TMJ treatment is so successful in eliminating and treating all types of headaches and migraines because the directly address the Trigeminal Nervous System where all of these headaches originate. Changing the chemistry of the neurotransmitters of the brain with medications carries the risk of thousand of reported adverse drug effects. Many of the drugs actually increase the risk of creating central sensitization and/or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. There are many advantages to alternative headache treatments, most important avoiding drug complications.
It is well accepted by all headache specialists that they are caused or mediated by the Trigeminal Nerves. Throwing medication at these problems changes the chemistry at the synapses or nerve connection sites. Physiologic Dentistry also changes what happens at the synapses by changing the input to the brain. Computer experts talk about how bad data leads to bad results or “Garbage in- Garbage Out.
Nociceptive inputs to the brain thru the trigeminal nervous system underlies all headachs including Chronic Daily Headaches, Migraines, Cluster Headaches, Chronic Migraines and tension headaches.Much of the research on headache medication is done comparing new drugs to placebos. Many drugs barely pass this minimal hurtle often showing negligible improvements and the side effects are common. Even NSAIDS, one the safest of pain medications. One headline in Health Sentinel reported “More Hospitalized from NSAIDS than All American War Casualties”
The article went on to state: “The July 1998 issue of The American Journal of Medicine stated the following: “Conservative calculations estimate that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications and at least 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur each year among arthritis patients alone. The figures of all NSAID users would be overwhelming, yet the scope of this problem is generally under-appreciated.”
A recent study in Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management notes that shockingly the number of deaths and hospitalizations from GI bleeding due to NSAIDs has remained unchanged since that 1999 study. “Major adverse gastrointestinal events attributed to NSAIDs are responsible for over 100,000 hospitalizations, US $2 billion in healthcare costs, and 17,000 deaths in the US each year. Despite improvements in the available medications to aid in healing and treatment of NSAID-associated complications, the number of hospitalizations and deaths has remained unchanged in the US in the last decade.””
4.7% of all hospitalizations are the result of drug reactions and over 121,200 hospital days and 44,300 emergency room visits. The majority of the emergency room visits and hospitalizations are in patients taking perscription medication as it was prescribed.In 2010 there was reported 38,329 drug overdose deaths. 22,134 where from pharmaceutical drugs and 16,651 were from opiod analgesics as Reported By Paulozzi et al.
American Medical News reported
“Painkillers are among the top medications sending patients to hospitals. A White House plan would mandate physician training on prescribing opioids.”
“The number of hospitalizations due to medication side effects jumped by more than half between 2004 and 2008, says a federal report that heightened concerns about polypharmacy among an aging U.S. population.
Antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, benzodiazepines, corticosteroids, insulin, and blood thinners and other cardiovascular drugs were among the leading causes of more than 2.7 million hospital stays and treat-and-release visits to emergency departments in 2008, said the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report, released in April.
Opiates such as codeine and morphine were a principal culprit, implicated in 121,200 hospital stays and 44,300 ED visits. The latest confirmation of problems associated with painkillers came as the Obama administration launched an inter- agency attack on opioid misuse that a White House report dubbed “America’s prescription drug abuse crisis.”
Less than a quarter of the drug-related ED visits and less than 10% of inpatient stays were due to mistakes by physicians, pharmacists or patients. The rest were cases in which patients took prescribed medicines as ordered but had side effects severe enough to send them to a hospital.
Medication side effects were listed as the cause of 4.7% of all hospital stays and 0.8% of treat-and-release visits to the ED in 2008.
“This rise definitely outstrips the growth in the U.S. population — this is not just a population issue,” said Anne Elixhauser, PhD, lead author of the report and a senior research scientist at AHRQ. “We are trying to point out a significant and potentially increasing problem so that others with more detailed data can move forward to look at what’s going on here.””
