13 Scary Tips For Trick-Or-Treating on Halloween!

We wish you you a happy, healthy Halloween! Here are some great tips to keep it fun:

1. Children should never trick-or-treat alone. They should always be accompanied by an adult.

2. Costumes should be flame retardant.

3. Wear reflective markings or tape on your costume or clothing.

4. Costumes should not drag on the ground and should not restrict eyesight.

5. Carry a flashlight.

6. Map out your trick-or-treat route and make sure the whole family knows what it is.

7. Hairspray and candles don't mix!

8. Walk, do not run.

9. Only trick-or-treat at houses with lights on.

10. NEVER go inside a strangers house while trick-or-treating.

11. Parents should let their child use their cell phone if possible and remind them to call home or 911 if an emergency arises.

12. Children should not touch any pets. Animals are not used to costumes and can be easily frightened.

13. Parents should check all candy before allowing children to eat.

Halloween Jokes

Kids love these!

Where do baby ghosts go during the day?

Dayscare centers

Who did Frankenstein take to the prom?

His ghoul friend

What's a monster's favorite play?

Romeo and Ghouliet

What do witches put on their hair?

Scare spray

What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost?

Bamboo

What kind of mistakes do spooks make?

Boo boos

What does Tweety Bird say on Halloween?

Twick or Tweet

What happened to the guy who didn't pay his exorcist?

He was repossessed!

Where do mummies go for a swim?

To the dead sea

What's the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter?

Pumpkin Pi

How do you mend a broken Jack-o-lantern?

With a pumpkin patch

What is a ghost's favorite party game?

Hide-and-go-shriek

When does a ghost have breakfast?

In the moaning.

Why do girl ghosts go on diets?

So they can keep their ghoulish figures.

Why was the ghost such a messy eater?

Because he was always a goblin.

Nurses Give Chiropractic High Marks

A survey of 1000 nurses showed that even though they consider themselves poorly trained in non-medical care, they gave chiropractic high marks. The survey was published in the June 2001 issue of the Journal of Community Health. The survey asked a variety of questions on a number of health care procedures termed by the study as "Complementary Alternative Medicine" (CAM). Chiropractic was included in this survey and received some of the best reviews from the nurses surveyed.

The Journal article starts by stating, "In 1997, 42 percent of the American adult population made 629 million visits to alternative health care practitioners and spent $27 billion out-of-pocket for these services. It has been estimated that in the year 2000, Americans will spend $60 billion on complementary and alternative medical therapies." The Journal uses these figures as a basis for wanting to understand how the nurses view these types of procedures.

The survey to the nurses covered areas including, perceived effectiveness; perceived safety; recommendations made to friends, clients and associates; and personal use. An interesting finding of the study was that the nurses felt that they themselves were poorly trained in understanding CAM procedures as only 21% of the respondents considered themselves to have received "good" or "excellent" professional preparation in dealing with these types of care, which include chiropractic. Conversely, the vast majority (79%) of nurses perceived their professional preparation in the area of alternative and complementary medical therapies to be fair or poor.

In the area of effectiveness, the nurses ranked chiropractic first, in a tie with biofeedback. They overwhelmingly rejected the idea that chiropractic or the other CAM procedures were only effective because of the placebo effect. According to the nurses chiropractic ranked second in safety behind hypnotherapy.

The study also showed that approximately 14% of the nurses surveyed had used chiropractic themselves. Even more surprising is that the study revealed that nearly one quarter (23%) of the nurses said they "periodically" or "regularly" recommend chiropractic care to their friends, patients and associates, while another 27% said they recommend it occasionally. Apparently, as the survey results suggest, the more knowledge of CAM procedures such as chiropractic the nurses had, the more likely they were to use them themselves and refer others to them.

Reprinted from: www.chiropracticresearch.com

Walgreens Reaps Benefits of "Disabled" Workforce

This video will truly make your day. A Walgreen's factory distribution center located in Anderson, South Carolina is making waves and making news. What is the secret behind the Walgreen's distribution center?




So what is so unusual about Walgreen's most efficient distribution center?

Over 40% of the Anderson factories employees are disabled, and yet the facility is 20% more efficient than any other in the country!

Walgreen's Senior Vice President Randy Lewis has discovered that tapping into the abilities of the disabled can be good business and rewarding for the disabled.

Source: MSNBC

Choosing a Handbag: Oprah Asks a Chiropractor for Advice

Find out if you suffer from "Big Bag Syndrome". Neck pain, headaches and back pain may be the result!

Oprah Winfrey asked chiropractor Isis M. Medina to weigh in on hundreds of handbags and assess the potential damages for the October 2007 issue of "O - The Oprah Magazine".

Dr. Isis M. Medina's rule is that you should tote no more than 10 percent of your body weight—so a bag that's more than five pounds when empty is a bad start. If your load is excessive, your head and neck jut forward rather than staying over your shoulders, which can lead to headaches, neck tension, and back pain.

Additionally she stresses the importance of posture, strength and straps, and adds lots of valuable tips for women trying to choose the right purse.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Additional Reading: My Bag Is Killing Me

Magnets Not Helpful For Pain Researchers Say

Considering magnets for pain? According to research published last month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal: They are probably not helpful.

The study addressed a common patient question, namely "Would magnets help me?" I have generally replied, "Maybe. Maybe not." Though I have never used magnets to treat patients, many of my patients have anecdotally reported improvements with magnets. The researchers point out that this improvement is matched by the placebo (fake magnets) used in the studies. The researchers concluded "magnets cannot be recommended as an effective treatment".

But perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to draw conclusions. Seven years ago I attended a medical conference. It was the 19th Annual Geriatric Research Symposium. The keynote speaker was the world famous opiate researcher, and author of the book "Molecules of Emotion", Candice Pert, Ph.D. One of the memorable speakers attending the symposium was Beverly Rubik, Ph.D., an internationally known researcher. Dr. Rubik, who served as a member of the Advisory Panel to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has focused her career on exploring the strange corners of unconventional medicine. At the conference, she discussed magnets and electrical fields in general. She pointed out that the way lizards regenerate their tails (after researchers cut them off) is by altering the magnetic polarity of the injury site. She illustrated to the group that magnetic fields are almost definitely involved in our healing process as well. The question to her was not IF magnets could work, but rather, what strength of magnet, what polarity, what shape, what placement, and for how long? These questions have never been adequately explored.

In the future, when my patients ask me, "Would magnets help me?" I will still reply, "Maybe. Maybe not." I don't believe we have heard the final word in the magnetic debate yet.

Sources : WebMD, CMAJ

Adverse Drug Reactions Have Doubled

Over the last decade, reports of adverse drug reactions, including death, have doubled, according to a report published on September 10th in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"We are losing substantial amounts of ground in protecting people against serious injury and death from prescription drugs," said Thomas J. Moore, senior scientist, drug safety and policy, for the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the lead author of the study.

Tylenol, a commonly used over-the-counter pain killer, is the 5th deadliest drug in America. "Painkillers have always been a problem, especially the opioids, but it seems to be getting worse," Moore says. "They are being used more." Fentanyl patches, for instance, made the list of common offenders, and Moore say they are "hugely powerful and very addictive."

The “Hit List”:

On the list of drugs most commonly identified in fatal events:

1. Oxycodone (OxyContin and others)
2. Fentanyl (Duragesic and others)
3. Clozapine (Clozaril)
4. Morphine
5. Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
6. Methadone
7. Infliximab (Remicade)
8. Interferon beta (Rebif, Betaseron, Avonex)
9. Risperidone (Risperdal)
10. Etanercept (Enbrel)
11. Paclitaxel (Taxol)
12. Acetaminophen-hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, and others)
13. Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
14. Rofecoxib (Vioxx)
15. Paroxetine (Paxil)

Drugs on the list of those most commonly identified in disability or serious outcomes:

1. Estrogens
2. Insulin
3. Infliximab (Remicade)
4. Interferon beta (Rebif, Betaseron, Avonex)
5. Paroxetine (Paxil)
6. Rofecoxib (Vioxx)
7. Warfarin (Coumadin)
8. Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
9. Etanercept (Enbrel)
10. Celecoxib (Celebrex)
11. Phentermine (Pro-Fast)
12. Clozapine (Clozaril)
13. Interferon alfa (Alferon N, Infergen, Intron A, Roferon-A)
14. Simvastatin (Zocor)
15. Venlafaxine (Effexor)

These data are based on serious adverse drug events voluntarily reported to the FDA though the Adverse Events Reporting System (AERS), known as the "MedWatch" reports, from 1998 to 2005. A serious adverse drug event is defined as one that results in death, a birth defect, disability, hospitalization, was life-threatening, or needed intervention to avoid harm.

Experts caution that the data may only represent the “tip of the iceberg” as patients and doctors often fail to report adverse events to the FDA and many drug related injuries and deaths may not have been recognized as such.

Source: WebMD