A recent history of Staker Family Chiropractic

Chiropractic care has a long history of dramatically improving the life of the patients who make the decision to "give it a try".  There is a lot of dispute about this, but if there was nothing more to chiropractic than the placebo effect it would have gone the way of the early 20th century snake oil remedies.  Today the preponderance of the scientific evidence is siding with chiropractic being effective for a wide range of spine related conditions.  If what we were doing is this effective why add to it?

Dr. Staker has practice for over 40 years and in that time he has helped a lot of people, but he has also seen a lot of his patients continue to return for the same conditions time and time again. Dr. Staker has always been looking for something more for his patients. That brought him to Chiropractic Biophysics (CBP), a chiropractic technique that has critically analyzed the human spine, defined normal values, and care protocols to restore spines back to those values.  With CBP we have been able to do a lot more for the long term health of our patients but there was still something missing.

While at a seminar Dr. Staker was introduced to the Power Plate whole body vibration platform.  He was able to personally experience what it could do for increasing the flexibility of his hips and that translated to less stiffness in his lower back. He quickly realized that this was something that he could add perfectly to the care with our patients.  This has proven to be a great tool for increasing flexibility and core support that so many of our patients require.  Here is a short video testimonial from Dr. Cammisa.

In December 2010 we were invited to hear about this BStrong4Life program, which is basically a combination of the Power Plate with this bioDensity isometric strength training unit. We were skeptical that it was as beneficial as it was made out to be, we discovered that we were wrong.  BStrong4Life has a huge potential to not only add to the care we give, but also fill a gap that exists today in the care of osteoporosis.  Dr. Cammisa has opened a ton of doors in his area that were once locked shut to chiropractors because of the clear combined benefits his care can give patients of all types.  Here is a short video of Dr. Cammisa discussing the benefits of the BStrong4Life program on osteoporosis.

Over the past several years we could have bought new computers, tables, or even a new digital x-ray system.  Instead we invested in technologies that can help our patients experience a better life.  We believe with CBP, Power Plate, and BStrong4Life we have hit on what should be the model for chiropractic today. In additional to innovative techniques and technologies we have a patient centered approach that puts your wants and needs first. Everything we do in the office is optional, none of our patients is on a care plan that they did not elect to do for themselves.  For example we have patients that come in for just adjustments, others that come in only for BStrong4Life, and others that do everything in between.

If you interested in experiencing all we have to offer firsthand, give us a call. We give office tours that include doing a few exercises on the Power Plate and bioDensity unit, just call to make an appointment and mention taking an office tour.

FDA issues warning on osteoporosis drug

Here is the article from the Wall Street Journal printed the first week of September this year.  

By Jennifer Corbett Dooren

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Food and Drug Adminstration said doctors should screen patients for kidney problems before prescribing Novartis AG's (NVS) bone-building drug Reclast.

In a drug-safety communication posted to the agency's website Thursday, the FDA said it was updating an existing warning about the risk of kidney failure. The agency said kidney failure "was a rare but serious condition associated with the use of Reclast in patients with a history of or risk factors for [kidney] impairment."

Reclast is an infusion that's given once every one or two years to treat or prevent osteoporosis as well as treat Paget's disease of the bone.

FDA said doctors need to give patients a blood test to check kidney function as well as monitor patients already on Reclast. Patients with evidence of acute kidney impairment should not be prescribed Reclast, FDA said. Such instructions are being added to Reclast's drug label.

In 2009, FDA added a kidney-failure warning to Reclast's label after receiving about two dozen reports of kidney failure, some of which were fatal, following Reclast infusion.

Since then, FDA said it has received 11 reports of fatal kidney failure and nine reports of non-fatal kidney injury after Reclast infusion.

-By Jennifer Corbett Dooren, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9294; jennifer.corbett@dowjones.com

One thing this article did not include was that the warning was also aimed at those who are taking potentially kidney-damaging (nephrotoxic) medications or diuretics at the same time as Reclast.  This is another example of a drug designed to treat osteoporosis that also has severe side effects.  It started with Premarin, Provera, and PremPro. These drugs were first used for the prevention of hot flashes related to menopause but, soon their manufacturer was promoting the drug to stop osteoporosis. Today conservative estimates are that several hundred thousand women suffered unnecessary breast cancers while taking these drugs. After the Women's Health Initiative was released, the FDA intervened and harsh warnings went on the label.


Then came the “miracle” drug Fosamax. For a time it was the latest, greatest drug doctors could give to prevent osteoporosis until researchers started noticing that it rotted jaw bones. Teeth fell out, infections set in and women’s lives were ruined.  The latest revelation about Fosamax is that instead of strengthening bones it actually makes them more brittle. Even more ironically, women are now suffering fractures of their legs and hips doing even the simplest tasks. Recently drug Bonevia was being investigated to determine if it may contribute to esophageal cancer. 
Ultimately these drugs only barely increase bone density most of the time they are used to prevent further loss.  An MD once told me that they are happy when there is a 0% difference in bone mineral density in a one year time span while taking these medications.  Why?, because the patient is one year older and has not lost any more bone density. It is common to be only on these medications for 5 years at a time.  After that 5 year mark the risk for severe side effects increase beyond the benefit of limiting bone loss. 

The best option available is to engage in an effective strength training program.  A program that will allow you to place a significant stress or load on your musculo-skeletal system and stimulates muscle and bone cell growth.  This is part of our reason for getting involved with BStrong4Life.  Not only has it made for great improvement in spine and spine related pain, but it will load the body in a way that stimulates bone growth.
The BStrong4Life program has made enough of an impact in the Naperville area Edward Hospital is involved in a study of its effects on bone density growth.

If you haven't already, or if you have but it was a long time ago, check out our BStrong4Life website at geneva.bstrong4life.com 

Pain may be causing you to loose your mind.

The picture will link you to the article where the data for this post comes from.



A few years ago in the office I posted on our bulletin board a series of articles that lay this out how chronic pain is affecting brain function.  My data was from a number of years ago but, like this more recent data, show how chronic pain can have a serious negative affect on brain function. 

Chronic pain is basically any pain that we may have that lasts longer than 6 months, although some clinicians say it is pain that lasts longer than 12 months. For a lot of us it is that little twinge of pain that persists over years that may progressively get worse with each exacerbation or aggravation.  In practice most of the patients we see have chronic pains with phases of acute exacerbations.  For some that chronic pain can last for years and, as this research points out, may negatively affect our brain function.    

The good news is that the research notes that the loss or negative changes in brain function are all reversible.  Treating to elminate the cause of chronic pain can restore and improve the loss of function.  Do not ignore those signs and symptoms your body is giving you.  Work to eliminate the causes of chronic pains instead of masking the signs and symptoms. 

The care we are giving in the office is aimed at eliminating chronic pain, not just managing symptoms.  Our care combined with the BStrong4Life program has been creating great results with patients who have been suffering from chronic aches and pains for years. 

Child Car Seat Safety

Recently the American Academy of Pediatrics changed its position on car seats by increasing the age to two years old that we should keep our children in rear facing seats.  Here is part of their statement on the subject:

A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” Dr. Durbin said. “For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.”

While I am happy to see an organization in the USA make this recommendation they could have gone further. After reviewing the literature I firmly believe that we should keep our children in rear facing seats as long as possible.  In a number of European countries it is commonplace to keep children in rear facing seats until they are 5 years old or up to 55lbs.  Their standards are based on protecting the fragile neck and spine of children that are in greater risk in a forward facing seat than a rear facing one.  In high speed collisions a child is more likely to suffer spinal injuries or even death in a forward facing seat than in a rear facing seat.  Rear end collisions are not as big of a concern because in high speed rear end crashes the car should absorb most of the impact force and protect its occupants.  Here is a video with animation that shows the difference between the two car seats. 

You can say that this is just an animation and might not depict what would actually happen, but this animation is directly from impact tests done in Europe.  Did you know that in the US side impact testing is not required of child safety seats?  That fact alone shows that the US regulation of car seat safety is lacking far behind its European counterparts.

Most people who have reservations about this usually mention two things; first is that it can not be comfortable for a child to sit cross legged or with their knees in their chest, the second is the child might injure their legs or break a leg in a crash. This first concern might be true for an adult, but a child does not share our in flexibility in the hips so they should be comfortable facing rear especially if that is all they know. You might have a problem transitioning them to a rear facing seat after a year or more of forward facing.  As for injuring or breaking a leg, there is little to no evidence of this occurring in a rear facing seat, but there is numerous evidence for severe neck and spinal injuries in forward facing seats. Even if your child might break a leg in a crash, wouldn't that be better than breaking their neck? 

I bring this up on memorial day weekend, not to scare parents but to help them make informed decisions about their family's health.  European safety standards are far better than ours and it is not a wonder why.  In the US there are too many too powerful special interest groups that have control over regulation.  It was a bold move for the AAP to change their recommendations but it has come long after parts of Europe and does not go far enough.  If anything I hope that this article starts a little fire to get better informed on your child's safety as they travel in your cars. To be honest I wish I could say we kept our kids in rear facing until they were 5 years old but we did not, we did make it to about two years old though with each of them.  Today we have them in booster seats that have backs to them, backless boosters are not safe but that is a topic for another day.

Here are a few other Internet sources to read to help you decide the best actions for your family.
American Academy Of Pediatrics 2011 Car seat release

This a a car safety website that has extensive info on rear facing car seats.

This link, and this other one are some blogs that have not been updated in a while but still have good personal information from people who keep their children in rear facing seats.

Chiropractic Manipulation as good as surgery for Sciatica

In reviewing recent research on chiropractic care I came across this paper,Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study., published in the October 2010 Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.  This is a link to just the abstract, but even that is good enough to see what was accomplished with this study. 
The researchers divided 40 participants who had failed nonoperative management including PT, massage, lifestyle modification, and acupuncture for the treatment of sciatica.  Of the 40 some underwent microdiskectomy, which is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that involves removing a portion of the spinal disc that is placing pressure on either the spinal cord or spinal nerve root.  The other participants underwent a course of care involving chiropractic spinal manipulation.
Ultimately both groups showed significant improvement to about the same degree, which shows that chiropractic spinal manipulation or adjustments can be just as effective as surgery for sciatica. 


This study positively shows that in some cases of sciatica chiropractic care can be effective and in the few cases it is not the delay in surgery did not negatively effect outcomes.  When you pair this study with a few other recent ones a picture starts to develop that a trial of chiropractic care for low back pain and sciatica may be the best place to start as opposed to "medical" care.  The "medical" conservative management of low back and sciatica care that includes PT, lifestyle modification, pain medications, and home exercises have shown to not be as effective as chiropractic care in some very recent studies. A recent study on cost found that care for low back pain is less expensive when starting with a chiropractor than when you start in the ER, UC, or family doctor.

Sciatica is not always caused by a bulging disc although a bulging disc may be involved in these cases treating the bulging disc does not always eliminate the pain. What we do is work to stabilize the lower back that eliminates inflammation around the sciatic nerve and that eliminates the pain as well as helps to prevent it from returning.  This has been made easier with our BStrong4Life system, if you have any questions about this give us a  call or email me with them.

April 23

There is still time to make your apointment for our Patient Appreciation Day on April 23rd.  Call today to schedule your free visit.

2011 Spring Patient Appreciation Day is April 23rd.