Dr Laureen Longo 6303 Fresh Pond Road Ridgewood NY 718-386-3172

Published in: on July 23, 2009 at 1:25 am  Leave a Comment  
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Autism Threat

Autism Threat: Is it Innocent Child’s Nightmare?

According to research, estimates of fifty children are diagnosed with autism everyday in the United States. Aside from that, the number of autistic children is increasing in the whole country.

Autism was considered as a rare condition before; however, the increasing number of children being diagnosed with autism has caused it to become an epidemic in some areas of the country.

Currently, almost half a million children are diagnosed with autism in the United States. Because of this, parents are alarmed and are looking for more information about the signs and symptoms of autism. This is quite difficult because the growth and development in every child is different. There are some health care professionals that tend to delay the diagnosis to give the gap for normal growth and development. They also delay the diagnosis because they want to wait until the signs are clear in relation to the child’s behavior.

In general, there are early signs and symptoms of autism; however, a confirmatory diagnosis is not made until the child reaches three to four years of age. Signs and symptoms of autism can already be observed in the later months of the first year of life.

Experts have found out that autistic children have a delay in their language skills. These children may utter some words but these words are not understandable and usually not for communication.

Autistic children do not enjoy games that are usually enjoyed by normal children such as peek-a-boo. Children who have autism also can’t easily pick up gestures such as waving, unlike a normal child. If you would carefully observe a child with autism, you would notice that the child’s expression is not very expressive and vivid.

One of the most common symptoms associated with autism is doing repetitive movements. Movement of the hands is noticeable and quite disturbing because of the repetitive motion. Seeing a child who does repetitive actions can signify autism but it may not be enough reason to conclude the diagnosis.

One significant finding of experts in children with autism is that these children often experience intestinal problems. The poor behavior of children with autism is often associated to gastrointestinal pain. However, since children with autism are unable to express themselves directly, parents are unaware of this pain and would often neglect the child, thinking that it is just one of the antics of the child. This is disappointing but it happens most of the time.

Reprinted MyChannel News

Published in: on July 23, 2009 at 1:20 am  Leave a Comment  
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Autism & Vaccinations Let’s Hear From The Parents Not From MD’s or Some MD “Wanna-Be” Chiropractor

Autism & vaccination–parents
Vaccination quotes

Reposted from www.whale.to

“I am the father of a 9 year-old son whose descent into the world of autism began at the age of 7 months old after receiving numerous vaccinations in a single day; the same story that is told by thousands of other parents of children throughout the country whose healthy, normally developing children have become autistic after vaccinations.”–Rick Rollens

“Regards to vaccines, I have had hundreds of parents and grandparents contact me about their autistic children developing normally and then going downhill into autism after vaccines. Some of these parents are in the medical profession with MD and RN designations. Many of these parents have gotten biopsies of the ileal and/or immune blood panel tests.”–Raymond Gallup

“I have hundreds of new friends who know their child’s autism is from vaccines. They as parents know their children better then anyone and watched their children slip into the autism world after a vaccine. And no not all of them were MMR vaccines. Some were DTP vaccines.”–Danielle Sarkine

“I am just one parent among many who has a vaccine-damaged child.  It was only after my son lost his ability to speak and communicate after his final vaccination at 24 months and autistic behaviours emerged that I began to do my own research and discovered that what we have been led to believe is a Myth – namely, that vaccines are safe and effective.”–Alex Snelgrove

“Our son developed normally meeting all major milestones but inexpicably regressed beginning at the age of 15 months following his MMR vaccination”– Liz Birt and Maurice Lopez

“We have videos that prove that he was developing normally prior to this vaccine but we are told that medical evidence does not support a causal link between   immunisation and vaccination… However, I know there is… I do not need medical evidence to prove it!–Alex

” I am the parent of a child who became autistic after monovalent measles and MMR vaccinations.” —David Thrower

“This time, I saw it: Connor at 11 months, smiling for the camera, looking into his daddy’s eyes, touching his mommy’s hair. Connor on his first birthday, after his morning visit to the doctor’s office and MMR vaccination, no longer looking at anyone, no longer smiling. And perhaps the most revealing picture: Connor walking on his toes, one of the most common behaviors in autism. Within a day he had changed. …(to the question–how many of you here believe your children have been damaged by vaccines?) seventy-five percent of the attendees stood up and raised their hands. One woman a few rows behind me was crying, and I knew intuitively that her faith in the medical establishment had finally crumbled.2—Lesli Mitchell

“Soon after my textbook on autism was published in 1964, I began to hear from other parents.  Many parents told me that their children were normal until getting a triple vaccine – the DPT shot.  In 1965 I began systematically collecting data on the symptoms and possible causes of autism:  In 1967—33 years ago—I began querying the parents, specifically about the child’s response to the DPT shot.  Many had reported marked deterioration.”–Dr Rimland

“Liam was a normally developing baby until June 27, 1997, when he received his MMR and Hib vaccines.“—Shelley Hendrix Reynolds

“The thousands of hours of research that we have spent searching and retracing his regression continue to point to the fact that the road to Jacob’s autism began when his immune system was damaged by the Hepatitis B vaccine he received when he was ill. The final blow was the  adverse reaction to the host of vaccines he received by 16 months.”—Jeana Smith

A mother asked me if he had received his MMR jab, because she’d heard there might be a link with autism. It was like someone had hit me,’ says Rochelle. ‘All the pieces fell into place. I cried.”–Rochells Poulter

“What I now think is that autism is caused by a brain damage and up until the day she had her MMR-vaccination, she was a healthy normal little girl.”–Anneslise Guldager Marthiesen

“We got talking to other parents at the school. In many cases, there seemed to be a regular pattern to the timing of the children’s regression. We were discovering that things started to go wrong in the days and weeks after the vaccine, that the kids began behaving strangely, lost their words, became withdrawn. That their mental development stopped. We knew it had to be more than a coincidence.” —Bridget Enright

Dr. Laureen Longo is a chiropractor in Ridgewood Queens, NY

Published in: on February 8, 2009 at 6:07 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Chiropractic Attacked

Tedd Koren

I’m being attacked and I need your help.

In a few days Mr. Don Petersen is publishing a vicious article attacking me and KST. The last time he did that I got a lot of hate mail – they only read his side of the story and he distorted my response. I received emails, letters and phone calls cursing me and people said they’d have nothing ever to do with me and would tell all their friends, etc.

I need your help. His paper (Dynamic Chiropractic) goes to over 70,000 people, but collectively, if you send this to every DC and healer on your mailing list and ask them to send it to everyone they know, we can offset this irresponsible reporting.

I am appealing to you for help. I know you have many DC, etc. contacts. If you send all of them this article (below) and ask them to forward it to those they know we can balance this out. I can’t do it alone, I only have so many people on my lists. I really need your help. Please write back and let me know you’ll send this out to everyone you can.

Thanks,

Tedd

Leigh Charley, DC writes: This is important! Please send it to all DCs you know even if you (& possibly they) haven’t yet taken a KST seminar. In my opinion KST is the most valuable technique that has ever been taught. It is closer to the roots & principles of chiropractic than any other technique that I’m aware of and is a totally vitalistic/empiric technique.  Again, in my opinion, it is perfectly appropriate that dentists, DOs, NDs, etc. be allowed to attend seminars. Is not the goal of health care to enable the greatest number of people to achieve & maintain the greatest health possible? Is it perhaps fear (from the detractors) that KST might cut into their bottom line?  Yours in health, Leigh Charley, D.C. (& a proud KST practitioner)

Koren attacked again

(They say he’s teaching lay people to practice chiropractic)

Tedd Koren, DC

Oh no! Not another fight. Is it the Federal Trade Commission again trying to destroy chiropractic? The Quackbusters? Steven Barrett, MD?

Believe it or not, it’s coming from the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) and the European Chiropractic Union (ECU).

I’ve been attacked before. When I’m wrong I admit it. After all who wants to fight a losing battle? But when I’m unjustly accused I fight back. After years of fighting chiropractic’s enemies and almost going bankrupt in the process these groups are accusing me of trying to damage the chiropractic profession. The irony is enough to make a man cry.

I’ve got to take the time from my schedule to put this letter together because too many doctors read newspaper articles and assume they are complete accounts. I’ve been attacked and rumors have been spread. How quickly people forget what I’ve done for this profession. I wish they’d contact me personally before calling me names.

While “condemnation before investigation” is a charge chiropractors have often levelled at the AMA and other medical organizations apparently chiropractors do it to one of their own!

Permit me to explain

After a decade of pain and suffering, having exhausted all that chiropractic (and many other healthcare systems) could offer, I discovered Koren Specific Technique (KST) and was returned to health.  

At first I thought KST was solely a protocol that chiropractors could use to improve their chiropractic care. But it had wider applications: dentists could use it to locate infections or TMJ problems; allergists could use it; acupuncturists, homeopaths, nutritionists, energy workers, psychologists and others have studied and used KST. It can even be used by lay people to access information. Legally we require all students to practice in an ethical and moral manner and within their legal scope of practice.

What is KST? It is a healthcare protocol that can be applied to all manner of professionals. See more info at www.teddkorenseminars.com.

I was thrilled about this discovery and how it could help so many people with so many problems.

So one day….

So one day I was invited to speak in Europe to a mixed group of DCs, MDs, DOs (osteopaths), NDs (naturopaths) and HPs (Heilpraktikers or Health Practitioners). HPs are considered healthcare professionals under German law, by the courts and the healthcare system. The WFC and ECU, however, were outraged and demanded we cancel the seminar because HPs were in attendance.

My attorneys and advisors undertook a review of the situation and interviewed members of the Heilpraktiker profession, officials at the Berlin school where I was invited to teach and others and concluded that the regulatory situation in Germany did not warrant canceling the seminar. We also told the WFC and the ECU that we are open to any factual information that would cause us to change our minds about this conclusion. We received none.

Mr. Don Petersen, publisher of Dynamic Chiropractic, hiding behind the by-line “Editorial Staff”, did not interview any of the professionals mentioned above to get their side of the story and attacked me for “teaching chiropractic” to “lay people.” Neither occurred at the Berlin seminar.

One of the attacks leveled against me was that I permit various professionals to attend a KST seminar. That is entirely legal. Auditing a class doesn’t mean you are a recognized expert or can practice. You can audit classes in accounting, law, medicine – but that doesn’t make you an accountant, lawyer or medical doctor.

I do give a certificate of attendance for those who have come to the seminar. The certificate merely says they attended a KST seminar and does not say they are DCs or can practice chiropractic.

The WFC and the ECU are affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO regulations make it clear that member organizations are to respect and not interfere with the healthcare system of member nations. It appears to me that the WFC and ECU are violating WHO guidelines while I am not.

Here’s the latest attack

(KST must be pretty good to garner such attention)

A few days ago I received a letter from Mr. Don Petersen, publisher of Dynamic Chiropractic. He had just posted an on-line article criticizing me (see it below or at http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=53614). Be especially aware of Mr. Petersen’s selective use of my material. (See my response in the red paragraph below).

Here is his letter:

Dear Tedd:

Below are a few interview questions for an article we are publishing regarding the recent open letter from the ECU. If you would, please e-mail your responses to these questions no later than noon PST on Tuesday, January 13, 2009.

  1. The letter from Dr. Druart suggests that you are putting your “financial interests before the interests of patients and the profession.” The amount that we have heard suggests that you have been paid more than $40,000 for giving your most recent seminar in Berlin. For the record, how much were you paid for your most recent 2008 Berlin seminar(s) and how do you respond to Dr. Druart’s statement?
  2. In his letter, Dr. Druart asks the profession to “say no to Dr Koren.” What response do you have to their request?
  3. You have previously stated that “KST can even be used on oneself and can be used by lay people (as AK is taught to lay people, as demonstrated in the book Touch for Health, and BodyTalk is taught to lay people). Surely I am not the only chiropractor to teach methods for public or lay use.” This and similar statements have some U.S. doctors concerned that you have or will give KST seminars to non-DCs in the United States. Have you? If so, when and to whom? Do you plan to? If not, how can DCs be sure you won’t in the future? 
  4. Have you conducted seminar similar to your Berlin seminar in any other part of the world where the attendees were not licensed DCs?
  5. Finally, do you plan to conduct any more seminars in Berlin or in any other part of the world where the attendees need not be licensed doctors of chiropractic?

Thank you for your time. Please note that I have included a copy of Dr. Druart’s letter below. God Bless, Don

Tedd Koren, DC responds:

Dear Don,

Great to hear from you. I think the issues you raise are very important and I am glad to have an opportunity to comment on them. Your story might have been more complete if you had contacted me before you wrote it but I understand how the pressure of deadlines and other journalistic demands to make a living can eat up your time.

First, your on-line article suggests contradictions between my web site and the letter I wrote to the Berlin school telling them not to misrepresent or misuse my teaching or accompanying materials as contributing to their students’ chiropractor credentials.

As I send this to you I am posting it on my web sites and sending it to my mailing lists. I thank you for this opportunity to have a full blown pubic discourse on these matters because they touch on the very essence of our profession and its future.

There are no contradictions between my web site and my letter to the school. Both are very clear that KST is a protocol that can be applied to many healing arts and that knowing KST does note qualify anyone to be or claim to be a chiropractor or have chiropractic knowledge. You quote the following statements from my Letter to the Berlin school:

  • “Taking a KST seminar does not give a person the right to say they are chiropractors or to say they practice chiropractic.
  • “As I have written to you, the WFC and ECU numerous times, KST is an analysis protocol similar to AK and may be applied to many different health care professions.
  • “KST can even be used on oneself and can be used by lay people (as AK is taught to lay people, as demonstrated in the book Touch for Health, and BodyTalk is taught to lay people). Surely I am not the only chiropractor to teach methods for public or lay use.”
  • You then say: “But these statements seem confusing when compared to statements on his web site (www.teddkorenseminars.com):
  • KST is a healthcare protocol that any provider can use to improve their results and expand their ability to help others.
  • KST grew out of my experience with two marvelous chiropractic techniques: Directional Non-Force Technique (DNFT) developed by Richard Van Rumpt, DC and Spinal Column Stressology developed by Lowell Ward, DC.
  • “In addition to its chiropractic application, KST’s more universal applications have permitted it to be used by healers of all kinds, even lay people, to access information.
  • As a chiropractor, I initially saw KST as a way to improve chiropractic care. I realized that I had ‘something’ when doctors and patients would repeatedly say, ‘That was the best adjustment I ever had in my life!’'”

Both these sets of statements make the same point. That point is that knowing KST does not qualify anyone to be chiropractor or say that they are a chiropractor. Since these points were in a letter to the Berlin school it is also clear that the people I teach are on notice that this is the case.

This position is significantly reinforced by the additional statement on my web site which for some reason you left out of your report even though it appears between the last two points from my site that you quote:

  • “The application of correction procedures is of course dependent upon and limited to the individual’s knowledge, and legal permission (licenses, etc.) to work on others.”

Second, (and this is very important) Chiropractors who attack German Heilpraktikers (HPs) put American trained Chiropractors working in Germany at risk.

Currently German law allows American trained Chiropractors to take the HP exam and practice, advertising themselves as American trained Chiropractors. MDs in Germany appear to be attempting to close down this opportunity by confining the right to practice Chiropractic techniques to MDs. If they are successful, then American trained Chiropractors will no longer be able to practice in Germany. The attacks by the WFC on HPs in Germany assists the MDs in their objective. The many American Chiropractors practicing in Germany under HP licenses do not support WFC’s attacks on HPs. Here is what one of them says (they prefer to remain anonymous because of ubiquitous WFC intimidation tactics):

… I already have friends who are HPs who I also call colleagues … so I am no stranger to the idea that HPs can and do adjust patients and can also do a good job. We should just be careful with the terminology that is being used to describe these Freshman Chiros and I would personally like to see some guidelines and also like to know who the gatekeepers are to who decides on these issues which could potentially change the face of Chiropractic in Europe …. But all in all I am open to the idea of finding some kind of middle ground to allow for progress in the profession

An American trained chiropractor writes: I have been working for 19 years in Germany and can assure colleagues that the ECU has not “one thumb in his nose” but the whole two hands.
The Chiropractic profession does not own Tedd Koren and his technique, does not own George Goodheart and AK, does not own Donald Epstein and Network. Chiropractic needs intelligence and freedom to evolve and to grow. The GCA (German Chiropractic Association) and the ECU have not been very intelligen. Today the associations have to assume fully their responsibilities and their incompetence. Once again the ECU and the GCA cannot be credible. (Name withheld by request)

OK, let’s deal with your questions.

1. Peterson asks: “The letter from Dr. Druart suggests that you are putting your  “financial interests before the interests of patients and the profession.” The amount  that we have heard suggests that you have been paid more than $40,000 for giving your most recent seminar in Berlin. For the record, how much were you paid for your most recent 2008 Berlin seminar(s) and how do you respond to Dr. Druart’s statement?”

Tedd Koren responds:

I make about 15% of revenue over expenses on a seminar and run about one seminar a month. Our seminars are unlike most others in that we provide one-on-one Mentor instruction, meals and lifetime support. They are very expensive to produce. If I made more I would give more seminars. However, each time you write about this issue the demand for KST seminars grows.

2. Petersen asks: “In his letter, Dr. Druart asks the profession to “say no to Dr Koren.” What response do you have to their request?”

Tedd Koren responds:

 “Say yes to Dr. Koren!” Here’s why:

A.   KST is good for patients. More people are being helped than ever before.

RN spent $18,000 at the Mayo clinic to find out why her leg was swollen. They couldn’t help. One KST adjustment and her leg is normal. Todd Newman, DC 

I started attracting a lot of disc patients after my KST seminar. The response is almost 100%. Sasha Langman

A patient with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and poor sleep has rejoined the world and is sleeping for the first time in years. Many young athletes love the improvements in their athletic performance including my 16-yr.-old son. Kathleen Lavis, DC

It’s awesome! A patient who doesn’t feel anything no matter what you do, responded w/about 10 consecutive “WOW”s in a row. Chris Ambrosio, DC

I recently cleared a person for a phobia of driving over bridges which she had had for over twenty years. She called about 2½ hours later to say that she had just driven over the Zilwakee Bridge, her greatest fear, and this was in the middle of winter. KST is amazing. Steve McLean, DC

B.   KST is good for practitioners. We are fulfilling the promise of chiropractic.

We were told in college to expect a miracle every day in practice. With KST, I see it on every patient, every day. KST is truly 21st Chiropractic. John Tindall, DC

KST restored my faith in chiropractic. Jenn Royer, DC

This takes every bit of guess work out of adjusting. It’s great! Fran Assaf DC

Greatest technique ever…. Daniel Glassman, DC

2009 is not going to be pretty for the economy. Only the strong will survive. You need to have your A game going. You need KST. Peter Kravchenko, DC

Ever get the feeling that everything you’ve studied and practiced in your life has finally come together in a totally usable and well organized form? Sid Mouk, DC

C. KST is good for chiropractic – our profession needs help. KST can help increase chiropractic’s effectiveness and popularity. Look at these sad statistics:

  • In 1997 9.9% of the general population visited a Chiropractor. That statistic went down to 7.4% of the general population in 2002. [Tindle HA, Davis RB, Phillips RS, Eisenberg DM. Trends in use of complementary and alternative medicine by US adults: 1997-2002. Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine. 2005;11(1):42.49.]
  • According to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, enrollment in chiropractic colleges had decreased by 35% within five years. 
  • Currently, over 80% of the general population visits a dentist, while less than 10% visit a Chiropractor.

D. Increased revenue due to KST is good for the Chiropractic profession.

I’d “semi-retired.” Well, forget that! I and KST are in such demand these days that I can barely keep up. I’m more enthusiastic about chiropractic than I can remember being since graduation in1978. Donna Grace Noyes, DC

I haven’t had this much fun practicing since I incorporated AK. KST has opened up an even greater world of healing for my patients. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but quite frankly I’ve been busy, busy, busy. John McEachron, DC

PS. KST cured my allergies!

E. It’s good for lay people to come to KST seminars.

Lay people have traditionally been invited to audit all kinds of professional seminars. Doctors often bring CAs, wives, family members, guests, prospective students, current students. Should that be illegal? Three lay people who audited a KST seminar were inspired to go to chiropractic school.

F. It’s good for the public health.

KST helps all kinds of practitioners improve their results. In addition KST helps increases respect for the chiropractic profession. Here we have MDs and other professions learning chiropractic philosophy and insights. They want to learn with and share their professional knowledge with chiropractors who have learned KST technique.

3. Petersen asks: You have previously stated that “KST can even be used on oneself and can be used by lay people (as AK is taught to lay people, as demonstrated in the book Touch for Health, and BodyTalk is taught to lay people). Surely I am not the only chiropractor to teach methods for public or lay use.” This and similar statements have some U.S. doctors concerned that you have or will give KST seminars to non-DCs in the United States. Have you? If so, when and to whom? Do you plan to? If not, how can DCs be sure you won’t in the future? 

4. Petersen asks: Have you conducted seminars similar to your Berlin seminar in any other part of the world where the attendees were not licensed DCs?

Tedd Koren responds (to #3 and #4):

As I have repeatedly stated, KST is a protocol which Chiropractors and other health professionals can use to assist patients in improving their health and well being which does not require chiropractic training to be used effectively. For this reason any licensed health practitioners are welcomed at my seminars. In addition to DCs, MDs, osteopaths, dentists, nutritionists, optometrists, naturopaths, craniosacral therapists, orthopedic surgeons, herbalists, specialists in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and psychologists have attended my seminars both in the US and Europe.

5. Petersen asks: Finally, do you plan to conduct any more seminars in Berlin or in any other part of the world where the attendees need not be licensed doctors of chiropractic?

Tedd Koren responds:

My 2009 seminar schedule is posted on my web site. If I were invited to present seminars where non-DCs are in attendance I would, for the reasons set out above and time permitting, accept such invitations.

Here is DC’s article and its location. Druart’s “open letter” is located there.

Dynamic Chiropractic – January 29, 2009, Vol. 27, Issue 03

http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=53614

Koren Specific Technique Not Chiropractic?

WFC Alleges “Serious Professional Misconduct” By Editorial Staff

Dr. Tedd Koren is well-known in the profession as the developer of Koren Specific Technique (KST), which he teaches in various countries around the world.

His decision to teach the technique to German non-chiropractors in June 2007 caught the attention of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC). The organization ultimately sanctioned Dr. Koren after several requests to cancel his Berlin seminar.1

In 2008, Dr. Koren again scheduled a seminar to teach his KST in Berlin on Oct. 24-26. The current WFC president, Dr. Stathis Papadopoulos, wrote letters to Dr. Koren asking him to refrain from teaching the course. The WFC presented its “major concerns with your proposed seminar” in a letter dated Oct. 15, 2008:2

  1. It is being offered in partnership with the illegitimate Berlin School of Chiropractic which, as you know from complaints made when you gave a similar seminar in June 2007, has no qualified chiropractors on staff, is commercializing low-quality and unaccredited training in chiropractic, and is strenuously opposed by the European chiropractic profession. The Berlin School is able to operate because there is no law to regulate chiropractic education or practice in Germany.
  2. Your seminar is being offered to non chiropractors – lay practitioners or heilpraktikers, many of whom will go on to claim they are practicing chiropractic. Further, they will be free to teach chiropractic technique in seminars like yours. Past international experience suggests that some will do so, particularly given the large financial returns possible.
  3. Your seminar is clearly marketed as chiropractic – “professional, low-risk chiropractic from the USA.”
  4. There is the suggestion that chiropractic and osteopathy are the same thing.

In its letter, the WFC went on to note: “The position of the World Federation of Chiropractic is that your current and proposed activities with respect to delivery of seminars in Germany and elsewhere in Europe represent serious professional misconduct. First, it is clearly against the public interest, encouraging persons without adequate chiropractic training to offer and seek to provide chiropractic services. Second, it is against the interests of the profession, undermining its reputation particularly in Germany, and its continued efforts to gain public confidence and legislative recognition throughout Europe.”

While most of these issues were presented by the WFC in its 2007 correspondence, Dr. Koren’s e-mail response to the WFC on Oct. 17, 2008, included statements to a “Mr. Schwarz,” who is apparently a representative of the Berlin School of Chiropractic.3 It is likely that many in the chiropractic profession will find some of Dr. Koren’s comments surprising:

  • “KST is an analysis protocol not a chiropractic technique. Please remove anything that implies that I am teaching chiropractic.
  • “Taking a KST seminar does not give a person the right to say they are chiropractors or to say they practice chiropractic.
  • “As I have written numerous times KST is an analysis protocol similar to AK and may be applied to many different health care professions.
  • “KST can even be used on oneself and can be used by lay people (as AK is taught to lay people, as demonstrated in the book Touch for Health, and BodyTalk is taught to lay people). Surely I am not the only chiropractor to teach methods for public or lay use.”

But these statements seem confusing when compared to statements on his web site (www.teddkorenseminars.com):

  • “KST is a healthcare protocol that any provider can use to improve their results and expand their ability to help others.
  • “KST grew out of my experience with two marvelous chiropractic techniques: Directional Non-Force Technique (DNFT) developed by Richard Van Rumpt, DC and Spinal Column Stressology developed by Lowell Ward, DC.
  • “In addition to its chiropractic application, KST’s more universal applications have permitted it to be used by healers of all kinds, even lay people to access information.
  • “As a chiropractor, I initially saw KST as a way to improve chiropractic care. I realized that I had ‘something’ when doctors and patients would repeatedly say, ‘That was the best adjustment I ever had in my life!'”

Assuming KST is “not a chiropractic technique” begs obvious questions. Does it still fit into the chiropractic scope of practice of all states? Should DCs be providing it to their patients, or is it a non-chiropractic technique DCs should be teaching to patients to perform on themselves?

Since KST appears to require the purchase of adjusting equipment and assuming all KST seminar “graduates” can purchase the equipment, are seminars to lay people designed to sell this equipment to a larger market? And since the use of KST by lay people assumes a diagnosis/analysis and use of the equipment, doesn’t this essentially eliminate the need for DCs in the minds of lay persons who can use KST on family, friends and co-workers? What’s to keep lay “graduates” from teaching KST to other lay people?

There is clearly a line between what a DC is qualified to do and what lay consumers should do for themselves. DCs will have to wonder if KST hasn’t crossed that line at the expense of both the profession and the patient.

References:

1. “In Defense of Legitimate Chiropractic.” DC, Aug. 13, 2007. www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=52290

2. Letter to Dr. Koren from the WFC, Oct. 15, 2008. www.dynamicchiropractic.com/koren

3. E-mail to the WFC from Dr. Koren, Oct. 17, 2008. www.dynamicchiropractic.com/koren

4. Response to Dr. Koren from the WFC, Oct. 21, 2008. www.dynamicchiropractic.com/koren
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Published in: on January 23, 2009 at 1:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Asperger’s Syndrome Autism

Baron-Cohen, The Cartoonist!

Posted in Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism by yechristian on January 17th, 2009

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University has developed a cartoon to help children with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome with emotions.  The cartoon is called The Transporters which is available on DVD.  Its characters are based on mechanical objects like toy trains and cars that have real human faces.

Baron-Cohen believes that bringing the social world to the children with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome as a way to reach them.

Dr. Laureen Longo is a chiropractor in Ridgewood Queens NY.  Dr. Longo has treated children with Autism Asperger’s Syndrome.  Her office number is 718-386-3172

Published in: on January 20, 2009 at 2:44 pm  Comments (1)  
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Dr. Laureen Longo is a chiropractor in Ridgewood Queens NY.  Dr. Longo can be reached at 718-386-3172.

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Published in: on January 18, 2009 at 10:14 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Vitamin Water

Health Buzz: Coca-Cola’s VitaminWater Lawsuit

Posted January 16, 2009

VitaminWater Making Deceptive Health Claims?

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has slapped a lawsuit on Coca-Cola, maker of VitaminWater drinks, calling its marketing claims unsubstantiated and deceptive. Coca-Cola’s retort called the suit “ridiculous.” As further finger-pointing plays out, how should consumers decipher punchy buzzwords like “triple antioxidants” and “definitely au natural” on some of the bottles’ labels? Katherine Hobson, U.S. News’s On Fitness blogger, helps you make sense of VitaminWater’s nutrition labels.

In other food news, Hobson blogs about author Barry Popkin’s explanation of why the world is fat. An interesting tidbit from his new book, The World Is Fat: The average American gets 400 calories a day from beverages. A 20-ounce bottle of VitaminWater, notes Hobson, packs 125 calories.

Reprinted US World & News

Dr. Laureen Longo is a chiropractor in Ridgewood, Queens, NY

Published in: on January 18, 2009 at 1:57 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Reprinted from The Chiropractic Journal

Do cervical adjustments cause strokes?

In his book “Galileo’s Revenge,” attorney Peter Huber describes “junk science” as “A hodgepodge of biased data, spurious inference, and logical legerdemain…It is a catalog of every conceivable kind of error: data dredging, wishful thinking, truculent dogmatism, and, now and again, outright fraud.” (1)

An excellent example of “junk science” is the popular notion that chiropractic adjustments cause strokes.

Although individual case reports of adverse events following “manipulation” have been reported in the medical literature for decades, recent exposes in the popular media seem to have led some gullible patients (and more than a few chiropractors) to accept this premise at face value. Careful examination will reveal that these individuals have fallen prey to a classic case of “junk science.”

A common error in logic is equating correlation with cause and effect. The fact that a temporal relationship exists between two events does not mean that one caused the other.

As Keating explained, “To mistake temporal contiguity of two phenomena for causation is a classic fallacy of reasoning known as ‘post hoc, ergo propter hoc,’ from the Latin meaning ‘after this, therefore caused by this.'” (2)

Simple examples of the “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” fallacy include the notions that germs cause disease, or rats cause garbage. Consider the application of this fallacy in the case of chiropractic adjustments and strokes.

Lee attempted to obtain an estimate of how often practicing neurologists in California encountered unexpected strokes, myelopathies, or radiculopathies following “chiropractic manipulation.” Neurologists were asked the number of patients evaluated over the preceding two years who suffered a neurologic complication within 24 hours of receiving a “chiropractic manipulation.” 55 strokes were reported. The author stated, “Patients, physicians, and chiropractors should be aware of the risk of neurologic complications associated with chiropractic manipulation.” (3)

What’s wrong with this picture? Let’s change “neurologic complications” to automobile accidents. Would it be reasonable to suggest that if 55 patients over the last two years had car accidents within 24 hours of seeing a chiropractor that the D.C. caused the accidents? Want to see how absurd this can get? Change “neurologic complications” to ice cream consumption. Or sleep. Or orgasm.

Is there anything we can do that would either strengthen or weaken a case of alleged causality? Yes. If we have reliable reporting, we can compare the number of times the event in question (in this case, strokes) occurs as a random event to the number of times the event occurs following the putative causative event (in this case, a “chiropractic manipulation”).

In a letter to the editor of JMPT, Myler posed an interesting question: “I was curious how the risk of fatal stroke after cervical manipulation, placed at 0.00025% compared with the risk of (fatal) stroke in the general population of the United States.” (4)

According to data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics, the mortality rate from stroke was calculated to be 0.00057%. If Myler’s data is accurate, the risk of death from stroke after cervical manipulation is less than half the risk of fatal stroke in the general population!

But is Myler’s data accurate? His 0.00025% figure is from a paper by Dabbs and Lauretti. (5)

Their estimate is probably as good as any, since the basis for it was a reasonably comprehensive review of literature. Yet, there is potentially conflicting information which must be considered.

Jaskoviak reported that not a single case of vertebral artery stroke occurred in approximately five million cervical “manipulations” at The National College of Chiropractic Clinic from 1965 to 1980. (6)

Not one.

Osteopathic authors Vick et al reported that from 1923 to 1993, there were only 185 reports of injury out of “several hundred million treatments.” (7)

All of the figures which I found concerning stroke following “manipulation” involve estimates, not hard data.

In the “Back Letter” it was wisely observed that, “In scientific terms, all these figures are rough guesses at best… There is currently no accurate data on the total number of cervical manipulations performed every year or the total number of complications. Both figures would be necessary to arrive at an accurate estimate. In addition, none of the studies in the medical literature adequately control for other risk factors and co-morbidities.” (8)

But we’re not finished yet.

Leboeuf-Yde et al suggested that there may be an over-reporting of “spinal manipulative therapy” related injuries. The authors reported cases involving two fatal strokes, a heart attack, a bleeding basilar aneurysm, paresis of an arm and a leg, and cauda equina syndrome which occurred in individuals who were considering chiropractic care, yet because of chance, did not receive it. (9)

Had these events been temporally related to a chiropractic office visit, it is likely that they would have been inappropriately attributed to the chiropractic care.

Furthermore, there are cases of strokes attributed to chiropractic care where the “operator” was not a chiropractor at all.

Terrett observed that “manipulations” administered by a Kung Fu practitioner, GPs, osteopaths, physiotherapists, a wife, a blind masseur, and an Indian barber were incorrectly attributed to chiropractors. (10)

As Terrett wrote, “The words chiropractic and chiropractor have been incorrectly used in numerous publications dealing with SMT injury by medical authors, respected medical journals and medical organizations. In many cases, this is not accidental; the authors had access to original reports that identified the practitioner involved as a non-chiropractor. The true incidence of such reporting cannot be determined. Such reporting adversely affects the reader’s opinion of chiropractic and chiropractors.”

Alas, we’re still not done.

Another error made in these reports is failure to differentiate “cervical manipulation” from specific chiropractic adjustment. They’re simply not the same.

Klougart et al published risk estimates which reveal differences depending upon the type of technique used by the chiropractor. (11)

There is simply no competent evidence that specific chiropractic adjustments, or even “cervical manipulations” cause strokes. This conclusion begs the question, “What about screening tests to identify patients at risk?” More smoke and mirrors.

After examining 12 patients with dizziness reproduced by extension-rotation and 20 healthy controls with Doppler ultrasound of the vertebral arteries, Cote et al concluded, “We were unable to demonstrate that the extension-rotation test is a valid clinical screening procedure to detect decreased blood flow in the vertebral artery. The value of this test for screening patients at risk of stroke after cervical manipulation is questionable.” (12)

Terrett noted, “There is also no evidence which suggests that positive tests have any correlation to future VBS (vertebrobasilar stroke) and SMT (spinal manipulative therapy).” (13)

Despite this, attorneys continue to file stroke related lawsuits against chiropractors, and muckrakers masquerading as journalists stir the emotions of the populace. It is time to put the misconception that chiropractic adjustments cause strokes to rest.

It’s junk science.

References

1. Huber PW: “Galileo’s Revenge. Junk Science in the Courtroom.” Basic Books. 1991. Page 3.

2. Keating JC Jr: “Toward a Philosophy of the Science of Chiropractic.” Stockton Foundation for Chiropractic Research, 1992. Page 189.

3. Lee K: “Neurologic complications following chiropractic manipulation: a survey of California neurologists.” Neurology 1995;45:1213.

4. Myler L: Letter to the editor. JMPT 1996;19:357.

5. Debbs V, Lauretti WJ: “A risk assessment of cervical manipulation vs. VSAIDS for the treatment of neck pain.” JMPT 1995;18:530.

6. Jaskoviac P: “Complications arising from manipulation of the cervical spine.” JMPT 1980;3:213.

7. Vick D, McKay C, Zengerie C: “The safety of manipulative treatment: review of the literature from 1925 to 1993.” JAOA 1996;96:113.

8. “What about serious complications of cervical manipulation?” The Back Letter 1996;11:115.

9. Leboeuf-Yde C, Rasmussen LR, Klougart N: “The risk of over-reporting spinal manipulative therapy-induced injuries; a description of some cases that failed to burden the statistics.” JMPT 1996;19:536.

10. Terrett AGJ: “Misuse of the literature by medical authors in discussing spinal manipulative therapy injury.” JMPT 1995;18:203.

11. Klougart N, Leboeuf-Yde C, Rasmussen LR: JMPT 1996;19:371.

12. Cote P, Kreitz B, Cassidy J, Thiel H: “The validity of the extension-rotation test as a clinical screening procedure before neck manipulation: a secondary analysis.” JMPT 1996;19:159.

13. Terrett AGJ: “Vertebrobasilar stroke following manipulation.” NCMIC, Des Moines, 1996. Page 32.

 

 

 

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Published in: on January 4, 2009 at 2:19 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Chiropractic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

From University of Maryland Medical Center

Chiropractic

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is commonly treated by chiropractors. The methods most chiropractors use to treat CTS include manipulation of the wrist, elbow, and upper spine, ultrasound therapy, and wrist supports. Two studies support the use of chiropractic treatment for CTS.

In the first study, 25 individuals diagnosed with CTS reported significant improvements in several measures of strength, range of motion, and pain after receiving chiropractic treatment. Most of these improvements were maintained for at least 6 months.

A second study compared the effects of chiropractic care with conservative medical care (wrist supports and ibuprofen) among 91 people with CTS. Both groups experienced significant improvement in nerve function, finger sensation, and comfort. The researchers concluded that chiropractic treatment and conservative medical care are equally effective for people with CTS.

Dr. Laureen Longo is a chiropractor in Ridgewood Queens that successfully treats carpal tunnel syndrome.

Published in: on January 2, 2009 at 9:25 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Medical Conscience Rule

Medical ‘Conscience Rule’ Is Issued

New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, as expected, announced new protections on Thursday for health care providers who oppose abortion and other medical procedures on religious or moral grounds.

“Doctors and other health care providers should not be forced to choose between good professional standing and violating their conscience,” Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement on his department’s Web site.

The rule prohibits recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and health care aides who refuse to take part in procedures because of their convictions, and it bars hospitals, clinics, doctors’ office and pharmacies from forcing their employees to assist in programs and activities financed by the department.

“This rule protects the right of medical providers to care for their patients in accord with their conscience,” Mr. Leavitt said.

The Bush administration had signaled its intention to issue the measures, which are part of a flurry of regulations it is announcing before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. The new president will be able to undo the regulations, and is virtually certain to, given his previous comments on the issue. But undoing them will be a time-consuming process.

The measures announced on Thursday, sometimes described collectively as the “conscience rule,” were issued just in time to take effect before the start of the new administration. They will go into effect 30 days after their publication in the Federal Register on Friday. Recipients of funds from the Department of Health and Human Services are required to certify their compliance with the rule by October 2009.

“If, despite the department’s efforts, compliance is not achieved, H.H.S. officials will consider all legal options, including termination of funding and the return of funds paid out in violation of the non-discrimination provisions,” Mr. Leavitt said.

Opponents of abortion, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association, which represents Catholic hospitals, support the new regulations and say they are needed to protect health-care providers from being forced to perform abortions and sterilizations.

They are opposed by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association, among others. Opponents contend that the regulations are a threat to a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion, and that they are not needed in any event because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already prohibits employment discrimination based on religion.

Dr. Laureen Longo is a chiropractor in Ridgewood, NY

Published in: on January 2, 2009 at 9:16 pm  Leave a Comment  
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