Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Happily Married?
A recent study concludes that young and happily married newlyweds are more likely to gain weight than their young and unhappily married counterparts. For each unit increase in satisfaction, on average, males and females both gained one tenth of a BMI unit every 6 months - or about one pound a year. According to Dr. Andrea Meltzer, lead author of the study, "These findings challenge the idea that quality relationships always benefit health, suggesting instead that spouses in satisfying relationships relax their efforts to maintain their weight because they are no longer motivated to attract a mate. Interventions to prevent weight gain in early marriage may therefore benefit from encouraging spouses to think about their weight in terms of health rather than appearance."
Health Psychology, April 2013

Health Alert: Less Salt, More Potassium.
Reducing salt intake can lower blood pressure, which ultimately reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Results show that four or more weeks of modest salt reduction leads to notable decreases in blood pressure. Increased potassium intake was associated with a 24% reduced probability of stroke in adults and may also have an advantageous impact on blood pressure in kids.
British Medical Journal, April 2013

Diet: So How Much Salt and Potassium Should You Consume?
The World Health Organization recommends adults should reduce salt intake to 5g per day and consume at least 3510mg of potassium per day.
World Health Organization, January 2013

Exercise: More Reasons.
Exercise helps to retard bone loss as you age, thereby reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis. Exercise also helps improves pain tolerance and mood if you already suffer from osteoarthritis.
Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Chiropractic: Satisfied Low Back Pain Patients.
Patients with chronic low-back pain treated by chiropractors showed greater improvement and satisfaction after one month of care than patients treated by family physicians. Satisfaction scores were higher for chiropractic patients. A higher proportion of chiropractic patients (56% vs. 13%) reported that their low-back pain was better or much better, whereas nearly one-third of medical patients reported their low-back pain was worse or much worse.
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2000

Wellness/Prevention: Sleep Well.
Increasing the number of hours adolescents sleep each night may reduce the prevalence of adolescent obesity. A recent study shows that fewer hours of sleep is associated with greater increases in adolescent body mass index (BMI) for participants between 14 and 18 years old. Increasing sleep from 8 to 10 hours per day at age 18 could result in a 4% reduction in the number of adolescents with a BMI above 25. This would translate to 500,000 fewer overweight adolescents.
Pediatrics, April 2013

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Dementia Cost!
Caring for people with dementia costs $157 billion a year in the United States (US) -- higher than the costs of treating heart disease ($102 billion) and cancer ($77 billion). 75-84% of dementia costs are for nursing home care and care at home. 14.7% of people in the US aged 71+ years are affected by dementia.
New England Journal of Medicine, April 2013

Health Alert: Heart Drug and Cancer Risk!
Amiodarone, a drug used to treat arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), may increase cancer risk. People taking a high dose of amiodarone had close to twice the risk of developing cancer when compared with those taking a low dose of the drug.
Cancer, April 2013

Diet: Diet and Exercise.
While many experts advise to start eating a more healthy diet before starting an exercise program, recent research points to doing both at the same time for optimal results. Participants were separated into four groups: 1) Start exercise program first. 2) Start diet first. 3) Start both diet and exercise at same time. 4) Do neither. Participants who started eating healthier at the same time they started an exercise routine were more likely to exercise 150+ minutes a week, eat 5-9 servings of fruits/vegetables daily, and keep calories from saturated fats to <10% of their daily caloric intake.
Nature Medicine, April 2013

Exercise: Computer Exercises For Alzheimer's Patients.
A new technology using computer brain exercises may help Alzheimer's patients. The NeuroAD system has patients solve computer exercises ranging from identifying colors, shapes, and letters to solving memory games. Simultaneously, the very same regions of the patient's brain responsible for memory and learning receive electromagnetic stimulation, which reactivates brain cell activity.
Harvard University, April 2013

Chiropractic: Effectiveness Of Chiropractic.
183 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to manual therapy (spinal mobilization), physiotherapy (mainly exercise), or general practitioner care (counseling, education, and drugs) in a 52-week study. Manual therapy resulted in faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. Total costs of the manual therapy were about one-third of the costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care.
British Medical Journal, 2003

Wellness/Prevention: Safer Teen Drivers.
A new report on teen driver safety in the United States (US) shows encouraging trends. There has been a 47% decline in teen driver-related fatalities over the past six years. In the past three years, the number of teen passengers killed in crashes who were not wearing seatbelts decreased 23%, the number of teens driven by a peer who had been drinking declined 14%, and 30% fewer teen passengers were killed in crashes involving a teen driver. Despite this progress, auto accidents remain the leading cause of death for US teens.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, April 2013

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: A Later Life Crisis?
32% of males and 33% of females ages 60-69 have experienced a so-called "later life crisis". The most common stimuli for these episodes were bereavement, sickness, injury to themselves or to others, and caring for a sick or disabled loved one. The stressful life event can make the individual aware of their own frailty and death. Some people react with resilience and set new goals, while others focus more on the present, trying to enjoy life more than they did before.
British Psychological Society, April 2013

Health Alert: Hip/Knee Replacement?
Joint damage from osteoarthritis is responsible for 80% of hip replacements and 90% of knee surgeries. Only 50% of individuals with arthritis who had a hip or knee replacement reported a significant improvement in pain and mobility after surgery. 25% of patients who get a single joint replacement will have another within two years.
Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 2013

Diet: Unleaded Please!
Levels of lead in rice imported into the United States (US) ranged from 6-12 mg/kg. For adults, the daily exposure levels from eating imported rice are 20-40 times higher than the Food and Drug Administration's accepted levels. For infants and children, the daily exposure levels are 30-60 times higher. Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage the brain, and in young children whose brains are still growing, it can seriously diminish their capacity to learn and develop. It can disrupt children's behavior, such as make them more aggressive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Lead increases blood pressure and causes cardiovascular diseases in adults.
American Chemical Society, April 2013

Exercise: Walking vs. Running.
Brisk walking can reduce a person's risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol just as much as running can. The risk for first-time hypertension was notably reduced 4.2% by running and 7.2% by walking. The risk for first-time high cholesterol was reduced 4.3% by running and 7% by walking. The risk for first-time diabetes was lowered 12.1% by running and 12.3% by walking. The risk for coronary heart disease was lowered 4.5% by running and 9.3% by walking.
Journal of Adolescent Health, April 2013

Chiropractic: Lowering Blood Pressure.
Chiropractic adjustments to the upper neck were shown to lower high blood pressure. Researchers found a 14 mm Hg greater drop in systolic blood pressure, and 8 mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure following a cervical adjustment. This effect was greater than would result from two blood pressure medications given in combination, and it was adverse-event free.
Journal of Human Hypertension, March 2007

Wellness/Prevention: Vitamin D.
A hormone produced in the skin with exposure to sunlight, Vitamin D is also found in fish, fish liver oils, and egg yolks. Muscle function and recovery from fatigue has been shown to improve with Vitamin D supplementation, which is thought to enhance the activity of the mitochondria - the power plants of the cell.
Newcastle University, April 2013

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Teenaged Smoking, Depression, and Osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a costly health problem. Although it is primarily evident in postmenopausal women, its roots can be traced to periods of growth, including adolescence. A recent study showed that smoking and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls had a negative impact on adolescent bone growth and may lead to future low bone mass or osteoporosis and higher fracture rates in postmenopausal years.
Journal of Adolescent Health, April 2013

Health Alert: World's Population To Stop Growing?
A research team predicts that the Earth's population will stabilize by 2050. The world population in 2100 will be within a range of 15.8 billion people (according to the highest estimates with a high fertility variant) and 6.2 billion (according to the lowest estimates with a low fertility variant). The lowest estimate is actually lower than the current world population of 7 billion. In fact, the world-wide fertility rate has already fallen by more than 40% since 1950.
United Nations, February 2013

Diet: Heart Disease and Red Meat.
Carnitine, a compound abundant in red meat and added as a supplement to popular energy drinks, has been found to promote atherosclerosis (hardening or clogging of arteries).
Nature Medicine, April 2013

Exercise: Walking and Smoking.
Teens who increased the amount of time they exercised by at least 20 minutes (equivalent to a short walk) were more likely than their peers to resist lighting up a cigarette.
Journal of Adolescent Health, April 2013

Chiropractic: Neck Pain Relief!
75% of Americans deal with neck pain at some point in their lives. In a study comparing spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) and prescription medication as treatment options, researches concluded that SMT was more effective both in the short and long-term. At the end of 12 weeks, 57% of participants in the SMT group reported at least a 75% reduction in pain, while only 33% of the medication group had similar results. One year later, patients in the chiropractic group were still experiencing benefits, as 53% still saw at least a 75% reduction in pain.
Annals of Internal Medicine, January 2012

Wellness/Prevention: Kidney Disease and Being Overweight.
Being overweight in young adulthood may significantly increase individuals' risks of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) by the time they become seniors. Those who were overweight in their late 20s and early 30s were twice as likely to have CKD at age 60-64 years compared with those who first became overweight at age 60-64 years or never became overweight. Larger waist-to-hip ratios ("apple-shaped" bodies) at ages 43 and 53 years were also linked with CKD at age 60-64 years. Researchers estimate that 36% of CKD cases at age 60-64 in the United States population could be avoided if nobody became overweight until at least that age.
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, April 2013