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#164  #3 CAUSE OF DEATH

12/7/2016

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​In May of 2016 the esteemed British Medical Journal published the results of a study titled, “Medical Error – The Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.”  The doctor who wrote the study is a professor and research fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  He points out that the most commonly cited estimate of deaths from medical error is from a 1999 report, 98,000.  I have been using this very same number for nearly 20 years.  It’s grossly outdated and underestimates the larger problem.  Analysis of four studies has since set the rate estimate at 251,454 dead Americans each and every year due to the mistakes made by medical doctors or the medical system in general.  That’s a bunch of people and their families!!
The study goes on to point out how difficult it really is to collect this data and that it probably represents an underestimate of the real problem.  It even offers a relevant case study; “A young woman recovered well after a successful transplant operation.  However, she was readmitted for non-specific complaints that were evaluated with extensive tests, some of which were unnecessary, including a pericardiocentesis.  She was discharged but came back to the hospital days later with intra-abdominal hemorrhage and cardiopulmonary arrest.  An autopsy revealed that the needle inserted during the pericardiocentesis grazed the liver causing a pseudoaneurysm that resulted in subsequent rupture and death.  The death certificate listed the cause of death as cardiovascular.”  There is no box on the death certificate for medical error, hence the underreporting.  So where do we go from here?
The study talks about transparency, better statistics, independent investigations, and the like.  But from where I sit the problem is the medical ego, or what Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. called in his book “Confessions of a Medical Heretic”, the modern religion of medicine.  This religion believes that drugs and surgery is the only way, and that if it can’t be cured that way, then there is no way.  How many times in your life has your medical doctor suggested to you that you consult a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, a naturopath, or some other form of “alternative” health care, or what I prefer to call “natural” health care?  It’s rare.  I contend medicine would be a lot safer if medical doctors used it less.  Profound. 
            Since gate-keeper physicians rarely refer to natural practitioners, perhaps a natural practitioner should be gate-keepers.  Hmm.  Is there a natural practitioner that is trained and licensed to do that, to be a portal of entry physician, a gate-keeper to the larger health care system, someone who can know better when a natural approach can be taken, when to abandon that natural approach, and when to refer for drugs and surgery?  Let’s take a look at that question.  There are only three licensed doctors who are “whole body” health care providers, who are qualified and licensed to be portal of entry physicians; Doctors of Medicine, Doctors of Osteopathy, and Doctors of Chiropractic (M.D., D.O., and D.C.). 
Personally, I’m forced by my insurance to use a M.D. as my primary care provider, but my portal of entry or gate-keeper is always my chiropractor.    
            Regardless of who you use as your gate-keeper, to limit your future need of the dangerous world of medicine you must live your life in a manner to minimize your exposure.  That means regular adjustments, regular exercise, a regulated diet, regulated weight, regular supplementation, regular sleep, etc.     
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    Dr. Rick

    After writing an article per week for a year, I just kept going.  These are most of my collection.  They are written with my existing patients in mind, so some stuff may seem odd or unusual, but would make perfect sense to those who know chiropractic and who know me.  Enjoy and share!  For my personal blog visit: 

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Yolanda wrote:
     
     I used to suffer severe headaches and migraines on a daily basis, usually all day.  I managed to work in an office because I had to.  When I went home at the end of the day I would often close the shades and go to bed.  I could not plan weekend events because I simply never knew how I was going to feel tomorrow.  If there were a special event such as a birthday or wedding, I would begin to medicate myself two weeks in advance to give myself the best chance of making the event.
     Friends and fellow church-goers had been trying to get me to see Dr. Rick for some time before I finally gave in.  Looking back, I don’t know why I waited.  Within a month, I was headache free.  I couldn’t remember what it was like to not feel pain.  I could do whatever I wanted and not live in fear of the headache.  This was a miracle for me, but the story does not end here.
     An opportunity came up for us to adopt a newborn baby girl not long after I began chiropractic care.  This baby was particularly important to me and my husband because her mother is a relative.  Tragically, her mother was also a drug user and did drugs during her pregnancy.  If we could not adopt the baby she would have been put into the foster system since the biological mother was incapable of raising her.
     To keep a long story short, we did adopt her and she is doing fantastically.  There is no sign of any effect of the drugs on her as of yet, and with God’s help, there never will be.  We think that is because of the vast amounts of love and attention she gets from us, her real mommy and daddy.
     What does this have to do with chiropractic?  The reality is that without chiropractic, I would still be nearly an invalid with headaches.  I COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN CARE OF AN INFANT OR RAISED A YOUNG CHILD.  THEREFORE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR HER.  MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE SOMEBODY MADE ME GO TO A CHIROPRACTOR. 
     You need to tell everyone you know what you know about chiropractic.  Who knows who’s life you will change too.
Andrew's mother, Barbara, wrote:

     Hello, My name is Andrew and I am a happy, healthy one year old.  But I wasn’t so happy or healthy when I first met Dr. Rick a few months ago.  I had been having problems with my ears for four months, I couldn’t sleep at night and I was miserable.  We’d been to the doctor lots of times but nothing was helping.  In fact, all the medicines the doctor had tried seemed to make me worse instead of better!  Both the regular doctor and the Ear-Nose and Throat doctor said that if the antibiotics didn’t work, then they’d just have to put tubes in.  Now my Mom and dad weren’t about to let them do surgery on me, especially since they had been reading and learned that tubes can cause more problems than they solve.  My mom and dad did a lot of praying.  Then my mom heard that sometimes babies who have a traumatic birth like mine have ear trouble.  You see when I was born they used a vacuum extractor and forceps to pull me out.  I guess all that yanking on my head, hurt my neck.  She also heard that chiropractic care can be the answer.  Now she was skeptical because she couldn’t imagine a chiropractor helping ear infections!?!  But at that point she was willing to try anything!!  Happily, a few weeks of adjustments and my ears were all cleared up.  In addition, I no longer had a stiff neck or shoulders and my whole personality was happier.  I have to tell all babies who have ear troubles, don’t let them give you tubes until you at least try chiropractic care first.  After all, it can’t hurt and if you’re like me, you could be perfectly well with no drugs and no surgery.  In my family, we thank God for Dr. Rick, because I feel better, my mom and dad are happier and sometimes, I even sleep through the night.