Weekly Health Update: Heads Up!

Mental Attitude: Low Self-Esteem?
According to a new study, a man is likely to feel worse about himself when his wife or girlfriend succeeds. Scientists discovered that men automatically interpret their partner's success as their own failure, even when they are not in direct competition. The study did not find that a woman's self-esteem is negatively affected by her partner's success.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, September 2013

Health Alert: Motorcycle Deaths.
Fatal motorcycle injuries in the United States (US) increased 227% from 1998 to 2010. Men face a 7.8 times higher risk of death from motorcycle crashes than women. In 2010, there were 149,992 traffic fatalities in the US, with motorcyclists representing 15% of these deaths.
International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, September 2013

Diet: Battle of the Binge.
Binge eating, or “the repeated consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time without some other compensatory activity,” is a problem under-recognized in men. According to researchers, the discrepancy between overweight female binge eaters and overweight male binge eaters is that women gain weight faster and seek a diet sooner. There is also a cultural component that sends the message that men are expected to eat more.
Health Behavior News Science, September 2013

Exercise: Exercise, Alcohol Abuse, and Brain Damage.
Heavy drinking has previously been linked to brain damage. However, preliminary studies indicate that individuals who drink heavily but engage in regular physical activity can maintain the health of their white brain matter. The study's authors are quick to point out that this finding is not a license to drink as much as you can, provided you exercise. Alcohol abuse can still take a toll on many organs in the body, not just your brain.
University of Colorado at Boulder, April 2013

Chiropractic: Heads Up!
If your head is in a forward posture, it can add up to 30 lbs (~13 kg) of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine (neck). In time, this can pull the entire spine out of alignment. Forward head posture may even result in the loss of up to 30% of vital lung capacity. These breath-related effects are primarily due to the loss of the cervical lordosis (the inward curve of the cervical spine), which blocks the action of the inferior hyoid muscle responsible for helping lift the first rib during inhalation.
Rene Cailliet, M.D., January 1996

Wellness/Prevention: Stop Smoking.
Smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack compared to people who have never smoked. Not smoking is the most important thing someone can do to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.
European Society of Cardiology, August 2013

Weekly Health Update: Chiropractic for Every Inch!

Mental Attitude: Video Games are Good!
Scientists have developed a video game-based training strategy called NeuroRacer that could "repair" cognitive decline in older individuals. The 3D video game challenges cognitive control by providing a series of distractions on the screen that the players must try to avoid while driving. After playing the game, the study participants showed a dramatic increase in their multi-tasking abilities. These improved abilities continued to last for six months without any "booster" training on the game. EEG scans showed increased measurements in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, the area responsible for problem solving and complex thought.
Nature, September 2013

Health Alert: Young Adults and Stroke.
Hospital discharges in the United States for strokes among young adults (15-44 years old) increased at least 23% from 1996 to 2008. Lifestyle risk factors for stroke include obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol levels.
Neurology, September 20133

Diet: Vitamin D Deficiency.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with osteomalacia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, and risk of fracture. Emerging evidence also points to increased risk for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Good sources of vitamin D include sunlight, cod liver oil, salmon, mushrooms, mackerel, tuna fish, milk, orange juice, and supplements.
British Journal of Nutrition, September 2013

Exercise: Obesity and Post Heart Attack Mortality.
A study of French heart attack survivors found that obesity (BMI =35 kg/m²) is associated with the largest risk of absolute mortality five years later (+65%).
European Society of Cardiology, August 2013

Chiropractic: Every Inch!
For every inch your head is forward, your upper back and neck muscles have to hold an extra 10 lbs (~4.5 kg), as they have to work harder to keep the head (chin) from dropping to your chest. This also forces the sub-occipital muscles (they raise the chin) to remain in constant contraction, putting pressure on the three sub-occipital nerves. This nerve compression may cause headaches at the base of the skull or mimic sinus (frontal) headaches.
Kapandji, Physiology of the Joints, Volume III

Wellness/Prevention: Sleep and Your Brain.
Sleep increases the reproduction of the cells (oligodendrocytes) that form myelin. Myelin is the insulating material found on nerve cell projections in the brain and spinal cord that's responsible for allowing electrical impulses to move from cell to cell, similar to the insulation around electrical wires.
University of Wisconsin, September 2013

Weekly Health Update: Chiropractic Increases Productivity!

Mental Attitude: The Brain and Learning a Second Language.
Learning a second language requires the brain to create and strengthen new neural connections in the brain's inferior frontal cortex. This is similar to the structural changes seen in people learning complex motor skills, such as juggling.
Montreal Neurological Institute, September 2013

Health Alert: Obesity in the United States.
78 million adults and 13 million kids are obese in the Unites States (US), with the total number increasing to 113 million by 2022. 60-70% of the US population is either overweight or obese, putting them at risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
American Heart Association, September 2013

Diet: Vitamins and Violence.
Deficiencies of vitamins A, D, K, B1, B3, B6, B12 and folate, and of minerals iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc, chromium and manganese can all contribute to mental instability and violent behavior.
Sylvia Onusic, PhD, April 2013

Exercise: Watch Your Step!
When exercising, the force centered on your ankle can exceed up to seven times your body weight. 23,000 people sprain their ankle every day in the United States, resulting in 1.6 million doctor office visits annually. The direct and indirect costs (e.g., lost days from work) associated with treating ankle sprains exceed $1.1 billion annually. To make matters worse, these numbers do not take into account the long-term disability often associated with ankle sprains. Overweight athletes with a prior history of ankle sprain are 19 times more likely to suffer another ankle sprain.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, February 2011

Chiropractic: Increased Productivity!
A small, one-year study of office workers with neck and upper extremity pain found that chiropractic care combined with improved workstation ergonomics resulted in decreased pain, increased quality of life, and up to 100% increased productivity.
Work, September 2013

Wellness/Prevention: Obesity Microbes?
New research suggests changing the mix of gut microbes can prevent obesity, but only if combined with a healthy diet. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables encourages leanness-related microbes to populate the gut leading to better weight control. However, a diet high in saturated fat and low in fruits and vegetables thwarts the invasion of microbes associated with leanness.
Science, September 2013

Weekly Health Update: Spinal Pain Treatments Compared

Mental Attitude: No Yelling.
Harsh verbal punishments, such as shouting, cursing, or using insults, are just as harmful to adolescents as physical discipline. Adolescents whose parents used harsh verbal punishment are more likely to suffer from depression and are more likely to engage in vandalism or aggressive behavior. Parental warmth, love, emotional support, and affection between parents and their kids is not enough to outweigh the negative effects of harsh verbal discipline.
Child Development, September 2013

Health Alert: Advances in Infant Mortality.
European infant mortality rates fell from 178 deaths (< 1 year of age) per 1,000 births in the 1870s to 120 per 1,000 during 1911-1915. In the 1950s, these rates fell to 41 per 1,000, and in the late 1970s, they continued to fall to only 14 per 1000. In 2010, the mortality rate was 4.1 per 1,000 births. Factors for these improvements include increased income per capita, more sanitary living conditions, better general education about health and nutrition, better social services and health systems, and medical advances.
Oxford Economic Papers, September 2013

Diet: Chew Your Food.
It is not a surprise that almonds are a great source of healthy fats and extra energy. However, the extent that almonds are chewed can make a difference in how much nutrition is absorbed by the body and how much is expelled. The more you chew, the more your body can use.
Institute of Food Technologists, July 2013

Exercise: Sudden Cardiac Death Risk and Exercise.
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for 50% of all deaths from coronary heart disease, and is defined as death with cardiac origin within 24 hours after onset of symptoms. A 19-year study looked at the impact of high leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) combined with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on the risk of SCD. The results showed that the risk of SDC was nearly double among men who are inactive (low CRF and low LTPA).
Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, September 2013

Chiropractic: Spinal Pain Treatments Compared.
In this study, acupuncture, medication, and chiropractic care were compared on a patient population with spinal pain, including neck and back pain. Only spinal manipulation provided both short-term and long-term benefits.
Spine, July 2003

Wellness/Prevention: The Great and Powerful Ginger.
Ginger is an herb that is used as a spice and also has therapeutic qualities. The underground stem (rhizome) can be used fresh, powdered, dried, or as an oil or juice. Ginger is used for treating loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting after surgery, flatulence, upset stomach, colic, morning sickness, motion sickness, upper respiratory tract infection, bronchitis, cough, menstrual cramps, arthritis, and muscle pain.
National Library of Medicine, September 2013

Weekly Health Update: Chiropractic Adjustments Validated

Mental Attitude: Control Over You Own Life?
When people were provided with scientific evidence that supported the ability to predict the future, they felt a greater sense of control over their lives. One group of study participants read a paragraph stating that researchers had found evidence supporting the existence of precognition, while another group read a paragraph that refuted these findings. On a subsequent survey, people who read the paragraph confirming the ability to predict the future agreed more strongly with statements like "I am in control of my own life"; "My life is determined by my own actions"; and "I am able to live my life how I wish."
PLOS ONE, August 2013

Health Alert: Taxing Sugary Beverages?
Obesity rates in the United States are 36% for adults and 17% for children. Medical costs associated with obesity are ~$147 billion per year. A sugary beverage tax may reduce the consumption of soda but will likely lead to an increase in calories, salt, and fat intake from untaxed foods and beverages.
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, August 2013

Diet: Comfort Food Preferences?
Researchers found that rats exposed to heightened levels of stress during their first few days of life were more likely to be prone to anxiety and stress in later life and preferred sugary and high-fat foods. This is the first study to demonstrate that comfort food preference could be enhanced by such an early stress exposure.
Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, August 2013

Exercise: Teenaged Physical Fitness Reduces Suicide Risk in Adulthood.
An analysis of over one million Swedish men found a link between physical fitness at age 18 and suicide risk up to 40 years later. Young men who performed poorly on an exercise bike test had an adulthood risk of suicide nearly 1.8 times that of their peers who were deemed physically fit.
Psychological Medicine, June 2013

Chiropractic: Adjustments Validated.
Patients with neck pain, neck dysfunction, and headache showed significant improvement with cervical spine adjustments.
Duke Evidence Report, 2001

Wellness/Prevention: Breastfeeding and Alzheimer's.
Mothers who breastfed their children have a reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease later in life. Researches have two theories on why this may be the case: 1) Breastfeeding deprives the body of progesterone and progesterone is known to desensitize the brain's oestrogen receptors. This may increase the amount of oestrogen in the brain, a hormone that may play a role in protecting the brain from Alzheimer's. 2) Breastfeeding restores a woman's insulin sensitivity after pregnancy. Alzheimer's has been characterized as a resistance to insulin in the brain so much so that it has even been referred to as type 3 diabetes.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, August 2013