At this last conference there was a break from normal arrangement of speakers, typically doctors, health and wellness experts, motivational gurus, researchers, etc.  In the midst of all the science, technology, health and wellness came out a gentleman who had never even been in a chiropractic office.  He was visibly nervous, he wasn’t a professional speaker.  Yet for the next hour he held the audience captive as he told the tragic story of his son, Wyatt.

Wyatt’s story sums up the reason that we come to the office everyday.  Every day thousands of kids and millions of adults are prescribed medications that are unnecessary.  In Wyatt’s case, the use of an antibiotic goes against the American Academy of Pediatric’s recommendation for ear infections.  (In fact, the chiropractic adjustment is a better, safer alternative to antibiotics! (Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics 1997 (Oct);   2 (2):   167–183).)  It is the nature of drugs that we don’t know when a reaction like Wyatt’s will occur.  The FDA, the CDC, and the drug companies themselves give us stats as to the safety of medications.  Why they don’t say is that, due to the bottom line and the almight dollar, they are willing to live with 1%, 5%, even 10% adverse reaction rates.  They call these drugs safe.

Unfortunately knowing that amoxicillin is “safe” is no comfort to Wyatt’s family.  When, as a society, we condone and prescribe millions upon millions of drugs every year, the shear numbers, even with only a 1% “bad” reaction rate, ensure that we have thousands of cases like Wyatt’s every year.  We don’t hear about them, they’re not published in the media or in the official stats.  Reactions to prescription drugs (not overdoses or accidents) are the 3rd leading cause of death in this country.  The only things that kills more people are heart attacks and cancer.  Yet we have no pink ribbons, or weekend walks, or yellow bracelets for it.  In the eyes of the medical/pharmaceutical industries it is simply the cost of doing business. 

I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t have medications.  Yet I never want to have to take a medication and I never want any of my patients to have to take them either.  This is why we do what we do!  It is life or death!  Please, the next time you think about popping a little pill for a head ache, or a back pain, or a runny nose…..think about the consequences.  It is vitally important.  If you are on a medication, don’t stop.  Come talk to us about how we can work with your doctor to put together a plan for you to safely stop.

One of the most unfortunate aspects of the drug culture we live in today is the law of unintended consequences: we take a medication to help a problem but it ends up causing us more problems. Once again we see this in action with antibiotics in some new research into stomach bacteria. Some new studies, highlighted on NPR’s Science Friday last week in an interesting conversion with Dr. David Relman from Stanford University School of Medicine (Science Fridays – A Community of Thousands, In Your Gut) give us insight into our stomach and the effects of antibiotics upon the bacteria in it.

We have over 5600 species of bacteria living in our stomach, the majority of which we are in a symbiotic relationship where they help us in the digestion of food. This new research shows us that many common types of antibiotics disrupt these colonies of bacteria, preventing their growth from time periods from 1 to over 6 months. These bacteria are very important; loss of them can lead to diarrhea, yeast infections, growth of “bad”, resistant bacteria, vitamin deficiencies, and more.

So what can we do to help prevent the loss of these all important bacteria? First, and most important, is to prepare our bodies so we don’t get sick from simple exposure to bacteria. Exercise, nurtition, and proper nervous system function are all important to correct immune system function. Second, if we do get sick we shouldn’t run immediately to the medicine cabinet, or pill bottle. Your body isn’t stupid, you are having symptoms for a reason. Runny nose, low fever, coughing, etc, are all ways that your body fights off viral and bacterial infections; using medicine to stop these symptoms works against your immune system, prolonging the illness. Finally, if we do have a bacterial infection and our body needs antibiotic help in fighting it off, then as soon as we finish the round of meds we must do things to promote regrowth and colonization of our gut bacterial. This includes eating foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, and other fermented products, avoid very acidic foods, and taking a probiotic supplement to provide bacterial growth.

Remember, in the end, the best way to avoid this law of unintended consequences is to keep yourself healthy in the first place!

Related Articles:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jYmMg5LQAvp-wbrxNPYAD_OvNSQQ

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/38081