Carbonated Drinks Found to Contain Pesticides

 

Where Is My Headache Coming From?

Headaches plague more than 50 million americans everyday. They can range from mild dull aches to full blown mind numbing migraines. As the types of headaches are varied so are the causes. One thing is for sure, the nervous system is somwhere in the mix and who is better trained at recognizing nervous system disorders than your local chiropractor? No one. We are specially trained at locating the cause of your disorder rather than chasing symptoms. The cause of a headache can be as simple as working on a “trigger point” and releasing it or as complex as evaluating degenerative joints in the neck coupled with dietary triggers. Did you know there is such a thing as medication overuse headaches? Its so common they actually have an acronym for it, MOH. Whatever the cause we have the tools needed to successfully treat 95% of all headaches.

Many people don’t realize that 70% of chiropractic patients start off as headache patients. Why? Because it works, simple as that.

Come in today to get evaluated. Don’t go another day in unnecessary pain. See how great life can be without headaches holding you back.

Bad Test Results Often Not Reported to Patients

Doctors in the United States fail to tell patients about abnormal test results 7 percent of the time, or a rate of about 1 out of every 14 tests, U.S. researchers said Monday.

They said electronic medical records, which many experts tout as a way of reducing errors, did not reduce and, in some cases, slightly increased, the chances for these kinds of mistakes, they said.

“The electronic medical record doesn’t magically fix the problem,” said Dr. Lawrence Casalino of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Not telling patients about abnormal test results can delay treatment of cancers or heart disease, hurting the patient’s chances of survival and exposing doctors to malpractice lawsuits.

“Failure to diagnose is one of the most common causes of malpractice suits,” Casalino said.

Casalino and colleagues analyzed more than 5,000 patient records from 23 physician practices across the country, looking at screening tests for conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, blood tests for colon cancer, and mammograms.

They found that doctors failed to inform patients 7.1 percent of the time. Performance at individual practices varied widely. Some practices always informed patients, and some failed to inform patients 26 percent of the time.

Physician offices that used a combination of paper and electronic records — a so-called partial electronic medical record — had the highest failure rates, while there was no significant difference between practices that used only electronic medical records or paper records.

Doctors should have explicit rules for informing patients of test results Casalino said, adding that all results should be sent back to the doctor who ordered them, and patients should be told the results of all tests, even if they are normal.

And patients should make sure they ask their doctors for the results of all tests, he said, noting: “Don’t ever assume that no news is good news.”

Copyright Reuters

Comment: For years i have told my patients that they need to follow up on lab tests even if the phonecall from your doctor says all values are normal. Why? Because lab values have normal ranges and whether your results are at the high or low end of the range is a clue that something is out of balance in your body. Studies are showing that the “normal” ranges for some tests are much too wide creating an abnormal sense of security. Of course we all want the call that says everything is normal but at least take the extra step to get a copy of the results-you are paying for them they are yours. Then if your condition is still suspect you can at least take them to another health practitioner for a second opinion. -Dr B

What Are The Best Anti-Inflammatory Foods?

In my Fredericksburg Wellness practice I often recommend that my patients include anti-inflammatory foods in their diet. Anti-inflammatory foods help reduce stress, pain and of course damaging inflammation in the body.

This post is from The World’s Healthiest Foods a great resource for information about healthy food choices.
Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are considered anti-inflammatory. That is because this class of nutrients serves as precursors for compounds in the body (such as certain prostaglandins and leukotrienes) that have anti-inflammatory activity.

Which Skin Care Products Are Safe?

Q: I keep hearing horror stories about all of the potentially harmful ingredients in my cosmetics and skin care products. But how do I know what to watch out for?

Bookmark the Environmental Working Group’s comprehensive website that can take the guesswork out of finding the healthiest personal care products. All you have to do is enter the name of nearly any personal care product to get an instantaneous, detailed report. For each product, you’re told whether it contains any cancer hazard, potential reproductive toxicity, potential for harmful impurities, endocrine disruptors or space alien (my term) estrogens, irritants to the eyes, skin or lungs, immune system toxicants, penetration enhancers, wildlife or environmental toxicity, and several other categories. Each product is also assigned a “concern score” on a scale of 0.0 (no hazard) to 5.0 (most hazardous) and can be displayed with complete information of its own, as well as in a safety ranking with all other products in the same category. After doing a little research, you can add the safest products to a “favorites” list you can print out and use as a shopping guide. You’ll find the website at http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep.