Tri-5, Wk12, Days 319 & 320 - Wed & Thur

The man I mentioned in the last post was born around May, 1971. The xrays we saw (and saw again today) were taken on 7/24/73 and again on 8/24/74.

The man's first name is Breen and I'm not sure about putting his last name down in this blog but, if I ever ran across that anomaly again I think I would refer to it using his full name.

In a way, this whole scenario reminds me of the dark ages when most people would have been better off if they were left alone instead of having doctors try whatever they happened to know at the time. For the most part, I'm certain all doctors have their patients best interest at heart and want to do what's best for the patient.

I kind of spend more time in though and pensive reflection with this topic and the articulation doesn't seem to flow as freely as with some other blog topics.

Breen was less than two years old when this surgery was performed and it pretty much destroyed his life. I think of the anguish his parents must have had to endure and perhaps still are. I think of the doctors who performed the surgery. I think about the fact that we can only use the tools at our disposal. For an MD, that pretty much means drugs and/or surgery. For a chiro we have our adjustments.

I think one thing a lot of people may not realize is that about 90% of the education I've had at Logan is basically the same as you would find in a medical school. I've got 11 classes this semester - 33 hours and only two of those 11 classes involve any kind of adjusting or what the general public would think a chiropractor does while in chiro school.

Our first semester, with 27 hours of classes only had one chiro type class worth 2 credit hours....just checked, my mistake, it was worth 4 hours or approximately 15% of our classes.

Trimester 2 was 28 hours with one 2 hour adjusting class, the beginning of Diversified adjusting or 7% of our class hours.

Of course, we also have philosophy classes which get into the basis, justification and rationale for chiropractic adjustments.

Tri-3 is 6 hours per week of adjusting (more Diversified and Basic) making up about 18% of our 34 hours per week of classes.

Dr. Christy teaches philosophy and the Cardio Dx class I have this trimester. He's very enthusiastic about chiropractic and generally comes armed with a great deal of published peer reviewed literature to lend credence to his teaching.

An interesting article he shared today was titled Increased parasympathetic tone as the cause of Asthma (2009)

Among other things, our parasympathetic nerves can slow down the heart or constrict the smooth muscles in the lungs and increase mucus production. What's nice is that these articles are done by MD's

In fact, a great deal of what he shows us harps around the same theme, basically that of an excited autonomic nervous system and it seems that medical science is starting to catch up with the theories which have sustained chiropractic for so very long.

Dr. Christy also mentioned another type of nervous system in our bodies know as NANC which stands for non-adrenergic and non-cholinergic which uses substance P as it's neurotransmitter. Adrenergic type reactions are those which consist of substances such as epinephrine and dopamine while acetocholine would be an example of a cholinergic substance. Adrenergic refers to the sympathetic nervous system while cholinergic refers to the parasympathetic nervous system.

As a quick review, Sympathetics relate to Fight or Flight

while Parasympathetics relate to wine & dine (or poop & relax)

NANC is new. I found an article online from around 2001 refering to this nervous system but the neurotransmitters weren't known at that time. Apparently, that neurotransmitter has been found to be Substance-P.

I'd have to dig into a database like Pub-Med for peer reviewed research into this for the best data available but, for purposes of this blog and ....since I do have a test tomorrow to study for, we'll just rely on class notes :)

Substance-P and norepinephrine seem to be big players in the realm of inflammation. In my head I have Sub-P related to pain and norepinephrine as a basic substance delivered via the sympathetics (sweat glands are an exception in the sympathetics since they have an acetylcholine substance used to stimulate sweat production)

Dr. Sanders from Lab Dx made some interesting points today regarding normal values and testing. If we gave a single test to 100 healthy individuals then 5 would come up with abnormal results. The definition for "normal" is two standard deviations from the mean when considering healthy individuals. Two standard deviations encompass 95% of the population. So, one test given to 100 people would produce 5 abnormal test results.

The notion gets more interesting though when a battery of test are run. For our case studies we'll consider a good 40 or so test results which means a lot of different people could be scoring abnormal on different test and of the 100 people we test, we could end up with 80 or even all 100 people showing abnormalities in their test results - And, this is from a group of people who are already considered to be healthy!

I guess that's where a doctor comes in handy and can use test as a means of confirming diagnosis.

Tomorrow's big test is in Physical Dx. For Tri-5, it's the 2nd most failed class (after Diagnostic Imaging). Eyes, Ears & Throat seem to be the biggest topics to know for tomorrow's test so I'll try to get some bonus miles out of this blog by listing some conditions we need to be aware of.

Some causes for Red Eye:

Conjunctivitis, Subconjunctival Hemorrhage, Corneal injury of infection, Acute Iritis and Glaucoma.

Abnormal Inspection Findings of the Eye:

1. Ptosis - drooping of the upper eyelid

2. Entropion - an inward turning of the lid

3. Ectropion - an outward turning of the lid

4. Exophthalmos - bulging eyes (often as a result of Grave's dz or hyerthyroidism)

5. Pinguecula - a harmless yellowish triangular nodule seen in the white of the eye ....I'm still not sure how to pronounce that word ....

6. Episcleritis - a localized ocular redness from inflammation of the episcleral vessels.

7. Sty - a painful tender red infection in a gland at the margin of the eyelid.

8. Chalazion - a subacute nontender and usually painless nodule involving a meibomian gland.

9. Xanthelasma - a slightly raised, yellowish, well-circumscribed plaques that appear along the nasal portions of one or both eyelids. This may accompany lipid disorders.

10. Inflammation - a swelling btw the lower eyelid and nose (either acute or chronic)

11. Corneal Arcus - a thin grayish white arc or circle not quite at the edge of the cornea.

12. Corneal Scar - a superficial grayish white opacity in the cornea secondary to an old injury or to inflammation - not to be confused w/ the opaque lens of a cataract.

13. Pterygium - a triangular thickening of the bulbar conjunctiva that grows slowly across the outer surface of the cornea.

14. Cataracts. Opacities of the lenses visible through the pupil.

Tongue stuff:

Geographic tongue -

Hairy Tongue - a benign condition that may follow antibiotic therapy

Fissured Tongue - aka scrotal tongue

Smooth Tongue - aka Atrophic Glossitis

Candidiasis - a white coating of the tongue from Candida infection

Hairy Leukoplakia ...often seen w/ HIV & AIDS patients.

Varicose Veins - found under the tongue with age - no clinical significance

Aphthous Ulcer - aka Canker sore

Mucous Patch of Syphilis .....

speaking of syphilis - this is a really crappy thing for a newborn to get and, from what I recall, preventable via proper medical attention. Hutchinson's teeth are a characteristic of congenital syphilis. Basically, instead of the ends of the teeth being straight across, they're notched.

I guess it bothers me when kids aren't given a chance and have to start out life needlessly shortchanged due to stupidity.

I better get back to studying. I laid down once and had an alarm set for 11 p.m. but wasn't able to fall asleep in spite of being dead tired. The sleep has been kind of wacko lately - waking up from 1 to 3 a.m. like I did yesterday or oversleeping, often not falling asleep when I ideally should. Only three more weeks though - three weeks from today and Tri-5 will be over.

Also - we only have around 18 exams between now and the end of the semester - not too bad.

TRI-5, Wk12, Day 318 - GOK

GOK = God Only Knows

GOK was the description given to one of the xrays we studied in Dx Imaging today. I'd have to say it's a pretty rare condition. Our vertebral column is a bunch of vertebra which are supposed to be stacked one on top of each other to form a column - but this condition we studied had one of the vertebrae behind the regular column of vertebrae down along the lumbar region which produced an asymptomatic lump, i.e., the bone stuck out but it didn't cause any problems.

Dr. Kuhn, our Dx Imaging teacher came across an adult patient like that but there were no practical issues related to the condition. The man was healthy, held a job, was educated and enjoyed bowling.

We contrast this with one other time Dr. Kuhn ran across this condition which was from another doctor he met at a radiologic conference Dr. Kuhn was speaking at in Fargo, North Dakota. The other patient who had an identical condition was less than two years old.

Unfortunately for the young patient the doctors decided to perform surgery to fuse the vertebrae together. That was back in the 70s. That patient was never able to complete a year of school without taking time off, they've never been able to hold a job and they've never enjoyed bowling or any other such leisurely activities.

I'm guessing it's unlikely many of us will ever run into that issue but based on what we've learned about those two cases it's pretty clear that a wait and see approach is probably best and I have to figure the main reason we saw those xrays today was on the chance that one of us will come across a similar anomaly so that we don't contribute to royally screwing up someones life and can give some sage and poignant advice.

TRI-5, Wk12, Day 317 - Monday

Had our Toxicology Exam today - good stuff. Our grade isn't posted yet but I've gotten no less than 100% on our first two grades and after this exam is just the final. I know I did well on today's test so basically, I've already passed that class even without taking the final.

Only two more exams this week, one in Phys Dx I and one in Basic III - both on Friday.

There's not going to be much of a post tonight - I was up late studying and then up early for school, need to play catch up on the sleep by getting to bed early. :)

What I wouldn't give for Internet in the classroom. Logan is big on "technology" but they seem to be missing out on the biggest technology of them all - the Internet!

TRI-5, Wk 11, Days 313, 314, 315, 316 - M,T,R,F

This blog is for all of week 11. We didn't have school on Wednesday but I did get to go to a nice party held by a classmate. The diversified practical on Friday went pretty well and with my perfect attendance should have a decent shot at getting through that class.

It's Sunday night now and I've been hitting the toxicology for tomorrow's exam. I got a 100% on our group project which, actually lowered my grade in that class since I got over a 100% on our first test ;)

cool situation.

I think ....less than three full weeks before finals start.

TRI-5, Wk10, Day 312 - Friday

I wanted to throw out an objective this morning to get in 3 hours of studying Cardiorespiratory Dx today.

A big issue with getting stuff done is simple awareness and I'm hoping that by setting this goal early enough in the day and sharing the objective that I might increase my odds of getting it done.

I'm recalling an adage which states that an imperfect plan, taken action upon today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. One might also state that action taken today or now is also much preferred over a slightly improved plan tomorrow.

Well, it's pushing 5:30 a.m. and I've got to head out.

TRI-5, Wk10, Days 309,310,311 - Tue, Wed, Thur

Just a quick blog to catch up -

We had our annual free lunch provided by Logan the other day. All I can say is NOBODY goes hungry that day. Whether you have a hamburger, chicken burger or hotdog, the people serving are quick to double up the meat for you. The people serving are all big wigs of the college with both Dr. Goodmans (husband & wife) serving in two different lines. The food was fantastic and I've been full for about two days now. There's ice cream from Ben & Jerry's for everyone to have for dessert. There was so much ice cream, that most people not only had seconds the day of the event but was still plenty available for dessert the *next* day.

i'm guessing they may have had ...man, maybe a good 3,000 hamburgers.

I don't think we had any exams this week. We've got Cardiorespiratory Dx this coming Tuesday and my next Diversified exam next Friday.

It's been hot as hades around here and I'm generally not one to gripe about the weather but, I am wondering if it hasn't been extra drainage on my energy levels and maybe adding to the stress a bit.

Sleep has been a bit of an issue lately - I've been crashing *very* early because I'm so tired but then not falling asleep then getting back up, staying up then getting back to bed around 1 a.m.

It's almost like the main function of sleep these days isn't so much for the physical rest as much as having it reset my brain.

TRI-5, Wk10, Day 308 -

We've got some grades posted for Midterm and I'm pretty happy with what I'm looking at here. Five of the eight grades posted are B+ or better w/ two A's. That means in half my classes I'm averaging 87% or better!!! :)

Yahoo!!!!

87% is the lowest B+ possible so, a lot of those grades really rock.

Lab Dx & Dx Imag are solid with a C+ at midterm. I know I was just one question away from having a B in Dx Imaging and based on the number of people who have to retake classes each trimester - Dx Imaging is the hardest class of our Tri ...based on the stats anyway. I kind of enjoy the class myself.

If I can hold my A in Cardiorespiratory Dx through the next two exams then I won't have to take the final. That test is one week from tomorrow.

Physical Dx took a bit of a hit during exam #2 since I had shifted my focus to Dx Imag and Rad Pos.

I thought I could get three hours of studying in tonight but that hasn't happened. I took a nap after I got home then had some dinner. It's about 9 p.m. now.

Well, I've got 42 pages of reading that needs to get done for my Lab Dx class as well as an assignment that's due Thursday in the same class so maybe I'll knock that out before bed.

Better get to it!

oh yeah ...today's pic - 87! did I mention an average of 87% or better in half my classes and very strong grades in the traditionally tougher classes ....now, if I can just manage to get through what's supposed to be the "easiest" of my classes ...go figure! ;)

TRI-5, Wk9, Day 307 - Foot Levelers

We had a two hour lecture today in the Purser Center sponsored by Foot Levelers which was pretty darn good. There were at least 20 or more DCs and a few MDs in the first two rows. I know the chiro's came from all over the country.

The talk was the same one given during Logan's 75th homecoming just a few weeks ago, I remember seeing it on the agenda as a lecture on "Noisy Joints" which I thought might have something to do with crepitus but was actually something different and much more interesting.

The doctor giving the talk starting by trying to define chiropractic and led us to the familiar notion of quieting down the autonomic nervous system (ANS) then took that a step further, apparently in an attempt to come up with something the general public could relate to and said that we quiet down noisy joints. I'm not sure if that clearly conveys the beneficial effects adjustments have on the ANS but, it's certainly a step in the right direction.

In the past there may have been notions of chiropractors adjusting bones that were out of place or relieving "pinched nerves" but, from all I've learned it's pretty rare for a patient to actually have that condition. If a nerve is impinged upon it's most likely from neurogenic inflammation.

I got a nice comment from Vanessa at VanessaRuns.com today. She's a *very* good writer and I look forward to reading her blogs throughout the week.

Today's lecture would have been interesting to her. I'll have to send her the notes or ppt when I get them. They talked about the three arches in the foot, pronation and I was tickled to death when they mentinoed nocicpetion and the four types of nerve fibers, even mentioning how proprioception inhibits nociception.

A big way those foot levelers works is in many ways related to the Basic type of adjustment we're learning in school as both consider the alignment of the pelvis and it's effect on the rest of the body.

I am ....100% Dead Tired. BUT ...I'm still going to the Pineapple Fest being held at Logan tonight ....which, starts in about 7 minutes (6 p.m.) I can't say I'm looking forward to the 40+ mile drive to get there (seems like I just got home)

Next exam in my mind is Cardiopulmonary Diagnosis ...

I haven't mentioned this before but we're looking at a lot of medical papers from St. Luke's, a nearby hospital, from patients who were admitted, took spirometry test, then given medication like Albuterol then tested again.

Would you believe in all three of the cases we looked at, the patients pulmonary functions were measurably WORSE after the medication!? The benefit was that the patient felt better afterwards. It seems the medication can work to relax & dilate the bronchi and bronchiols but doesn't positively effect the alveoli where gas exchange takes place.

Could you imagine chiropractors giving an adjustment that made people measurably worse? We'd be crucified!

Oh well, eventually things will come around. Some of our DCs have hospital privileges over at St. Luke's where they perform adjustments under anesthesia. Another nearby hospital, River DePaire (?sp) hospital is where our chiro's can go to do rounds with the MD students. I think doing that would be cool. :)

Today's picture demonstrates some of the rationale behind Foot Levelers. Incidentally, all the pictures I found came from Chiropractic sites - no wonder they like us so much. :)

TRI-5, Wk9, Day 306 - Thursday

It's closing in on Friday, 2:30 a.m. and I was thinking of using this blog to help me with my final studies for the upcoming Physical Dx exam I've got in about 5 hours.

This physical dx class reminds me a lot of Dr. House from the tv show House, MD where, so often, he can tell what a pt has simply by looking at them. This upcoming test is over Skin & Nails ...

psoriasis tends to occur on the extensor surfaces of the body (knees & elbows) and causes pitting of the nails.

clubbing of the fingers tends to occur with conditions such as COPD or any other such hypoxia disorder.

Mee's Lines - transverse lines in the nails ...not to be confused with ...

Beau's Lines which are transverse depressions in the nails.

Xanthoma is a yellow outcropping of skin by the eyes.

Lichenification is excessive skin marking due to rubbing.

you say balding, I say Alopecia

Androgenetic is the most common cause of alopecia

a moth-eaten pattern of hair loss may be due to tertiary syphilis

onchyolysis is a painless separation of the nail from the nail bed

paronychia is inflammation of the proximal & lateral nail folds.

I'm thinking I can go with some simple word association by making up more flash cards on my FlashmyBrain.com software.

Today's picture shows an example of clubbing.

TRI-5, Wk9, Day 305, 306 Tuesday, Wednesday

Opps, I only got a title in yesterday and didn't blog. Blame it on exams! :)

Today's exams went pretty well. I got a 95% on my Midterm Radiographic Positioning Practical. Got perfect on the second x-ray and missed 10 on the first one. I forgot to flip my supertech and make an adjustment on the MAS (technical snafu on my part).

But, I didn't forget on my 2nd x-ray and got perfect.

Midterms grades posted so far look pretty nice as well. With four classes posted I've got two A's, a B+ and a C+. The C+ was in Dx Imag, B+ in HCP and A's in both Toxicology and Cardiopulmonary Diagnostics.

We've got another Cardio Dx test coming up in two weeks so I really need to get on the ball and learn that stuff. We're on the pulmonary aspects now and it doesn't seem too extraordinarily difficult but, there is a LOT of stuff to keep straight and that's what I need to focus my efforts on.

Physical Dx exam is Friday and I've got a LOT of work to do for that one. I already know it's going to be a very light night on sleep but, i think the exam is first thing in the morning so I'll be able to get away with it. There's a Pineapple festival Friday night at Logan and a girl in our class has a birthday and ...they're even closer to my age than the average Logan student so I think I might be going to that. I guess I'll sleep Saturday ...It's been quite a while since I've gone out. The last time I had a beer this year was on St. Patrick's Day.

I also got a nice comment from a Chiropractor who's been in the business for around 40 years! Wow! I'd like to live long enough to do that myself.

Got another comment a few days ago asking me why I went into the DC program. I think way back when I started this blog I mentioned there were 26 reasons I had for making the move from my job at SAVVIS. Maybe I'll revisit that list on a later blog.

We've got an assignment due tomorrow for Lab Dx so I need to knock that out before I go over to my parents tonight to celebrate my birthday. :)

Today's picture is of a birthday cake because it's my birthday today! :)

I'm 44 years old.

TRI-5, Wk8, Day 304, Friday

Wow, I always look back on my previous blog to make sure I get the right number day down and I noticed I had a picture of an Egg McMuffin and that post seems like it was put up weeks ago.

GREAT Dx Imag TEST

I thought the Dx Imaging test was one of the best test I've ever taking. I'm not talking in terms of my grade but in how interesting it was. The first 25 or so questions were based on slides presented at the front of the room, first 15 of those were multiple choice and the remaining 10 were fill in the blank. For the remainder of the exam, 35 or so more questions we had multiple choice, fill in the blank and matching. I just loved the variety. I didn't know everything but, I knew quite a bit and should end up with a solid grade in that class.

Chiropractors & Chiropractic Physicians

I learned from Dr. Sanders that some schools have reputations of churning out Chiropractors and some have a reputation of turning out Chiropractic Physicians. Now, all chiros in the US have to pass National Boards but, apparently some schools do the minimum to help their students get through boards and churn out Chiropractors while other schools such as Logan and I'd imagine Northwestern and probably the Palmer schools have a greater emphasis on the diagnostics and turn out Chiropractic Physicians. That was the gist of Dr. Sanders comments. It's rather interesting and would seem to have ramifications beyond what I have time to express in this blog.

I'd previously learned from Dr. Montgomery that Logan offers 17 different chiropractic techniques, the average number of techniques offered by chiro schools is 4 and some schools only teach 1 technique. I'm thinking the school that only offers one technique is probably the one that turns out straight Chiropractors (by reputation).

Of course, chiros are considered primary level care physicians so, they better know their diagnostics.

Guess I better wrap things up here. My grandma and a couple uncles & their wives are stopping by my parents tonight and I'd like to go over there to visit. I don't think they're getting in until after 10 p.m. so, it's going to be a late night.

Test for this week are Rad Positioning on Wednesday and Physical Dx on Friday.

TRI-5, Wk8, Day 303, Thur - Dx Imaging & Random Thoughts.

Diagnostic Imaging, Dx Imag, Die Imaging Die! (that last one was a post on Facebook from a fellow classmate)

Looks like about 5 hours and 19 minutes until our Dx Imag Midterm.

I think I can readily define frustration as putting forth tremendous effort and getting marginal results.

The last two times I filled my car up with gas, I got 40 mpg or better! (40 & 41)

Waiting for my pot of coffee to finish brewing then I think I'm going to head off to a nice 24 hour restaurant on Manchester called Uncle Bob's.

I think my recent attitude towards this trimester is to get through what I can.

I think I'm going to check my coffee.

Coffee is good! :)

It's almost 2:30 a.m. and I'm already showered, dressed and ready for the day.

Looking ahead I've learned that there are four parts to Diagnostic Imaging, a full two years worth of diagnosing x-rays (two years in a traditional educational environment) but, we'll get it done in 1 and 1/3 years

5 hours, 5 minutes left until D-Day.

Dx, short for diagnostics.

Hx, short for History.

Rx, short for prescription

Tx, short for treatment.

btw, short for between.

bc, short for because.

Also, since either Tri-1 or 2, I stopped worrying about crossing my T's or dotting my I's when taking lecture notes longhand. I guess I've also been relying on my laptop more and more to take notes during class.

It would be a GREAT benefit to have internet access in our classrooms. I have over 15 of my textbooks available online but need the internet to access them.

At this rate, I'll be leaving by 3 a.m. and getting breakfast by 4 a.m. and could be to school at 5 a.m. which, really isn't a whole heck of a lot of time.

I've been considering practicing in Alabama due to a Forbes article I read which cited Alabama as the highest paying state for chiropractic which is nothing I would have guessed. A rural area in Illinois is another option due to possible legislation which allows 25% of a student's Federal loan to be paid off each year for up to four years when practicing in an underrepresented area.

I don't think I'd mind taking Dx Imag over again as much as I would mind taking Div IV over again. Dx Imaging criteria for passing is much more objective.

Either way, one way or another, I will become a chiropractor.

The notion of going on to get an MD is not as appealing as it was in earlier trimesters. There are two reasons for this. One, the DC program is amazingly difficult & time consuming and I'm just not sure I'd want to subject myself to the whole thing all over again. Two, I wasn't *fully* aware of just how much overlap and regular doctor stuff there was to becoming a chiropractor. I'm not sure what I expected but, whatever it was, a person cannot truly know what's involved with an endeavor until they are actually on the road to achieve the specified goal.

It is proper to write Dr. Scott Dukowitz or Scott Dukowitz, DC.

It is not so proper to write, Dr. Scott Dukowitz, DC

However, I think on my tombstone, I may have them write the not-so-proper way. Perhaps if the DC where in parenthesis then we would have acceptably formatted grammar. Either way, I'll be proud of the fact that I'll be a doctor as well as a chiropractor.

I tend to like Chiropractor's underdog status in the world of health care. Walk softly and carry a big stick. Chiropractors big stick consist of the undeniable results patients can achieve under the care of a chiropractic physician. Chiropractic is advanced medicine. Some chiro's dislike using the word medicine when it comes to chiropractic but, I think of the Indians who talk of "good medicine" and the generalized nature of the word. Maybe I'm old school but, I still have a tendency to think of medicine as that which will engender good health within a patient and I do NOT see it as necessarily prescribing a drug.

I do not think all drugs are necessarily bad. I wonder about all the chiro's who preach at the top of their lungs the vile evils about prescription medication but probably still take advantage of things like birth control pills. ...I could go on in this vein ...

MD's are amazingly well educated and valuable professionals and I should not want to live in a world without them. I think the biggest problem was the AMA who had a smear campaign against chiropractors in the 70's. The were subsequently sued for such actions by chiropractors in the early 80s. The AMA lost, appealed and lost again.

On the plus side, however, I like to think part of the AMA's agenda is to simply protect the public from "snake oil salesmen".

The pharmaceutical companies are another story and, as corporations tend to have profit as the bottom line ...at least one of the bottom lines. Again, I'm sure there are many individuals working for those companies which genuinely want to help provide cures.

Maybe it's like some of the individuals in school who have already worked in hospital environments, the nurses and radiologist techs who have seen the political side of a hospital where there is an administrator with an MBA who knows very little about health care and must protect the bottom line of the hospital. With the pharmaceutical corporations, we have captains of industry, CEO's who must steer their companies in the direction of a profit lest they die but, those CEO's may not know as much about drugs, health care & medicine as would a doctor.

I believe France is ranked as one of the best countries when it comes to health care and longevity. Now, countries like France may have a greater number of people who smoke & drink yet, they still live longer than those born in the US.

Many statistics still cite Japan as having the longest lifespan and it is interesting to note that the Japanese don't give out all the vaccines that the US does. It's more of a buffet style arrangement where certain vaccines are selected based on the patient.

As a positive note towards vaccines we might consider the Soviet Union which in the 20 years preceding circa 1982 actually had a decrease in life expectancy and did not have a very robust health care system which included vaccinations.

One of the best arguments in favor of vaccines I've heard was from an MD who pointed out that we should also consider the specific diseases that any vaccine is trying to protect a person from. I've seen enough pictures to know that some of the diseases are rather horrendous.

Still, I tend to perceive that the concept of vaccines has maybe gone a little overboard. If a pharmaceutical company can get one of their drugs to be mandated by the federal government then they've got a cash cow which may or may not be in the public's best interest. The last one I read about was for pertussis (whooping cough) which didn't actually prevent the dz but help to lessen the severity of it.

Some vaccines seem like big hits ...homeruns, like those used for small pox or polio while others are more like a batter simply getting walked to first base.

Education is one of the most important things to the chiropractic profession. From a business perspective, education and income are the most likely consumers of chiropractic.

I guess my tangents regarding various aspects of health care could go on for some time and yet ... I have a Dx Imaging midterm in 4 hours and 13 minutes. I should conclude this post and get moving. I might opt now for an egg McMuffin on my way to school and go straight to the cafeteria at Logan to conclude my studies. Egads! Did I actually say I was going to McDonalds for sustenance?! ...yeah, I guess I did.

Today's pic is of an Egg McMuffin ...probably because I'm hungry. I have to admit, having downloaded the photo it does look rather processed and not the best thing to put in my body.

I guess I could fry up an egg at home and put it on a piece of toast but I don't have much else besides eggs & bread. Grocery shopping and cooking are not my strong points. My parents were nice enough to drop off a veggie tray earlier this week and I've eaten much of it and have to admit, getting up in the mornings have been much easier which is probably a combination of those vegetables and the nice workout I got in the gym a few days back.

....yeah ...dx imaging still looms - better get something in my head as well as my stomach before test time ....