Pain Relief Chiropractic

If you suffer from a urinary tract infection (UTI), especially a drug-resistant UTI, this information may be very helpful. Doctors and researchers have known for quite some time that bacteria evolve and become resistant or “immune” to treatments such as antibiotics. One of the most commonly known and dangerous is Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), which is an infection caused by a strain of staph bacteria that’s become resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections. Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is one of the most common extra intestinal bacterial infections and the second most common infectious disease encountered in community practice. UTI alone poses a serious health problem affecting about 150 million people each year around the world. Antibiotics have revolutionized medicine in many respects and their discovery was a turning point in medicinal history. Regrettably, the misuse of these wonder drugs has been accompanied by the rapid appearance of resistant strains.

Because of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, there is an urgent need to explore alternative non-antibiotic treatments to help effectively manage these infections. Garlic (Allium sativum) has been traditionally used for the treatment of different diseases since ancient times. Researchers from the University of East London took aqueous extracts of allicin, a compound found in garlic, and formulated a simple cream. When the cream was applied to vast swathes of the so-called “superbug” MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), it eliminated them. In a study conducted at the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences in India, researchers found that “even crude extracts of [garlic] showed good activity against multidrug resistant strains where antibiotic therapy had limited or no effect.” This provides hope for developing alternative treatments which may be of help in fighting the menace of growing antibacterial resistance around the world.

Prolonged sitting can significantly impact both your cardiovascular and metabolic function.  Ideally, limit your sitting to three hours a day or less, and make it a point to walk 7,000-10,000 steps each day.

Taking a walk during your lunch hour can improve your mood and help reduce the effect of work-related stress. You can get even more out of your walk by simply switching up your pace at regular intervals (3 minutes fast pace and then 3 minutes casual pace, for example).

Tracking your steps can also show you how simple and seemingly minor changes to the way you move around at work can add up.  For example, you can walk across the hall to talk to a co-worker instead of sending an email; take the stairs instead of the elevator; park your car further away from the entrance; or take a longer, roundabout way to your desk.

If your metabolism isn’t what it used to be, you may need to do some dietary detective work.  For example, when you eat may be as important as what you eat, so intermittent fasting may give your metabolism the boost it needs.  And, while sugary beverages and sports drinks are best avoided, organic coffee and green tea may actually help your metabolism as long as you’re not adding sugar to them.

Needless to say, exercise (and high intensity exercises in particular) cannot be overlooked if you want to rev up your metabolic engines.  If you are already fit, it’s possible that you are simply spending too much time sitting, which can be remedied by getting out of your chair to move more often.

Also, chronic low-level inflammation can stall your metabolism, which may result from food sensitivities, poor sleep, stress, and other lifestyle factors.

Throughout each day, your body loses water through your urine, exhalation, and sweat glands – even when you’re not purposely working up a sweat. As a result, you have to drink water to constantly replenish this fluid. No, coffee and soft drinks do not count toward this requirement. Both coffee and soda are high in caffeine, which act as a diuretic that will dehydrate you. Worse yet, sodas, fruit juices, and other sweetened beverages are loaded with sugars that could negatively impact your health. So, the key is to drink pure water. Once your body has lost 1-2% of its total water content, it will signal its needs by making you feel thirsty.

Besides listening to your thirst, a good rule of thumb is to look at the color of your urine. In most cases, you want to drink enough water to turn your urine a light-colored yellow (if it’s clear, you may be drinking too much water). Also, Riboflavin (vitamin B2, which is also found in most multi-vitamins) will turn your urine a bright, almost fluorescent yellow. So, if you’re taking supplements containing B2, it may be more difficult to judge hydration by the color of your urine. Frequency of urination can also be used to judge your water intake. If your urine is scant or if you haven’t urinated in several hours, that too may indicate you need to drink more water.

A workout can be a great way to unwind after a stressful day, but stewing over an unpleasant work encounter may make your exercise session less effective.

If your brain is tired, the rest of your body may be tired as well, because the two go hand-in-hand since both physical and mental fatigue affect the same region of your brain. If that part of your brain is telling you “my brain is fried” at the end of the day, then it’s likely your muscles will be tired even before you head for the gym.

Exercising after an occasional horrible day is unavoidable, but if you are chronically stressed, then you could be seriously derailing your fitness goals. It has been found that mental burnout significantly affects physical performance. If you are overwhelmed, perhaps your next workout should consist of several rounds of high-intensity stress management rather than crunches or curls!

Cranberry: While current research doesn’t support the notion that drinking cranberry juice will cure a urinary tract infection (UTI), it has shown that regularly consuming cranberries does indeed help prevent UTIs. Researchers have observed that daily consumption of cranberries “significantly reduced” the incidence of UTIs over the course of a twelve-month study involving 150 women.

Pomegranate: While it won’t replace toothpaste anytime soon, there is evidence that shows that an extract from pomegranate has antibacterial properties that can help control dental plaque bacteria in the mouth.

Purple Passion Flower: An extract from purple passion flower may help those suffering from uncomfortable, or even debilitating, anxiety. In a four-week study that compared the extract to both a standard pharmaceutical treatment and placebo, researchers observed no significant difference between the extract and drug in reducing anxiety, except that participants who took the extract were less likely to report job performance issues when compared with those who received the medication.

Echinacea: Recent studies indicate that those who took a daily echinacea supplement were about half as likely to get a cold when exposed to rhinovirus.  If you do happen to get sick, at least one meta-analysis has concluded that echinacea can reduce the length of your cold by 1.4 days.