Dr Beecher’s December 30 Weekly Chiropractic Newsletter
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WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS UPDATE
Week of Monday, December 30th, 2013
Mental Attitude: Blood Test for Concussions. Currently, 15-30% of concussion sufferers will experience significant, persistent cognitive deficits, such as processing speed, working memory, and the ability to switch or balance multiple thoughts. Unfortunately, doctors have no reliable way to asses if a concussion sufferer may fall into that group. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Baylor College believe they have discovered a blood test that can determine if a concussion sufferer will experience long-term neural complications. By testing blood for elevated levels of a specific protein (STNF), medical professionals can accurately identify if recovery issues will arise and what additional treatment measures should be taken. Frontiers in Neurology, November 2013
Health Alert: Alcohol and Acetaminophen. There were 116,395 new kidney failures, 571,414 people living with kidney failure, and 90,118 deaths from the disease in the United States in 2009. Moderate or light consumption of alcohol taken with acetaminophen may increase the risk of kidney dysfunction. Acetaminophen usage and low to moderate alcohol consumption are not considered as individual risk factors for kidney damage, but together, they increase a person’s risk for kidney damage by
123%. Mayo Clinic, November 2013
Diet: Fruits and Veggies are Good for Your Child’s Bones! A study from the United Kingdom found that fruit and vegetable intake was positively associated with increased total body bone mineral density and bone mineral content in adolescent girls and boys. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2006
Exercise: It Can Take Time… After the first two months of an exercise program, volunteers who had insomnia reported they were not sleeping any better than they had at the start of the study. It wasn’t until the four month mark that their insomnia improved. They also rarely reported sleeping better on nights when they had exercised and they almost always exercised for a shorter amount of time on the days after a poor night’s sleep. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, November 2013
Chiropractic: Significant Improvement! Fifty patients with neck and arm pain caused by an MRI-confirmed cervical disk herniation received chiropractic adjustments over a 90-day period. After two weeks, 55.3% of patients reported their pain had significantly improved. This number rose to 68.9% after one month and 85.7% after three months of care. No adverse events were reported. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, October 2013
Wellness/Prevention: Pesticides and Endometriosis. Endometriosis is a common condition that affects 10% of women during their reproductive years. Symptoms may include painful menstrual periods, pelvic pain, and infertility. Researchers looked to
see if exposure to environmental chemicals with estrogenic properties (like some pesticides) could increase a woman’s risk for developing the disease. They found that women with blood samples showing exposure to two now-banned pesticides (beta-
hexachlorocyclohexane and mirex) have a 30-70% higher risk for developing the condition. Study author Dr. Kristen Upson concludes, “The take-home message from our study is that the persistent environmental chemicals, even those used in the past, may affect the health of the current generation of reproductive-age women with regard to a hormonally driven disease.” Environmental Health Perspectives, November 2013
Quote: “Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.” ~ John F. Kennedy
This Weekly Health News Update is compliments of Dr. Ward Beecher and Beecher Chiropractic Clinic. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at 281-286-1300 or BeecherChiropractic.com .
Dr Beecher’s April 22 Weekly Chiropractic Newsletter
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WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS UPDATE
Week of: Monday, April 22nd, 2013
Mental Attitude: Cognitive Function and Exercise. Regular exercise as a child can result in improved cognitive function at age 50. Exercise represents a key component of lifestyle interventions to prevent cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Even low levels of exercise can have a positive effect on cognitive function. Psychological Medicine, March 2013
Health Alert: Insomnia and Heart Failure! Compared to people with no insomnia symptoms, people who suffer from insomnia appear to have a three-fold increased risk of developing heart failure.
European Heart Journal, March 2013
Diet: Lack of Sleep and Your Diet. People who are sleep deprived are more likely to choose both larger portion sizes and more calorie dense meals and snacks than they would after a normal night’s sleep. Psychoneuroendocrinology, February 2013
Exercise: Stroke Survivors and Walks. Taking regular brisk walks outdoors can help people recovering from a stroke to improve their physical fitness, enjoy a better quality of life, and increase their mobility. The walking group in this study reported a 16.7% improvement in health-related quality of life, and walked 17.6% further in a six-minute physical endurance test. They also had a 1.5% lower resting heart rate at the end of the study than they did at the beginning, while the non-walking groups resting heart rate went up 6.7%. The American Heart Association recommends stroke survivors do aerobic exercise for 20-60 minutes, 3-7 days a week, depending
on fitness level. Stroke, March 2013
Chiropractic: Bad Deposits! Fibrin deposits (from lack of proper motion) form and build-up in and around joints and the surrounding soft tissue, resulting in chronic inflammatory conditions. This can cause chronic pain and associated dysfunction of the joint complex. Spine, 1987
Wellness/Prevention: Maternal Diet. An important predictor of the severity of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants is what their mothers ate during pregnancy. The most serious cases of RSV correlate with mothers who ate a diet high in carbohydrates during gestation.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, March 2013
Quote: “Those who say it’s not possible should move out of the way of those doing it.” ~ Tricia Cunningham
This Weekly Health News Update is compliments of Dr. Ward Beecher and Beecher Chiropractic Clinic. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at 281-286-1300 or BeecherChiropractic.com .
Dr Beecher’s October 10 Weekly Chiropractic Newsletter
To download Dr. Beecher’s Weekly Newsletter, please click here!
WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS UPDATE
Week of Monday, October 10th, 2011
Mental Attitude: Money Can Be Depressing? Rates of depression are higher in countries with higher per capita incomes. 121 million people worldwide have depression. Severe depression can lead to suicide and causes 850,000 deaths every year. The United States and France had the highest depression rates. Higher incomes can be related to more work hours and a lowered quality of life. 15% of people in high-income countries were likely to become depressed during their lifetime, compared with 11% of those in low or middle-income countries.
British Medical Journal, Aug 2011
Health Alert: You Are Getting Very Sleepy. Insomnia affects 23% of US workforce, costing $63.2 billion annually. Insomnia is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep. It includes a wide spectrum of sleep disorders, from not enough sleep to lack of quality sleep. Sleep, Aug 2011
Diet: Bad Habits? People entering the movies were given a bucket of either just-popped, fresh popcorn or stale, week-old popcorn. Moviegoers who didn’t usually eat popcorn at the movies ate much less stale popcorn than fresh popcorn. Moviegoers who typically had popcorn at the movies ate about the same amount — regardless it was fresh or stale. When we’ve repeatedly eaten a food in an environment, our brain comes to associate the food with that environment and we keep eating as long as those environmental cues are present.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2011
Exercise: Runners Drinking Too Much? 50% of recreational runners may be drinking too much fluid during races.
37% of runners drink according to a preset schedule or to maintain a certain body weight and 9% drink as much as
possible. Expert guidelines recommend runners drink only when thirsty. 30% incorrectly believe they need extra salt while running, and 57% drink sports drinks because the drinks have electrolytes that prevent low blood sodium.
However, main cause of low sodium is drinking too much water or sports drinks during exercise, which can dilute the sodium content of blood to abnormally low levels. This can cause a potentially fatal condition called exercise- associated hyponatremia. Symptoms of hyponatremia include: nausea, vomiting, headache, confusion, loss of
energy, muscle weakness, spasms or cramps. In extreme cases, the condition can lead to seizures, unconsciousness and coma. British Journal of Sports Medicine, June 2011
Chiropractic: Careful. In work-related nonspecific low back pain, the use of health maintenance care (treatment after initial disability was resolved) provided by Physical Therapist (PT) or Medical Physician (MD) services was associated with a higher disability (injury) recurrence than in the use of Chiropractic (DC) services.
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2011
Wellness/Prevention: Shorter Colds. Zinc lozenges may shorten the duration of common cold episodes by 40%.
Open Respiratory Medicine Journal, Aug 2011
Quote: “A question that sometimes drives me crazy: am I or are the others crazy?” ~ Albert Einstein
This Weekly Health News Update is compliments of Dr. Ward Beecher and Beecher Chiropractic Clinic. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at 281-286-1300 or www.BeecherChiropractic.Com.
