With the CDC announcing this year's flu vaccine is less effective than usual, some medical experts are predicting a bad flu season. That means more cases of flu and those with weakened immune systems dealing with bothersome symptoms.

What's a doctor to do? Prescribe Tamiflu is they don't read research.

Dr. Andrew Buelt (DO) recently wrote an article for Medpage Today about doctors continuing to prescribe Tamiflu to treat the flu when the research shows no significant benefit. Here are some excerpts:

"Oseltamivir, brand name Tamiflu, was released onto the market in 1999 for the treatment of influenza...

It's easy to see why everyone thought this was a wonder drug. A meta-analysis...concluded that "Oseltamivir treatment of influenza illness reduces LRTCs [lower respiratory tract complications], antibiotic use, and hospitalization in both healthy and 'at-risk' adults."

However, the same authors (Kaiser L, et al) also said acute bronchitis requires antibiotic use, which we know it doesn't, and that eight of the 10 trials were unpublished or published only in abstract form. Finally, 68% of the randomized patients tested positive for influenza when, on average, only about 14% of those in a given flu season test positive, according to U.S. virological surveillance data.

When Tom Jefferson, MD, of the Cochrane Review, asked for the clinical studies and full research, he was turned away. This started a 4-year stall by Roche, makers of Tamiflu. For those of you who are interested in the exchange, you should follow the paper trail on The BMJ website...

Finally, Roche started to release the clinical studies.

First, a report with access to some of the full clinical data concluded "there is no evidence that oseltamivir reduces the likelihood of hospitalization, pneumonia, or combined outcome of pneumonia." And what was more shocking was that this trial, WV15912, which took 401 adults with at least one cardiac or respiratory condition, had an end result of a nonsignificant 1-hour reduction in symptoms. I repeat only 1 hour, only 60 minutes, only 3,600 seconds.

When the Cochrane reviewers were finally able to look at and sort through the body of information, and not just the abstract data, they came to similar conclusions, and reported that there were no differences for hospital admissions, reductions in confirmed pneumonia, or other complications.

However, I don't want to say the drug did nothing, as there were increases in symptoms of nausea (NNH 28), vomiting (NNH 22), and headaches (NNH 32).

Yes, Tamiflu is too good to be true. Patients who have the flu feel bad, they want a drug to help them feel any amount of relief. Sadly, we have nothing for them. We can encourage hydration and rest, but that's about it.

The easy path is to write a prescription for Tamiflu and move to the next patient. The hard path is to discuss why you are not going to write the script to someone who doesn't want to hear it."

When a drug manufacturer can't prove their drug causes a reduction in symptoms for only one hour (could you ask of any less from a drug?), it's pretty clear the drug is not effective. Try some simple natural solutions instead - at least they shouldn't increase nausea, vomiting, and headaches.

The risks associated with antibiotic use in children continues to grow as new research finds a strong link between antibiotic use and the development of arthritis in children.

Medpage Today reports, "Children who were exposed to antibiotics had an increased risk of developing juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)...any antibiotic use was associated with more than twice the risk of JIA."

Antibiotics are made to kill microbes throughout the body, but end up killing helpful bacteria with the harmful bacteria. Researchers noted this disruption of healthy bacteria has been linked to multiple autoimmune diseases..."including rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, and exposure to antibiotics has been linked with inflammatory bowel disease in children."

The researchers went on to note that 25% of antibiotics used for children are for respiratory infections and are not needed.

For a reminder of when antibiotics should NOT be used (common colds, flu, runny nose, bronchitis, fluid in ears, etc.) click here. To keep you and your children healthy, avoid antibiotics whenever possible and include probiotics or fermented foods in the diet to make sure there is plenty of good bacteria in the gut.

Medpage Today reported on a recent study linking knee surgery to increased rates of arthritis. Individuals with knee pain who had undergone knee surgery were significantly more likely to experience loss of cartilage, developing arthritis of the knee.

Radiologists examined imaging of patients with knee pain for signs of arthritis. All of the knees showing signs of arthritis were those that had undergone surgery, while none of the 354 patients who avoided surgery developed arthritis.

They reported, "Individuals with knee pain who undergo surgery to repair meniscus cartilage tears often develop osteoarthritis in that knee within a year of the operation..."

"...the type of surgery was not apparent from the records accessed for the study but [researchers] believed that most of the procedures were performed through arthroscopic rather than open surgery."

With current research on arthroscopic knee surgery finding no significant improvement compared to sham (fake) surgery, this study provides more reason to try conservative treatment first and only choose surgery with caution.

Britain's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently updated quality care guidelines for childbirth, noting that research shows it is safer for healthy mothers to have their babies at home, or in a birth center, than in a hospital.

"Women with uncomplicated pregnancies...were better off in the hands of midwives than hospital doctors during birth...For these low-risk mothers-to-be, giving birth in a traditional maternity ward increased the chances of surgical intervention and therefore infection, the regulator said."

The difference in safety is related to doctors' frequent use of cesarean sections, episiotomies, and epidurals (which increase the risk of protracted birth that requires forceps and tissue damage). All of these medical procedures carry increased risk of infection and other complications.

For years, doctors have recommended hospital delivery over home or birth center delivery, but the research doesn't support those recommendations for healthy mothers. Compared to the United States, home births are more common in Europe where the government provides health care and there is no financial incentive for doctors to recommend birth at a hospital.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Ecker, the chairman of the committee on obstetrics practice for American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists noted that if a recommendation for home births were made in the United States, doctors might worry about losing patients to midwives.

Read more of the article in the New York Times.

Acetaminophen, sold as Tylenol and other brands, is commonly recommended for back pain, but until now only minimal medical research had been performed to see if it actually helps. Even back pain treatment guidelines recommend acetaminophen as a first-line treatment without any direct evidence of benefit.

To the surprise of many, a study recently found no benefit to using acetaminophen for back pain. Researchers studied over 1600 patients with back pain. The patients were given acetaminophen or placebo pills. The scientists found no significant difference between the groups in recovery time, pain, disability, function, symptom changes, sleep or quality of life.

With increasing awareness of the significant risks of taking acetaminophen (causing over 50,000 liver injuries in Americans each year), this study gives further support to the recommendation of minimizing use as much as possible.

Medical treatment guidelines offer a better treatment choice for back pain: chiropractic manipulation. Research has found chiropractic treatment to be one of the only options that reduces back pain, improves function, and has minimal risks. Before reaching for that bottle of Tylenol for your back pain, think twice.

A small study performed on patients with Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) found another reason to eat dark chocolate - improved walking.

PAD is a common circulatory problem in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to your limbs, often causing leg pain with walking. PAD is similar to atherosclerosis that affects the heart and can be a sign that blood flow is reduced to your heart and brain as well.

Those eating dark chocolate could walk farther and longer

In the study, researchers compared two groups, those eating 40 grams of dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) and those eating 40 grams of milk chocolate (<35% cocoa). Those eating dark chocolate experienced a significant improvement in their ability to walk within two hours of eating. The patients could walk further and walk for a longer period of time. There was no change for the group eating milk chocolate.

While a larger study should be performed to confirm the results, this research provides further support on the benefits of eating dark chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the better. Milk chocolate has too much added sugar and processed oils to be beneficial, so choose dark chocolate.

In recent years, researchers have noted potential harmful health effects when using the chemical BPA as an ingredient in plastic baby bottles. BPA is similar to female hormones and can leach from the bottles, accumulating in the body of an infant, and potentially contributing to health problems. Some concerned parents have switched to "BPA-free" plastic baby bottles, but a new study finds that these plastic bottles can often leach hormone-like chemicals as well.

Replacing BPA with other chemicals

Recognizing the demand for an alternative to BPA, plastic bottle producers have switched to a variety of other chemical ingredients to replace BPA and market their bottles as "BPA-free". Researchers recently tested common "BPA-free" baby bottle brands (and other "BPA-free bottles) under various conditions to check for the leaching of female hormone-like chemicals.

Heating the bottles (like in a microwave) or exposure to sunlight or sterilizing lights often increased chemical leaching. Using certain dyes to color a bottle even made a difference (some colors protected the bottle from leaching chemicals).

Overall, the researchers were surprised with the number of "BPA-free" plastic bottles that leached other hormone-like chemicals. Click here for a more detailed explanation of the results and to see which brands performed better.

What's in your bottle?

While the focus of public concerns has been largely on baby bottles, it's important to note that these chemicals are also used in other types of drink bottles and coat the inside of cans (to avoid corrosion from contact with food). While the research showed some plastic bottles performed well with testing, it may be safest to use glass or metal bottles, especially when feeding babies.

A recent study confirmed the benefits of eating a handful of nuts daily, showing a significant reduction in risk of death from heart disease, cancer, or other causes.

NBC News reported, "And not only that, nuts seem to help keep the pounds off, the team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health found.

'The most obvious benefit was a reduction of 29 percent in deaths from heart disease — the major killer of people in America,' said Dr. Charles Fuchs of Dana-Farber, who led the team. 'But we also saw a significant reduction — 11 percent — in the risk of dying from cancer.'

Studies have found that people who eat nuts have all sorts of biological benefits: less inflammation, which is linked to heart disease and cancer; less fat packed around the internal organs; better blood sugar levels; lower blood pressure — and even fewer gallstones."

Nuts are great for a convenient snack or meal on the go. They provide a tasty package of healthy fat, protein, fiber, and other nutrients. The healthy fats will keep your energy level up and keep you satisfied longer than something made with grains (crackers, cereals, corn chips, etc.) Mix it up and enjoy a variety of different nuts in your diet to add years to your life or life to your years.

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recently issued new cholesterol guidelines that are estimated to double the number of American adults on statins (cholesterol lowering medications) from about 15% to 30%.

New Cholesterol guidelines would place 1/3 of adults on statins

Dr. Neil Stone, who headed the cholesterol guideline panel, explained to reporters, "We're going to give statins to those who are the most likely to benefit." The guidelines increase the emphasis on factors like age, gender, race, and smoking rather than cholesterol levels.

Trying to be more selective about the use of cholesterol medication sounds like a good idea, especially with increasing warnings about newly recognized risks over the past couple years. But when the plan results in doubling the number of American adults on cholesterol lowering medication (and those adults may not even have high cholesterol)...it seems like something went wrong.

We're not the only ones wondering about the new guidelines. The AHA and ACC have taken considerable heat from doctors and researchers.

Rita F. Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and the editor of JAMA Internal Medicine and John D. Abramson, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and the author of “Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine,” noted flaws with these guidelines in a New York Times article:

"[This would be good news for patients] if statins actually offered meaningful protection from our No. 1 killer, heart disease; if they helped people live longer or better; and if they had minimal adverse side effects. However, none of these are the case."

As part of National Chiropractic Health Month, we take a look at recent news and research that has highlighted the growing epidemic of prescription drug problems:

CNN's story, "Let’s End the Prescription Drug Death Epidemic," reported on the increasing injury and death from prescription medication as Americans consume 80% of the world's pain medication for less than 5% of the world's population.

Harvard research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association highlighted increasing medical mismanagement of back pain as doctors continue to increase narcotic pain prescriptions and ignore medical guidelines that recommend safer, more effective options like chiropractic treatment.

A national report on prescription drug abuse ranked Ohio as 12th Highest Drug Overdose Mortality Rate in the US, with most deaths coming from prescription medications.

"Fifty Americans die a day from prescription drug overdoses, and more than 6 million suffer from prescription drug abuse disorders. This is a very real epidemic - and warrants a strong public health response," said Andrea Gielen, ScD, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.

What's Going On?

Vitamin D Reduces Recurrent Ear Infections in Kids

A recent study looked out how vitamin D supplements affected children with recurrent ear infections. Researchers found that the average blood level of vitamin D was lower than recommended in children with recurrent ear infections. They gave some of the children a daily 1000 unit supplement of vitamin D and found those children had significantly fewer episodes of ear infections.

Seattle Children's Hospital Researcher Craig Rubens noted this study confirms that doctors need to pay more attention to nutrition in cases of recurring ear infections.

Many kids with recurrent infections rely on repeated rounds of antibiotics and eventually ear tubes to control the infections. This study highlights the need to look into the nutrition of these kids.

Parents shouldn't fear child exposure to the sun.

Low vitamin D is frequent in our area of Northeast Ohio, especially in the winter, due to limited sun exposure. Repeated warnings about sun exposure during summer have also contributed to adults and children receiving less than a healthy amount of sun to produce adequate vitamin D. This leaves us more dependent on our foods which do not provide an abundant source of vitamin D.

It's a good idea to have your vitamin D level checked, especially if noticing recurrent ear infections.

It's time to eat more (good) fat. Too many "experts" have scared Americans away from eating fat for far too long, with little research and no common sense to back up their theories.  We've thrown out the butter and turned to mysterious butter-like yellow-dyed spreads. We've switched from animal fats to "vegetable" oils that are no closer to a vegetable than a fruit (why not market them as "fruit" oils while they're at it?).

Americans have made these supposedly healthy changes and now have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions than ever before. Good fat is essential to our health. When we go shopping at the store we automatically avoid foods labeled "low fat," "reduced fat," "no fat," or "fat free." Here's why we recommend you do the same:

1. Good fats help maintain healthy weight - large studies performed over multiple years compared women eating low fat or no fat dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.) to those eating whole fat dairy. Those eating whole fat dairy maintained a healthier weight than the others. Now everyone can breath a sigh of relief - fat doesn't make you fat.
   
2. Fat stabilizes blood sugar - fat is the most stabilizing nutrient for blood sugar. This is important for everyone, but especially important for diabetics. We all benefit from keeping our blood sugar stable, avoiding the extreme ups & downs that can cause health problems.
3. Fat satisfies hunger & improves energy - switch from a carbohydrate-heavy breakfast (like cereal, toast, muffins) to one with good fats and you'll probably notice you don't need a snack or a shot of the gas station's energy tonic to get you to lunch. Fat provides a long lasting source of energy making you less hungry because it stabilizes your blood sugar (see #2).
   
4. Fat can be anti-inflammatory - one of the most anti-inflammatory foods you can eat is omega 3 fat. Fatty fish provide a good source of this healthy fat which has been linked to a variety of health benefits including heart health, brain health joint health, etc. Naturally fattier fish like salmon are even healthier because they provide more of these good fats. Green leafy vegetables and the animals who eat them (grassfed beef, pastured chickens, etc.) can also be a good source.
   
5. Fat helps vitamin intake & utilization - some vitamins are fat-soluble which means they are commonly found in fatty foods and are best used by the body when eaten in combination with these fats. This includes vitamins A, D, E, and K. Ever hear of vitamin D deficiency? Without fats, these vitamins can't help the body function at its best.
   

Which fats are good fats?

We recommend three fats for most of your kitchen creations: real butter, extra virgin coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oil. Organic is preferred but not required. Butter should be from grassfed cows ideally, but we won't fight about it. Butter and coconut oil are best for cooking. Olive oil should not be heated much; save it for salad dressings.

Other oils that can also be a healthy choice: flaxseed, grapeseed, and hemp seed. Quality fish oil is a great supplement for those not eating 2-3 meals of fatty fish each week.

Now do yourself a favor and eat more good fat.

Here's a roundup of recent natural news stories on kidney stones, pacifiers & allergies, and hungry shoppers:

Exercise Cuts Kidney Stone Risk

A recent study found physically active women had about a 30% lower risk of kidney stones compared with women who reported no exercise. While more exercise activity during the week decreased the risk further, the intensity of the exercise did not matter much. Even those who performed light exercise had a significant reduction in the risk of kidney stones.

The study also found a higher BMI (body mass index) or increased energy intake (eating more) increased the risk of developing kidney stones. This study confirms previous research that found healthy habits significantly lower the risk of developing kidney stones. Regular exercise (even gentle low intensity exercise) and a healthy diet help reduce systemic inflammation and associated problems like kidney stones.

Pacifier-Sucking Parents Reduce Child Asthma & Allergies

Following the release of a recent study showing a link between lead exposure during child development and later violent crime, the CDC just reported that lead levels in a half million American children is too high.

What's the deal with lead & crime?

"The biggest source of lead [since World War II], it turns out, wasn't paint. It was leaded gasoline. And if you chart the rise and fall of atmospheric lead caused by the rise and fall of leaded gasoline consumption, you get a pretty simple upside-down U: Lead emissions from tailpipes rose steadily from the early '40s through the early '70s, nearly quadrupling over that period. Then, as unleaded gasoline began to replace leaded gasoline, emissions plummeted.

... if you add a lag time of 23 years, lead emissions from automobiles explain 90 percent of the variation in violent crime in America. Toddlers who ingested high levels of lead in the '40s and '50s really were more likely to become violent criminals in the '60s, '70s, and '80s." - motherjones.com

The good news on violent crime

The health benefits of omega-3 fats found in fish or fish oil supplements has been widely reported, but new research indicates the source of those healthy fats is more important than initially understood.

It has been recommended that Americans eat 2-3 meals of fatty fish each week (not fried) to benefit from their omega-3 fats. Those who don't like fish or don't eat fish often can substitute fish oil supplements to receive the health-promoting benefits to the heart and other areas of the body.

However, recent research on fish oil supplements from the University of Pennsylvania indicates it's not that simple. The researchers noted that one of the ways omega-3 fats improve health is by relaxing blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. But synthetically manufactured versions of omega-3 fats (DHA) do not produce the same beneficial effect that natural omega-3 fats do.

Synthetic fish oil supplements did not relax blood vessels the way natural fish oil fat does.

Many manufacturers have produced synthetic fish oils or added higher doses of synthetics to their fish oil supplements to keep costs low while assuming there will be no difference in health benefits. This study once again reinforces two points: