Nov. 9, 2009 -- Long-term use of a neti pot to clear stuffy noses and blocked nasal passages may actually encourage more sinus problems rather than keep them away.

A new study shows people who used nasal saline irrigation for a year and then discontinued use the following year had 62% fewer cases of sinusitis in the year that they didn't use the device.

Neti pots have become increasingly popular in recent years for the treatment of sinus infections and other forms of sinus disease. The pots deliver a stream of sterile saline solution to the nasal passages to loosen and clear nasal congestion.

Researchers say despite the common use of nasal saline irrigation to treat sinusitis, there has been little scientific research to confirm its effectiveness. Sinusitis is an inflammation or infection of the sinuses and nasal passages that can cause headache or pressure in the eyes, nose, and cheek area as well as nasal congestion, cough, and fever.

The study, presented this week at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Meeting in Miami, followed 68 people who used nasal saline irrigation for 12 months and then discontinued use for another 12 months.

The results showed that the number of cases of sinusitis decreased by 62.5% during the discontinuation phase. Researchers also compared the rates of sinusitis among those who stopped using nasal saline irrigation and another group of 24 adults who used daily nasal saline irrigation for 12 months. Again, they found sinusitis among daily users was significantly higher (50%) than among nonusers.

Researchers say nasal mucus acts as a first line of defense against infections, and long-term nasal saline irrigation may interfere with this natural immune function.

Although use of a neti pot for nasal saline irrigation may temporarily improve sinus infection symptoms, they say "its daily long-term use may result in an increased frequency of acute [sinusitis] by potentially depleting the nose of its immune blanket of mucus," write researcher Talal M. Nzouli, MD, of Washington, D.C., and colleagues in their study.

How about that thunderstorm we had last night? I awoke at 22:22 with the sound of a large sonic boom...at least that is what it sounded like. That was thunder, no doubt. Wow, I thought I was in a hurricane. The wind was blowing, the rain was hitting the side of the house, and the lightening.........wow, the lightening was an amazing show of fireworks. The lady that works the front desk at night for DoctorsNow always gives me flack about my yard..........she tells me the lightening makes my yard greener than any fertilizer. Well, ok, she is right, but I am NOT going to tell her she is right!! :)

From a scientific description, lightning refers to one of the several forms of visible electrical discharges produced by thunderstorms. It is essentially a giant spark that jumps between vast pools of positive and negative electrical charge that form inside thunderstomrs. And what is a thunder??? Thunder is the sound emitted as a result of the rapidly expanding gases along the heated lightning channel.

Sounds pretty complicated, eh? It's not my intention to complicate nature, but I think it is fun to know how far a storm is from where you are located. Yes, you can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away! I counted less than 5 seconds last night so that must mean the storm was over my house and my lawn is bright green!!! yahoo!

Hello freinds! Let's take a break from the healthcare reform chit chat. Instead, let me tell you a little bit about low back pain. Many people with chronic low back pain can improve and even fully heal their backs by doing one simple thing: stretching their hamstrings.

Your hamstrings are the muscles that run along the back of your thighs, from behind your knees to the bottom of your pelvis. If your hamstrings are tight, they are causing a constant downward pull on your pelvis. What this does is flattens out the normal curve in the low back. Since your pelvis is the foundation of your lower back and spine, having tight hamstrings contributes to an unstable lower back and a greater chance of intermittent sprains and strains.

So how do you know if your hamstrings are tight? The best way to assess hamstring length is to lie flat on your back and have someone slowly raise one leg. Your leg must be completely relaxed, and you must not help lift the leg with your own muscles. If your hamstrings are at an appropriate length for your body, your leg can be raised to 90 degrees off the ground without any significant tightness anywhere along your hamstrings from behind your knee to your sitting bone (pelvis). If you start to feel tightness before 90 degrees, you know it’s time to stretch!

Many people with chronic lower back pain can experience dramatic improvement after stretching their hamstrings on a daily basis for 1-3 months. If you don’t have lower back problems, stretching your hamstrings everyday is an excellent preventive measure that will keep your lower back and pelvis balanced for the years ahead.

One more important point to remember........stretch those hammies after you are warmed up. Never stretch a cold muscle with static stretching.

The following is an appeal that is being signed by physicians from the Community group called, Sermo. Sermo has been actively telling lawmakers that they want to participate in a meaningful reform of our healthcare system. Please read the following.


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The Physicians' Appeal:



To the American People,

We, the physicians of this country want to reform healthcare and improve the quality and access to care for our patients while reducing costs. True healthcare reform will only succeed if:

1. Unnecessary tests and procedures are reduced through tort and malpractice reform

2. Doctors are allowed to spend more time with their patients and less time on paperwork by streamlining billing and making pricing more transparent (create an alternative to CPT codes)

3. Medical decisions are made by physicians and their patients, not insurance company administrators

4. Adequate supply of qualified physicians is assured by revising the methods used to calculate reimbursements.

We invite policy makers to work directly with the men and women who are on the frontlines of healthcare each and every day caring for the citizens of this country.

We pledge to be partners in true healthcare reform, improving the healthcare delivery system in this country while honoring the Hippocratic oath that we all have taken.



Respectfully Yours,

America's Physicians.

Public opinion polls show growing doubts about some of Mr. Obama’s health care proposals, and in the last week, several members of Congress have been confronted by constituents, protesters and advocacy groups denouncing Democratic proposals.

I'm reading all this and find one of the best lines of all......tell me you have concerns........better yet, talk to your congressman! The following is something to think about:

“Why would you guys try to stuff a health-care bill down our throats in three to four weeks when the president took six months to pick” a “dog for his kids?” one protester said. The hecklers had a sign identifying them as members of the “Ft. Stanwix Tea Party Patriots.”

Many of us know the quote “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome” by Arthur Ashe. A good freind of mine always reminds me that life IS, in fact, a journey....not just a destination we try to arrive at. I wonder if she has heard this quoted over and over as it seems ever so popular these days. I think the reason for the popularity is the the fact that many questions arise when we ask ourselves, "what is our purpose?" "Why are we here?"

For thousands of years, humans have believed in an afterlife, and almost all religions see life as some progression, some journey, into the afterlife. Most would agree that all life ends at the same place: death. But even death is just part of the journey of life. Death is not the destination. It is not death that we hurtle towards at the speed of 24 hours per day. Rather, it is the afterlife.....the here-after that represents the culmination of life.

Aren't there days when you seriously wonder what life is all about? Is it about the things we aspire to? Prosperity, fame, fortune. Is it about the people we meet, the family we make, the job we get? Or is it about serving God and doing all things for the glory of God? Most likely, it is the combination of all these things.

As an infant, we are at the mercy of our caregivers.....to feed us, to clothe us, to put a roof over our heads. As a toddler, we gain a little more independence. We are learning to talk, to think, to react. As a teenager, we begin to learn the importance of friends and why it feels so good to be liked, to be "IN" with the crowd. We get the hottest and best clothes, haircuts, make-ups, and say the coolest words in the dictionary! Then, holy cats........high school.....more clothes! Boyfriends and girlfriends, fancy cars, and the thought of college. Ah, life is starting to take a little curve. What the heck am I gonna do? What will I be when I grow up?

Adulthood seems like life goes into reverse. Who doesn't like the thought of having another caregiver......to feed us, to provide for us, to tell us everything will be alright. Don't worry! You cannot help but to feel overwhelmed, you feel weak, and you feel like you are having bad luck. You don't have the answers. No one ever does.

In life, remember that for every time you feel weak, there will be times of strength. For the times of bad luck, you will have times of good luck. For the times you feel blinded by your life path, there will be times you will see perfectly clear the direction you should take.

My favorite quote is, "See through eyes of Faith." No one ever said life was going to be easy, but if you keep your chin up, and keep forging ahead, rather than behind, you can make the most of your journey or "dash" as you may refer to your life from birth to everlasting. See through eyes of faith and you can never be blinded. You will have light even in times of darkness!

Good morning blogger buds! Many of you may have heard the recent commotion between the AMA (American Medical Association) and Sermo, a community based organization made up of about 110,000 US doctors. I want to enlighten each of you........not all doctors are members of the AMA. Why? Because it has been felt that the AMA does not represent doctors as it pledges to do so. Many doctors feel the goal of the AMA today is to generate large amounts of money for itself (employees). If the profits made by the AMA were used for the benefit of physicians, there would be no issue. However, if the primary goal is to support a bloated beaurocracy, there is no motivation from the AMA administration to change the system. It would be to their benefit to preserve the system or better yet to expand it. For this reason, the AMA is supporting Obama's Healthcare Reform.

One last important point to for the public to realize: If AMA claims to represent practicing American physicians to the government and the public, exactly how many practicing physicians belong to the organization? The AMA has consistently refused to provide a breakdown of their membership numbers. Their claim of 250,000 members does not compute with the reality of their own data. Their most recent financial statement shows income of $43.9 million from membership dues. Medical students, interns, residents and fellows receive an average reduced membership rate of $35 per year and assuming half of the 200,000 physicians in these categories are members, this leaves about $40 million in dues from other, presumably practicing physicians. Divide this number by the $420 annual dues for practicing physicians and the actual membership is about 95,000. There are approximately 1.1 million practicing physicians in the US so 95,000 AMA members would represent about 9% of US physicians.

Would the real AMA please stand up?

In case some of you are wondering if I had an invasion of grubs, the answer is NO, but we seriously need rain! I have the only green lawn in the neighborhood, but the water bill may bankrupt me. The price we pay for some things is ridiculous. But, I gotta have that green lawn.

I was listening to something last night on TV (something I rarely do!) and they were talking about "amusement." Ok, I'm going to be honest, I was watching the Trinity Broadcast Network. You may or may not have ever watched it, but it is very educational to say the least. It gives you something to THINK about. The topic of the night was "Amusement". The definition of amusement or to be amused ("a" Negative/Not/Without, and "muse", to think or consider)literally means, to not think!

Let's face it.........we are a people who love to be amused. We watch TV, rent movies, listen to ipods, text on our blackberrys, google on the internet, play video games, and many others. Simply fill in the blank with your own amusement. Our lives are filled with technology, fantasy games, toys, cars, boats, houses, clothes, shoes, and more and more STUFF!

I'm not saying that we should throw out all our gadgets, toys, computers, etc, but let's be very careful what we are doing. We are in danger of becoming lulled to sleep emotionally, mentally, culturally, and SPIRITUALLY....by our amusements. So, as we immerse ourselves in STUFF and allow our culture to wow our hearts, desires, and our minds, we are losing touch with the very thing that created us......Christ, our spiritual savior.

Give this some "musement" and see if I have not hit on something very eye opening.

--drj