Santa Barbara Chiropractor: "No Pain, No Gain?" Not When It Comes to Getting Older
Posted on 26. Nov, 2009 by admin in arthritis
If you’re over forty years old you know that as we age our body doesn’t feel or respond the same way as it did when we were younger. It hardly seems fair that as our mind appears to improve and become more “inventive,” our body seems to become less “cooperative.” We’re stiff when we get out of bed; certain activities during the day make us sore at night; and, if we’re not mindful, even something as simple as turning too fast or bending over to pick up a dropped object, can cause our back or some other muscle group to go into spasm. The good news is that there is natural treatment for us, “boomers,” that can not only slow down the aging process of the body, but help us to avoid some of those problems altogether.
Take arthritis for instance. In point of fact, barring pharmaceuticals, conventional medicine fails to take care of this age-related affliction. What is the reason? It is because most medical professionals treat the symptoms of arthritis. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, not only is beneficial in relieving the pain of arthritis, naturally, without drugs, but it finds the origin of the affliction and eliminates it. For more than a hundred years, chiropractors, like your Santa Barbara Chiropractor, have been treating people suffering from back pain and other conditions created by arthritic changes in the musculoskeletal system.
Arthritic changes occur as your body ages because, over time, wear of particular joints takes place as a consequence of repetitive stresses, as well as years of incorrect gait, improper posture, and insufficient movement. Chiropractic treatment restores motion back into your joints and reduces pain, and it readjusts any vertebral misalignment that may be causing irritation and restriction. In addition to causing arthritic changes in the spine and increasing pain, did you know that misaligned vertebra can also lower your resistance and immunity? It’s true, and this may be one of the reasons why it may seem to you that as you get older you experience more health problems and that it often takes longer for you to feel better again. Studies have shown that older individuals who are under chiropractic care stay healthier. In fact, you could say that, as you get older, chiropractic treatment is good for what ails you!
Chiropractors are highly proficient when it comes to the health of the musculoskeletal system, from the small, growing frame of an infant to the full-grown body of a mature adult. Your chiropractor is experienced in working with the aging process of the body and has special observational and diagnostic skills that assist in finding spinal misalignments and joint problems. In fact, a chiropractic examination can frequently reveal certain age-related changes before they’ve begun to create noticeable pain. Furthermore, your Santa Barbara Chiropractor can check your posture and analyze your gait to determine if there are any faulty patterns that could create further arthritic changes.
So, if feeling your age has become a painful experience, make an appointment with your Santa Barbara Chiropractor today!
Motivating Ways to Get Moving and Exercise
Posted on 26. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Once the honeymoon phase of exercising to lose weight and get fit and healthy is over, how do you manage to keep going? Injuries, weight loss plateaus and even boredom all play a part in you dragging your feet. How do you get re-inspired? You need to find the right motivation to renew your passion for fitness.
Breathe New Life into your Old Fitness Routine
If boredom is one of your main issues with fitness, spice things up a bit. Choose a fun activity that is physical. Mix it up with some socializing and leave your worries at the door. Belly dancing, synchronized swimming, kickboxing … any physical activity that looks intriguing – try it!
Offer to take a child or pet to the park. Jogging or power walking with a pet on a leash is a new experience and is also a great social activity as well. You will see your surroundings in a whole new way with a pet. Children are full of energy and if you offer an hour of babysitting at the park, you will burn all the calories you need for the day, running after them, swinging them on the swings, throwing the ball around or even a simple game of chase.
Devise an exercise plan based on your mood. If you are feeling down or contemplative, consider a walk in the park punctuated with some stretching and exercise band intervals. When you are keyed up, choose high octane activity such as aerobic class or dancing. Interval training, where you mix steady physical activity with bursts of intense exercise, keeps things lively and just might help you break through weight loss plateaus too.
Never Be Too Tired to Exercise
Choose someone with similar fitness goals and make a date to exercise. If you feel obligated to meet that person to exercise, your mood will more than likely not be a factor. Fitness partners motivate and push each other to do well so you don’t want to let each other down.
When you feel too tired to exercise, move toward your daily fitness goal in small steps. Put on your workout clothes first and see how you feel. Next, put on your athletic shoes and lace them up. Just being in your workout gear is enough motivation to move more and get things done with some spring in your step. Even if you don’t make it to the gym or your workout routine, you will likely be moving around rather than sitting or lying down.
Eating a small snack may help you overcome your tired feeling too. Choose an option with complex carbohydrates and protein such as a hard boiled egg and an apple about two hours before you typically exercise. Make sure you get plenty of iron and vitamin C in your diet along with the requisite eight to ten glasses of water per day. Iron helps you build red blood cells which means proper oxygenation in your body while vitamin C helps iron absorb better in the blood. Water prevents dehydration, a common denominator to fatigue.
Just changing your routine or even the music you exercise to can breathe new life into your fitness program. Find what inspires you; grab a workout buddy; engage yourself in spring cleaning or yard work. Anything that gets you moving, working your muscles and burning calories is a good thing!
When Sleep Suffers, So Does Decisiveness
Posted on 22. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Not being well-rested can be dangerous for those whose jobs require quick reactions, researchers say
(HealthDay News) — Sleep-deprived people may put themselves and others at risk when they need to make split-second decisions, U.S. researchers have found.
The study, which included 49 U.S. military cadets, looked at how sleep deprivation affected information-integration, a process that relies heavily on instantaneous, gut-feeling decisions.
“It’s important to understand this domain of procedural learning because information-integration — the fast and accurate strategy — is critical in situations when soldiers need to make split-second decisions based about whether a potential target is an enemy soldier, a civilian or one of their own,” Todd Maddox, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a university news release. Read more…
Heart And Bone Damage From Low Vitamin D Tied To Declines In Sex Hormones
Posted on 16. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone.
In a national study in 1010 men, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, researchers say the new findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and women, were independent risk factors for hardened and narrowed arteries and weakened bones. Vitamin D is an essential part to keeping the body healthy, and can be obtained from fortified foods, such as milk and cereals, and by exposure to sunlight. Read more…Intense Daily Workout May Keep Cancer at Bay
Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Thirty minutes a day cut risk in half in study of Finnish men
(HealthDay News) — Increased oxygen consumption associated with moderate- to high-intensity exercise appears to reduce the risk of cancer, a new study has found.
The Finnish study included 2,560 men, aged 42 to 61, whose leisure-time physical activity was assessed over one year. None of the men had a history of cancer, according to the report published online July 28 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
During an average follow-up of 16 years, 181 of the men died from cancer. Those who engaged in moderate- to high-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes a day were 50 percent less likely to develop cancer compared with the other men.
The researchers found that an increase of 1.2 metabolic units (oxygen consumption) was related to a decreased risk of cancer death, especially in lung and gastrointestinal cancers, after they took into account factors such as age, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and fiber/fat intake.
Good Green Tea
Posted on 06. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Green Tea May Help Prevent Oral Cancer
Small study reports evidence of cancer-fighting properties
(HealthDay News) — A new study appears to add to growing evidence that green tea might help protect against cancer.
U.S. researchers gave 41 volunteers with pre-malignant mouth lesions green tea extract for three months at doses of 500 milligrams per meter squared (mg/m2), 750 mg/m2 or 1,000 mg/m2. The extract was taken by mouth. Other participants took a placebo.
The study found that about 59 percent of people taking the highest dose of the green tea extract showed a clinical response, compared with 18 percent of those who took a placebo. The researchers also noted a trend toward improvement in certain biomarkers that could predict cancer development. Read more…
Chiropractic Treatment and Tai Chi Practice Relieve Knee Pain
Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor, knee pain
Knee X-ray
Research done by Tufts University School of Medicine has found that patients that are at least 65 years of age or older with knee osteoarthritis (OA), and who practice Tai Chi, enhanced their physical function and encountered a decrease in pain. Osteoarthritis is a prevalent form of arthritis that brings about a breakdown of joint cartilage. Chiropractors help many people who have developed OA in a number of places in the body, including the knee joints. Knee pain and disability is one of the most commonplace dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system, second only to spinal complaints. In fact, an astounding 4.3 million US adults over 60 years of age have been diagnosed with knee OA, according to the CDC, and it anticipates that half of the men and women in America may incur symptoms of OA in at least one knee by age 85. Knee osteoarthritis results in pain, mobility limitations, dysfunction and disability, and a decreased quality of life.
You may be asking why so many men and women develop OA. Inordinate stress over a period of time is a major determinant in the majority of musculoskeletal conditions that develop as we get older. Therefore, as people age they are more susceptible to developing OA in their joints, including the knees. Abnormal mechanics of the knee, improper gait, compensatory foot mechanics as a consequence of foot pain, and overuse of the knee joint all produce excessive stress on the knees. Eventually arthritic changes in the knee joint take place. In addition to chiropractic care, chiropractors wholeheartedly advocate natural, drug-free practices, such as Tai Chi (Chuan), that can decrease knee pain. A traditional style of Chinese martial arts,Tai Chi features slow, rhythmic movements that produce mental relaxation, as well as improved balance, an increase in strength, and improved flexibility.
The 40 men and women selected for the Tufts study were, on average, 65 years of age, overweight, and with confirmed osteoarthritis of the knee. Otherwise they were healthy. Individuals were picked at random to take part in 60-minute “Yang style” Tai Chi sessions twice weekly for 12 weeks. Each session included a 10-minute self-massage and a review of Tai Chi principles, 30 minutes of Tai Chi movement, 10 minutes of breathing technique, and 10 minutes of relaxation.
Tai Chi practice involves the type of range of motion, flexibility, muscle conditioning, and aerobic workout that is compatible with prevailing exercise advice for osteoarthritis. Furthermore, researchers noted that the “mental aspect” of Tai Chi promoted a sense of well-being, life satisfaction, and personal concepts of health that helped the participants to deal differently with chronic pain. Compared with the control group, the group practicing Tai Chi experienced a substantial decrease in knee pain.
Full findings of the study are published in the November 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.
Fit After 45?
Posted on 03. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Fitness Fades Fast After 45
But healthy habits can stave off the inevitable declines, research finds
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) — The declines in fitness that accompany growing old typically speed up after the age of 45, new research shows.
But people can slow the inevitable by staying lean, exercising and refraining from smoking.
The findings, appearing in the Oct. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, are not so surprising in light of the piles of other research that have drawn similar conclusions.
But the new study has broad implications, given the rising number of older adults in the United States and the explosion in the sedentary, overweight and aging population.
“The Social Security Administration actually has an aerobic capacity threshold. If you’re below the threshold, you are considered disabled,” said study author Andrew Jackson.
This means more people could qualify for government disability benefits at a younger age, further draining an already strained economy. Read more…
Pregnant? Eat Your Veggies
Posted on 02. Nov, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Veggies in Pregnancy Lowers Child's Diabetes Risk
Type 1 less likely in kids whose moms favored these foods, study found
(HealthDay News) — Children born to mothers who ate plenty of vegetables during pregnancy are less likely to have type 1 diabetes, Swedish researchers say.
"This is the first study to show a link between vegetable intake during pregnancy and the risk of the child subsequently developing type 1 diabetes, but more studies of various kinds will be needed before we can say anything definitive," study author Hilde Brekke, a clinical nutritionist at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, said in a news release from the university.
Brekke and colleagues studied 6,000 5-year-olds and found that 3 percent either had fully developed type 1 diabetes or had elevated levels of antibodies that indicate a risk of developing the disease. The risk was twice as high in children whose mothers rarely ate vegetables during pregnancy, and lowest among children whose mothers ate vegetables every day of their pregnancy.
The study was recently published online in the journal Pediatric Diabetes. Read more…
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