If you've had back pain that won't go away, you're not alone. More than 10% of North Carolinians have debilitating chronic low back pain, a huge increase from last decade.
In 1992, UNC researchers found that 3.9 percent of North Carolinians had chronic low back pain. In 2006, the team used the same surveying techniques and found that 10.2 percent of the population suffered with the condition. The dramatic increase was seen in both men and women. and across all ages and racial and ethnic groups.
"These findings are a alarming, considering the social and economic costs of chronic low back pain," said Tim Carey, the study's principal investigator. Carey is the director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services and Research and Sarah Graham Kenan Professor in the departments of medicine and social medicine in the School of Medicine.
The study is the first in the United States to use similar methods and a consistent definition of chronic low back pain to research the condition’s prevalence over time, Carey said. In the survey, if people reported pain and activity limitations nearly every day for three consecutive months or reported more than 24 episodes of pain that limited activity for one or more days over the course of one year, they qualified as having chronic low back pain.
Running injuries are caused by a variety of factors. In addition to spinal and lower extremity subluxations, contributory elements often include footwear problems, gait asymmetries, muscle imbalances and training errors.
During my nearly 30-year chiropractic career, I have had the opportunity to treat many patients for injuries related to running. I have found that one of the most effective forms of adjunctive care, especially when gait biomechanics are altered, is custom-made, flexible orthotics.
Orthotics are an excellent adjunct to successful chiropractic care of runners' injuries. Here is a brief overview of three common injuries experienced by runners, along with selected treatment considerations.
The Ten Worst Insurance Companies
- Allstate
- Unum
- AIG
- State Farm
- Conseco
- Well Point
- Farmers
- United Health
- Torchmark
- Liberty Mutual
To identify the worst insurance companies for consumers, researchers at the American Association for Justice(AAJ) undertook a comprehensive investigation of thousands of court documents, SEC and FBI records, state insurance department investigations and complaints, news accounts from across the country, and the testimony and depositions of former insurance agents and adjusters. Our final list includes companies across a range of different insurance fields, including homeowners and auto insurers, health insurers, life insurers, and disability insurers.
By Mark Sanna, DC, ACRB Level II, FICC
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,300 Americans. A hurried dispatch from the ranking U.S. naval officer in Pearl Harbor to all major Navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack on the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. It said simply: “Air Raid on Pearl Harbor! This is not a drill!”
Different Paths to Health Reform
The upcoming healthcare reform is also not a drill. President Obama has informed Congress that he wants a healthcare bill on his desk by the summer of 2009. This means that 16 percent of the U.S. budget could be overhauled in under 30 congressional working days. According to insiders, the template has been forged, and the bill has been all but drawn up.
There are many paths that policymakers could take in any health reform bill. The Obama Administration has explicitly outlined three principles for healthcare reform: 1) rising costs must be brought down, 2) Americans must be able to keep their doctor or health plan and have the ability to choose their doctor, and 3) all Americans must have access to quality, affordable health care. Notably absent from this discussion was any commitment to a so-called ‘public option,’ a potential insurance option administered by the government and, as you may know, a significant sticking point in the policy discussions within Congress.
In general, the content of the press conference indicates that the administration is continuing its policy of letting the comprehensive (detail-containing) proposals come from congressional leaders while doing its best to keep interest groups typically opposed to reform invested in the current efforts. With the debate still raging in the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committees, it is important to realize that no profession can take anything for granted at this moment.
