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May 21, 2008 at 1:58 pm (Alternative Medicine Products, Current Events, Patient Information, Patient Resources)
Tags: Alternative Medicine, Wellsphere
Do Detox Foot Pads Really Work?
May 15, 2008 at 7:38 pm (Alternative Medicine Products, Current Events, Patient Information, Patient Resources)
Tags: Alternative Medicine, detox foot pads, kinoki, reflexology, scams
I have been asked a few times recently about these detox foot pads. They are supposed to rid your body of heavy metals, parasites, toxins, chemicals, etc, etc. In short, I really do not think these things will work as advertised. The second part to the short answer is that these things are a scam. In fact, Dr. Ed Zimney, in his “Dr. Z’s Medical Report” , stated in no uncertain terms, “This is such a blatant scam that it gives other scams a bad name! “
You see, substances placed on the outside of the foot and substances circulating within the body will not flow freely from one side of the skin to the other. The skin is simply not a semi-permeable membrane. Even if it was, this would not remove “toxins” from the body. Real detox occurs in the liver and then the blood if filtered by the kidneys. The skin has no involvement in the process of detoxification any more so than the eyes are involved in urination. As far as the reflexology tie-in, the entire premise is crap. Most nerves in the body do not actually end in the foot, and there are no anatomical pathways between the foot and internal organs as depicted in reflexology charts. Moreover, there is no physiologic mechanism whereby stimulating the foot can influence the health of internal organs. What a load of nonsense.
As far as the pads turning colors when left on the foot, there are some demonstrations circulating on the Internet that show the pads turning brown simply with the addition of water. Reminds me of a similar scam – ear candling. While these pads can’t pull the toxins from your body, if you are allergic to your money, you can easily have that pulled from your wallet.
I have also learned that the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is cracking down on one supplier, Kinoki, whom they indicate has made false and misleading claims about their products.
Dr. Brett Kinsler is a chiropractor in Rochester, NY who tells it like it is and doesn’t recommend goofy, unscientific treatments like detoxification foot pads.
Health 2.0
May 14, 2008 at 11:35 pm (Current Events, Evidence Informed Chiropractic, Patient Information, Patient Resources)
Tags: health 2.0, healthcare
Consumers are now getting more of their health information from the internet than they are from face-to-face encounters with their healthcare providers. This is part of a movement called Health 2.0. Silly name but the concept is real. Things have already gotten to the point where for a few patients each day, I will specifically tell them to either look something up on the internet or to stay off the internet based on their diagnosis. Some diagnoses will lead them down a worrisome wild goose chase that I will then need to correct the learned misinformation on a future visit.
Consumers need to remember that the internet as a source for health information is only as valid as the source providing that information. And the fact that something has been agreed to in a general consensus, like a wiki, still doesn’t make it absolutely true. You may recall that at some point in history, the general consensus was that the world was flat. Still didn’t make it true.
Be careful who you believe in the electronic healthcare arena.
Dr. Brett Kinsler practices chiropractic healthcare in Rochester, NY. His office’s website is www.rochesterchiro.com
What Should Chiropractors Be Doing?
May 13, 2008 at 11:46 pm (Evidence Informed Chiropractic, Patient Information, Patient Resources)
Tags: chiropractic, EBM, Evidence Informed Chiropractic
A colleague recently mentioned a short list of focused items that separates a responsible chiropractor from one that should probably be avoided. This is not a complete list but it was brief and accurate enough that I wanted to reproduce it here:
- Chiropractic should emphasize non-surgical neuromusculoskeletal (NMS) care
- We do treat kids, but mainly for NMS conditions — not internal disorders
- We diagnose before we treat and we rule out red flags, etc
- We are complementary to, not alternative to, standard health care options
- We are not interested nor qualified to discuss the vaccination issue
- We do not advocate the subluxation concept as one-cause one-cure for all
diseases and reject the simplistic bone on nerve model - We have a variety of methods at our disposal besides osseous manipulation
Brilliant! Check with your chiropractor to see if he or she could agree with all of these points. If so, I suspect you are in excellent hands.
Dr. Brett Kinsler is a chiropractor in Rochester who subscribes to the above listed evidence-based items. More about his practice can be found at www.RochesterChiro.com
Complimentary vs. Alternative vs. Integrated
May 13, 2008 at 11:28 pm (Evidence Informed Chiropractic)
Tags: Alternative Medicine, CAM, chiropractic, complementary medicine, integrated medicine
I got into a discussion recently as to whether chiropractic should be considered complimentary or alternative medicine. The April 25, 2008 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a study entitled “Do Chiropractors Identify with Complementary and Alternative Medicine? Results of a Survey”. Their findings were that the majority (69%) of the chiropractors in the sample rejected being characterized as CAM practitioners, showing some preference for the term integrated medicine (27%).
I suppose when a chiropractor is evidence-based and thrives to work within the medical model, the term ‘alternative’ might not apply. When I send a patient to his primary care physician to get medication during a course of chiropractic treatment, that is certainly not an alternative to medical care. It is complimentary to what the MD might prescribe. Is it integrated? Not yet for me. If I were practicing in a hospital setting or some multi-disciplinary setting, I might be more comfortable with the term “integrated.” For now, I’ll settle for complementary.
Dr. Kinsler, a chiropractor, is a complementary health practitioner 
in the Rochester, NY area.
Personal Freedom, Pizza and Privacy
May 1, 2008 at 6:58 pm (Current Events, Website Recommendations)
Tags: aclu, libertarian, personal freedom, pizza, privacy
Have you seen the pizza video on the ACLU website?
http://aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf
It’s a fantastic example of how technology can interfere with our personal freedoms. I was thinking about this while reading about the mandatory electronic health records that are coming down the pike in some states and probably nationally.
I am all for streamlining access to records for those who deserve access. I am also all about keeping down healthcare costs. But I am concerned that by gaining a little streamlining, we are giving up a great deal of personal freedom.
Recently, a local radiology center revamped their web-based system so that doctors could more easily gain access to their patient’s diagnostic imaging. The problem with their system is that we were also able to see the records of every patient that had ever been in that center — whether or not we had ordered the films. It was like accidently peeking at the medical charts of every doctor in town.
Not good.
I love being able to see my patient’s diagnostic information quickly but I question whether it is worth the loss of privacy.
Dr. Brett L. Kinsler is a chiropractor living in Rochester, NY. His office is Natural Health Chiropractic and can be found at www.RochesterChiro.com
