A new US report shows that from 1999 to 2009 (the most recent year with available figures) substance abuse treatment admissions among those 12 and older have gone up for cases involving alcohol, opiates and marijuana. The report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that one of the most notable [...]

A new review study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), linked watching television for 2-3 hours per day with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause death. “Beyond altering energy expenditure by displacing time spent on physical activities, TV viewing is associated with unhealthy eating (e.g., higher [...]

Mice born to mothers who are fed a diet supplemented with B vitamins are less likely to develop intestinal tumors, report scientists at Tufts University. Mothers were fed diets containing supplemental, adequate or mildly deficient quantities of vitamins B2, B6, B12 and folate prior to conception through weaning, after which all of the offspring received [...]

Medical guidelines suggest that most acute low back pain (LBP) substantially improve within a few weeks and that immediate use of imaging and aggressive therapies should be avoided. However, the medical community is largely ignoring these guidelines, resulting in a flood of unnecessary tests and related costs, according to a study published in the Spine [...]

Is the term “subluxation” widely used in chiropractic schools? To find out, researchers examined 16 current English-language North American chiropractic college academic catalogs. Results revealed that “Palmer College in Florida devoted 22.72% of its curriculum to courses mentioning the subluxation followed by Life College (Georgia) and Sherman College with 16.44% and 12.80% respectively. As per [...]

Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is an increasingly commonly diagnosed disorder, especially among children. The disabling disorder is characterized by frequent, recurrent severe vomiting. It is associated with a family history of migraine, and children with CVS typically develop migraines as they age. Now a case study offers hope for families with children struggling with CVS. [...]

A study of 108,419 cases reveals that patients undergoing spine surgery have an average overall infection rate of 2.1% The study’s authors write that “based on primary diagnosis, total postoperative wound infection rate for adults ranged from 1.4% for degenerative disease to 4.2% for kyphosis. Postoperative wound infection rates for pediatric patients ranged from 0.9% [...]

“The majority of women recover from pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain within 3 months of delivery,” explain the authors of a new study. “Since biomechanical and hormonal changes from pregnancy are largely reversed by 3 months postpartum, consequently, it is assumed that other factors might interfere with recovery.” The investigators looked at 272 women at 3 months [...]

Medical doctors and patients commonly believe that yellow and green phlegm indicates a bacterial infection, which is more likely to benefit from antibiotic treatment. However a new study reveals that this common belief is a myth. The study enrolled 3,402 adult patients with acute cough in 14 primary care networks. Findings showed that patients producing [...]

A study slated for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reveals that higher levels of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) in the body are associated with increased odds of having experienced menopause at a younger age. Women with high levels of PFCs also have significantly lower estrogen levels. “The current study is the largest ever [...]