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Two Things You Should Do If You Don’t Want Back Pain.

12 Mar

It’s funny how the more we learn about ourselves and the world around us, the more established “facts” turn out to be completely wrong and the opposite of what is “true.” For example, new research concludes that people with low back pain will achieve greater benefits by exercising more, not less.

In a study done by the University of Alberta on 240 men and women with chronic lower back pain showed, those who exercised 4 days a week had a better quality of life, 28 percent less pain, and 36 percent less disability. Those who hit the gym only 2 or 3 days a week did not show the same level of change.

“While it could be assumed that someone with back pain should not be exercising frequently, our findings show that working with weights 4 days a week provides the greatest amount of pain relief and quality of life,” said Robert Kell, lead author of the study and an Assistant Professor of Exercise and Physiology at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus.

Here is something really important from the study… The participants were split into four groups of 60. One group exercised with weights 2 days a week, another 3 days a week, and a third group 4 days a week. The fourth group did not exercise with weights.

All groups were tracked for 16 weeks. At the end of the 16 weeks, the level of pain reportedly decreased by 28% in the 4-day a week group, by 18% in the 3- day a week group, and by 14% in the 2-day a week group.

So What Does This Mean To You?

It depends. Every case of back pain is individual and you should not just run out today and start lifting weights. That could be a disaster.

If you have back pain, your first move should be to get a complete examination by a qualified doctor who treats back pain every day.

Chiropractors are specially trained to diagnose and treat low back pain and can tell you what the probable cause of your back pain is and the best treatment methods for your individual case.

But clearly, for many low back sufferers, exercise is a very good thing.

Now for something else that can possibly help your back pain…

As If Lung Cancer Wasn’t Bad Enough…

For quite some time, researchers have known that smoking is a risk factor for chronic pain disorders. More specifically, smoking has been linked to increased risk for low back pain, spinal disk problems, and poor outcome after surgery.

Now, a new study published in the December 2012 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found that smokers suffering from spinal disorders and related back pain reported greater discomfort than spinal disorder patients who stopped smoking during an eight-month treatment period.

The study analyzed the pain reported by more than 5,300 patients with back pain and related conditions.

The results as reported in Science Daily: “At the time of entry into care, patients who had never smoked and prior smokers reported significantly less back pain than current smokers and those who had quit smoking during the study period. Current smokers reported significantly greater pain in all visual analog scale (VAS) pain ratings — worst, current and average weekly pain — when compared with patients who had never smoked.”

It was also noted that patients who quit smoking reported greater improvement than those who continued to smoke and the group that continued to smoke had no reported improvement in pain.

The leading author of the study said that nicotine increases pain. According to the study, if you quit smoking, your condition should improve. If you continue to smoke, you may see no improvement, regardless of what treatment you receive. If you smoke, you are dramatically decreasing your chances of getting better from any treatment, including surgery.

Here is the conclusion of the study: “Given a strong association between improved patient-reported pain and smoking cessation, this study supports the need for smoking cessation programs for patients with a painful spinal disorder.”

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Does Green Tea Decrease Risk Of Cancer?

10 Mar

A study recently published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition investigated the association of regular tea intake (greater than 3 times per week for greater than 6 months) with risk of digestive system cancers.

The study was based on middle-aged and older Chinese women.

Results: Women who consumed ≥150g tea/mo (2–3 cups/day) had a 21% reduced risk of digestive system cancers. The association was found primarily for colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancers.

Want To Add 4.5 Years To Your Life?

A recent study published in the medical journal PLoS One pooled self-reported data on leisure time physical activities and Body Mass Index (BMI) scores from nearly 650,000 individuals over 40 years old. Their goal was to calculate the gain in life expectancy associated with specific levels of physical activity.

A physical activity level equivalent to brisk walking for up to 75 minutes per week was associated with a gain of 1.8 years in life expectancy relative to no leisure time activity.

Even better, having a physical activity level at or above 150 minutes of brisk walking per week was associated with an overall gain of life expectancy of 3.4 – 4.5 years.

In another study, 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity leisure-time physical activity led to a 14% lower coronary heart disease risk compared with those reporting no leisure-time physical activity. Those engaging in the equivalent of 300 minutes per week of moderate- intensity leisure-time physical activity had a 20% lower risk.

What does this mean? Basically, it’s what we have known for quite some time. Moderate exercise is good and it can, most likely, extend your life.

But, what’s really important is you do not have to go crazy. Go for a brisk walk several times per week, or every day if you can, and you should see some healthy results.

New Study Suggests When To Exercise To Lose More Weight.

6 Mar

Exercise stimulates appetite?  New Research says… WRONG!

This has been a hot topic for a very long time.  In fact, it’s quite possible that cavemen and cavewomen were debating this while sitting around the campfire chomping on Mastodon burgers. The question is:

What’s The Best Time Of Day To Work Out?

Okay.  Fine.  Cave people had a few more important things to worry about like food, shelter, and getting eaten by Saber-Toothed Tigers.

But, if you are trying to lose weight and get in shape TODAY, then the answer to this question may be VERY important to you.

If you are like most people, you have very limited time.  So, you want to get the maximum results from exercise that you can in as little time and with least effort possible.

The good news is that a few recently published research papers may have some answers…

The first is a study published in the October issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

This research out of Brigham Young University (BYU) shows that 45 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning actually reduces a person’s motivation for food.  This is contrary to the common belief that exercise STIMULATES appetite.

According to BYU: Professors, James LeCheminant and Michael Larson, measured the neural activity of 35 women while they viewed food images, both following a morning of exercise and a morning without exercise. They found their attentional response to the food pictures decreased after the brisk workout.

“This study provides evidence that exercise not only affects energy output, but it also may affect how people respond to food cues,” LeCheminant said.  The report went on to say, “The 45-minute exercise bout not only produced lower brain responses to the food images, but also resulted in an increase in total physical activity that day, regardless of body mass index.”

One thing of interest was that the women did not eat more food on exercise days than non-exercise days.  In other words, they did not eat more to make up for the calories burned from working out.

“The subject of food motivation and weight loss is so complex,” Larson said. “There are many things that influence eating, and exercise is just one element.”

What About Peak Performance?

There are studies that show the AFTERNOON is the best time for peak performance.  One study published in Sports Medicine in 1995 revealed that, “Performance of physical activity is generally improved in the afternoon or evening, compared with morning.”

Even more important are the results from a study published in Medical Science Sports Exercise in 1998 that found: “These results demonstrate that there is temporal specificity in training to increase work capacity in high-intensity exercise. Greater improvements can be expected to occur at the time of day at which high-intensity training is regularly performed.”

In other words, training at the same time every day yields the best results in regards to performance.

 

Here’s something to keep in mind…  The last two studies mentioned concern performance (strength, speed, etc.)  The first study done at BYU is about appetite and potential weight loss. Once again, science does not give us the clear-cut answer we are looking for.

So, What’s The Bottom Line?

Make an exercise plan and exercise regularly.  That is the number one priority.  Clearly, any workout is better than none.  But, TRY to workout at the same time every day.

These studies used small sample sizes and it is very possible that not everyone fits into these results.  For example, some people are morning people.  They jump out of bed at 5:30 every day cheering.  For others, that is torture.

So, is it possible that these two types of people have different peak performance times?  One early and the other later?  Yes, it is. Once again, try it out for yourself.  Just be consistent and give it a valid shot.  Don’t try something for a week or two and think it did not work. Exercise, weight loss, and athletic performance simply do not work like that.  Neither does health.

All of these things take consistency.  You must do the right things… long enough…  and “long enough” is for the rest of your life.

Sometimes reality can be a little harsh, but the alternative is much worse.

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Are You Tired All Day But Can’t Sleep At Night?

27 Feb

Are you tired during the day, but then can’t fall asleep at night? Do you lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling,

wondering why you were falling asleep at work? Do you wake up more tired than when you went to sleep? How about this one…

Do You Look At The Clock And Calculate How Many Hours Of Sleep You Could Get If You Fell Asleep Right Now?

If you do, you are not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Insufficient sleep is a public epidemic. An estimated 50-70 million U.S. adults have sleep or wakefulness disorder.”

The CDC recommends school-age children (5-10 years) sleep 10-11 hours, teens (10-17 years) sleep 8.5-9.5 hours, and adults sleep 7-9 hours per night.

Of course, everyone is individual. Some people need more sleep, and others need less sleep.

One thing is certain: If you are not getting the proper amount of sleep you need, there are health risks.

Barring a health condition that may cause an inability to sleep, stress may be the biggest cause of insomnia.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms: Difficulty falling asleep, waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep, waking up too early in the morning, and feeling tired upon waking.

Some of the consequences of insomnia are: Sleepiness during the day, general tiredness, irritability, and problems with concentration and or memory.

You May Suffer From “Adrenal Fatigue”

According to Dr. James Wilson, author of the book Adrenal Fatigue: 21st Century Syndrome, 80 percent of people will suffer adrenal fatigue at some point in their lives.

Adrenal glands help your body handle and deal with stress. The more stress you experience, the more your adrenal glands have to work. There is a point when the adrenal glands become over-worked. When this happens, it is VERY bad for you and your health.

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This is a condition called, “Adrenal fatigue.” The adrenal glands secrete cortisol, a powerful hormone that is responsible for gluconeogenesis and activating anti-stress and anti-inflammatory pathways. Cortisol prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation.

Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects including a quick burst of energy for survival reasons, heightened memory functions, a burst of increased immunity, lower sensitivity to pain, and it also helps maintain homeostasis in the body.

But, it is important for the body to have a decreased or “no stress” period so its functions can return to normal.

When constant stress is present, high cortisol levels remain in the blood stream.

This causes all kinds of health problems including: Impaired cognitive performance, suppressed thyroid function, blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia, decreased bone density, decrease in muscle tissue, higher blood pressure, lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and increased abdominal fat (which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body).

Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat include:heart attack, stroke, metabolic syndrome, increased “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and decreased “good” cholesterol (HDL).

In other words, it is VERY bad. But things can get worse…

If the overload of stress continues, the adrenals become exhausted and actually become resistant to the stress. This can result in hemorrhaged adrenal glands, high insulin levels, atrophied thymus glands, biochemically devastated bodies, a total collapse of body function, or a collapse of specific organs or systems.

Obviously, this is no laughing matter.

STRESS KILLS
So what can you do? Stress reduction is a must,

and since it is virtually impossible to eliminate all stress from your life, you should take measures to minimize it and re-charge your body.

There are several great ways to reduce stress, such as yoga.

Here are the results from a recent study, according to Science Daily: The participants were randomized into two groups. The meditation group was taught the 12-minute yogic practice that included Kirtan Kriya, which was performed every day at the same time for 8 weeks. The other group was asked to relax in a quiet place with their eyes closed while listening to instrumental music on a relaxation CD, also for 12 minutes daily for 8 weeks. Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and again at the end of the 8 weeks.

“The goal of the study was to determine if meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral proteins that shape immune cell gene expression,” said Lavretsky. “Our analysis showed a reduced activity of those proteins linked directly to increased inflammation.”

In other words, this form of yoga practiced 12 minutes a day, everyday for 8 weeks, seemed to reduce harmful stress (a very good result).

Now, check this out… Recent research also shows that telling fewer lies can lead to a healthier life.

In a study, researchers used 110 males and females, between 18 and 71 years old. Fifty-five were told to stop lying completely for 10 weeks and the other half were given no special instructions about lying. They went to a laboratory each week to complete health and relationship questionnaires and to take a polygraph test assessing the number of major and minor lies they had told that week.

According to researchers, the group who stopped lying complained less of headaches, sore throats, tenseness, anxiety and other problems than those who were given no instructions. Results also showed that the non- lying participants had improved close personal relationships and smoother social interactions.

The research has not been published in a peer- reviewed journal, but was presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting.

Researchers also mentioned that lying can cause a great deal of internal stress.

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Hugs Not Drugs? New Research Reveals The Healing Power Of Touch.

23 Feb

“We may go to the moon, but that’s not very far. The greatest distance we have to cover still lies within us.” – Charles de Gaulle

Maybe the popular rock n’ roll band U2 had it right back in 1991, in their hit song Mysterious Ways with the lyric, “To touch is to heal.” 

However, they weren’t the first to make the claim. The healing power of touch has been written about since close to the dawn of civilization. To many, there was no scientific evidence to back it up and so it had no place in the healing arts.

Here’s an interesting example that shows one BIG flaw with that kind of thinking…

Let’s say you have a bucket filled to the top with water.  What happens if you stick your fist in the bucket?

The water in the bucket will overflow, right?

This is because your fist displaces water in the bucket, causing the water level to rise (and ultimately spill over the top).

If the bucket was not already full, then the water would rise in proportion to the volume of the fist and the change could easily be measured.

Now, think about this…

What happens when you put your fist in the ocean? Your fist displaces the exact same amount of water it did in the bucket.  

But wait, did the ocean rise?  

The answer: Yes.  The water level in the ocean rose.  It rose in such a small amount that we do not have measuring devices sensitive enough to measure it.  So, even though we cannot readily measure and prove it rose, we know it happened.

Hmmm.  Very interesting.

The truth of the matter is: There are many things that happen that we simply cannot measure.  

That’s one of the reasons science is so fascinating.  New ways of measuring and testing are constantly developed to uncover the many mysteries of the universe.

Just because science has not yet “proven” something does not mean it is not true or does not exist.  One great example of this is the probable discovery of what is being called, “the God particle.”

According to ABC News: 

After decades of careful experiment, physicists say they have found the ‘strongest indication to date’ to prove the existence of the  HYPERLINK “http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/apnewsbreak-verge-particle-discovery-16693242” \l “.T_G9MVLNmU4” Higgs boson — a subatomic particle so important to the understanding of space, time and matter that the physicist Leon Lederman nicknamed it ‘ HYPERLINK “http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/higgs-boson-rumors-fly-god-particle-announcement-cern/story?id=15124806” the God particle.’

The announcement today, based on experiments at the Department of Energy’s Fermilab near Chicago and other institutions, is not the final word, but it’s very close. And it comes just before a major meeting this week in Australia, where more findings will be announced from the giant underground particle accelerator at CERN, the great physics lab in the Alps on the French-Swiss border.

“This is one of the cornerstones of how we understand the universe,” said Rob Roser, a Fermilab physicist, “and if it’s not there, we have to go back and check our assumptions about how the universe exists.”

Until very recently, researchers did not have the technology to discover this particle.  So, did it not exist before 2012? 

  What about the healing power of touch?  An article published in Scientific American (July 11, 2011) reads, “A team led by Professor Ron Frostig of the University of California, Irvine, induced strokes in rats by blocking an artery to the brain. The researchers then stimulated their whiskers, intending to measure the rats’ brain activity to learn how the stroke damage affected sensory functions. Instead they found that if they vibrated a single whisker within two hours of the stroke, neurons that ordinarily would have died continued to function normally, and the rats ended up with no paralysis or sensory deficits. The exact mechanism of the protective effect is not clear, but it seems to involve a rerouting of blood through undamaged veins in the brain.”

The article later revealed that the pattern of tickling the rats’ whiskers did not matter, but more tickling helped. 

Here’s what WebMd says about “Touch Therapy”:“Emerging research suggests that touch therapy works: In one landmark study, 16 happily married women were subjected to the threat of a mild electric shock; touching their husbands’ hands brought immediate relief from the resulting anxiety. Even a stranger’s touch was somewhat calming. “We know that anxiety decreases immune function and makes you get sick more often,” says study author Jim Coan, Ph.D., a Neuroscientist at the University of Virginia. “If touch can help you be less anxious, you’re more likely to stay well.”

Here’s one more just for good measure…  Science Daily reported on June 26, 2012, “A new study by the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center shows that patients reported significant improvement in side effects of cancer treatment following just one Jin Shin Jyutsu session. Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient form of touch therapy similar to acupuncture in philosophy.”

Of course, every article or study ends with “more research needs to be done.”  That’s a good thing.  The more proof, the better.

However, absence of proof is not the proof of absence.  Chiropractors (and others in the medical and healing arts) have known for a long time there is something wonderful about touch.  Patients get better, with or without scientific studies published in peer review journals.

Thankfully, now science is shedding light on what Chiropractors have known for over 100 years.  There is no doubt more research will open more healing doors and help more people stay healthy and pain free.

 

 

Is Exercise A Drug and Can It Hurt Your Heart?

21 Feb

“Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.” ~ Isaac Newton

In today’s high-tech, fast paced society, we all tend to over think,  over complicate, and make things more difficult.  This is especially true when it comes to our health.

For example, there is pretty good evidence that exercise is good for you and people who exercise are, in general, healthier than people who do not exercise.

Few people would dispute it,  but that simple statement can be taken to the EXTREME. How? Many people think if a little exercise improves health, then more must really improve health.

Well, some researchers are now saying this thought process may be very, very, very flawed.

Here is why:  Researcher Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist at the Mid America Heart Institute of St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, reported in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings that strenuous exercise might actually harm your heart.

According to Daily Mail, “Extreme exercise, such as marathons, may permanently damage the heart and trigger rhythm abnormalities… [Researchers] say the safe ‘upper limit’ for heart health is a maximum of an hour a day, after which there is little benefit to the individual. 

“A review of research evidence by US physicians says intensive training schedules and extreme endurance competitions can cause long-term harm to people’s hearts. Activities such as marathons, iron man distance triathlons, and very long distance bicycle races may cause structural changes to the heart and large arteries, leading to lasting injury.” 

Dr. James O’Keefe said, “Physical exercise, though not a drug, possesses many traits of a powerful pharmacologic agent. A routine of daily physical activity can be highly effective for prevention and treatment of many diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, and obesity.

“However, as with any pharmacologic agent, a safe upper dose limit potentially exists, beyond which the adverse effects of physical exercise, such as musculoskeletal trauma and cardiovascular stress, may outweigh its benefits.”

Dr. O’Keefe thinks the research suggests that extreme endurance training can cause elevated cardiac biomarkers and transient structural cardiovascular changes that normalized in about a week.

The review found:

Approximately 12% of seemingly healthy marathon runners showed evidence for patchy myocardial scarring.

The two-year follow-up showed a significantly higher rate of coronary heart disease in marathon runners versus runners who do not run marathons.

Elite level athletes commonly develop abnormal electrocardiograms. Studies show that too much exercise can lead to abnormal heart rhythms.

Continued excessive exercise may lead to arterial wall stiffening.

It is important to note that Dr. O’Keefe mentioned long-term, vigorous exercisers have a lower death and disability rate than non-exercisers.

If the information in the report is accurate, exercising like crazy is better than not exercising at all… but moderate exercise is better than over-doing it.

Many people (marathon runners, triathletes, etc.) were enraged by this report, and quite frankly, many factors were not accounted for in this research.

For example, does nutrition change the results?  What about high carbohydrates versus low carbohydrates?  The list here could go on and on…

But the really important point is:  EVERYTHING HAS LIMITS.

For example, most people believe that drinking water is good for you.  Not always. If you drink too much water, you can actually DIE. In fact, a 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that close to one-sixth of marathon runners develop some degree of hyponatremia, or dilution of the blood caused by drinking too much water.

Drinking the proper amount of water is good for you.  Too little is bad.  Too much is also bad.

We may need to look at exercise the same way.  Too little exercise is bad and too much is also bad.

Genetically, we are all different. We all have different amounts of stress and strain we can take.

But, we all have a threshold.  Exercising up to that threshold will be beneficial, but crossing it will not be beneficial and probably harmful.

Will some people be “okay” doing marathons or triathlons because they are genetically superior?  Probably. It’s just like some people smoke and live to be 95 years old and seem to be “healthy” their whole lives.

Then again, other people get lung cancer in their 40’s and don’t survive it.

Famous Chiropractor Jack Lalanne frequently said it is all about moderation.  He thought it was better to exercise a little every day than to go crazy every now and then. He was probably on to something.

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