When the FDA finally got around to testing 324 multivitamin-mineral products that target children and pregnant women, they found that only 4 of them were lead-free.   [1]

Now, new research published in the Pediatrics Journal suggests that even low levels of lead in a supplement can have adverse effects on your children.   [2]   Why not use a supplement made correctly, so you can protect your family?

Young children exposed to lead — even at low levels — are at risk for not meeting reading readiness benchmarks in kindergarten, a large study of urban children found.

On tests of reading readiness, children with blood lead levels between 5 and 9 µg/dL scored 4.5 points (95% CI −2.9 to −6.2) lower than those with levels below 5 µg/dL, according to Pat McLaine, DPH, of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and colleagues.

And those with lead levels of 10 µg/dL and higher had scores 10.1 points (95% CI −7 to −13.3) lower, the researchers reported online in Pediatrics.  [2]

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With worldwide obesity rates doubling in the past three decades, is it any surprise that artificial sweeteners have been gaining popularity? Beginning with the creation of saccharin, “sugar substitutes” have become the supposed answer to a dieter’s prayer – and part of the daily diet of many of our children.

Let’s review the various sugar substitutes on the market today to appreciate what they are and why they may not be the best option in terms of your patients’ – and your – health.

Associate Professor, Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, Bournemouth, UK. jmiller@aecc.ac.uk.

OBJECTIVE:   The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of chiropractic manual therapy for infants with unexplained crying behavior and if there was any effect of parental reporting bias.

METHODS:   Infants with unexplained persistent crying (infant colic) were recruited between October 2007 and November 2009 at a chiropractic teaching clinic in the United Kingdom. Infants younger than 8 weeks were randomized to 1 of 3 groups: (i) infant treated, parent aware; (ii) infant treated, parent unaware; and (iii) infant not treated, parent unaware. The primary outcome was a daily crying diary completed by parents over a period of 10 days. Treatments were pragmatic, individualized to examination findings, and consisted of chiropractic manual therapy of the spine. Analysis of covariance was used to investigate differences between groups.

RESULTS:   One hundred four patients were randomized. In parents blinded to treatment allocation, using 2 or less hours of crying per day to determine a clinically significant improvement in crying time, the increased odds of improvement in treated infants compared with those not receiving treatment were statistically significant at day 8 (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 8.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-45.0) and at day 10 (adjusted OR, 11.8; 95% CI, 2.1-68.3). The number needed to treat was 3. In contrast, the odds of improvement in treated infants were not significantly different in blinded compared with nonblinded parents (adjusted ORs, 0.7 [95% CI, 0.2-2.0] and 0.5 [95% CI, 0.1-1.6] at days 8 and 10, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS:   In this study, chiropractic manual therapy improved crying behavior in infants with colic. The findings showed that knowledge of treatment by the parent did not appear to contribute to the observed treatment effects in this study. Thus, it is unlikely that observed treatment effect is due to bias on the part of the reporting parent.

Introduction

Back and neck pain are common ailments in school age children with prevalence rates ranging from 5% to 74%. [38, 39] The prevalence of low back pain increases from preadolescence to early adulthood, [38, 40] but after that, the prevalence rates change surprisingly little. [41] A similar pattern is seen for neck pain, [41] but less is known about the course of other musculoskeletal disorders throughout life. However, extremity complaints are found frequently in children. [42]

It has been demonstrated that children and adolescents with musculoskeletal complaints have a higher risk of having these problems as adults. [43-45] Pain and aberrant musculoskeletal function are known to have other consequences with regard to health. Long-lasting pain conditions, including back pain, have been associated with a generally decreased pain threshold, [46-48] which seems to develop alongside pain, because patients did not have a higher pain threshold than asymptomatic subjects before the onset of back pain. [49] If this process is initiated in childhood, it is likely to increase the impact of minor trauma or overuse in everyday life and thus may induce a lifelong cascade of negative health events, resulting in poorer general health and lower quality of life.

Another possible consequence of musculoskeletal disorders in childhood is pain becoming a barrier to physical activity. Children who are injured while performing sport activities [42, 50] may avoid or stop the activity that caused the original injury. It is also plausible that continued pain or discomfort may reduce motivation to participate and enjoy physical activities. Reduction in activity can have serious health implications over time. It is established that physical activity is one of the most important factors relating to several lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, [51, 52] and it has been shown that increased physical activity in youth can reduce the risk of these disorders in adulthood. [53, 54] Moreover, health habits throughout the lifespan are established in youth, [55, 56] and therefore, promoting and maintaining a healthy level of physical activity in children and adolescence are essential to improve public health. Thus, an important element to reach lifelong health is to optimize musculoskeletal health.

You may also enjoy our:

Chiropractic Pediatrics Page

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The following article appears to be the first study to track and review the progression of back pain in the same group of children, over a prolonged period, to see how (or if) it is a contributor to those same complains in adulthood.

Of particular interest is Table 2, because it breaks down and tracks complaints of either neck, mid back, or low back pain in the same group of children at 3 different time periods: ages 9, 13 and 15 years old.

Table 2: Prevalence rates of different types of back pain in a cohort of Danish children/adolescents surveyed at three time points

The Abstract and Full Text Article:

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By Claudia Anrig, DC

Our body’s first line of defense when invaded by any microbe, virus or bacteria is cells called microphages; a strong, healthy immune system may be able to eliminate the problem with this first step alone. If these fail to contain the microbe/”bug,” then the body creates other pryogens and proteins to try to assist. Once these have been created, the hypothalamus in the brain recognizes there is an invader and raises the body temperature to assist in killing it off.

This elevated temperature will generally be just a couple of degrees, but the hypothalamus determines, based on the number of pryogens and proteins, what will be necessary to eliminate the microbe/bug. If the hypothalamus creates additional biochemicals to try to protect the body, then the temperature rises accordingly.

By Fran Kistner, Ira Fiebert, Kathryn Roach

School of Physical Therapy, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Worcester, MA, USA.

Objective:   This study examined the effects of various backpack loads on elementary schoolchildren’s posture and postural compensations as demonstrated by a change in forward head position.

Subjects:   A convenience sample of 11 schoolchildren, aged 8-11 years participated.

Methods:   Sagittal digital photographs were taken of each subject standing without a backpack, and then with the loaded backpack before and after walking 6 minutes (6MWT) at free walking speed. This was repeated over three consecutive weeks using backpacks containing randomly assigned weights of 10%, 15%, or 20% body weight of each respective subject. The craniovertebral angle (CVA) was measured using digitizing software, recorded and analyzed.

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The second edition of Dr. Claudia Anrig’s wonderful textbook
“Pediatric Chiropractic” will be available in early November. Pre-order a copy at a discount price on our Amazon Associate page and Amazon will tithe 4% of the proceeds back to chiropractic research.

With its academic and clinical approach, the second edition of Pediatric Chiropractic provides the Family Wellness Chiropractor the tools they need to adjust infants, children and pregnant women with confidence. Through the cooperation of over 40 international experts, this new edition adds several techniques including SOT, Thompson, Logan, Upper Cervical, Craniosacral, instrument assisted adjusting and remains the leading resource for the Gonstead technique as a method for adjusting children and pregnant women.

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This new “best evidence” literature review explored reported adverse events and the overall safety of chiropractic pediatric care, as well as other forms of care for the same complaints routinely treated in a chiropractic office.

The results were quite interesting:

• The chiropractic literature reports incidence between 0.53% and 1% for mild adverse events (AE) associated with chiropractic pediatric manipulative therapy (PMT). Put in terms of individual patients, this means that somewhere between one in 100-200 patients presenting for chiropractic care may experience a mild adverse event; in terms of total patient visits, this means that one mild AE may occur every 1310 to 1812 visits.

  This incidence rate compares favorably with:

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187 certified nurse-midwives filled out an on-line, self-administered survey designed to gather their opinions on the safety of chiropractic, and the scope of chiropractic practice. It also captured demographic information relating to their professional training and their personal and professional clinical experiences with chiropractors.

The results were most revealing:

• Responders were aware that chiropractors worked with “birthing professionals”
• They were aware that DCs attended to patients for both musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal disorders
• The vast majority indicated a positive personal and clinical experience with chiropractic
• They also believed that chiropractic was safe for pregnant patients and for children

We want to thank the researchers at Life University and at the ICPA for their continued efforts to explain how (and why) chiropractic care is beneficial for pregnant mothers, as well as for their children. There has been a smattering of negative articles over the years trying to paint chiropractic as an unsupported “fringe” therapy, so articles like this help to set the record straight.

You may also enjoy reviewing these other relevant pages:

The Chiropractic Pediatrics Page

The “Kids Need Chiropractic, Too!” Page

The ADD/ADHD Page

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Physical activity is extremely important for everyone, but especially for children. A well-designed exercise program enhances the physical and intellectual development of a child. Competitive sports are often a child’s first introduction to programmed exercise.

In the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of children participating in team and solo sports. Younger children are allowed to participate in sports for enjoyment, health and personal development. However, this changes as competitive elements become more dominant and young athletes train harder and longer, and may practice a sport throughout the whole year. Consequently, sports-related injuries in children have significantly increased.

To understand pediatric injuries that can occur during sports performance, it’s important to be aware of the peculiarities of the growing musculoskeletal system. Children’s tendons and ligaments are relatively stronger than the epiphyseal plate; therefore, with severe trauma the epiphyseal plate will give way before the ligament. However, children’s bones and muscles are more elastic and heal faster. At the peak period of adolescent linear growth, the musculoskeletal system is most vulnerable because of imbalances in strength and flexibility and changes in the biomechanical properties of bone.

Physiological loading is beneficial for bones, but excessive strains may produce serious injuries to joints. Low-intensity training can stimulate bone growth, but high-intensity training can inhibit it. Growth plate disturbances resulting from sports injuries can result in limb-length discrepancy, angular deformity or altered joint mechanics, possibly causing permanent disabilities. Sports involving contact and jumping have the highest injury levels.

Pediatric Musculoskeletal Growth

Chiropractors have been uniquely trained to understand the musculoskeletal system, making them excellent resources for the management of sports-injuries. We need only to make certain we are aware of the peculiarities of the pediatric musculoskeletal system when pursuing appropriate evaluation and case management.

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By Deborah Pate, DC, DACBR

The elbow fracture is one of the most common fractures in children. Assessing the elbow for fracture can be difficult because of the changing anatomy of the growing skeleton and the subtlety of some of these fractures.

It’s important to be aware of the radiographic signs of fracture in the elbow, along with knowing the appearance and fusion of the ossification centers in the pediatric patient, to avoid confusing an ossification center with a fracture fragment. Of course, alignment and radiographic positioning are also extremely important in making a diagnostic assessment.

Diagram of a distended joint capsule with the fat pads displaced.

When reviewing an X-ray study for trauma, it’s best to have a methodical way of viewing the study. Perform (at the very least) two views of the elbow at 90° to each other, AP and lateral. Positioning is very important, particularly in the growing skeleton. Alignment of the joint cannot be assessed unless the positioning is accurate.

The two most common errors in positioning are: 1) elbow is lower than the shoulder, which projects the capitellum onto the ulna; and 2) elbow is higher than the wrist, which will make the capitellum and the head of the radius appear anterior, and the epicondyle appear posterior, making it difficult to assess the alignment. In a true lateral view, the elbow and the shoulder should be in the same plane and the wrist should be higher than the elbow to compensate for the normal valgus position of the elbow. The thumb should be up to keep the radius from rotating.

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The ICPA/ PBRN is the first chiropractic PBRN to have achieved this status. We would like to thank all of our participants so far for their contributions of data, making this possible.

A Practiced Based Research Network (PBRN) is our best opportunity to determine the parameters of care we provide by submitting data from our practices. The ICPA has formed the largest PBRN in chiropractic and the only one addressing family wellness care. This is your voice in evidenced based chiropractic care. We need your participation now!

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According to a new study, just published in Lancet Journal, a diet free of processed foods significantly reduces the symptoms of ADHD in 78% of 4-8 year old children. This 5-week study involving 100 subjects found that 63% of them experienced a relapse in ADHD symptoms upon re-introduction of problem foods into the diet.

This randomized crossover study was titled the Impact of Nutrition on Children with ADHD (INCA). Patients in the Netherlands and Belgium were enrolled via announcements in medical health centres and through media announcements. In the open-label phase (or first phase), children aged 4—8 years, who were diagnosed with ADHD, were randomly assigned to either 5 weeks of a restricted elimination diet (diet group) or to instructions for a healthy diet (control group). [1]

In the second phase, those children who responded positively (with an improvement of at least 40% on the ADHD rating scale) proceeded into the second phase, with a 4-week double-blind crossover food challenge, in which they were exposed to either a high-IgG or low-IgG food diet (classified on the basis of every child’s individual IgG blood test results).

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The depressing results are that 73% of these doctors graded themselves as having “low” to “no” confidence in their pediatric assessment skills. [1]

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Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) is the most commonly reported childhood behavioral disorder, affecting between 3 and 7% of American children. It is characterized by poor attention span, impulsive behaviors, and hyperactivity in some children. The diagnostic criteria are strictly observational, and there are no objective laboratory tests to confirm that diagnosis. Subjective evaluations of annoying, distracting, or inattentive behavior makes the “diagnosis” of ADD/ADHD speculative at best. [1]

The most common medical “treatment” for this controversial “disease” is prescriptions of Methylphenidate (Ritalin), a Class II controlled and addictive substance. The long–term effects of this drug on children is unknown, but the side–effects, including addiction, are becoming better understood.

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The story released Friday by The Star Phoenix reports that the concern is over 5,297 chiropractic pediatric treatments at the cost of $80,921 paid in Saskatchewan this last year. [1] The Health Ministry is considering if it will continue to subsidize chiropractic pediatric care in Saskatchewan.

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I just had the pleasure of seeing about 800 children walk past my office this morning on the yearly Haloween Walk, sponsored by our local business association.

Besides goodies for the kids, we have handouts for all the moms about the benefits of chiropractic.

And that always makes me think about the dangerous side-effects of medicine, also known as iatrogenesis or iatrogenic injury.

Many of these poor little children have been given unnecessary antibiotics.