On April 30, 2012, Dr. Strauchman gave birth to a 7 lb- 2 oz baby girl named Ireland Alise. We felt it important to let everyone know what transpired so that they understand why Dr. Strauchman has been and will continue to be focused on her family for the next few weeks.

Ireland had what is known as a cord prolapse. This occurs in only .1% of all births, and is always very bad. It’s when the umbilical cord comes out before the baby and causes the cord to become pinched, thus depriving the baby of oxygen and blood. This resulted in an emergency c-section at Sparrow hospital in Lansing. Ireland’s heart tones were reduced by half for several minutes, and likely would have been totally stopped if not for the quick decisions and actions by our nurse midwife Shellie. Shellie literally saved Ireland’s life, and for that we will forever be grateful to her.

When the c-section was performed, baby Ireland came out with no heart tones, which returned after chest compressions and epinephrine were given to her. At that point, the OB/GYN came in and told me that she was essentially going to die, and that we would have some difficult decisions to make.

However, baby Ireland turned out to be as feisty as her mother. She received a treatment where they literally put her into hypothermia and cool her body in efforts to protect the brain while oxygen is reduced. She stayed that way for the first several days. Sparrow has one of the state’s best neonatal intensive care unit’s and they only perform this treatment 2-3 times per year, to give you an idea of how uncommon this is. Not only did she had lack of oxygen, but it also resulted in underdeveloped heart muscle, and she also ended up with a pneumothorax on top of it, which collapsed her right lung.  My baby girl did not have the greatest start in this world, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

At this point in time, we have gone from being told that our baby girl was not going to live, to just today she opened her eyes for the first time, pooped for the first time, and will be weaned off of the ventilator and chest tube tomorrow, and will begin getting her mom’s breast milk. This would not have been possible without the skill of the entire hospital staff and amazing neonatalogists, nor without the constant prayers coming from literally all over the world, from US, Canada, and Haiti, to Singapore and Ghana. We appreciate the outpouring of support very much.

As we speak Dr. Strauchman is staying at the Ronald McDonald House next to Sparrow hospital so that she can visit Ireland in the NICU. Although still in critical condition, Ireland is improving every day, and our fingers are crossed that maybe Ireland gets to come home before Mother’s Day.

We plan to begin supporting fundraisers for the Ronald McDonald House in Lansing. This is our only experience with it and they have been truly wonderful to us. We want to return their support by supporting them. Please check you email next month for our email newsletter which will contain some type of clinic fundraiser by using the money you spend in our offices already and giving to the Ronald McDonald House.

I guess also I am writing this to say that Dr. Strauchman has not forgotten about her patients. I will be taking patient charts to her tomorrow for her to review. As these are completed Dr. Strauchman will be getting in contact with those patients who need it. Please understand that baby Ireland needs her mom right now, and that is our priority.

Thank you again  very much for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Dr. Morningstar

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

This study critically evaluates a new method of collecting frequent data using mobile phones and text messages. Fluctuating conditions such as low back pain (LBP) need frequent monitoring to describe the clinical course in detail and to account for individual and subgroup variations.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING:

In this multicentre prospective observational study, 262 subjects with nonspecific LBP were followed with weekly text messages for 6 months, with the question “How many days this previous week has your low back pain been bothersome?” The text replies were instantly recorded in a data file to be merged with baseline and follow up data (age, gender, pain intensity, duration, and self- rated health) collected through ordinary questionnaires. The response rate, user-friendliness, and compliance of this method were evaluated.

RESULTS:

The mean response rate for the text messages throughout the study was 82.5% and was unaffected by season. The method was found to be user friendly. Dropout was not affected by age and gender, but compliance was possibly somewhat affected by outcome.

CONCLUSION:

Weekly text messages are a useful method of data collection to examine the clinical course of LBP in the primary care sector.

Source: J Clin Epidemiol. 2012 Apr;65(4):454-61. Epub 2011 Dec 9.

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the effectiveness of Pilates with regard to the degree of scoliosis, flexibility and pain.

METHOD:

The study included 31 female students divided into two groups: a control group (CG = 11), which had no therapeutic intervention, and an experimental group (EG = 20), which underwent Pilates-based therapy. We used radiological goniometry measurements to assess the degree of scoliosis, standard goniometry measurements to determine the degree of flexibility and the scale of perceived pain using the Borg CR 10 to quantify the level of pain.

RESULTS:

The independent t test of the Cobb angle (t = - 2.317, p = 0.028), range of motion of trunk flexion (t = 3.088, p = 0.004) and pain (t = -2.478, p = 0.019) showed significant differences between the groups, with best values in the Pilates group. The dependent t test detected a significant decrease in the Cobb angle (Δ% = 38%, t = 6.115, p = 0.0001), a significant increase in trunk flexion (Δ% = 80%, t = -7.977, p = 0.0001) and a significant reduction in pain (Δ% = 60%, t = 7.102, p = 0.0001) in the EG. No significant difference in Cobb angle (t = 0.430, p = 0.676), trunk flexion, (t = 0.938p = 0.371) or pain (t = 0.896, p = 0.391) was found for the CG.

CONCLUSION:

The Pilates group was better than control group. The Pilates method showed a reduction in the degree of non-structural scoliosis, increased flexibility and decreased pain.

Source: PubMed

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

There may be a link between low levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—that is, not enough of it—and increased cancer risk, according to new research. Scientists at Tufts University looked at 201 cancer patients and 402 cancer-free patients. They found that cancer patients who never took cholesterol-lowering drugs on average had lower LDL cholesterol levels for an average of about 19 years prior to their cancer diagnosis. In other words, they were “healthier” according to the LDL demonizers in today’s medicine.

Previous studies, which looked at patients who did take cholesterol-lowering drugs, also suggested a strong link between low LDL cholesterol levels and higher cancer risk.

This finding underscores what we have said before. The “HDL cholesterol is good and LDL is bad” message being perpetrated by mainstream medicine is at the very least an oversimplification. LDL is needed by the body to build new muscle, which is important as we age. LDL can protect the brain as we age, and low levels of it can escalate problems such as dementia and memory loss. As Dr. Joseph A. Mercola points out, cholesterol is neither “good” nor “bad,” and attempts to artificially lower your cholesterol can be quite dangerous, in part because of serious side effects such as muscle damage.

So why does mainstream medicine demonize LDL cholesterol? Could it be because it benefits the billion-dollar cholesterol drug industry? Statin drugs are taken by one in four Americans over age of 45, and if patients stopped buying cholesterol drugs, Big Pharma would be in a serious financial crisis. In fact, as soon as the study’s cancer findings were published, a heart “expert” immediately warned that “statins used for LDL reduction shouldn’t be stopped if there is an appropriate use to lower heart disease risk.”

So mainstream medicine’s advice is to hang onto these “miracle drugs” even though they have been linked to nerve damage, muscle damage, liver enzyme derangement, tendon problems, anemia, acidosis, cataracts, sexual dysfunction, an increase in type 2 diabetes, and now cancer.

In the long run, statins are going to be a bonanza, but for the trial lawyers, not the drug companies. But by then it will be too late for those taking them now.

Source: Alliance for Natural Health

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

March 07, 2012. Writing in the March 6, 2012 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers at the University of California and the Scripps Institute elucidate mechanisms for vitamin D and a synthetic form of curcumin in clearing the brain of amyloid beta, a toxic protein that forms the plaques that are believed to be a major cause of the neurodegeneration that occurs in Alzheimer’s disease.

Milan Fiala, MD of UCLA and colleagues studied the effects of vitamin D and curcumin on macrophages derived from the blood of healthy subjects and Alzheimer’s disease patients. Macrophages are immune cells that engulf and consume pathogens and waste products (a process known as phagocytosis), including amyloid beta. Previous research conducted by the team demonstrated that the function of type I macrophages in Alzheimer’s disease patients is improved by the addition of 1-alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, an active form of the vitamin made in the liver and kidneys, as well as by curcuminoids; whereas type II macrophages are improved only by 1-alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

Dr Fiala’s team determined that 1-alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is involved in opening a chloride channel which supports the uptake of amyloid beta in phagocytosis by both types of macrophages, and that curcuminoids activate the same chloride channel in type 1 macrophages only. They discovered that 1-alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 stimulated the genetic transcription of the chloride channel and the receptor for 1-alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in type II macrophages. The mechanisms were dependent upon calcium and signaling by the MAPK pathway which aids in the communication of signaling from the cell membrane’s vitamin D3 receptor to its DNA.

“Our findings demonstrate that active forms of vitamin D3 may be an important regulator of immune activities of macrophages in helping to clear amyloid plaques by directly regulating the expression of genes, as well as the structural physical workings of the cells,” lead author Mathew T. Mizwicki concluded.

Source: Life Extension Foundation

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

Brace treatment for idiopathic scoliosis in skeletally immature children is the only effective nonoperative modality for the control of curve progression. The Charleston bending brace is a custom-molded spinal orthosis that holds the patient in a completely corrected or overcorrected position while worn at night.A 9-year-old girl presented with 10° right upper thoracic and 7° left lower thoracic curves and was Risser sign 0. Nighttime treatment with a Charleston bending brace was initiated when the left lower thoracic curve progressed to 19°. After 27 months of nighttime brace wear, the lower thoracic curve was 21° to the right. Further investigation, including magnetic resonance imaging of the spine, failed to diagnose an identifiable explanation for this atypical occurrence. Conservative treatment may improve radiographic and cosmetic appearance. Overcorrection of the curve, although not likely, is possible when part-time or nighttime bracing is implemented as a means of conservative management.

Source:  Orthopedics. 2012 Mar 7;35(3):e457-9.

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic

The first of these analyses, which was presented in a “best papers” session at NASS, focused on patients with lumbar stenosis. Radcliff explained
that epidural steroidal injections were a common treatment for lumbar stenosis, with studies showing that the potential advantages were that they provided “temporary pain relief, a possibility of surgical avoidance, and improvement in short-term outcome.” However, he added, studies have also shown epidural steroidal injections in this setting to be also associated with a possible increased rate of surgery and increased rate of opioid use.

He said: “The hypothesis of this study is that patients with lumbar stenosis who received epidural steroidal injections would have an improved
outcome or improved surgical avoidance, or there would be an increased crossover from patients who had chosen or who had been assigned to receive surgery at baseline to ultimately have non-surgical treatment.” Radcliff said there were no baseline differences between groups. Comparing the change in outcome between groups, after four years, in surgically treated patients who had received epidural steroidal injections
versus surgically treated patients who had not received epidural steroidal injections, showed that there was significantly less improvement in patients who had received the injections in the SF36 physical function score (14.8 vs. 22.5; p=0.025, respectively). In non-surgically treated patients, there was significantly less improvement in the SF36 bodily pain score (7.3 vs.16.7; p≤.01, respectively) and in the SF36 physical function score (5.5 vs. 15.2; p<0.01, respectively) in the group of patients who had received epidural steroidal injections compared with those who had not. Additionally, although epidural steroidal injections were associated with an increased crossover from surgery to non-surgical
treatment, there was also an increased crossover from non-surgical treatment to surgery in this group.

The design of the lumbar disc herniation study was similar to the spinal stenosis study. In this subgroup analysis, the outcomes of patients who
received epidural steroidal injections were not significantly different from those of patients who had not received injections. But, these findings againcontradicted the study’s hypothesis—which was that patients who received epidural steroidal injections would have improved outcomes compared with those who did not receive injections. Also, again there was no definitive surgical avoidance. Radcliff told Spinal News International: “The significant contribution of our studies is that we compared change in outcome as well as ‘surgical avoidance.’ We believe that
future studies, in addition to proving surgical avoidance, should also demonstrate prove equivalent or better outcomes in the non-surgically
treated patients. Otherwise patients are crossing over to a treatment arm associated with a less successful outcome. The other significant contribution of our study was that we assessed baseline preference for treatment. Not surprisingly, we new study recommends surgical treatment
for type II odontoid fractures. A study presented at the annual meeting of NASS has found that surgical treatment may improve functional and quality of life outcomes, compared with conservative treatment, in older patients with type II odontoid fractures. Although there is relative consensus for the management of type I and type III odontoid fractures, according to a study presenter Christopher Kepler, Thomas Jefferson
University, Philadelphia, USA, there is still a divergence of opinion in the spinal community about the management of type II odontoid fractures. Kepler explained that at present, the benefits and risks of surgical treatment vs. conservative treatment have not been fully determined. He said,
therefore: “The purpose of this study was to compare treatment outcomes in surgically and conservatively treated elderly patients who present
with a type II odontoid fracture.”

In his prospective, multicentre, cohort study, 159 patients aged 65 years or older with a type II odontoid fracture were managed with surgical or conservative treatment. Kepler explained: “This was not a randomised study: patients received non-operative (57) or surgical treatment (102) at the discretion of the surgical team, based on a discussion with the patient and their family.” He added that the patients were followed for 12 months or until they died, whichever came first. To measure the outcomes of the different treatment approaches, the investigators used the neck disability index score, the SF36v2 health survey, and reviewed treatment-associated rates of mortality and complications. Kepler said: “On enrollment, patients were similar in the surgical and non-surgical cohorts with respect to age, gender, ethnic background, marital status, associated injuries, comorbidities, and living arrangements.” Patients were also similar in terms of their
baseline neck disability scores and SF36v2 scores, but the bodily pain and physical component scores of the SF36v2 were slightly better in the patients treated conservatively. Posterior C1-C2 fusion, using screw fixation, was the most common approach used in the surgical group and the most of the conservative group patients were immobilised with a hard cervical orthosis.

After 12 months, there was no significant difference between the two groups in treatment-related complications (48 vs. 37; p=0.4805). However,
patients in the conservative group had a significant four-fold increase in the rate of nonunion compared with those in the surgical group (5 vs. 12; p=0.003). “It is probably worth mentioning that of the 12 patients in the conservative group who developed non-union, eight of them ultimately
required surgery for associated symptoms.” Kepler said. The neck disability index score worsened in both groups after 12 months, but significantly more so in the conservative group (5.7±18.5 vs. 14.7±18.1; p=0.0184). Kepler said: “The difference between the surgical and the non-operative group exceeded previously established estimates of the minimal clinically important difference.” He explained that a commonly quoted estimate of the mini-found that patients who chose to undergo epidural steroid injections were more reluctant to have surgery at baseline
and therefore more likely to ultimately ‘avoid surgery.’ This selection bias in which patients receive epidural steroid injections may confound
surgical avoidance which other studies report. Only a prospective, randomised, blinded ‘injection vs. no injection’ study will really answer this question.”

Source: Spinal News International

Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Centers of Michigan - Results, naturally | Flint, Grand Blanc, Genesee County Bio-Identical Hormones, Scoliosis, Autism, Fibromyalgia, and Chiropractic