Want The Best For Your Newborn?

31 Dec

Research Shows Breastfeeding Creates Bigger Brains – Why What Your Baby Eats For The First 1,000 Days Is So Important!

 

Doctors, researchers, and parents have always wanted to know how much nutrition in early life affects adults later in life.  Can adults overcome poor nutrition in the first few months or years of life or are there consequences to starting off life eating sub-optimal food? Both epidemiological and animal studies have shown the risk of metabolic syndrome is significantly increased after exposure to suboptimum nutrition during crucial periods of development.  Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke.

What about IQ?  According to an article published in Neuroimage (May 28, 2013), “The prevailing consensus from large epidemiological studies posits that early exclusive breastfeeding is associated with improved measures of IQ and cognitive functioning in later childhood and adolescence. Prior morphometric brain imaging studies support these findings, revealing increased white matter and sub-cortical gray matter volume, and parietal lobe cortical thickness, associated with IQ in adolescents who were breastfed as infants compared to those who were exclusively formula-fed.”  

In other words, a majority of researchers believe (based on studies) that breastfed babies have higher IQs than babies who were given formula.  A new study from Brown University has found more evidence to the superiority of breastfeeding over formula. The study used MRIs to look at the brain growth in a sample of children under the age of four. The research found that by age two, babies who had been breastfed exclusively for at least three months had enhanced development in key parts of the brain compared to children who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a combination of formula and breast milk. The research showed the extra growth was most pronounced in parts of the brain associated with language, emotional function, and cognition.

“We’re finding the difference [in white matter growth] is on the order of 20 to 30 percent, comparing the breastfed and the non-breastfed kids,” said the study’s lead researcher, Sean Dioni. PhD. “I think it’s astounding that you could have that much difference so early.”  

With everything researchers and doctors now know, breastfeeding is the clear choice if you want the best for your child both now and as an adult.

 

10 Facts About Carrots.

31 Dec

Carrots are 88% water.

The carrot primarily gets its characteristic and bright orange color from beta-carotene.

Carrots are rich in antioxidants and minerals.

Carrot greens are edible as a leafy vegetable, but are only occasionally eaten by humans.

Baby carrots are really just carrots that have been cut and peeled into uniform cylinders.

Growing carrot plants with tomato plants increases tomato production.

The carrot is one of the top-ten most economically important vegetables crops in the world.

Carrots can be stored for several months in the refrigerator or over winter in a moist, cool place.

Carrots are a member of the Umbelliferae family, which also includes celery, parsley, dill, cilantro, caraway, cumin, and the poisonous hemlock.

Eating too many carrots can cause a person’s skin to turn yellowish orange, especially on the palms or soles of the feet. This is called carotenemia. It is completely reversible once the consumption of carrots is reduced.

 

Man Celebrates 65th Birthday By “Paying It Forward.”

31 Dec

Inspirational Story Of The Month 

(Names And Details May Have Been Changed To Protect Privacy)

If you have seen the movie Pay It Forward, you have an idea what we are talking about.  If not, it doesn’t matter because the concept of “Paying it Forward” is much, much, much older than the movie that made it popular.

The concept can be dated back to 1841 when Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “In the order of nature, we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody.”

In 1916, Lily Hardy Hammond wrote, “You don’t pay love back; you pay it forward.”

In a nutshell, pay it forward is asking the beneficiary of a good deed to repay it to others instead of to the original benefactor.  In other words, passing on the good to the rest of the world, especially those who may not be in a position to pay YOU back or give ANYTHING to you in return.

That’s exactly what Doug Eaton decided to do for his 65th birthday.  As the story goes, he turned 65 on June 11, 2012.  He was looking for something to do, so he asked his friends on Facebook what he should do.  He got a whole bunch of suggestions.  Some were good.  Some were bad.  Many were ridiculous.  One was brilliant.

That suggestion was, “Why don’t you do 65 random acts of kindness?”  Eaton immediately knew that was the winner.

According to Yahoo: [Eaton spent] 65 minutes standing on the corner of NW 39th Street and May Avenue in Oklahoma City, handing out $5 bills to people who passed by. He told his Facebook friends that he handed out more than $375, but the response – and the amount of good cheer he shared – was priceless. From a distance, Eaton looked a bit like any other panhandler holding a sign at a street corner, but instead of a plea for money, his sign read: “I have a home… and a car… and a job. Do you need a few bucks for some coffee?”

As you can imagine, people who drove by were shocked.  Some just drove by shaking their heads.  Others told him, “God bless you.”  Many did not want to take his money.

Eaton posted on Facebook, “One obviously needy truck holding a family came around the second time after misunderstanding the first time to give ME $2 just to bless ME for what I was doing.  I took their money AND gave them a $5. We kind of traded blessings.”

A lot of people told him to give theirs to someone else.

But, Eaton did not invent this birthday act of kindness idea.  In 2010, Robyn Bomar turned 38 by doing 38 random acts of kindness.  Bomar wrote on her blog, “I planned out 38 things ahead of time, just in case, but really was praying for opportunities to present themselves throughout the day. My husband, three daughters, and my husband’s parents joined me in the most favorite birthday of my life!”

That day changed Bomar’s life and she started a website with an online community of people who celebrate their birthdays by paying it forward.  The website is http://www.thebdayproject.com.  Now you know what to do for your next birthday! 

 

Never Make Decisions Hungry!

31 Dec

“All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.”  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Have you heard of the term, hangry?  Even if you haven’t, I can almost guarantee you’ve experienced it. According to the Urban Dictionary, the definition of hangry is: “When you are so hungry your lack of food causes you to become angry.”

Here is hangry used in a sentence:  The service in this place stinks!  I ordered my food over an hour ago.  I’m starving and starting to get really hangry!

Come on.  You can admit it…

You’ve Been Hangry!

We all have, and hangry is not a good place to be.  Well, now research is showing how being hungry affects our decision making.

According to an article published by the Max Planck Society, hunger affects not only decision making, but also the perception of risk.

According to the article, “Hungry people are often difficult to deal with. A good meal can affect more than our mood, it can also influence our willingness to take risks. This phenomenon is also apparent across a very diverse range of species in the animal kingdom. Experiments conducted on the fruit fly, Drosophila, by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have shown that hunger not only modifies behavior, but also changes pathways in the brain.”

Studies show that animals are willing to take much more risk depending on how hungry they are.  For example, an animal will only hunt dangerous prey when hungry.  If they are not hungry, they will try their luck getting a meal in a less hazardous way.

That seems pretty obvious, but here’s something that is NOT obvious… and even a little surprising.  One study found that hungry humans took significantly more financial risk than their well-fed colleagues.

One obvious lesson here is…

Never Make Financial

Decisions When You’re Hungry!

Of course, make sure your financial advisor and stock brokers are also well fed.  Maybe call them and make sure they have a good breakfast before they start their work day!  

On a more serious note, it is obvious that blood chemistry is seriously affected by what and when you eat.  Your blood chemistry is extremely important when it comes to both your physical and mental health.

Hangry may seem funny, but when you are hungry, your body is not functioning optimally.

Your muscles and brain are not getting the nutrients they need.  Bad decisions and risk taking are just the tip of the iceberg. Not giving your body the nutrients it needs when it needs them can affect every organ and cell in your body.

Understand this:  If you want to GAIN WEIGHT, being “hangry” is one of the best ways to do it.

Why?  Because weight loss is best accomplished when you keep your blood sugar levels stabilized.  This can be accomplished by eating small portions of the correct foods multiple times throughout the day.  Often times, eating five or more small meals is ideal.

If you have reached the point when you feel hunger, then you are falling behind.  Hunger means your blood sugar levels have already dropped.  (Becoming “hangry” is a whole different level!)

But this does not mean you should eat as much as you want whenever you want.

The answer is to eat the right foods, at the right times, in the right portions.

Portion size is a BIG problem for most people.  But, believe it or not, you can be “tricked” into eating or drinking more  (or less) than you think you are.

Here is how:  You’ve heard the statement, “Everything is relative.”  Well, relative is a HUGE factor when it comes to how much you decide to eat.

There is something called the Delboef illusion.  This illusion occurs when people misjudge the size of identical circles when they are surrounded by larger circles of different sizes.

For example, people will think a circle is smaller if the circle surrounding it is huge and vice versa.

Researchers found that the same illusion applies to plates we eat our food on.

When the same portion of food is served on a very large plate, it seems like less food than when it is served on a small plate.

According to an article published by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, “For example, in a study conducted at a health and fitness camp, campers who were given larger bowls served and consumed 16% more cereal than those given smaller bowls. Despite the fact that those campers were eating more, their estimates of their cereal consumption were 7% lower than the estimates of the group eating from the smaller bowls. This suggests that not only could large dinnerware cause us to serve and eat more, it can do so without us noticing and trick us into believing we have eaten less.”

The Cornell article also revealed how we can use this optical illusion to our favor.  Here is how:  Serve the vegetables and healthy foods many people do not like on large plates.  The large plate will make the portion look small and easier to eat.  On the contrary, serve bad foods, like desserts, on small plates to make the serving size look bigger.

Want To Stimulate Your Brain

In Just 20 Minutes?

A study recently published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that a 20-minute session of yoga improved participants’ speed and accuracy on two measures of brain function associated with the ability to focus and take in, retain, and use new information.  The study had 30 participants, and researchers said they performed significantly better immediately after the yoga practice than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time.

And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your questions. We’re here to help and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in providing you natural pain relief. (717) 697-1888.

Building a Bigger Brain.

31 Dec

Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

What do your favorite wool sweater, your retirement savings account, and your brain have in common? They’re all better off if they don’t shrink! But the brains of the 79 million Americans (and millions more Canadians) with slightly elevated blood sugar levels are at risk for just that!

Even a little extra blood glucose shrivels grey matter. Once you develop dementia, extra sugar may help short term memory but can still be bad for the long term. This column is not for those already with dementia. Please see a specialist very quickly as there are over 20 totally reversible causes including drugs, B12 deficiency, thyroid disease, etc. It seems the areas of the brain where memories are processed (hippocampus) and thinking takes place (the amygdala) grew smaller in women and men whose blood sugar was in the prediabetes range, about 110 mg/dL on a fasting blood sugar test. (And if you progress from prediabetes to diabetes—as most people eventually do—you’ll accelerate shrinkage even more!)

Now, it’s true that the size of your brain shrinks with age if you do not do anything about it—perhaps ‘cause we humans live so long– but there’s a lot you can do to reverse prediabetes (that will protect all your organs, not just your brain), control your glucose levels so you don’t ever develop prediabetes, and keep your neurons firing at their best. Exercise is most important, followed by stress management.  For comparison, brain games increase hippocampal size less than 10% of the amount that exercise does.

1) Break Out Your Walking Shoes. Exercise stimulates the growth of new neurons and new connections between neurons by boosting levels of a protein called BDNF that acts like “Miracle-Gro” for the brain. Even a few 30-minute walks a week protect against cognitive decline as you get older, and they are even more effective than brain games or spending time with your BFFs. We recommend you aim for 10,000 steps a day; if you can do that, you will definitely be giving prediabetes the heave-ho.

2) Break Out Your Sweat Socks and Heart Rate Monitor. More vigorous physical activity at any age increases your hippocampal size, and your brain connections.  That’s why exercising your leg and core muscles may be the best games for your brain. Get your heart rate up to 85% of your age adjusted max for 20 minutes three times a week, and you’ll get maximum benefit.

3) De-stress daily and get help for depression. Chronic worry and anxiety nibbles away at brain cells and brain connections by switching on a gene that blocks the creation of new nerve connections. The same goes for depression.

4) Get B’s, C, D, E — and omega-3s. Loading up on noggin-friendly nutrients — found in produce, whole grains, fortified breakfast cereal, low-fat milk or ½ a multi twice a day (for vitamin B12), and oily fish like salmon and trout (or take 900 mg of DHA a day from an algal oil supplement) — could substantially reduce your risk for brain shrinkage. People who don’t get enough of this good stuff had 37% more brain loss in one eye-opening report.

5) Lower high blood pressure. Take your blood pressure readings seriously. Anything higher than 115/75 can cause white matter changes and damage the blood vessels that supply every brain cell with oxygen and fuel.

6) Stop Smoking and Second Hand Smoke Exposure. Puffing on tobacco products strangles the blood supply to your brain, like cutting your laptop’s power cord.  It’s also associated with inflammation in your body (including your brain).  Avoiding second hand smoke and avoiding inflammation in your brain makes you much smarter.

7) Consider Supplements That Decrease Insulin Resistance. Cinnamon (2 teaspoons a day), tumeric (17 mg as a food spice—Indian food is a great place to start), purified omega-7’s (420 mg a day), and coffee (more than 2 cups a day if your doc says that’s all right for you) all decrease insulin resistance and may all improve long-term brain function.

8) Go To Sleep. Chronic bed-time trouble is another brain minimizer. Nix afternoon caffeine, de-stress before you turn in, make sure your room is cool and dark, and that a snoring pet or human bedmate isn’t keeping you up. In the morning, snap up the shades and get some morning light. Missing out on sun exposure may also downsize your little gray cells.

We haven’t even mentioned brain games or even ping-pong, both of which improve brain function.  And all make your RealAge younger by many years. Next month, we’ll return to things to prevent breast and prostate cancer like daily cruciferous veggies, avoidance of getting too big a waist, and two baby aspirins with a half glass of water, if your doc agrees.

Thanks for reading.

Young Dr Mike

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

You can follow Dr Roizen  (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories  of the week) on twitter @YoungDrMike. 

Feel free to continue to send questions to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have a new web site: YOUBeauty.com  and its companion BeautySage.com the only site we know of where you can find skin products proven to meet the claims (opened for business on June 1st, 2012), and a new book: YOU: The Owner’s Manual for Teens.

Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.healthradio.net  Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com.   He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner’s Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the two year running Emmy award winning Dr Oz show– The Dr Oz show is #2 nationally in daytime TV.  See what all the fun is about, and what he, The Enforcer, is up to. Check local listings or log onto DoctorOz.com for channel and time. And for more health info, log onto youbeauty.com anytime.

 

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – Are There Other Tunnels?

31 Dec

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) refers to the median nerve being pinched in a tunnel at the wrist. As the name implies, “carpal” refers to the 8 small bones in the wrist that make up the “U” shaped part of the tunnel and “syndrome” means symptoms that are specific and unique to this condition. As we learned last month, CTS can be affected by nerve pinches more proximal to the wrist, such as at the forearm, elbow, mid-upper arm, shoulder or neck. To make matters more complex, there are two other nerves in the arm that can also be pinched in different tunnels, and the symptoms of numbing and tingling in the arm and hand occur with those conditions as well. This is why a careful clinical history, examination, and sometimes special tests like an EMG/NCV (electromyogram/nerve conduction velocity) offer the information that allows for an accurate diagnosis of one or more of these “tunnel syndromes” in the “CTS” patient. Let’s look at these different tunnels and their associated symptoms, as this will help you understand the ways we can differentiate between these various syndromes or conditions.

Let’s start at the neck. There are seven cervical vertebrae and eight cervical spinal nerves that exit the spine through a small hole called the IVF (intervertebral foramen). Each nerve, like a wire to a light, goes specifically to a known location which includes: the head (nerves C1, 2, 3), the neck and shoulders (C4, 5), the thumb side of the arm (C6), the middle hand and finger (C7) and the pinky side of the lower arm and hand (C8). If a nerve gets pinched at the spinal level (such as a herniated disk in the neck), usually there is numbness, tingling, and/or pain and sometimes, usually a little later, weakness in the affected part/s of the arm and hand (or numbness in the scalp if it’s a C1-3 nerve pinch). So, we as chiropractors can test the patient’s sensation using light touch, pin prick, vibration, and/or 2-points brought progressively closer together until 1-point is perceived and then comparing it to the other arm/hand. Reflexes and muscle strength are also tested to see if the motor part of the nerve is involved in the pinch. The exam includes compression tests of the neck to see if the arm “lights up” with symptoms during the test.

Next is the shoulder. Here, the nerves and blood vessels travel through an opening between the collar bone, 1st rib and the chest muscles (Pectorals). As you might think, the nerves and blood vessels can be stretched and pinched as they travel through this opening and can cause “thoracic outlet syndrome.” Symptoms occur when we raise the arm overhead. Hence, our tests include checking the pulse at the wrist to see if it reduces or lessens in intensity as we raise the arm over the head. At the shoulder, the ulnar nerve is the most commonly pinched nerve, which will make the pinky side of the arm and hand numb, tingly, and/or painful. A less common place to pinch the nerves is along humerus bone (upper arm) by a bony process and ligament that is usually not there or resulting from a fracture. Here, an x-ray will show the problem.

The elbow is the MOST common place to trap the ulnar nerve in the “cubital tunnel” located at the inner elbow near the “funny bone” which we have all bumped more than once. Cubital tunnel syndrome affects the pinky side of the hand from the elbow down. The median/carpal tunnel nerve can get trapped here by the pronator teres muscle, thus “pronator tunnel syndrome.” This COMMONLY accompanies CTS and MUST be treated to obtain good results with CTS patients. The radial nerve can be trapped at the radial tunnel located on the outside of the elbow and creates thumb side and back of the hand numbness/tingling.

Hence, you see the importance of evaluating and treating ALL the tunnels when CTS is present so a thorough job is done (which is what Chiropractors do). Try the LEAST invasive approach first – non-surgical treatment – as it’s usually all that is needed!

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.

 

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