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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Office update
• The "Chiropractic" Story of Masha and Dasha
• Chiropractic Q&A
• Sixty Kids Vaccinated Against the Flu Die of the Flu
• Chiropractic and spinal research
• Sunlight may prevent cancer
• Humor

Office Update
The last two months have been very busy around here with some new improvements.  The web site was completely updated with new content and new online store for our nutritional products.   We have also installed a new phone system with an intercom system so that Nina can tell me what's going on without disturbing the flow of things.  This will be a big improvement as we are getting busier than ever.  Since I have been so busy lately, I have combined the January and February newsletter together  to conserve time.  We have had many great new patients in the last two months.  Thank you for all your referrals.  We don't advertise so we rely completely on word of mouth.  During the ice storm we saw patients each day.  When things cleared up everyone came in at once on that Friday making for one of the busiest days ever.

The "Chiropractic" Story of Masha and Dasha
This amazing "accident of nature" has revealed a truth about health and disease and the importance of the nervous system. It also helps answer the question: "Do germs really cause disease or do they first need a fertile soil to grow in?"
Our story begins on January 13, 1950 in the former Soviet Union. The young mother enters the hospital to deliver twins but when she awakens from anesthesia she is told that her baby girls died at birth. They lied. At that moment the girls were being spirited away to an institute near Moscow to be studied.

This was the fate of "Masha" & "Dasha," one of the most unusual sets of conjoined twins ever born.
Because their circulatory systems were interconnected, they shared blood; germs in one twin's blood would soon be seen in the blood of her sister. Yet surprisingly, illness affected them differently. One would have measles, for example, while the other would not. The measles "bug" was in both of their bodies, in their collective bloodstream; so why didn't both get measles at the same time? This phenomenon was seen over & over again with the girls as flu, colds and other childhood diseases were all experienced separately. Evidently, there is more to getting an infection than having the bug. If germs alone had the power to cause infectious diseases, why would one be disease-free while the other was ill?

What was it in their makeup that differentiated them?
Although Masha & Dasha had common circulatory, digestive, excretory, lymphatic, hormonal & lymphatic systems (they were joined at the hips), they had separate spinal columns & spinal cords: this was the only significant anatomical difference between Masha and Dasha. It leads one to conclude that the nervous system is of major importance in resistance to disease.
For over a century chiropractors have observed that the health of your nervous system can determine whether you have high or low resistance to disease and, if you are suffering from disease, the health of your nervous system will play a decisive role in whether or not (& how rapidly) you will recover. By keeping your spinal column & nervous system free from subluxation stress, chiropractors keep you in a higher state of health, resistance to disease and permit your mind/body energies to flow without interference. (1)  

Chiropractic Questions and Answers
Can a Person Who Had Back or Disc Surgery See a Chiropractor?
Yes. Many people who have had various kinds of spinal surgery often discover a return of their pain or problem months or years later and are told they need more surgery. There are so many of these people around that the condition has a special name: "Failed Back Surgery Syndrome." These people can usually receive chiropractic care without undue worry. The chiropractic care may save them from future operations. It's best to check with your chiropractor on a case-to-case basis.
Can Chiropractic Prevent Back Surgery?
In a majority of cases the answer is a resounding "yes"!
 

Sixty Kids Vaccinated Against the Flu Die of the Flu
In the January 10, 2004 NY Times, medical writer Lawrence Altman reported that of the 93 children who died from the flu this season in the US, 60 had received the flu shot. As writer Jon Rappaport comments, "the whole vaccine campaign is called into doubt."
Research reveals that after a person is vaccinated there is a "negative phase" where their immune system is weakened and they are more vulnerable to infectious disease. This is one of the reasons why so many people report coming down with the flu (or other illnesses) after receiving the flu shots. How many of the 33 children who died of the flu (and who did not have the flu shot) had lowered resistance because they had received childhood vaccinations or were on antibiotics, steroids or other immunosuppressive medications? That information is not reported. See more at www.nomorefakenews.com.

Chiropractic and Spinal Research
Remember, all people can benefit from chiropractic care. Feel free to forward these studies to others.
Asthma, ear infections and antibiotic use. In a survey of 100 chiropractors' families and 100 pediatricians' families, it was revealed that the children of chiropractors had a lesser incidence of asthma, ear infections and less antibiotic use than the "medical" children. (5)
Panic attacks. A 52-year-old female diagnosed with long-standing panic attacks had used prescribed antidepressants and tranquilizers, underwent counseling and relaxation training - all to no benefit. Chiropractic examination revealed areas of upper and mid cervical, upper and mid thoracic and right sacroiliac subluxations. The patient's blood pressure was 182/102, pulse rate 120 beats/minute during an attack, however her BP would drop to 140/80 and her pulse to 76 beats/minute four minutes after an adjustment. After beginning chiropractic care she had been free of panic attacks for more than two months which is the best she had been in years. (6)
Failure to thrive. "The child should be examined for vertebral Subluxation as a source of physiological dysfunctioning." (7)
Low back pain and urinary incontinence. In a medical orthopedic practice 16 patients with low back pain had urinary incontinence. Chiropractors would suggest spinal adjustments however the medical approach in this case was surgery which reduced low back pain in 11 of 12 patients. The MDs noticed that the patients' urgency incontinence was cured or improved. (Note: Most low back pain surgery fails and within a year or two the patient has their pain back and may be told they need a second (or third) surgery. Too bad they didn't first refer their patients to a chiropractor. (8)

Sunlight may prevent cancer
For those of us who stay indoors this time of the year, it's a fitting reminder that some of the most important things for our health are obvious: water, fresh air, exercise, good food and sunlight. Too much sun burning has been linked to skin cancer, but proper sunlight - especially ultraviolet light - can prevent cancer. Researchers examined cancer mortality in the United States. Deaths from a range of cancers of the reproductive and digestive systems were approximately twice as high in New England as in the southwest, despite a diet that varies little between regions. An examination of 506 regions found a close inverse correlation between cancer mortality and levels of ultraviolet B light. The likeliest mechanism for a protective effect of sunlight is vitamin D, which is synthesized by the body in the presence of ultraviolet B.
Dr. William Grant says northern parts of the United States may be dark enough in winter that vitamin D synthesis shuts down completely. While the study focused on white Americans, the same geographical trend affects black Americans, whose overall cancer rates are significantly higher. Darker skinned people require more sunlight to synthesize vitamin D.
"There are 13 malignancies that show this inverse correlation, mostly reproductive and digestive cancers," said Dr. Grant. "The strongest inverse correlation is with breast, colon, and ovarian cancer." (9) Other cancers apparently affected by sunlight include tumors of the bladder, uterus, esophagus, rectum and stomach. (10) 
What to do? Take walks in the sun, don't wear glasses that filter out UV (there are plastic glasses that permit UV rays to pass), use full-spectrum lighting in your home and office and make sure your diet has plenty of vitamin D.

Humor
I can think of no better way of redeeming this tragic world today than love and laughter. Too many of the young have forgotten how to laugh, and too many of the elders have forgotten how to love. Would not our lives be lightened if only we could all learn to laugh more easily at ourselves and to love one another? - Theodore Hesburgh

Actual signs
In a restroom: TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW.

In a Laundromat: AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT.

In a London department store: BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

In an office: WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In another office: AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD

Outside a secondhand shop: WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Spotted in a safari park: ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR

Seen during a conference: FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR

Notice in a farmer's field: THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES.

Message on a leaflet: IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS

On a repair shop door: WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR - THE BELL DOESN'T WORK)

Want copies of this newsletter for your friends? Stop by the office and we'll give you some hard copies or e-mail us and we'll add them to our mailing list. Please remember that everyone needs to be free from subluxations so bring your friends and loved ones for a spinal checkup.

References

1. Butler J. A new life for Masha and Dasha. San Antonio Texas Sunday Express-News. August 27, 1989.
2. Hileman B. Special Report Fluoridation of Water: Questions about health risks and benefits remain after more than 40 years. Chemical & Engineering News. August 1, 1988. http://www.fluoridealert.org/hileman.htm
3. Roach GW, Kanchuger M, Mangano CM et al. Adverse cerebral outcomes after coronary bypass surgery. N Engl J Med. 1996;335:1857-1863.
4. Diegeler A, Hirsch R, Schneider F et al. Neuromonitoring and neurocognitive outcome in off-pump versus conventional coronary bypass operation. Ann Thorac Surg. 2000;69:1162-1166.
5. Van Breda WM and Van Breda JM. A comparative study of the health status of children raised under the health care models of chiropractic and allopathic medicine. Journal of Chiropractic Research. Summer 1989.
6. Potthoff S. Penwell B, Wolf J. Panic attacks and the chiropractic adjustment: a case report. ACA J of Chiropractic. 1993(December);30:26-28.
7. Eisenstein SM, Engelbrecht DJ and El Masry WS. Low back pain and urinary incontinence: a hypothetical relationship. Spine. 1994;19(10):1,148-151,152.
8. Swaim RT, Gatrost A, Towne K. Failure to thrive. ACA Journal of Chiropractic. March 1990;27(3):63-65.
9. Cancer. 2002;94:1867-1875.
10. British Medical Journal. 2002;324:696(23 March).