IHC header2

October 18,  2011

IHC Newsletter 
In This Issue
Headache Relief
Office Policy Reminders
Halloween Safety
What Is A Serving of Fruit or Vegetables?

Headache Relief

 

For chronic headaches the best treatment may be one of the oldest: acupuncture.

  

In 1998, the National Institutes of Health accepted acupuncture as a useful alternative treatment for headaches, but warned that there were not enough clinical trials to draw firm conclusions about its efficacy. Now a systematic review of studies through 2007 concludes that acupuncture provides greater relief than either medication or a placebo.

 headache

The report, which appears in the December issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia, reviewed 25 randomized controlled trials in adults that lasted more than four weeks. In seven trials comparing acupuncture with medication, researchers found that 62 percent of 479 patients had significant response to acupuncture, and only 45 percent to medicine.

 

Fourteen of the studies, with a total of 961 patients, compared acupuncture with a placebo, a treatment in which patients were led to believe they were getting acupuncture. Of these, 53 percent found some pain relief with acupuncture, compared with 45 percent who felt better with the placebo. In four studies comparing acupuncture with massage, the massage worked better than acupuncture, but those studies were too small to draw statistically significant conclusions.

 

"People who get acupuncture prefer it to medication, because of the potential side effects of drugs," said Dr. Tong J. Gan, a co-author of the review and a professor of anesthesiology at Duke. "This is an alternative treatment that is starting to move into the mainstream."

 

-Courtesy of The New York Times

 

 

Office Policy Reminders:

24 HOUR CANCELATION POLICY:

We require 24 hours notice for any missed appointments. There is a $30 fee for appointments that are missed with this 24 hour notice.

 

CELL PHONE POLICY:

Please turn off your cell phone once you enter the office.

 

INSURANCE: 

As a courtesy, we do call and verify your insurance benefits. All calls to the insurance companies are a "quote of benefits and not a guarantee of payment" as quoted to us by every insurance company customer service representative. IHC will not be held responsible for denial of claims. If your claim has been denied, you are responsible for all fees incurred and we expect payment within 30 days of receiving a statement by mail. If you need special payment arrangements, we will be glad to discuss this on a case-by-case basis. Any billing questions should be directed to Donna at 443-622-4743.

 

Halloween Safety Tips for Your Kids to Follow 

 trick or treat

 

1. As bad as it sounds, this is just a fact of life now. Get on the internet and check your local state website for sex offenders. Almost every state has one, just do a search for your state sex offender site. Look up your zip code and it should have a list of registered offenders in your area that includes street addresses. Make sure that your kids stay away from these houses!

 

 

2. Know the route your kids will be taking if you aren't going with them. Let them know that they are to check in with you every hour, by phone or by stopping back at home. Make sure that they know not to deviate from the planned route so that you always know where they will be.

 

 

3. Trick or treating isn't what it used to be. In most cities it's not safe to let kids walk the streets by themselves. Your best bet is to make sure that an adult is going with them. If you can't take them yourself, see if another parent or two can.

 

 

4. Help your young child pick out or make a costume that will be safe. Make sure that it's fire proof or treated with fire retardant. If they are wearing a mask of any kind, make sure that the eye holes are large enough for good peripheral vision.

 

 

5. Know what other activities a child may be attending, such as parties, school or mall functions. If they are going to be at a friends home, get the phone number and make sure that you've met the parents.

 

 

6. Make sure you set a time that your kids should be home by. Make sure they know how important it is for them to be home on time or to call immediately if something happens and they are going to be delayed.

 

 

7. Kids will be kids. Explain to kids of all ages the difference between tricks and vandalism. Throwing eggs at a house may seem funny but they need to know the other side of the coin as well, that clean up and damages can ruin Halloween for everyone. If they are caught vandalizing, make them clean up the mess they've made.

 

 

8. Some sick people find Halloween a great night to hurt cats. Explain to your kids that animal cruelty of any kind is not acceptable. Kids may already know this on their own but stress the point that it's not acceptable behavior. Make sure that they know that harming animals is not only morally wrong  but punishable by law and will not be tolerated.

 

 

9. Serve your kids a filling meal before trick or treating and they won't be as tempted to eat any candy before they bring it home for you to check. Check your local grocery store or craft store for Halloween cook books full of tasty treats on a horror theme for both kids and adults.

 

 

10. Make sure that if your child is carrying a prop, such as a scythe, butcher knife or a pitchfork, that the tips are smooth and flexible enough to not cause injury if fallen on. Make sure that costumes won't get in the way when they are walking, which could cause them to trip.

 

 

11. Teach your kids about not getting into strangers cars or talking to strangers, no matter what the person says to them. Explain to them as simply as you can that some adults are bad and want to hurt children, that they should never go into a house that they don't know, get into a car or go anywhere with a stranger. Also, tell them what to do should this happen, to scream as loud as they can to draw attention and to run away as fast as they can to someplace safe.

 

 

12. Be sure to show your children know how to cross a street properly. They should always look both ways before crossing the street and should only cross at corners or crosswalks. Make sure that if you have more than one child, they know to take the hand of the younger child when they cross a street.

 

 

 

EVERYONE PLEASE HAVE A HAPPY & SAFE HALLOWEEN!

 

 

What Is A Serving of Fruit or Vegetables?
serving veggies
(click image to enlarge)

The US Dept of Agriculture sets a serving size for fruit or vegetables to be equal to about one-half cup. Greens like spinach or lettuce have a serving size equal to one full cup. One serving of sliced fruit is equal to one-half cup; however, a single piece of fruit, such as an appleor an orange counts as one serving. How did the USDA decide that one-half cup is a serving size? The decision was based on the portion sizes that people typically eat, ease of use and nutritional content of fruits and veggies.

Many experts suggest we need from 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That is a total. Older or inactive women and smaller children need at least 3 servings of veggies and 2 of fruit. Growing kids, teen girls, most men and active women would eat at least 4 servings of veggies and 3 of fruit everyday. Teen boys and active men should eat at least 5 servings of veggies and 4 servings of fruit. Unfortunately many people fail to eat even 5 servings each day.

Here are some typical serving sizes for fruits and veggies:

Fruits

-one banana
-six strawberries
-two plums
-fiftteen grapes
-one apple
-one peach
-one-half cup or orange or other fruit juice

Vegetables

-five broccoli florets
-ten baby carrots
-one roma tomato
3/4 cup tomato juice
-half of a baked sweet potato
-one ear of corn
-four slices of an onion

 

TOWSON

1300 York Road

Building B, Suite 149

Lutherville, MD 21093

 

PARKVILLE

9403 Harford Road

Suite #7

Parkville, MD 21234

 

 

www.AcupunctureBaltimore.com