This Week’s 1-Page Health News from the chiropractors at Denver Chiropractic Center

Diet: Beans!
People who eat beans have healthier diets overall, lower body weight, and a reduced risk for obesity. A study found bean-consumers between the ages of 12-19 weighed 7 lbs (~3 kg) less and had nearly an inch (~2.5 cm) smaller waist circumference than their non-bean consuming peers. Those who ate beans frequently had a 22% reduced risk of being obese. (So take that all you anti-legume hard-core paleo people.)
The Experimental Biology Conference, 2006

Exercise: More Reasons.
Exercise increases the diffusion capacity of the lungs, which enhances the exchange of oxygen from your lungs to your blood.
Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Chiropractic: The Benefits of Adjustments.
Besides pain relief, what are the benefits of getting adjusted? 1. Adjustments restore joint motion, both symmetry and range of motion. 2. Adjustments normalize the biomechanics and load distribution of the spine, bone, joints, and disks. 3. Adjustments pump out metabolic waste products from soft tissue cells. 4. Adjustments improve nutrition to disks and cartilage. 5. Adjustments relax tight muscles. 6. Adjustments accelerate healing as movement increases the metabolic rate, and increases collagen and protein production.
Malik Slosberg, D.C.

Wellness/Prevention: Mushrooms & Cancer Risk?
Eating fresh mushrooms (greater than or equal to 10 grams per day) and dried mushrooms (greater than or equal to four grams per day) may decrease your cancer risk by 64% and 47%, respectively. The most commonly consumed mushroom in this study was the white button mushroom (one small white button mushroom weighs 10 grams). An additional protective effect was seen when mushrooms and green tea were both consumed on a daily basis.
International Journal of Cancer, 2009

Chiropractic Adjustments Decrease Pain Associated with Scoliosis.

A case study involving two individuals with scoliosis and back pain were treated with chiropractic manipulation. One patient received routine care one to two times per month while the other received care as-needed. The patient treated as-needed continued to have curve progression while the patient who was treated routinely did not. Both individuals reported improvements to their back pain.
Journal Of Manipulative Physiologic Therapeutics, May 1994

Chiropractic outperforms drugs (NSAIDs) and Acupuncture.

A pilot study involving 77 patient with chronic spinal pain received either nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acupuncture, or spinal manipulation. After 30 days, spinal manipulation was the only intervention that achieved statistically significant improvements according to outcome assessments.
Journal of Manipulative Physiologic Therapeutics, July 1999

Spinal Fixations May Affect the Immune System.

T lymphocytes, part of the adaptive immune system, can be stimulated and inhibited by the nervous system. It’s theorized that spinal fixations may hinder the T lymphocytes’ relationship with the nervous system, possibly affecting the body’s immune response. Correcting these spinal fixations through spinal manipulation may benefit the immune system.
Journal Of Manipulative Physiologic Therapeutics, August 1989

Columbus Day: This Week’s 1-Page Health News

Mental Attitude: The Brain and Learning a Second Language.
Learning a second language requires the brain to create and strengthen new neural connections in the brain’s inferior frontal cortex. This is similar to the structural changes seen in people learning complex motor skills, such as juggling.
Montreal Neurological Institute, September 2013

Health Alert: Obesity in the United States.
78 million adults and 13 million kids are obese in the Unites States (US), with the total number increasing to 113 million by 2022. 60-70% of the US population is either overweight or obese, putting them at risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
American Heart Association, September 2013

Diet: Vitamins and Violence.
Deficiencies of vitamins A, D, K, B1, B3, B6, B12 and folate, and of minerals iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc, chromium and manganese can all contribute to mental instability and violent behavior.
Sylvia Onusic, PhD, April 2013

Exercise: Watch Your Step!
When exercising, the force centered on your ankle can exceed up to seven times your body weight. 23,000 people sprain their ankle every day in the United States, resulting in 1.6 million doctor office visits annually. The direct and indirect costs (e.g., lost days from work) associated with treating ankle sprains exceed $1.1 billion annually. To make matters worse, these numbers do not take into account the long-term disability often associated with ankle sprains. Overweight athletes with a prior history of ankle sprain are 19 times more likely to suffer another ankle sprain.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, February 2011

Chiropractic: Increased Productivity!
A small, one-year study of office workers with neck and upper extremity pain found that chiropractic care combined with improved workstation ergonomics resulted in decreased pain, increased quality of life, and up to 100% increased productivity.
Work, September 2013

Wellness/Prevention: Obesity Microbes?
New research suggests changing the mix of gut microbes can prevent obesity, but only if combined with a healthy diet. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables encourages leanness-related microbes to populate the gut leading to better weight control. However, a diet high in saturated fat and low in fruits and vegetables thwarts the invasion of microbes associated with leanness.
Science, September 2013

Chiropractic is an Effective Treatment For Sciatica Patients.

A year-long study compared chronic sciatica patients with symptomatic lumbar disk herniations who received either a microdiskectomy or 21 chiropractic visits. The researchers found that 60% of the patients who received chiropractic care benefited to the same degree as those who underwent surgery. The study’s authors recommend that patients with a symptomatic lumbar disk herniation try chiropractic first, before considering surgery.
Journal of Manipulative Physiologic Therapy, October 2010

Child with Headaches Responds to Chiropractic Adjustments.

This case study involved an eight-year-old boy with a complaint of daily headaches for three years. The child reported a significant decrease in headache frequency after one chiropractic treatment. The frequency of his headaches decreased to once per month after four adjustments. Since headaches are a common complaint in children, chiropractic treatment warrants further investigation.
Journal of Neuromusculoskeletal System, 2002

Race Report – The Hot Chocolate 5k & This Week’s 1-Page Health News

1378032_10200799315170525_1146212026_n

My oldest son Andrew and I ran the Hot Chocolate 5k on Sunday morning. This was his first race, and he went in hoping to be under 40 minutes. He did it in 33:33. Not bad for an year-old. I, of course, stayed with him. That was a great event for first-timers. I’d recommend it to anyone.

“The greatest wealth is health.”
~ Virgil

Mental Attitude: No Yelling.
Harsh verbal punishments, such as shouting, cursing, or using insults, are just as harmful to adolescents as physical discipline. Adolescents whose parents used harsh verbal punishment are more likely to suffer from depression and are more likely to engage in vandalism or aggressive behavior. Parental warmth, love, emotional support, and affection between parents and their kids is not enough to outweigh the negative effects of harsh verbal discipline.
Child Development, September 2013

Diet: Chew Your Food.
It is not a surprise that almonds are a great source of healthy fats and extra energy. However, the extent that almonds are chewed can make a difference in how much nutrition is absorbed by the body and how much is expelled. The more you chew, the more your body can use.
Institute of Food Technologists, July 2013

Exercise: Sudden Cardiac Death Risk reduced with Exercise.
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for 50% of all deaths from coronary heart disease, and is defined as death with cardiac origin within 24 hours after onset of symptoms. A 19-year study looked at the impact of high leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) combined with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on the risk of SCD. The results showed that the risk of SDC was nearly double among men who are inactive (low CRF and low LTPA).
Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, September 2013

Chiropractic: Drugs vs. Needles vs Adjustments.
In this study, acupuncture, medication, and chiropractic care were compared on a patient population with spinal pain, including neck and back pain. Only spinal manipulation provided both short-term and long-term benefits.
Spine, July 2003

Wellness/Prevention: The Great and Powerful Ginger.
Ginger is an herb that is used as a spice and also has therapeutic qualities. The underground stem (rhizome) can be used fresh, powdered, dried, or as an oil or juice. Ginger is used for treating loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting after surgery, flatulence, upset stomach, colic, morning sickness, motion sickness, upper respiratory tract infection, bronchitis, cough, menstrual cramps, arthritis, and muscle pain.
National Library of Medicine, September 2013

Chiropractic Manipulation and Childhood Ear Infections.

Forty six children with a diagnosis of otitis media who received chiropractic manipulation showed 93% improvement in all cases, 75% in 10 days or less, and 43% with only 1-2 treatments. Results indicate that limitation of medical intervention and the addition of chiropractic care may decrease the symptoms of ear infection in young children.
Journal Of Manipulative Physiologic Therapeutics, March 1996

Chiropractic for Sacroiliac Joint Pain.

Located in the pelvis, the sacroiliac joint (SI joint) can be the cause of sciatica, resulting in back pain that radiates down the leg. A recent study compared physical therapy, chiropractic manual therapy, and joint injections of corticosteroids. The study found that manual therapy was the best choice for sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The success rate for chiropractic manual therapy was 72%, 50% for corticosteroid injections, and 20% for physiotherapy. Researchers found manual therapy resulted in significant improvement in pain severity, while neither physical therapy nor injections resulted in significant pain relief. In our experience, adding Active Release Techniques treatment makes the chiropractic work even more effective for treating SI joint pain.
European Spine Journal, August 2013