluxation caused by the process of delivery.
Yes, birth.
It can be very traumatic. The stress of the average, uncomplicated delivery can cause a vertebral
subluxation of the delicate segments of a baby’s spine, thereby affecting the way a child’s nervous
system and immune system react to the world around him. In their landmark research done as early as
1987, Drs. Gutman and Biedermann, two German researchers, examined hundreds of newborn infants
and concluded that, “an unhealthy spine at birth causes lowered resistance to infection, especially ear,
nose, and throat infection.” (Gutman, G., Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndromes in Babies and Infants,
Manuelle Medizin, 1987,)
I’ll continue our discussion of Chronic Ear Infections in the next issue. Please stay tuned!
BOOST YOUR KIDS’ IMMUNITY
Schools are a favoured playground for germs and
viruses. Now that class is back in session, parents
will want to do all they can to help their kids from
getting sick.
To keep little ones’ immune systems strong, Aviva
Allen, a Toronto nutritionist who specializes in
child nutrition, advises parents pack lunches with
as many whole foods as possible and avoid
processed foods, especially if they contain refined
sugar.
“White sugar will suppress the immune system,”
says Allen.
While a balanced diet is key to revving up the
body’s natural ability to fend off disease, Allen says
there are four key nutrients essential for boosting
immunity. (I will continue in the next issue)
Variety is the spice of life –
and your workout
A well-rounded fitness program incorporates four
areas of physical activity, according to Mayo Clinic
experts.
1. Balance exercises. Besides improving
balance, these help reduce the risk of falling.
2. Flexibility training. This helps joints move
more easily. It also improves posture and
balance, especially when flexibility and
strength training are combined.
3.
Strength training. This reduces the chances
of heart attack and stroke. It also helps
increase bone mass.
4.
Aerobic activity. This helps reduce the risk
of heart disease and stroke. It helps lower
blood pressure, promotes healthy
cholesterol levels, reduces risk of type 2
diabetes and can help improve stamina.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Walnuts are the healthiest nuts of all
Eating nuts – and especially walnuts – three
times a week will lower your chances of dying
from either cancer or heart disease.
Nut eaters reduce their chances of dying
prematurely by 39 per cent, and those who eat
walnuts cut their risk nearly in half – by 45 per
cent – compared with non-nut eaters. The
reduction increased to 55 per cent in those who
ate one 28-g serving of nuts three times a week.
Of course, it’s hard to know which came first: do
nuts make us healthier or do healthier people eat
nuts? Certainly, nut eaters seem more likely to
follow the fruit-and-vegetable Mediterranean diet,
have their weight under control, are less likely to
smoke and are physically more active.
Walnuts also raise levels of ‘good’ HDL
cholesterol and its oil helps to maintain strong
blood vessels. People with cardiovascular
disease should take a sip of walnut oil after
meals, say researchers from Penn State
University, and everyone should eat a few
walnuts every day.
100 Ways to live to 100:
59. Biopsy
In a biopsy, a small bit of tissue is removed under local anesthetic to diagnose a serious
illness like cancer. Besides infection, puncturing nearby organs, and causing tears and bleeding, the
greatest danger is that biopsies can inadvertently ‘seed’ or spread cancer. With breast biopsies, the
risk of recurrent cancer from a ‘needle metastasis’ is about one in 15. Request PET (position emission
tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) instead.
60. Computed tomography (CT) angiography
The use of intravenous dye and CT technology to provide an ‘inside view’ of the coronary
arteries is fast replacing the exercise stress test done in doctors’ surgeries. It’s also doubling the rate
of invasive cardiac procedures, including surgery, say Stanford University School of Medicine
researchers. Ask to have the standard gym bike or treadmill stress test instead.
61. Backache
Some 80 per cent of us suffer from back pain, but medicine doesn’t offer much besides
potentially dangerous surgery (which leaves only a quarter of patients free of pain) and drugs. In most
cases, Chiropractic shines in this arena.
62. Earache
Shout it loud; antibiotics just don’t work for earache. Nor does removing adenoids fix glue ear.
Instead, try time, mullein oil, a woolly hat, a hot-water bottle, homeopathic Pulsatilla, or auricular
therapy (acupuncture of the ear). Before having tubes inserted in your child’s ear, see us first!
63. Infection
For common and non-serious infections, try Echinacea, essential oils like clove, lavender,
lemon, marjoram, mint, niaouli (Melaleuca), pine rosemary, and thyme oils, and goldenseal, manuka
honey, tea tree oil, good old garlic and cranberry, all of which are powerful alternatives to antibiotics.
64. Just-in-case checkups, particularly if you’re aged over 50
If you have nothing particularly wrong with you, going to the doctor won’t necessarily protect
you, but is likely to unleash the entire arsenal of his testing apparatus and have you leaving with a
prescription (or two or three) in your hands. Just telling you the way it is.
65. Menopause
In most cases, holistic measures (diet, homeopathy, herbs) will help you through the change
in a safer way than using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which continues to be discredited,
despite protestations by doctors, because of a link with breast cancer. The WDDTY medical detective
Dr Harald Gaier has had greater success with Phytoestrol N (which contains rhubarb root) than most
of the popular herbals for menopause.
66. Chronic but non-life-threatening conditions
Eczema, psoriasis, non-life-threatening asthma, arthritis and the like generally respond better
to alternative measures such as Chiropractic than drugs, which only suppress symptoms. Check out
the alternatives before resorting to lifelong drug use.
67. Slimming
All doctors usually have to offer are drugs and calorie-counting, which aren’t long-term
solutions and numerous slimming drugs have potentially fatal side-effects. Look first for potential food
intolerances. Get your thyroid checked out, clean up your diet, and opt for low-GI foods and lots of fruit
and veg.
I will continue this topic over the next issues until we reach 100 points. Please enjoy!