This month's feature articles:
• Chiropractic Helpful For Arthritis •
• Chiropractic Effective For Infantile Colic •

Additional articles:
• Nitroglycerine Use Increases Risk of Hip Arthritis
• Glucosamine Reduces Knee Osteoarthritis
• Antibiotic Use By Pregnant Women Bad
• NSAIDs Increase Gastroesophageal Reflux
• Exercise Guards Against Physical Effects of Stress
• Green Tea May Aid Weight Loss

• Chiropractic Helpful For Arthritis • Findings from a recent study suggest that approximately two thirds of arthritis patients utilize alternative remedies for the treatment of their arthritis including herbs, chiropractor visits, high-dose vitamins, and elimination diets. In the study, 232 arthritis patients living in North Carolina were surveyed. The participants had suffered from arthritis for an average of 10 years and over half of them reported experiencing severe arthritic pain. Of the respondents who relied on a single alternative method, 73% said that chiropractors were helpful. Nearly half of the respondents reported turning to alternative therapy "because their prescribed medications were ineffective," noted researchers. In addition, many arthritis drugs, such as those used for rheumatoid arthritis, suppress the immune system and can lead to further serious problems. SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine 1999;131:409-416.

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• Chiropractic Effective For Infantile Colic • A study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics has found spinal adjustments delivered by chiropractors to be effective in relieving infantile colic. The study was conducted on 50 infants aged 2-10 weeks in Copenhagen, Denmark. The infants were split into 2 groups: one treated with drug therapy (dimethicon) and the second group treated with spinal adjustments administered by a doctor of chiropractic. According to researchers, "By trial days 4 to 7, hours of crying were reduced by 1 hour in the dimethicon group compared with 2.4 hours in the manipulation group. From trial day 5 onward the manipulation group did significantly better than the dimethicon group." SOURCE: J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1999; 22(8): 517-522.

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• Nitroglycerine Use Increases Risk of Hip Arthritis • If you're a common user of nitrates -- commonly taken in the form of nitroglycerin for the relief of chest pain -- you could be significantly increasing your chances of developing hip arthritis. According to a recent study involving 9,000 women, those who took nitrates daily had 2.5 to 3 times the rate of hip osteoarthritis as women of the same age who did not take nitrates. Results from the study also showed the risk of arthritis depended on the dose. The researchers decided to investigate nitroglycerine use because it is known that cartilage cells in joints react to the nitric oxide molecule, which is released by nitrates. Beyond that little is known, according to researchers. Researchers "now need to go into the laboratory," they concluded. SOURCE: Reuters Health

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• Glucosamine Reduces Knee Osteoarthritis • A controlled trial from Europe discussed at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology evaluated glucosamine sulfate in knee arthritis. The findings suggest glucosamine does in fact improve arthritis. The 3 year study consisted of 212 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients received either 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine or a placebo (dummy pill) once per day. The patients' knees were x-rayed at 1 year and at 3 years, and the images were interpreted in London by doctors who had no knowledge of which patients received glucosamine or placebo. Researchers found of those patients who ingested glucosamine, no further joint narrowing (a cardinal sign of osteoarthritis) was detected. However, of those who ingested the placebo, all had a noticeable worsening of joint space narrowing. In addition, those consuming the glucosamine reported their knees felt better while those who consumed the placebos reported a slight worsening of the disease. SOURCE: Reuters Health

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• Antibiotic Use By Pregnant Women Bad • Results of a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology suggests antibiotics should be avoided or at least keep to a minimum by pregnant women. Researchers warn infants born to women who received prenatal antibiotics may be difficult to treat if they develop sepsis, a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection that is treated with intravenous antibiotics. The researchers evaluated medical records from over 8,500 infants and found 46 percent of the mothers received antibiotics before delivery. Overall, 96 infants developed sepsis of which 45 percent of the disease causing organisms were resistant to ampicillin -- a commonly used antibiotic which normally kills a broad range of bacteria. According to researchers, ampicillin resistance was significantly more common in infants whose mothers received antibiotics prenatally than in those whose mothers did not. The researchers also note that some doctors routinely screen pregnant women for vaginal infections and, if necessary, treat them with antibiotics to reduce the chance that they will transmit infection to the infant. They say that there is "conflicting evidence regarding the benefit of such practice." SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1999;181:816-821.

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• NSAIDS Increase Gastroesophageal Reflux • Regular users of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or aspirin are twice as likely as non-users to experience gastroesophageal reflux -- backflow of some of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus causing heartburn. Gastroesophageal reflux -- more commonly called acid reflux -- causes the burning pain in the chest known as heartburn. Especially among women and non-blacks, reflux is strongly associated with NSAID use, according to Dr. Jeffrey Kotzan and colleagues at the University of Georgia, Athens. The researchers examined the incidence of reflux in just over 12,500 Medicaid recipients who took NSAIDs regularly to treat arthritis, as well as in a similar group of 12,500 individuals who did not use NSAIDs. Researchers found reflux symptoms twice as prevalent in the NSAID users. Women were 57% more likely to develop reflux than men, and non-blacks were 32% more likely to develop symptoms than blacks. The association between NSAID use and reflux was evident only among people who used NSAIDs for at least 6 months continuously, the authors report. Researchers speculated that NSAIDs might relax the lower sphincter of the esophagus, permitting the reflux of stomach contents back up into the esophagus. SOURCE: Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

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• Exercise Guards Against Physical Effects of Stress • A new study shows that exercise can help protect against the physical effects of daily stress. The study consisted of 135 college students and showed those who exercised on a regular basis were more likely to successfully cope with typical daily stresses, compared with their less physically active counterparts. During times of high stress, those exercising less experienced 37 percent more physical symptoms than those who exercised more. Moreover, those exercising less also reported 21 percent more anxiety than those exercising more frequently. According to researchers, exercise helps people get their mind off of stressors "providing a time-out period." This "allows for a temporary escape from the pressure of stressors and thus acts as a kind of 'rejuvenation' process." SOURCE: Annals of Behavioral Medicine November 1999.

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• Green Tea May Aid Weight Loss • A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found green tea appears to speed up calorie burning. According to researchers, "The green tea extract may play a role in the control of body composition." The effects of green tea were evaluated in 10 healthy young, lean to mildly overweight men. Each of the men took 2 capsules consisting of either 50mg of green tea extract plus 50mg of caffeine, just 50mg of caffeine, or a placebo pill (nonactive substances). The men ate a typical Western diet consisting of 13% protein, 40% fat, and 47% carbohydrates. Researchers found the energy expenditure -- the number of calories used during a 24-hour period -- was higher for men taking green tea extract than for those taking caffeine or placebo. They also found those taking the green tea extract used more fat calories than those taking the placebo. SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999;70:1040-1045.

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