Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Do You Believe In Magic?
Being overweight is associated with negative health consequences and social stigmas. To cope with these pressures and expectations, consumers engage in various forms of "magical thinking." They describe weight loss as being influenced by mysterious forces; a body that "conspires" against them or food that "seduces" them. They hope good deeds will be rewarded (like eating chips after eating cabbage soup all day) and resort to "magical solutions" like fad diets.
Journal of Consumer Research, May 2011

Health Alert: How Long Will You Live?
While the world's leading industrialized nations report considerable increases in life expectancy annually, the majority of US counties do not. Despite the fact that the US spends more on healthcare per capita than any other nation, 80% of US counties have fallen further behind the life expectancy average of the top ten countries in the world. High obesity rates, smoking status and other preventable risk factors are key factors in America's poor life expectancy figures, rather than the size of the country, economics or racial diversity. Top 5 In Life Expectancy:1. Iceland, 2. Switzerland, 3. Sweden, 4. Japan, 5. Australia, 37. USA.
Population Health Metrics, 2011

Diet: Watch What Your Kids Eat.
8% of US children have some kind of food allergy, 38.7% of those have a history of severe reactions, while 30.4% are allergic to several foods. Symptoms in a severe reaction may include wheezing and anaphylaxis, when the patient finds it hard to breathe and has an abrupt drop in blood pressure. The most common allergens for children were found to be peanuts, milk and shellfish.
Pediatrics, June 2011

Exercise: Stay Fit!
A person 70 pounds overweight will spend $30,000 extra in their lifetime for health care!
Scientific American, March 2011

Chiropractic: Recommended To Treat Headaches.
This study compared the effects of spinal manipulation and pharmaceutical treatments for chronic tension headaches. Four weeks following the cessation of treatment, the pharmaceutical group demonstrated no improvement from the baseline. In the spinal manipulation group, headache intensity dropped 32 percent; frequency dropped 42 percent; and there was an overall improvement of 16 percent in functional health status.
Journal of Manipulative Physiotherapy, 1995

Wellness/Prevention: Soda Consumption.
Sweet drinks are linked to higher rates of: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, dental decay and low consumption of essential nutrients (malnutrition). Soft drinks with caffeine can cause anxiety and sleep disruption, and soft drinks with sodium benzoate can lead to hyperactivity and DNA damage. Soda consumption per person per year: 1. US: 216 liters, 2. Ireland: 126 liters, 3. Canada: 119.8 liters, 16. Italy: 50.2 liters, 17. France: 37.2 liters, 18. Japan: 21.6 liters. A 12oz can of soda contains 150 calories, an average adult needs to walk for about 23 minutes non-stop to burn those calories.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, June 2011

Labor Day - Change in Office Hours

Our office will be closed on Monday, September 5th, in observance of Labor Day.

We will be OPEN, in the morning and afternoon, on Tuesday, September 6th, for both Chiropractic and Physical Therapy appointments.

In order to maintain a proper treatment schedule, we would like any patients normally having treatment on Mondays to please reschedule those appointments for Tuesday.

Please call our friendly staff to reschedule your appointments. We are happy to help you!! Wishing everyone a fun and safe Labor Day weekend!

Don't forget to follow us on our blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you, Oakland Spine and Rehabilitation Center

CLICK FOR A GIFT CARD!

Back by popular demand, it's time for another give-away! From now through September 30th, "LIKE" us on Facebook and be automatically entered into our drawing for a fabulous gift card. Congratulations to the winner from our last give-away, Jen D., who won dinner for two at Arturo's Restaurant.

How do you enter? It's as simple as logging on to Facebook and clicking "LIKE" on the Oakland Spine and Rehabilitation page. If you have already "LIKED" us on Facebook, don't worry, you are still in the running for the gift card of your choice! Don't forget, when you "LIKE" us on Facebook, you will stay connected to us for important office updates and be automatically entered into all our monthly give-aways.

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing you on Facebook!

Don't forget to follow us on our blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Good Luck!

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Testing Improves Memory.
A study found with retrieval practice (in this case, recalling a word in English and its Lithuanian equivalent), every aspect of memory gets substantially better including "target memory" - specific recognition; "cue memory" - the stimulus that evinces the memory; and "associative memory" - the relationship between things.
Association for Psychological Science, June 2011

Health Alert: Social Factors And Death.
Social factors can be linked to death as readily as can patho-physiological and behavioral causes. These social factors contribute substantially to the burden of disease in the US: education, poverty, health insurance status, employment status and job stress, social support, racism or discrimination, housing conditions and early childhood stressors. Area-level social factors included area-level poverty, income inequality, deteriorating infrastructure, crime and violence, social capital and availability of open or green spaces. The numbers: 245,000 deaths in the US are attributable to low education, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality and 39,000 to area-level poverty.
American Journal of Public Health, June 2011

Diet: Olive Oil!
Consuming olive oil may help prevent strokes in older people. After considering diet, physical activity, body mass index and other risk factors for stroke, the study found those who regularly used olive oil for both cooking and as a salad dressing had a 41 percent lower risk of stroke. Olive oil has been associated with protective effects against many cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.
American Academy of Neurology, June 2011

Exercise: High Blood Pressure In Young People?
20% of young American adults may have high blood pressure. People with high blood pressure have a much higher risk of stroke and heart disease, the leading cause of death among adults in the US. It is also a condition that often shows no signs or symptoms, and many otherwise healthy people who have it first find out when a health professional measures their blood pressure. The findings are significant because they indicate many young adults are at risk of developing heart disease, but are unaware they have hypertension.
Epidemiology, May 2011

Chiropractic: Chiropractic First For Back Pain.
"For patients with low back pain in whom manipulation is not contraindicated, chiropractic almost certainly confers worthwhile, long-term benefits in comparison with hospital outpatient management."
British Medical Journal, 1990

Wellness/Prevention: Watch Your Weight At 18.
Men who had the highest Body Mass Indices (being overweight or obese) at age 18 were 35% more likely to die from cancer later in life. The link is apparent even if they reduce their weight during middle age.
Medical Research Council, June 2011

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Memory Restoration.
Scientists have developed a way to turn memories on and off - literally with the flip of a switch. Using an electronic system that duplicates the neural signals associated with memory, they managed to replicate the brain function in rats associated with long-term, learned behavior. Researchers also showed that if a prosthetic device and its associated electrodes were implanted in animals with a normal, functioning hippocampus, the device could actually strengthen the memory being generated internally in the brain and enhance the memory capability of normal rats. The goal is to eventually create a prosthesis that might help Alzheimer's disease, stroke or injury sufferers recover function.
Journal of Neural Engineering, June 2011

Health Alert: Inaccurate Medical Claims!
Claims-processing errors have increased by 2% over the last year to a 19.3% rate, wasting $17 billion annually. United Healthcare was best with a 90.2% accuracy rating. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, was lowest with an accuracy rating of 61.1%.
American Medical Association 4th annual National Health Insurer Report Card

Diet: Big Time Snacking.
Snacking continues to increase among Americans, accounting for 25% of daily caloric intake. The average person "snacks" an extra 580 calories each day. Between 2006 and 2008, time spent eating primary meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - remained consistent at 70 minutes. However, secondary eating doubled from 15 minutes each day in 2006 to nearly 30 minutes in 2008, and secondary drinking jumped nearly 90% from 45-85 minutes. Beverages account for 50% the calories consumed through snacking. Most people don't equate beverages with calorie intake and are less likely to offset or take these calories into account.
Institute of Food Technologists, June 2011

Exercise: Muscle Up.
How important is it to exercise your muscles? The human body has over 600 muscles accounting for 40% of the body's weight. When exercised regularly, muscles are your primary mechanism of maintaining your metabolism, thus burning fat. Maintaining the flexibility of your joints and surrounding soft tissues allows muscles to function at their highest level.
Gray's Anatomy

Chiropractic: Simple Analogy.
Spinal problems are like a cavity in your tooth: 1. They occur slowly over time. 2. Typically, they are without symptoms for some time. 3. They continue to progress. 4. They don't go away on their own. 5. They eventually cause pain. 6. They can lead to more significant problems.

Wellness/Prevention: Smoking Raises Risk.
Smokers had a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, cancer-recurrence, or from any cause compared to lifetime non-smokers. The longer the patient smoked, the higher his risk of dying from prostate cancer or cardiovascular disease. Men who had given up smoking for ten years had similar prostate cancer mortality risks as lifetime non-smokers.
Journal of the American Medical Association, May 2011

Neck Pain and Arthritis

When we say the word "arthritis," many images pop up in our heads. Some people think of crippled hands or perhaps Mr. Smith who talks about his bad hip being, "...bone on bone!" Or, how about the neighbor who has a bum knee and walks with a limp and a cane? Rarely do we think about the neck being associated with "arthritis."

Before we go too far into this discussion, we should define the term, "arthritis," which means joint ("arth-") swelling (-itis). Simple enough, right? Wrong! Without getting too complicated, we must realize there are MANY different types of arthritis such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gouty arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, etc. To narrow this down a bit, we will limit our discussion to osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease.

Degenerative joint disease or DJD, is the most common type of arthritis that EVERYONE eventually ends up with - whether we like it or not. That's because, over time, our joints wear out and become "arthritic." While it's true that weight bearing joints wear out quicker (like hips and knees more so than elbows and shoulders), DJD can affect any joint. There are many causes of DJD, including a genetic or hereditary tendency but the most common cause is wear and tear over a long period of time. Of course, the rate of acquiring DJD in the neck (or anywhere else for that matter) is directly related to how "nice" we have been to our body, in this case, the neck. For example, after a car accident, a common injury to the neck is whiplash. This occurs because we literally cannot control the speed of the head as it rapidly moves forwards and backwards upon impact and it's all over within 600-800 milliseconds! Since we can't voluntarily contract a muscle that fast and when joints move beyond their normal stretch length, the ligaments - those non-elastic, tough tissues that securely holds bone to bone - will only "give" so much and then tear, which is technically called a "sprain." This leads to an accelerated rate of degeneration.

Blood tests are negative with DJD (unlike many of the other types of arthritis), and an x-ray can help determine how "arthritic" the joint is and whether the smooth, silky ends of the joint (called hyaline cartilage) are worn down and if bony spurs are present. In the neck, DJD can create a lot of symptoms which may include pain and stiffness, especially in the mornings after laying still and not moving during the night. After we get up and move around, "...it loosens up." As the condition advances, neck movements become tight and restricted with pain, which further limits movement, and sooner or later, the patient must rotate their whole body to look to the side. If the arthritis hits or bumps into a nerve as it exits the cervical spine, neck soreness, and numbness/tingling may radiate down an arm, at times to the hand, usually only affecting certain fingers. Headaches, especially in the back of the head, can also occur from the reflex muscle "splinting" due to the pa in associated with arthritis. As Dr. Peter Ulrich, MD points out (http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/arthritis/cervical-osteoarthritis-neck-arthritis) chiropractic adjustments, "...help control chronic symptoms or provide relief for more severe episodes of pain from osteoarthritis."

We realize that you have a choice in where you choose your healthcare services. If you, a friend or family member requires care for neck/arm pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

Fibromyalgia and Exercise (Part II)

Last month, we started the conversation about the importance of exercise, and how it improves the quality of life for everyone, especially those with Fibromyalgia (FM). We listed specific recommendations about how to go about implementing an exercise program safely and successfully but never finished the subject. Hence, here are some additional tips for getting started with exercise:

1. Walk: Start with 5 minutes at a slow pace to determine your tolerance level. Gradually add speed and distance to a point where you might even consider alternating between a slow jog and walking. Who knows, maybe you'll get so good at it, you can work up to a 1, 5, or 10 mile run/walk! Entering "fun walk/run races" is a great way to meet people!
2. Stretching: Though perhaps not as rewarding as aerobics, stretching feels good so intersperse it into your day - learn different stretches that can be done standing, sitting, as well as on the floor so you can do some of these in public places without being too conspicuous! Certain yoga poses work well!
3. Water aerobics: Consider joining a water aerobics class - there is a lot to be said about working out in a group - it's motivating, fun to share, and engaging! It takes the boredom away that some feel when working out alone. Also, when we exercise in water, we're more buoyant and actually weigh less so there is less pounding on our joints, making it possible to do more strenuous exercises when compared to land-based exercises. A warm pool (around 88°) works well because it's more relaxing on the muscles! If that's not available, look for a gym or health club with a hot tub you can relax in before and/or after the water exercise session.
4. Muscle strengthening: At one time, this was not recommended for the FM patient but research has again proven that strengthening helps! When muscles are strengthened, function improves. Using light hand weights like from 1-3# vinyl covered dumbbells work great, as does TheraTube or TheraBand resistance exercises. Choose some daily activities that are currently difficult and make them into an exercise, eventually adding hand and/or ankle weights such as when rising from sitting or when taking a walk.
5. Flexibility exercises: Choose exercises that address specific areas where you don't have a lot of mobility. For example, if your knee bothers you, sit in a chair and slowly straighten out your leg to a full, locking position and then twice as slow, release the straight leg back to the knee bent starting position. Or, if raising the arms is hard, start with some pendulum exercises, swinging a weight in circles, like the pendulum of a clock. We can help design a program that is specific for you.
6. Stay motivated! It's easy to talk yourself out of exercising, especially when FM is rearing its ugly head! Stay inspired, knowing exercise is like a drug - instead of popping a pill that may cause confusion or fatigue, go for a walk! Look for a FM support group, a partner to exercise with, set small realistic goals (write them down and check them off once accomplished). If you're musically inclined, listen to your favorite symphony or jazz standard - sing or play along! Treat yourself - go to a movie, give yourself reading time, and get treatments as needed.
   

If you, a friend or family member requires care for FM, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services!

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Cheer Up!
0% of middle-aged Europeans took antidepressants in 2010. The probability of taking an antidepressant is greatest among those middle-aged, female, unemployed, with low levels of education, and divorced or separated. This pattern is consistent with the recent finding across the world that happiness and mental health follow an approximate U-shape through life (mid-life crisis).
University of Warwick, June 2011

Health Alert: No Safe Amount!
The blood-alcohol limit may be 0.08% when driving, but no amount of alcohol seems to be safe. This study examined official data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. The researchers used FARS because it is nationally comprehensive, covering all US counties, all days of the week and all times of day, and reports on blood-alcohol content in increments of 0.01. Accidents are 36.6% more severe even when alcohol was barely detectable in a driver's blood. Even with a BAC of 0.01, there are 4.33 serious injuries for every non-serious injury versus 3.17 for sober drivers.
Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2011

Diet: Slow Gains?
An average adult gains one pound per year. Small changes in diet, consumption of beverages, physical activity, watching TV, and sleep duration were most strongly linked to long-term weight gain. The idea of "eat less and exercise more" may be too simplistic a weight-loss strategy, as it is the quality of food that matters most and making a handful of small, targeted changes is likely to be most effective.
New England Journal of Medicine, June 2011

Exercise: Exercise: Kids Not Making Grade!
Only a small percentage of youth meet the objective for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities as outlined in the Healthy People 2020 physical activity guidelines. The data revealed 15.3% of students met the aerobic objective, 51% met the muscle-strengthening objective, and only 12.2% met both objectives.
US Centers For Disease Control And Prevention

Chiropractic: Safe For Neck Pain?
For the treatment of neck pain, cervical manipulation is much safer than the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - which are often used as the 'conventional' first-line treatment for similar musculoskeletal conditions - by "a factor of several hundred times."
Journal of Manipulative Physiotherapy, 1996

Wellness/Prevention: Bone Up With Blueberries.
Compounds in blueberries might have a powerful effect on the formation of strong, healthy bones. Studies with rats suggest polyphenols, the compounds that give blueberries their blue, purple, and red coloration, might aid in building strong bones. Animals fed rations containing 10% freeze-dried blueberry powder had significantly more bone mass than their counterparts whose rations were blueberry-free.
Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2010

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Why Braces Work

When patients present for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), one of the most common treatments rendered is the use of a wrist brace, often referred to as a cock-up splint. The focus of this article is to explain the reasons why these braces are so commonly included in the management of CTS and, why they work.

CTS is caused by anything that applies pressure on the median nerve (see #9 in C, D & E below) in a tight space called the carpal tunnel (see A & B below). The tunnel is made up of 8 bones that form the "U" shaped part of the tunnel while the floor or bottom of the tunnel is made up of a ligament (the transverse carpal ligament). There are also 9 tendons (tendons are structures that attach muscles to bones) and their coverings or sheaths are needed to reduce friction as the tendons slide back and forth, such as when our fingers type on a computer, open the lid of a jar, lift a suitcase, hold a pen or pencil when writing, open a door knob, button a shirt... the list goes on and on! If the tendons didn't have a sheath to slide in, the friction would build up too quickly, causing swelling and pain from tendonitis. The sheath provides lubrication as it creates an oil-like substance called synovial fluid which allows for the smooth slip and slide property of the ten don inside the sheath.

To illustrate this, turn your palm upwards and look at your wrist. Move your fingers as if you were typing on a computer or playing a piano. Look at all that movement that is occurring at your wrist! Keep doing that and look at your forearm between the wrist and elbow. Do you see all the movement that is going on? As the muscles located in the upper part of our forearm contract and relax (jump around as we move our fingers), the tendons slide back and forth inside their sheaths and pull our fingers into our palm. In CTS, the smooth back and forth action of our tendons inside their sheaths is disrupted by too much pressure and swelling inside the tunnel (see B, D, & E below). The nerve passes through the carpal tunnel between the floor (transverse carpal ligament) and the bundle of tendons and sheaths and as a result of the swelling, gets squeezed between the ligament and the tendon/sheaths. When any nerve is

pinched, numbness or tingling occurs and/or muscle weakness is noticed. When pinched, the median nerve (#9 in C, D, & E below) creates numbness in the 2nd-4th fingers and eventually, weakness in grip and pinch strength.

The brace or cock-up splint allows the wrist to stay in a neutral / straight position so the pressure on the nerve is minimized. This allows the CTS patient to sleep through the night without waking up with numb, tingling fingers that require shaking or flicking to "wake them up." The brace is usually only worn at night since it's too clumsy to wear during the day and frequently creates more problems when worn while working. Of course, there are many other treatment approaches used by chiropractors which have been previously discussed in prior articles (please refer to prior issues for a list of the many chiropractic treatment approaches).

We realize you have a choice in who you consider for your health care provision and we sincerely appreciate your trust in choosing our service for those needs. If you, a friend or family member require care for CTS, we would be honored to render our services.

How Hungry Are You?

This is the LAST WEEK to join our Facebook contest to win Dinner for Two, a $100 value, at Arturo's Restaurant of Midland Park. Our new office Ipad enables patients to sign on to Facebook during their office visit and "Like" our Facebook page. When you "Like" our page, you will automatically be entered into our contest. Anyone who has already "Liked" us is also automatically entered to win!

On August 15th, we will have a drawing from our fans who have "Liked" us on Facebook and then notify the lucky winner!

Oh, and while you're on our Facebook page, don't forget to check out my health and wellness updates and advice.

Just click HERE to go to our Facebook page...

Good Luck!

Low Back Pain: An Unsual Cause?

There are many causes of low back pain (LBP). Most of us can think of the time we bent over to lift a child, the heavy tongue of a trailer, a 5-gallon pail of water, or maybe simply sneezed too hard and threw out our back. These causes are common and most often associated with LBP. But, one unusual cause of LBP (not so unusual once you know about it) involves Vitamin D deficiency. Yes, you heard me - a VITAMIN DEFICIENCY!

One study reported on a 360 patient (90% women, 10% men) group being treated at spinal and internal medicine clinics over a 6-year time frame for LBP of 6 months or greater with no obvious cause. Doctors tested these patients for blood levels of vitamin D (25-hydroxy vitamin D), as well as calcium and alkaline phosphatase (an enzyme found in bone). Then, they administered Vitamin D supplements and the same tests were repeated. Their results are VERY INTERESTING! The findings showed 83% of the group studied (299 patients) had abnormally low levels of vitamin D before supplementation and after treatment of ONLY vitamin D, clinical improvement was seen in ALL the groups that had low vitamin D levels and in 95% of all 360 patients! THAT'S AMAZING! They conclude "Vitamin D deficiency is a major contributor to chronic low back pain," and recommend screening for vitamin D deficiency and treatment with supplements which they say, "...should be mandatory...," especially in area s that are "endemic" for vitamin D deficiency. They also conclude that bone softening diseases like osteomalacia may occur as a result of vitamin D deficiency, while many other studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with osteoporosis.

Another question then arises, what geographic regions are most susceptible to low sunlight and hence, vitamin D deficiency? One study showed that during the 8 months centered around summer in the US (March-October), for all locations from the southern tip of Texas to just south of Portland, OR, no difference was found in the vitamin D levels. But, in the winter months (November-February), a significant difference was seen where as latitude increased northward, the amount of vitamin D decreased "dramatically." However, in lower latitudes (<25 degrees), no difference was found between summer vs. winter months. What about sun block? Does using it reduce vitamin D absorption from the sun? The answer is, YES. On "The Peoples Pharmacy" website, it was reported that the typical dose of vitamin D of 400 IU "...is probably inadequate to overcome a deficiency." They recommend 10-15 minutes of time in the sun without sunscreen a few times a week or a higher dose of vitamin D3 ("...closer to 2000 IU of vitamin D").

There are MANY other benefits - not just in terms of LBP - from taking vitamin D that have good scientific support. In fact, a PubMed search for "benefits of vitamin D" resulted in 554 studies, some of which included conditions such as, HIV, heart conditions (many), chronic illness in the elderly, osteoporosis, cancers (colorectal, prostate, breast and others), kidney disease, autoimmune diseases (celiac disease, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, many others), types I & II diabetes, and more! You get the picture, I'm sure.

We realize you have a choice in who you choose to provide your healthcare services. If you, a friend or family member requires care for low back pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

WIN AN IPAD!!!

We are so excited to announce our next "Referral Contest", which will run from August 1st through September 30th. As you know, the winner from our last contest won a 60" Flat Screen TV. The winner of this contest will receive an IPAD!

How do you enter? We have a system we created to make it fun AND to reward you for each person you refer in. It goes like this - when you refer in 1 friend you will get 1 entry card to write your name on and place it our "Change The World" Raffle Drum. IT GETS BETTER - If you refer in 2 friends you will get an additional 5 entries. BUT THERE'S MORE - If you refer in 3 or more people you will get 10 entries per person!!

I know you all have people in your life who are constantly in pain or who have pain that won't go away. These people need our help. Please take a minute to think of 5 or more people you know who should be taking better care of themselves and tell them that this is the month to finally start feeling good again. It doesn't matter if they have herniated discs, carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, fibromyalgia, low back pain, migraine headaches or shoulder pain .... these are people who can be helped!! Refer them in THIS MONTH and you could enjoy surfing the web on your own Ipad just for helping them out.

We are very happy that so many of you have referred your friends and family to our office. I consider that the most important sign that we are providing the best quality of care and the best service available in our industry. Good Luck - and remember, the more friends who come in THE MORE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING!! Have fun.

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: City Living And Stress.
Being born and raised in a major urban area is associated with greater lifetime risk for anxiety and mood disorders. Two distinct brain regions that regulate emotion and stress are affected by city living. Risk for anxiety disorders is 21% higher for city people, who also have a 39% increase for mood disorders.
Nature, June 2011

Health Alert: Out-Of-Pocket!
Roughly 1 of every 6 Americans age 18-64 reported using more than 10% of their total family income to pay for health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2010

Diet: Fat Substitutes?
Fat substitutes used in snack foods to help people control weight may have the opposite effect. Substitutes are meant to mimic the taste of fat, while providing fewer calories, but they confuse the body. When rats consumed a fat substitute, learned signals that could help control food intake were disrupted, and the rats gained weight. Tastes normally alert the body to expect calories, and when those calories aren't present we believe the systems become ineffective and the body's mechanisms to control food intake can slow.
American Psychological Association, June 2011

Exercise: Exercise Pays Again!
Brain cancer patients who are able to exercise live longer than sedentary patients. In a population of patients with advanced recurrent gliomas (lethal brain malignancies that result in a median life expectancy of less than 6 months), those who exercised - the equivalent of an energetic walk five days a week for 30 minutes - had significantly prolonged survival, living a median 21.84 months vs. 13.03 months for the most sedentary patients.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, June 2011

Chiropractic: Soft Tissue Issue?
Most patients think chiropractors work on bone, when in fact we use the bones as levers to pull the muscle quickly to help it relax. Here is an example of the profound effects that can be derived from manipulating muscle. Lorraine Clapham, a physiotherapist, discovered that manually moving muscles in the faces of patients with 'dead' nerves helped maintain muscle metabolism and prevent wastage. Such movement could help patients struck by a syndrome or who had undergone surgery make a quicker recovery.
Journal of Laryngology & Otology, June 2011

Wellness/Prevention: Marijuana Smokers, Think About It.
Long term, heavy marijuana use affects peoples' impulsivity, attention, memory, cognition and decision-making abilities. Marijuana users have a blunted response to losing while gambling. They don't figure out a strategy to avoid losses and this is associated with a decreased functional brain response to negative information that guides non-users to make safer choices. The bottom line is: they don't care as much if they lose.
Psychiatry Research, January 2011