Michael Dam, D.C.

The June 2015 issue of the journal Scientific American has an article by primary care physician Wajahat Z. Mehal, MD, from the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Connecticut, and Yale University, titled (1):Cells on FireIn this article, Dr. Mehal notes that inflammation is set in motion by cells of the immune system, and that it [..]

Four Recent Studies, Using Unique Assessment Approaches, Assess the Safety of Spinal Manipulation for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal ConditionsBACKGROUNDWilliam H. Kirkaldy-Willis, MD, (1914-2006) was a pioneer in the understanding and treatment of spinal problems. In his life, he published 73 articles that are in the United States National Library of Medicine, and he authored four [..]

The cost of healthcare is extremely high in the United States. According to the California HealthCare Foundation, these are the most recent numbers (1):United States Health Care Spending 20122014 (projected)Total Health Spending$2.8 Trillion$3.1 TrillionHealth Care asShare of GDP17.2%18.3%Per CapitaSpending$8,915$9,697Growth in Total Spending3.0%5.2%In 2012 (the most recently available data), approximately 44% of the United States costs of Health [..]

The Importance of Understanding the Relationship Between Vehicle Crush and Patient Injury  The headline and front-page photographs were stunning and unbelievable. On Saturday, November 22, 2014, the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper led with this headline (1): 11-Story Plummet: What Onlookers Saw “The first inkling that office workers scurrying along Montgomery Street had that something was wrong [..]

Pathophysiology, Safety, Effectiveness IntroductionA pioneering study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1994 (1). Researchers from Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, California, performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations on 98 people who did not have back pain. Sixty-four percent of the 98 asymptomatic subjects were found to have abnormal lumber spine discs. [..]

Anheuser-Busch is the world’s leading brewing company. One of their wholesalers, Brewers Distributing, is located in Peoria, IL. Many of their employees spend most of their time moving around heavy cases and kegs of beer. “Having noticed a large number of workers compensation cases due to lifting-related injuries, the company decided to introduce several workplace [..]

DEFINITIONSScientific research articles use words that have important meanings in interpreting the value of a study. Such important words include:Correlation / AssociationCausationReverse CausationWe will use the words correlation and association as being synonymous, or as being the same.Correlation (association) (1):There is a relationship between two or more variables.Correlations can be positive or negative. In a positive correlation, as one variable [..]

Pathoanatomy and Management Options Understanding the Upper Cervical Spine        The strict definition of migraine headache is (8):The headache must last 4 to 72 hours.The headache must be associated with nausea and/or vomiting, or photophobia, and/or phonophobia.The headache must be characterized by 2 of the following 4 symptoms:unilateral locationthrobbing pulsatile qualitymoderate or worse degree of severityintensified by routine physical [..]

Pain is an Electrical Signal Interpreted by the Brain Nerves Bring the Pain Electrical Signal to the BrainThe nerves that bring the pain electrical signal to the brain begin in the various tissues of the body. At the very beginning of the nerve there is a specialized ending call a receptor. The receptor is unique in [..]

The nervous system can be categorized in many different ways. In understanding nervous system physiology, a simple but accurate way of categorization is to view the nervous system as two separate but integrated systems:The MOTOR nerve systemThe SENSORY nerve systemThe MOTOR nerve system is the nerves that move our muscles (motor), and also control the function of our visceral organs (like [..]