From the Desk of Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC.....

Christmas and the other winter holidays are just about here.  My family and many others are following a health restoring diet due to autoimmune issues or other health challenges.

Treating only the symptoms allows the condition to worsen

The main problem with the treatments some doctors prescribe for peripheral neuropathy is that they never go after the root of the problem, but focus on the symptoms  –  in your case; numbness, tingling, burning and/or a feeling of weakness.  And when these treatments wear off (which they do), you'll often find they only cover up your problem for a short time and do nothing to fix what's causing your neuropathy in the first place.

Treating only the symptoms of neuropathy for an extended periond of time,  can result in a condition that has progressed too far, to the point other root cause treatments can no longer be of help.

Off-Label Drug Use

Some doctors give their patients anti-seizure meds like Neurontin for their neuropathy.  Anti-seizure meds like Neurontin, Klonopin, and Topamax were not meant to cure neuropathy!  (I guess it doesn’t matter that Pfizer, the maker of Neurontin, was fined $430 million dollars in 2004 for recommending that Neurontin be used “off label,” or for purposes other than its intended use).

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) describes damage to the peripheral nervous system, the vast communications network that transmits information from the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system) to every other part of the body.

Want to lose weight, become healthier and mitigate or prevent autoimmune processes in your body?  These goals are foremost in my mind and I know they are for those who seek care at my office.  For the last several years - ALL the patients who have found their way to my office have an autoimmune disorder - and ALL have either a gluten intolerance gene or two, a celiac gene, or both.

You may not know you have gluten intolerance - but you should be highly suspect if you have elevated liver enzymes. 

Want to continue your health supporting lifestyle and plan a GREAT Thanksgiving dinner that is friendly for all blood types and gluten free?  Look no further.  You can click on the link below to download the D'Adamo approved Thanksgiving feast.

A study* published in the February 15, 2011 issue of Spine, shows that spinal fusion surgery in patients with chronic low back pain leads to worse long-term outcomes – including a lower rate of return to work – compared to non-surgical treatment.

In this study the researchers compared 725 lumbar fusion cases to 725 randomly selected controls selected from a pool of workers’ compensation patients with chronic low back pain who underwent non-surgical conservative treatment such as physical therapy, exercises, etc. Final treatment outcomes included return to work, disability, and use of strong pain medications at two years follow-up.

In nearly all outcome categories it was worse for patients who had spinal fusion surgery. Only 26% of the spinal fusion patients returned to work after 2 years compared to 76%of those under conservative treatment. Also, 27% of patients in the surgical group had repeat surgery while 36% experienced some type of complication.

Eleven percent of the surgical patients had permanent disability, compared to 2% of the non-surgical patients. Most spinal fusion patients continued using opioid drugs after surgery with many taking higher doses. There were also more deaths in the spinal fusion group. The average days off work was greater for the surgical group compared to the non-surgical group (1,140 days off vs. 316 days off).

At a time of continued controversy over the role of spinal fusion surgery and the fact that this procedure has increased exponentially over the last decade despite lack of evidence that it improves patient outcomes, the results of this study raises questions about the long-term effectiveness of spinal fusion surgery.

Lead researcher Trang H. Nguyen, MD who practices occupational medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his co-researchers write, “This [spinal fusion surgery] is offered to improve pain and function, yet objective outcomes showed increased permanent disability, poor return to work status, and higher doses of opioids.” They also note the lack of evidence supporting the use of spinal fusion for degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, of radiculopathy – the diagnoses present in most of the workers in the study. Their conclusion is that spinal fusion should be “cautiously considered” in workers’ compensation patients and then only for patients with diagnoses for which spinal fusion has proven specifically effective.

*Nuyen T, Randolph DC, Talmage J, et al. Long-term Outcomes of Lumbar Fusion Among Workers’ Compensation Sunjects: A Historical Cohort Study. Spine Feb 15, 2011; 36(4):320-331