Most people who visit a chiropractor with back pain aren’t thinking about their diet, but that is exactly what Dr. Katie Drake says they should be doing.

“Most people do not realize how important nutrition is to every part of the body and how powerful it is when it comes to healing the body rather than just covering up symptoms,” Drake, 25, said.

Drake, a doctor of chiropractic, graduated from Logan College of Chiropractic last December and has settled at Bemis Chiropractic in Godfrey as an internal health specialist.

“I was raised on the idea of a holistic approach to total health from a young age,” she said. “My father owned Nautilus Fitness Center, and he was big on doing everything as natural as possible.”

Employing the Loomis system, a focus on incorporating enzymes and nutrition into overall health, Drake teaches patients how what they eat can affect most of the aches and pains from which they are seeking relief.

“My goal is to remove stress from the body so the organ systems can work as they are intended to,” she said. “We use natural herbs and enzymes to heal the body from the inside out. Chronic aches and pains, acid reflux and indigestion, immune dysfunction, infertility, skin disorders, and arthritis are just a few of the things we attack with this approach.”

Years, sometimes decades, of an unhealthy lifestyle can lead to a multitude of health problems, including chiropractic issues, Drake says.

“The way people live really puts a stress on their digestive tract,” she said. “That makes it difficult for their bodies to deal with everyday functions and problems.

Drake works to combat the three types of stresses – mechanical, emotional and nutritional.

“The mechanical can be taken care of through (chiropractic) adjustments, the emotional has to be taken care of by the patient, and the nutritional is what I specialize in,” she said. “I am very passionate about educating my patients. I provide them with supplements and enzymes, but also the knowledge to create a healthy lifestyle.

“People eat a very processed diet, with a lot of foods that have had enzymes removed to be able to stay on the shelf longer. your body needs those enzymes that have been taken out of the food.”

The young nutritionist credits her background with helping her reach her goals.

“Dr. Frank (Bemis) has been my doctor since I was two years old, so I literally grew up in this office,” she said. “I am one of those lucky people who has found what they are meant to do in life. I cannot imagine doing anything else.”

Drake lives in the area and is engaged to Jacob Sherer of Springfield, Ill., himself an internal health specialist.

“We met while we were both attending Logan,” she said. “We only see each other on the weekends, so our down time is pretty important. We do love to be outdoors, and we like boating. I love the water, and he loves water sports, so we live for that in the summer.”

Drake is a personal trainer at Nautilus, and also will be conducting chiropractic consultations by appointment there on Mondays.

She also plans to have monthly lectures and discussions. Upcoming topics include heartburn, attention deficit disorder and nutrition, and infertility.

For more information, call (618) 463-1600.

by Anya Martin, MarketWatch

DECATUR, Ga. (MarketWatch) — an allergy to natural rubber latex may trigger a life-threatening reaction — including difficulty breathing, increased heart rate and low blood pressure — or it may simply cause an ugly, itchy, red rash.

That’s because there are different types of latex allergy. The dangerous “anaphylactic” Type I allergy is a potentially fatal immune-system reaction that affects multiple organ systems and can lead to death; avoiding it requires numerous precautions. But people who simply break out after contact with latex gloves or another latex product may have either irritant dermatitis (skin inflammation) or contact dermatitis (often called a Type IV allergy) which only affects the skin.

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Still, many people are told they have a latex allergy based on a skin reaction — without clarifying these differences or investigating other causes. That makes this often-misunderstood allergy a good teaching tool for what to do when you suspect you may have an allergy, experts say.

from epidemic to incidental

Allergies occur when your immune system is hypersensitive to a particular substance. One of the nation’s fastest growing chronic diseases, more than half of all Americans (54.6%) test positive to one or two allergens. Allergic diseases, such as asthma, affect as many as 50 million Americans, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI).

The first step to developing an allergy is exposure, said Dr. Jackie Eghrari-Sabet, a Gaithersburg, Ma.-based allergist. You cannot have an allergy to something the first time you encounter it.

in 2000, 1% to 5% of the general population, 5% to 15% of health workers, and up to 60% of people with spina bifida, which requires numerous surgeries, were estimated to have latex allergy, according to the AAAAI.

this “epidemic” led most hospitals and medical facilities to eliminate latex gloves, said Sue Lockwood, executive director of the American Latex Allergy Association (ALAA), an educational and support organization.

at first, allergists and health-care workers who either had or suspected they had the allergy were her most frequent contacts, but now she more often hears from pediatricians, primary-care physicians and gynecologists, as well as restaurant employees, postal workers, hairdressers and people who got a rash on their chin after visiting the dentist, Lockwood said.

“The reason is that things are getting better, but also allergists are no longer the ones treating or diagnosing the patient,” she said. “Now the patient is more likely to be a consumer, a layperson, a child, a student.”

Recognizing an allergy

On the two to three days a week she spent in the operating room, Lockwood, a former surgical technician, would develop itchy hives, a runny nose, and a cough, and her eyes would become teary and almost swell shut, she said. then she’d go home for several days and return to normal.

Her symptoms worsened over several months until she suffered anaphylaxis for the first of eight times. “It comes on quickly and each person is probably a bit different with the symptoms, but mine were that my mouth started to itch, I could feel something swelling in my throat, and then I would start to wheeze,” Lockwood said.

a general guideline for identifying that you may have a Type I allergy is having a reaction in at least two organ systems such as skin and respiratory, said Dr. Andy Nish, an allergist in Gainesville, Ga. Other examples of Type I allergies include hay fever, asthma, eczema, and food and drug allergies.

Irritant dermatitis, an immediate rash reaction, is technically not an allergy at all, while with contact dermatitis, skin redness and swelling may appear 24 to 48 hours after exposure, a familiar case being poison ivy, Nish said. both are not related to immune system antibodies, he said.

HAV is responsible for acute hepatitis only. often, this is an anicteric illness, with clinical symptoms indistinguishable from other forms of viral gastroenteritis, particularly in young children.

The illness is much more likely to be symptomatic in older adolescents or adults, in patients with underlying liver disorders, and in those who are immunocompromised. it is characteristically an acute febrile illness with an abrupt onset of anorexia, nausea, malaise, vomiting, and jaundice.

Duration of Illness:   The typical duration of illness is 7–14 days

Other organ systems can be affected during acute HAV infection. Regional lymph nodes and the spleen may be enlarged. the bone marrow may be moderately hypoplastic, and aplastic anemia has been reported. Small intestinal tissue may show changes in villous structure, and ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract can occur, especially in fatal cases. Acute pancreatitis and myocarditis have been reported, though rarely, and nephritis, arthritis, vasculitis, and cryoglobulinemia can result from circulating immune complexes.

Complications:   Although most patients achieve full recovery, two distinct complications can occur:

1.Acute liver failure (ALF) from HAV infection, a rare but not infrequent complication of HAV. Those at risk for this complication are adults, but also patients with underlying liver disorders or those who are immunocompromised. the height of HAV viremia may be linked to the severity of hepatitis. whereas in the United States, HAV represents <0.5% of pediatric-aged ALF, it is responsible for up to 3% mortality in the adult population with ALF. in endemic areas of the world, HAV constitutes up to 40% of all cases of pediatric ALF.2.HAV can progress to a prolonged cholestatic syndrome that waxes and wanes over multiple months. Pruritus and fat malabsorption are problematic and require symptomatic support with antipruritic medications and fat-soluble vitamins. This syndrome occurs in the absence of any liver synthetic dysfunction and resolves with no sequelae

There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Supportive treatment consists of intravenous hydration as needed and antipruritic agents and fat-soluble vitamins for the prolonged cholestatic form of disease. Serial monitoring for signs of acute liver failure and early referral to a transplantation center can be lifesaving.

VN:F [1.9.3_1094]VN:F [1.9.3_1094]Clinical Features of Hepatitis A in children, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating