Shin splints, blueberries and This Week’s Health News For You.

Mental Attitude: Remember Zinc. For over 50 years, scientists have known zinc plays a vital role in the brain but were not quite sure what that role is. Now, researchers from the Duke University Medical Center and MIT have discovered that zinc regulates the communication between neurons in the hippocampus, where learning and memory processes occur. Neuron, Aug 2011

Health Alert: Health Costs Rising! According to experts, healthcare spending will grow 6% each year through 2020. Researchers estimate that doctor visits, clinical services and prescription drugs will be the largest growth areas. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Diet: Where to Eat? As childhood obesity rises and the American diet shifts towards increasing consumption of foods eaten or prepared outside of the home, concerns about the nutritional quality and the total consumption of such foods are also increasing. Comparing measurements from 2006 to 1977, children now eat more calories every day (+179 kcal/day). This is associated with a major increase in calories eaten away from home (+255 kcal/day). The percentage of calories eaten away from home is now 33.9%. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Aug 2011

Exercise: Strong Arm Diabetes. Building muscle can lower your insulin resistance risk, thus lowering your chance of developing Type-2 Diabetes. Scientists have known for a while that low muscle mass raises the risk of insulin resistance; however, no study had attempted to figure out whether increased muscle, regardless of obesity levels, might improve blood glucose control Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, July 2011

Chiropractic: Hall of Fame Help. During his playing career, NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana said, “I’ve been seeing a Chiropractor and he’s really been helping me a lot. Chiropractic’s a big part of my game.”

Wellness/Prevention: Blueberries And Cancer. Eating as little as a cup of blueberries every day may help prevent cell damage linked to cancer. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Sept 2011

Quote: “Nature, time and patience are three great physicians.” ~ H.G. Bohn

Active Release: Shin splints. Shin splints is a painful inflammation of the muscles of the shin, usually the Tibialis Anterior or Tibialis Posterior muscles. While the problem is felt in the shins, the source is usually the foot and ankle. When the feet are weak and the ankles are tight, your shin muscles are subjected to additional stress. While Active Release is great for correcting the affected muscles, the foot and ankle must be addressed with rehab exercises. Icing after activity helps too. If you’re dealing with shin splints, call us 303.300.0424