Athletes can be vulnerable to infection .
Probiotic supplements reduce the number and length of infections suffered by long-distance runners, Australian research has found.
Strenuous training can affect the immune system and make athletes vulnerable to coughs and colds.
British Journal of Sports Medicine study found taking probiotics more than halved the days they had symptoms...
Blood tests taken from the athletes found doubled levels of interferon gamma, a chemical involved in the body's immune system, suggesting that the probiotics might somehow be helping the body to protect itself.
The researchers said that the reason behind the study was to find ways to maximise the benefits to athletes getting ready for major events.
"An improvement in resistance to common illnesses constitutes an important benefit to elite athletes undertaking high-level training in preparation for national and international competitions," they wrote.
However, they said that it would be worth investigating the potential of probiotics to help everyone else...
Click Here To Read The Full Article At BBC News...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
BREAST FEEDING REDUCES RISK OF DEVELOPING DIABETES
Breast-fed babies appear to be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes when they reach adolescence, according to findings published in the medical journal Diabetes Care.
"Dramatic increases in childhood obesity and the emergence of type 2 diabetes in youth motivate research to identify lifestyle approaches to primary prevention of both conditions," write Dr. Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and colleagues…
The breast-feeding rate was lower in subjects with type 2 diabetes compared with the control subjects, at 20 versus 27 percent in African Americans; 50 versus 84 percent for Hispanics; and 39 percent versus 78 percent for non-Hispanic whites, respectively.
Regardless of ethnic group, further analysis indicated that the protective effect of breast feeding against type 2 diabetes was in large part attributable to its effect in moderating current childhood weight.
Nonetheless, breast-feeding in itself had a protective effect, Mayer-Davis and colleagues found. "Given other well-established reasons for breast-feeding," the researchers conclude, "renewed efforts to encourage breast-feeding in populations at high risk for type 2 diabetes may be useful."
Click Here To Read The Full Article At Reuters...
"Dramatic increases in childhood obesity and the emergence of type 2 diabetes in youth motivate research to identify lifestyle approaches to primary prevention of both conditions," write Dr. Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and colleagues…
The breast-feeding rate was lower in subjects with type 2 diabetes compared with the control subjects, at 20 versus 27 percent in African Americans; 50 versus 84 percent for Hispanics; and 39 percent versus 78 percent for non-Hispanic whites, respectively.
Regardless of ethnic group, further analysis indicated that the protective effect of breast feeding against type 2 diabetes was in large part attributable to its effect in moderating current childhood weight.
Nonetheless, breast-feeding in itself had a protective effect, Mayer-Davis and colleagues found. "Given other well-established reasons for breast-feeding," the researchers conclude, "renewed efforts to encourage breast-feeding in populations at high risk for type 2 diabetes may be useful."
Click Here To Read The Full Article At Reuters...
ABNORMAL GUT BACTERIA MIX IN BABIES PREDICTS OBESITY
The mix of bacteria in a baby's gut may predict whether that infant will become overweight or obese later in life, a new study suggests.
Babies with high numbers of bifidobacteria and low numbers of Staphylococcus aureus may be protected from excess weight gain…
The researchers suggested their findings may help explain why breast-fed babies are at lower risk for later obesity, since bifidobacteria are prevalent in the guts of breast-fed babies.
Other studies repeatedly have found that being breast-fed is associated with a reduced risk of excess weight or obesity in childhood, with the risk lowered from 13 percent to 22 percent.
In the new study, researchers evaluated children who had been part of a long-term study to evaluate the effect of probiotics on allergic disease. Probiotics are potentially beneficial bacteria found in foods such as yogurt and in dietary supplements…
When they looked at the fecal samples, the average bacterial counts of bifidobacteria when taken at 6 months and 12 months were twice as high in those who were a healthy weight as in those who got heavy.
Those who stayed at a healthy weight also had lower fecal S. aureus levels at 6 months and 12 months than did those who got heavy…
In other research, gut bacteria in adults have been found to be altered in obese adults who lost weight. Someday, the Finnish researchers speculated, tinkering with gut flora may help prevent or treat obesity…
"The exact role that bacteria in the intestine play in development of obesity is still the subject of much research," she said, "but the benefits of breast-feeding are clear. Breast-feeding provides not only the proper nutrition for your infant, but it provides benefits that may impact long-term health and weight issues as well."..
Click Here To Read The Full Article At The Washington Post...
Babies with high numbers of bifidobacteria and low numbers of Staphylococcus aureus may be protected from excess weight gain…
The researchers suggested their findings may help explain why breast-fed babies are at lower risk for later obesity, since bifidobacteria are prevalent in the guts of breast-fed babies.
Other studies repeatedly have found that being breast-fed is associated with a reduced risk of excess weight or obesity in childhood, with the risk lowered from 13 percent to 22 percent.
In the new study, researchers evaluated children who had been part of a long-term study to evaluate the effect of probiotics on allergic disease. Probiotics are potentially beneficial bacteria found in foods such as yogurt and in dietary supplements…
When they looked at the fecal samples, the average bacterial counts of bifidobacteria when taken at 6 months and 12 months were twice as high in those who were a healthy weight as in those who got heavy.
Those who stayed at a healthy weight also had lower fecal S. aureus levels at 6 months and 12 months than did those who got heavy…
In other research, gut bacteria in adults have been found to be altered in obese adults who lost weight. Someday, the Finnish researchers speculated, tinkering with gut flora may help prevent or treat obesity…
"The exact role that bacteria in the intestine play in development of obesity is still the subject of much research," she said, "but the benefits of breast-feeding are clear. Breast-feeding provides not only the proper nutrition for your infant, but it provides benefits that may impact long-term health and weight issues as well."..
Click Here To Read The Full Article At The Washington Post...
TEENAGERS SKIPPING BREAKFAST LINKED TO OBESITY
Teenagers who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese than those who eat a morning meal, according to a finding that researchers say may be linked to rising obesity among adolescents.
Teens that skipped the meal were five pounds heavier on average, ate less healthy during the day and exercised less frequently than those who ate breakfast, researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics. The study is the largest to follow the breakfast habits of teens over years and track whether they've become obese, researchers said.
The obesity rate for adolescents has tripled over the past 20 years, according to a 2007 report by the U.S. Surgeon General's Office...
“There's been a growing body of scientific evidence that breakfast habits might be related to obesity and other health outcomes,” said Mark Pereira, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a study author. Skipping the meal may mean “you're more likely to eat the fast food or the vending machine food.”..
Teenagers who came from low-income homes and were nonwhite were more likely to skip breakfast, the study showed. The researchers said some teenagers may have refrained from eating the morning meal to lose weight.
Obesity means a person has too much body fat, while being overweight means a person's weight is more than what is viewed as healthy given his or her height, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers said earlier studies have found 12 to 34 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 regularly skip breakfast.
Click Here To Read The Full Article At Bloomberg...
Teens that skipped the meal were five pounds heavier on average, ate less healthy during the day and exercised less frequently than those who ate breakfast, researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics. The study is the largest to follow the breakfast habits of teens over years and track whether they've become obese, researchers said.
The obesity rate for adolescents has tripled over the past 20 years, according to a 2007 report by the U.S. Surgeon General's Office...
“There's been a growing body of scientific evidence that breakfast habits might be related to obesity and other health outcomes,” said Mark Pereira, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a study author. Skipping the meal may mean “you're more likely to eat the fast food or the vending machine food.”..
Teenagers who came from low-income homes and were nonwhite were more likely to skip breakfast, the study showed. The researchers said some teenagers may have refrained from eating the morning meal to lose weight.
Obesity means a person has too much body fat, while being overweight means a person's weight is more than what is viewed as healthy given his or her height, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers said earlier studies have found 12 to 34 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 regularly skip breakfast.
Click Here To Read The Full Article At Bloomberg...
EXPERTS LOBBY GOVERNMENT OVER GM CROP FEARS
It is now legal to plant genetically modified (GM) canola in much of Australia, but a large group of concerned scientists, nutritionists and doctors is trying to convince the Federal Government to stop the seeds from ever being sown.
About 700 people have signed a letter to the Prime Minister, reminding him of Labor's election statement that safe and beneficial standards for GM products must be established beyond reasonable doubt.
They want the Federal Government to override decisions in Victoria and New South Wales allowing GM canola to be grown, and start from scratch, with a complete review of GM safety.
The planting season is only weeks away, but Adelaide businessman Peter Fenwick is hoping his letter to the Federal Government can stop it...
The letter says the previous federal government set up a biased regulatory regime for GM products.
Epidemiologist and biochemist Judy Carman says there was no thorough testing of the safety of GM canola before it was approved...
Dr Carman says no one can say for sure if genetically modified DNA is safe if ingested by humans.
"We don't know, because the safety assessments have not been done properly," she said.
"There have not been any human health studies done on GM crops.
"There have been very few, ultimately, animal studies done on GM crops, and this is one of the problems - our food regulator does not require any animal studies to be done on GM crops."
Click Here To Read the Full Article At ABC News and Listen To The Audio...
Click Here To Download The Letter Submitted To The Government...
Click Here If You Would Like To Email Your Endorsement For This Letter...
About 700 people have signed a letter to the Prime Minister, reminding him of Labor's election statement that safe and beneficial standards for GM products must be established beyond reasonable doubt.
They want the Federal Government to override decisions in Victoria and New South Wales allowing GM canola to be grown, and start from scratch, with a complete review of GM safety.
The planting season is only weeks away, but Adelaide businessman Peter Fenwick is hoping his letter to the Federal Government can stop it...
The letter says the previous federal government set up a biased regulatory regime for GM products.
Epidemiologist and biochemist Judy Carman says there was no thorough testing of the safety of GM canola before it was approved...
Dr Carman says no one can say for sure if genetically modified DNA is safe if ingested by humans.
"We don't know, because the safety assessments have not been done properly," she said.
"There have not been any human health studies done on GM crops.
"There have been very few, ultimately, animal studies done on GM crops, and this is one of the problems - our food regulator does not require any animal studies to be done on GM crops."
Click Here To Read the Full Article At ABC News and Listen To The Audio...
Click Here To Download The Letter Submitted To The Government...
Click Here If You Would Like To Email Your Endorsement For This Letter...
BLIND MAN SUDDENLY SEES AGAIN
Doctors aren't quite sure how it happened, but a Dubuque man can see clearly after being blind in one eye for more than a decade.
It happened after a trip to the chiropractor.
Twelve years ago Doug Harkey's left eye suddenly stopped working. "I woke up one day and I didn't have vision in one eye."
And as quickly as he lost sight, he got it back.
Harkey said, "he just did his normal adjustment and, voila! After a routine visit to Chiropractor Tim Stackis, Harkey says a miracle happened.
"My blind eye starting watering after I left there and it watered for 45 minutes straight. It started making my good eye water. I went to wipe my right eye and I could see out my left again."
Doctor Stackis said the bones in the Harkey's neck were out of alignment. Stackis said, "That interferes with the messages and energy the brain sends down to the rest of the body."
Harkey now has the depth perception he'd been missing, just what he needs as he's about to walk down the aisle with his fiancée next month.
Click Here To Read The Full Article At KCRG TV9 News...
It happened after a trip to the chiropractor.
Twelve years ago Doug Harkey's left eye suddenly stopped working. "I woke up one day and I didn't have vision in one eye."
And as quickly as he lost sight, he got it back.
Harkey said, "he just did his normal adjustment and, voila! After a routine visit to Chiropractor Tim Stackis, Harkey says a miracle happened.
"My blind eye starting watering after I left there and it watered for 45 minutes straight. It started making my good eye water. I went to wipe my right eye and I could see out my left again."
Doctor Stackis said the bones in the Harkey's neck were out of alignment. Stackis said, "That interferes with the messages and energy the brain sends down to the rest of the body."
Harkey now has the depth perception he'd been missing, just what he needs as he's about to walk down the aisle with his fiancée next month.
Click Here To Read The Full Article At KCRG TV9 News...
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO SPINAL MANIPULATION
Just in case you think that the last historical feature on chiropractic care and mental ailments is historically interesting, but currently irrelevant - Here's some more recent evidence for the role for chiropractic in mental state... A systematic review of psychological outcomes in randomised controlled trials.
The most important risk factors for back and neck pain are psychosocial. Nevertheless, systematic reviews of spinal manipulation have concentrated on pain and spine related disability, and ignored psychological outcomes.
This review assessed whether spinal manipulation was effective in improving psychological outcome... There was some evidence that spinal manipulation improved psychological outcomes compared with verbal interventions.
Read The Full Abstract At Find Health Articles...
The most important risk factors for back and neck pain are psychosocial. Nevertheless, systematic reviews of spinal manipulation have concentrated on pain and spine related disability, and ignored psychological outcomes.
This review assessed whether spinal manipulation was effective in improving psychological outcome... There was some evidence that spinal manipulation improved psychological outcomes compared with verbal interventions.
Read The Full Abstract At Find Health Articles...
CHIROPRACTIC IN MENTAL AILMENTS
This feature is based on an article originally published in 1957. Few people know that many years ago there was a number of Chiropractic Psychiatric Hospitals which had unprecedented success stories. This topic deserves to be revisited...
There is a considerable accumulation of evidence that chiropractic is effective in the handling of various mental ills, perhaps even more effective in certain instances than the medical battery of treatment which includes psychoanalysis, psychiatry, drugs, various types of shock therapy, and surgery. This evidence has been piling up since the days of DD Palmer himself, who wrote that in the case of insane patients it was usual to find "occlusion of the third, sixth, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth dorsal nerves."
In 1952, a crusading book entitled Obsolete American Mental Health Systems made startling claims that both chiropractic and osteopathy were far superior to so-called "orthodox" procedures in the handling of mental ills. Written by John Stevenson, who was for many years a prominent figure in labor management in the State of Michigan, it made such direct comparisons as these:
"Under our present state mental health programs, seventy-five to ninety-five patients of every one hundred patients who enter state mental hospitals are doomed to an asylum prison for life, depending on which state the patients are confined in…
"Investigation reveals that the private sanitariums of the chiropractic profession show from 60 to 65 per cent satisfactory discharges per annum as against 1 per cent to approximately 25 per cent discharges from state mental hospitals."…
Chiropractors state that clinical experience with many thousands of nervous patients has definitely established a direct connection between the nervous system and these disorders, demonstrating that the latter are not always of purely emotional origin. They also state that the physical alterations they are able to stimulate in the nervous system through spinal adjustment are highly successful in eliminating nervous symptoms, including those of long duration. This was stressed in a recent series of articles in the National Chiropractic Association journal titled "The Connection Between Nerves and Nervousness" and written by Dr. Herman S. Schwartz, President of the National Chiropractic Psychotherapy Council and author of the popular self-help book The Art of Relaxation…
A valuable guide to the subject is a public-information booklet written by Dr. Schwartz with the technical and editorial collaboration of George W. Hartmann, Professor of Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University. It is entitled 350 Nervous and Mental Cases Under Chiropractic Care and was published by The Chiropractic Research Foundation of Webster City, Iowa.
Dr. Schwartz cogently sums up chiropractic's approach to mental illness. He says: "It is logical to ask how chiropractors correct nervous and mental conditions without resorting to psychiatry. The answer is that chiropractic is a neurological approach to these problems, operating on the independent assumption now an established scientific fact-that much emotional illness stems from nerve irritations maintained by distortions in the spinal column. By correcting these subluxations, the chiropractor eliminates intense and persistent pains of obscure origin which mental cases suffer. A person with a cinder in his eye sometimes shows temporary lack of emotional control. So does one who has his corn stepped on heavily. Perpetuate excitation with a less obvious source of trouble and one begins to understand why some of the mentally ill suffer."
Of the 350 patients in the Schwartz survey, 212 or 60.5 per cent were "apparently cured" through chiropractic, 87 or 25 per cent "much improved," 28 or 8 per cent "somewhat improved," 19 or 5.5 per cent revealed "no change," and 4 or 1 per cent were "worse." Thus in 93.5 per cent of these patients improvement was noted ranging from apparent cure to some betterment of the condition.
"The summation here," observed Dr. Schwartz, "is that the chances are about 9 in 10 that `nervous' cases of the sort considered, benefit from whatever the chiropractor does for them. Interestingly enough, every one of the 350 cases studied revealed subluxations of variable magnitude in spinal analysis."
The Schwartz study becomes even more impressive when it is noted that of the patients studied 33 per cent had been in mental institutions and another four per cent were on the verge of being committed at the time chiropractic was first applied to them. More than 55 per cent had received general medical care, 13 per cent had undergone some form of shock therapy, and six per cent had had psychiatric treatment. Of the entire 350, all but five had had at least some degree of medical and psychiatric attention. Under such treatment, 27 or 8 per cent of the entire group had worsened, 33 or 10 per cent had shown some improvement, and 285 or 81 per cent had shown no change either for better or for worse…
One of the best-known chiropractic institutions dealing with the mentally ill is Forest Park Chiropractic Sanitarium in Davenport, Iowa. Its record in mental cases appears far superior than that of many, if not all, orthodox institutions. As far back as 1934, through the efforts of Hon. A. W. Ponath, County Judge of the Probate Court of Richland County, Wahpeton, North Dakota, 10 patients from the State Hospital at James-town, North Dakota, who had all been diagnosed as hopeless and incurable cases of dementia praecox, were sent to Forest Park in a test of what chiropractic could or could not accomplish. All of the 10 were chronic cases, and eight of the ten had been in the North Dakota state mental institution for from five to ten years. The remaining two were acute cases who had been mentally deranged for only a short time.
With these ten mental patients—all of whom had been diagnosed by state-employed medical doctors and psychiatrists as hopelessly incurable—Forest Park appears to have achieved 80 per cent complete recovery. The two acute cases were completely recovered by the end of the second month of treatment. Of the eight chronic cases, six were returned home as free from symptoms within one year.
Judge Ponath subsequently published a report titled Facts—What Chiropractic Has Done for Insanity in which he compared the overall records at Jamestown, N. D., (under medical supervision) and Forest Park (chiropractic). He found that during the years 1922-1934 the state mental hospital achieved 27.18 cures or satisfactory discharges, as compared with 65 per cent of the chiropractic institution over the same period.
Judge Ponath concluded, "And if this record, 65 per cent, can be obtained on cases where the large percentage are classed as incurable and had already spent much time in insane asylums and other sanitariums, how much more chiropractic could do if given the opportunity to handle the patients immediately after being brought to an insane asylum, rather than months or years later when their constitution has been run down by deterioration or prolonged mental disability or both."…
Read The Full Article At Old And Sold Antiques Digest...
There is a considerable accumulation of evidence that chiropractic is effective in the handling of various mental ills, perhaps even more effective in certain instances than the medical battery of treatment which includes psychoanalysis, psychiatry, drugs, various types of shock therapy, and surgery. This evidence has been piling up since the days of DD Palmer himself, who wrote that in the case of insane patients it was usual to find "occlusion of the third, sixth, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth dorsal nerves."
In 1952, a crusading book entitled Obsolete American Mental Health Systems made startling claims that both chiropractic and osteopathy were far superior to so-called "orthodox" procedures in the handling of mental ills. Written by John Stevenson, who was for many years a prominent figure in labor management in the State of Michigan, it made such direct comparisons as these:
"Under our present state mental health programs, seventy-five to ninety-five patients of every one hundred patients who enter state mental hospitals are doomed to an asylum prison for life, depending on which state the patients are confined in…
"Investigation reveals that the private sanitariums of the chiropractic profession show from 60 to 65 per cent satisfactory discharges per annum as against 1 per cent to approximately 25 per cent discharges from state mental hospitals."…
Chiropractors state that clinical experience with many thousands of nervous patients has definitely established a direct connection between the nervous system and these disorders, demonstrating that the latter are not always of purely emotional origin. They also state that the physical alterations they are able to stimulate in the nervous system through spinal adjustment are highly successful in eliminating nervous symptoms, including those of long duration. This was stressed in a recent series of articles in the National Chiropractic Association journal titled "The Connection Between Nerves and Nervousness" and written by Dr. Herman S. Schwartz, President of the National Chiropractic Psychotherapy Council and author of the popular self-help book The Art of Relaxation…
A valuable guide to the subject is a public-information booklet written by Dr. Schwartz with the technical and editorial collaboration of George W. Hartmann, Professor of Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University. It is entitled 350 Nervous and Mental Cases Under Chiropractic Care and was published by The Chiropractic Research Foundation of Webster City, Iowa.
Dr. Schwartz cogently sums up chiropractic's approach to mental illness. He says: "It is logical to ask how chiropractors correct nervous and mental conditions without resorting to psychiatry. The answer is that chiropractic is a neurological approach to these problems, operating on the independent assumption now an established scientific fact-that much emotional illness stems from nerve irritations maintained by distortions in the spinal column. By correcting these subluxations, the chiropractor eliminates intense and persistent pains of obscure origin which mental cases suffer. A person with a cinder in his eye sometimes shows temporary lack of emotional control. So does one who has his corn stepped on heavily. Perpetuate excitation with a less obvious source of trouble and one begins to understand why some of the mentally ill suffer."
Of the 350 patients in the Schwartz survey, 212 or 60.5 per cent were "apparently cured" through chiropractic, 87 or 25 per cent "much improved," 28 or 8 per cent "somewhat improved," 19 or 5.5 per cent revealed "no change," and 4 or 1 per cent were "worse." Thus in 93.5 per cent of these patients improvement was noted ranging from apparent cure to some betterment of the condition.
"The summation here," observed Dr. Schwartz, "is that the chances are about 9 in 10 that `nervous' cases of the sort considered, benefit from whatever the chiropractor does for them. Interestingly enough, every one of the 350 cases studied revealed subluxations of variable magnitude in spinal analysis."
The Schwartz study becomes even more impressive when it is noted that of the patients studied 33 per cent had been in mental institutions and another four per cent were on the verge of being committed at the time chiropractic was first applied to them. More than 55 per cent had received general medical care, 13 per cent had undergone some form of shock therapy, and six per cent had had psychiatric treatment. Of the entire 350, all but five had had at least some degree of medical and psychiatric attention. Under such treatment, 27 or 8 per cent of the entire group had worsened, 33 or 10 per cent had shown some improvement, and 285 or 81 per cent had shown no change either for better or for worse…
One of the best-known chiropractic institutions dealing with the mentally ill is Forest Park Chiropractic Sanitarium in Davenport, Iowa. Its record in mental cases appears far superior than that of many, if not all, orthodox institutions. As far back as 1934, through the efforts of Hon. A. W. Ponath, County Judge of the Probate Court of Richland County, Wahpeton, North Dakota, 10 patients from the State Hospital at James-town, North Dakota, who had all been diagnosed as hopeless and incurable cases of dementia praecox, were sent to Forest Park in a test of what chiropractic could or could not accomplish. All of the 10 were chronic cases, and eight of the ten had been in the North Dakota state mental institution for from five to ten years. The remaining two were acute cases who had been mentally deranged for only a short time.
With these ten mental patients—all of whom had been diagnosed by state-employed medical doctors and psychiatrists as hopelessly incurable—Forest Park appears to have achieved 80 per cent complete recovery. The two acute cases were completely recovered by the end of the second month of treatment. Of the eight chronic cases, six were returned home as free from symptoms within one year.
Judge Ponath subsequently published a report titled Facts—What Chiropractic Has Done for Insanity in which he compared the overall records at Jamestown, N. D., (under medical supervision) and Forest Park (chiropractic). He found that during the years 1922-1934 the state mental hospital achieved 27.18 cures or satisfactory discharges, as compared with 65 per cent of the chiropractic institution over the same period.
Judge Ponath concluded, "And if this record, 65 per cent, can be obtained on cases where the large percentage are classed as incurable and had already spent much time in insane asylums and other sanitariums, how much more chiropractic could do if given the opportunity to handle the patients immediately after being brought to an insane asylum, rather than months or years later when their constitution has been run down by deterioration or prolonged mental disability or both."…
Read The Full Article At Old And Sold Antiques Digest...
DEAR CHIROPRACTOR: HELP ME KICK THE HABIT
Beating addiction may take an extra nudge from the chiropractor.
When Jose Mehlman enrolled in the Exodus addiction treatment center as a study participant, he had hit bottom. Years before, he tried treatments that fell into his lap—anything that might help him. But they were "nowhere near effective." Today, Mehlman is living a viable, drug-free life. Why was his Exodus experience so successful? "I think that chiropractic care was an integral part of my recovery," he says.
But what does the spine have to do with addiction? The connection may be explained by the presence, or absence, of brain chemicals that make us feel good. When the spinal chord and its nerves are in proper order, chemicals known as neurotransmitters are released in a specific sequence, like falling dominoes. The result: A state of well-being. However, subluxations or misalignments of the spine can cause pressure and tension on surrounding tissue, interrupting this feel-good sequence.
Jay Holder, a chiropractor and physician with the Exodus Treatment Center in Miami Beach, wondered how patients would fare on a traditional rehab treatment program supplemented with chiropractic care. Some 98 subjects, including Mehlman, participated in the study, which was published in Molecular Psychiatry. Holder's research found that when an addiction treatment program was supplemented with frequent chiropractic adjustments over a 30-day period, the patients displayed an unprecedented 100 percent program completion rate. In addition, initially rampant depression and anxiety dropped significantly.
In comparison, the study's two other groups—one, a passive group who underwent only standard rehabilitation, and another, a placebo group who received sham chiropractic care—displayed significantly lower retention rates, and were about as likely to finish the program as the average recovering addict in the U.S. (a probability of about 55 percent).
Holder's study used a specific chiropractic technique called the Torque Release Technique, which focuses less on the alignment of the bones and more on what he calls the "neurophysiology of the spine." Certain types of subluxations can interfere with the tissue that extends from the brain stem through the spine and into the coccyx, hampering systems like the limbic system (known as the "seat of emotions") and throwing off neurotransmitters that keep us feeling our best. Holder's research suggests that drug treatment programs prove to be more successful with this type of chiropractic care...
Click Here To Read The Full Article At Psychology Today...
When Jose Mehlman enrolled in the Exodus addiction treatment center as a study participant, he had hit bottom. Years before, he tried treatments that fell into his lap—anything that might help him. But they were "nowhere near effective." Today, Mehlman is living a viable, drug-free life. Why was his Exodus experience so successful? "I think that chiropractic care was an integral part of my recovery," he says.
But what does the spine have to do with addiction? The connection may be explained by the presence, or absence, of brain chemicals that make us feel good. When the spinal chord and its nerves are in proper order, chemicals known as neurotransmitters are released in a specific sequence, like falling dominoes. The result: A state of well-being. However, subluxations or misalignments of the spine can cause pressure and tension on surrounding tissue, interrupting this feel-good sequence.
Jay Holder, a chiropractor and physician with the Exodus Treatment Center in Miami Beach, wondered how patients would fare on a traditional rehab treatment program supplemented with chiropractic care. Some 98 subjects, including Mehlman, participated in the study, which was published in Molecular Psychiatry. Holder's research found that when an addiction treatment program was supplemented with frequent chiropractic adjustments over a 30-day period, the patients displayed an unprecedented 100 percent program completion rate. In addition, initially rampant depression and anxiety dropped significantly.
In comparison, the study's two other groups—one, a passive group who underwent only standard rehabilitation, and another, a placebo group who received sham chiropractic care—displayed significantly lower retention rates, and were about as likely to finish the program as the average recovering addict in the U.S. (a probability of about 55 percent).
Holder's study used a specific chiropractic technique called the Torque Release Technique, which focuses less on the alignment of the bones and more on what he calls the "neurophysiology of the spine." Certain types of subluxations can interfere with the tissue that extends from the brain stem through the spine and into the coccyx, hampering systems like the limbic system (known as the "seat of emotions") and throwing off neurotransmitters that keep us feeling our best. Holder's research suggests that drug treatment programs prove to be more successful with this type of chiropractic care...
Click Here To Read The Full Article At Psychology Today...
IMPROVED HEALTH OUTCOMES CORRELATES WITH RATIO OF CHIROPRACTORS
It would appear that the greater the number of Chiropractors in a community, the healthier that community will be…
In the USA the news that Minnesota ranks first in health and Louisiana last, suggests that their connecting medium, the Mississippi River, or some other north-to-south phenomenon might be a factor. Consequently, correlations were assessed for various outcomes for states along the Mississippi River in an effort to better understand possible mechanisms for the health disparity along the River. Doctor ratios were also correlated with the outcomes.
Each state along the Mississippi River was ranked according to its north-to-south position. The position ranks were correlated with various outcomes in the areas of health, education, and socioeconomics. Doctor (physician [medical and osteopathic] and chiropractor) ratios for these river states were also correlated with these outcomes.
Except for generosity index, the outcomes had a tendency to worsen from north-to-south but tended to improve with increased doctor ratios. Chiropractors had stronger correlations for improved outcomes in 20 of the 25 outcomes compared to physicians, whereas physicians had stronger correlations in four of the 25 outcomes compared to chiropractors.
Decreased health along the Mississippi River, from north-to-south, is likely a multi-factorial phenomenon, i.e., a decrease in income, educational attainment, and quality of health care.
The ratios for both doctor types (physician and chiropractor) were correlated with improved outcomes, especially for chiropractor ratios.
Click Here To Read The Research Abstract At The Journal Of Vertebral Subluxation Research...
In the USA the news that Minnesota ranks first in health and Louisiana last, suggests that their connecting medium, the Mississippi River, or some other north-to-south phenomenon might be a factor. Consequently, correlations were assessed for various outcomes for states along the Mississippi River in an effort to better understand possible mechanisms for the health disparity along the River. Doctor ratios were also correlated with the outcomes.
Each state along the Mississippi River was ranked according to its north-to-south position. The position ranks were correlated with various outcomes in the areas of health, education, and socioeconomics. Doctor (physician [medical and osteopathic] and chiropractor) ratios for these river states were also correlated with these outcomes.
Except for generosity index, the outcomes had a tendency to worsen from north-to-south but tended to improve with increased doctor ratios. Chiropractors had stronger correlations for improved outcomes in 20 of the 25 outcomes compared to physicians, whereas physicians had stronger correlations in four of the 25 outcomes compared to chiropractors.
Decreased health along the Mississippi River, from north-to-south, is likely a multi-factorial phenomenon, i.e., a decrease in income, educational attainment, and quality of health care.
The ratios for both doctor types (physician and chiropractor) were correlated with improved outcomes, especially for chiropractor ratios.
Click Here To Read The Research Abstract At The Journal Of Vertebral Subluxation Research...
IMPROVEMENT IN HEARING AFTER CHIROPRACTIC CARE
The first chiropractic adjustment given in 1895 was reported to have cured deafness. A new research study examined the effects of a single, initial chiropractic visit on the central nervous system by documenting clinical changes of audiometry in patients after chiropractic care.
Fifteen patients were thoroughly assessed with audiometry, before and immediately after the first chiropractic intervention. Several criteria were used to determine hearing impairment. All patients were classified as hearing impaired though greater on the right.
At 40 dB six had hearing restored, seven improved and only two had no change. At 25 dB using the Speech-frequency criteria, none were restored, eleven improved, four had no change and three missed a tone.
A significant percentage of patients presenting to the chiropractor have a mild to moderate hearing loss, most notably in the right ear. The clinical progress documented in this report suggests that manipulation delivered to the neuromusculoskeletal system may create central plastic changes in the auditory system leading to improvement in their hearing.
Click Here To Read The Research Abstract At PubMed...
Fifteen patients were thoroughly assessed with audiometry, before and immediately after the first chiropractic intervention. Several criteria were used to determine hearing impairment. All patients were classified as hearing impaired though greater on the right.
At 40 dB six had hearing restored, seven improved and only two had no change. At 25 dB using the Speech-frequency criteria, none were restored, eleven improved, four had no change and three missed a tone.
A significant percentage of patients presenting to the chiropractor have a mild to moderate hearing loss, most notably in the right ear. The clinical progress documented in this report suggests that manipulation delivered to the neuromusculoskeletal system may create central plastic changes in the auditory system leading to improvement in their hearing.
Click Here To Read The Research Abstract At PubMed...
IMPROVEMENT IN AUTISM FOLLOWING CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Improvement in a 3½-year-old Autistic Child Following Chiropractic Intervention to Reduce Vertebral Subluxation.
This case study describes, discusses and tracks the subjective and objective changes of a 3½ year old autistic girl following chiropractic adjustments over a 10 week period.
The female child with reduced social interaction and language skills and learning difficulties had been diagnosed with autism 1 year earlier.
The child received full spine adjustments where indicated to reduce vertebral subluxation, using the Torque Release Technique protocol and Integrator instrument. Strong verbal and physical apprehension to initial care was observed, however no signs of this were present after 5 visits, along with further improvements in social interactions, language skills and increased symmetry in surface EMG and thermal scanning over the 10 weeks of care.
The subjective and objective improvements observed by both practitioner and parents following chiropractic care indicate a link between subluxation and autistic behavioral patterns...
Click Here To Read The Research Abstract At The Journal Of Vertebral Subluxation Research...
This case study describes, discusses and tracks the subjective and objective changes of a 3½ year old autistic girl following chiropractic adjustments over a 10 week period.
The female child with reduced social interaction and language skills and learning difficulties had been diagnosed with autism 1 year earlier.
The child received full spine adjustments where indicated to reduce vertebral subluxation, using the Torque Release Technique protocol and Integrator instrument. Strong verbal and physical apprehension to initial care was observed, however no signs of this were present after 5 visits, along with further improvements in social interactions, language skills and increased symmetry in surface EMG and thermal scanning over the 10 weeks of care.
The subjective and objective improvements observed by both practitioner and parents following chiropractic care indicate a link between subluxation and autistic behavioral patterns...
Click Here To Read The Research Abstract At The Journal Of Vertebral Subluxation Research...
Friday, April 11, 2008
COULD A NECK ADJUSTMENT LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE?
A New Study Implies a Link Between Hypertension and Spinal Alignment
Though doctors are unsure of what causes blood pressure to increase, a new study suggests that a specific type of neck adjustment may reduce hypertension for some of the 65 million Americans battling it.
The University of Chicago study, published in the Journal of Human Hypertension this month, looked at the possibility of a connection between a spinal realignment and a decrease in blood pressure.
We set up a double-blind study to really look and see if in fact this procedure was affecting high blood pressure," said University of Chicago Medical Center hypertension specialist George Bakris.The results were intriguing.
The patients who received the chiropractic adjustments saw their blood pressure drop an average of 17 points -- a dip that usually takes two blood pressure medications to achieve...
Click Here To Read The Story At ABC News...
Click Here To Watch The Good Morning America Feature at YouTube...
Though doctors are unsure of what causes blood pressure to increase, a new study suggests that a specific type of neck adjustment may reduce hypertension for some of the 65 million Americans battling it.
The University of Chicago study, published in the Journal of Human Hypertension this month, looked at the possibility of a connection between a spinal realignment and a decrease in blood pressure.
We set up a double-blind study to really look and see if in fact this procedure was affecting high blood pressure," said University of Chicago Medical Center hypertension specialist George Bakris.The results were intriguing.
The patients who received the chiropractic adjustments saw their blood pressure drop an average of 17 points -- a dip that usually takes two blood pressure medications to achieve...
Click Here To Read The Story At ABC News...
Click Here To Watch The Good Morning America Feature at YouTube...
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