When compared to patients receiving conventional treatment for high blood pressure (hypertension), patients who are trained to check their blood pressure (BP) at home tend to experience a more significant fall in blood pressure. Mean systolic BP decreased by 12.9 points in 6 months and 17.6 points in one year. The Lancet, July 2010
Monitor Your Blood Pressure
September 2nd, 2010Ways To Reduce The Risk Of Depression - Part 1!
September 1st, 20101. Exercise: Try a half-hour of moderate exercise, walking or swimming, 5 days a week. Exercise produces chemicals in the body that boost your mood and stimulate hormones and neurotransmitters, including endorphins, that can help reduce stress. 2. Strong, supportive relationships: Isolation is a risk factor for depression. Belonging to a community buffers people from the effects of adversity. Negative, critical relationships are also harmful. Karen Bruno
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late!
August 16th, 2010Do you have a plan for health? Often, people wait until they are sick or injured to take care of themselves. A balanced diet, moderate exercise, proper sleep, a positive mental attitude (decreasing stress), and chiropractic care can be part of an excellent plan to increase your chances of staying healthy and decreasing your risk of illness.
Physical Activity Lowers Risk Of Dementia, Especially In Men
August 15th, 2010People who performed moderate to heavy levels of physical activity have about a 40% lower risk of developing any type of dementia. People who reported the lowest levels of physical activity are 45% more likely to develop any type of dementia, compared to those who reported higher levels of activity.
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease 2010
Worst Foods In Your Fridge - Soda And Other Sweet Drinks
August 14th, 2010Sweetened beverages are simply “empty calories.” Soda, sweet tea and fruit drinks contribute no nutrients, but lots of calories. We don’t compensate by eating less when we drink sweet drinks, so these are truly “extra” calories. Plain water is best for hydrating and should be your primary beverage. Green and black teas hydrate and contribute healthy antioxidants. Skim or 1% milk also has key nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin D, B-12, potassium and magnesium. Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
Chance Of Surviving Once-Deadly Cancers Doubled Since 1970s
August 13th, 2010People diagnosed with breast, bowel and ovarian cancers, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, are twice as likely to survive at least 10 years after diagnosis than people diagnosed in the early 1970s. 77% of women diagnosed with breast cancer are likely to live for at least another 10 years compared with less than 40% in the 1970s; for bowel cancer, the figure has gone from 23% to 50%, and for ovarian cancer it has risen from 18 to 35%. 51% diagnosed today with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are likely to live at least another 10 years compared to 22% forty years ago; and the 10-year survival rate for Hodgkin’s lymphoma is predicted to go up from under 50% to 80%. Cancer Research UK
Anxiety Increases Risk Of Complications For Heart Disease Patients
August 12th, 2010Patients with heart disease who also suffer from an anxiety disorder have a 74% higher risk of having a heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Archives of General Psychiatry, July 2010.
Summertime…Continued!!
August 12th, 2010I know. I know. I blogged about the love of summer last month, but I just can’t stop! One thing that I realized that summer brings is visits from those that you haven’t seen in awhile…family and friends! Three of the four weekends in July we had house guests. Aquapalooza 
brought in quite a few of those friends. I love how when a really good friend visits that you haven’t seen in a while, you pick up like you just saw them yesterday.
One visit I really enjoyed was with Jarrod’s brother and his family, Justin, Chady and Aiden. Aiden is four months younger than Braelyn. They don’t get to see each other that often, so at their age it is like a brand new friend every time they meet up. Braelyn was so excited to show Aiden all of her toys and show him her room. Brant was so impressed that there was an older boy around. He followed Aiden around and kept trying to impress him. It
took all of his effort to keep up with Aiden and Braelyn, but he held his own.
With all the cancer issues I have had recently with my family, I realize how special these visits from our friends and family are to me.
Why Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome So Common?
August 11th, 2010Carpal tunnel syndrome, is a condition where a nerve (called the median nerve) is compressed in a relatively tight or restricted space (called the carpal tunnel), resulting in altered nerve function that includes numbness and weakness. In order to fully understand what carpal tunnel syndrome is, let’s devote this Health Update to better understanding the anatomy of the carpal tunnel.
The carpal tunnel is made up from 8 bones (2 rows of 4 carpal bones that are stacked on top of each other) that are arranged in the shape of a horse shoe. The “roof” of the tunnel is a ligament (transverse carpal ligament) that stretches tightly across the two ends of the horseshoe completing the formation of a tunnel – actually, an upside down tunnel when looking at the palm side of the wrist). The contents of the tunnel include 9 tendons and their covering (sheath), blood vessels and on top of all that just under the roof is the median nerve – the culprit that creates most of the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. The cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is simply anything that causes the contents inside the tunnel to swell, which then compresses the median nerve up into the roof or ligament, pinching the nerve. This can create numbness, tingling, the falling asleep sensation and weakness. It’s important to point out that the median nerve starts out from the neck, passes through the shoulder, past the elbow, through the wrist’s carpal tunnel and ends in the hand – specifically fingers 2,3, and 4. Therefore, the ENTIRE nerve must be looked at for all carpal tunnel syndrome cases as pinching can occur anywhere along its course from the neck to the hand.
It’s said that pictures say a thousand words, so let’s take a look!
Using the pictures here, familiarize yourself with the words and re-read the 2nd paragraph above, periodically looking at these pictures until you feel you understand where everything goes. Once you’ve accomplished that, you’ll be able to better appreciate carpal tunnel syndrome , how the anatomy relates to the condition, and appreciate the need to reduce the swelling inside the tunnel when symptoms occur. The treatment is simple: “PRICE” – P protect R rest I ice C compress E elevate – accomplished by bracing (especially at night), ice cup massage (5 min. until numb 5x/day), rest (light duty work), and therapy (see your chiropractor!).
We realize that you have a choice in who you are considering for your chiropractor, and we sincerely appreciate your trust in choosing our service for those needs. If you, a friend or family member requires care from a chiropractor for carpal tunnel syndrome , we would be honored to render our services. We would love to be your chiropractor!
YOU MAY BE A CANDIDATE FOR CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME! FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 512-263-0040
What is Good Head Posture?
August 10th, 2010Have you ever noticed how many people have terrible posture? One of the most common faulty postures is called forward head carriage or anterior based occiput. Other terms are hump back or slouching. There are several reasons for this common postural fault. One is the weight of the head is, on average, approximately 10-13 pounds and if it’s positioned too far forwards, the muscles in the upper back and neck tighten up much more than normal, fatigue and become painful. Also, the muscles that attach to the skull have different degrees of strength. They also attach and pull at different angles, contributing to the common forward head carriage posture. The muscle of the chest are much stronger than those in the mid and upper back and tend to pull our shoulders forward. The following pictures offer a good view of both a faulty posture as well as a good posture. Notice the forward shift in the line in the pictures of poor posture and backwards shift in the good posture pictures.
Forward Head Good Head Posture Forward Shoulders Good Shoulders Posture
As you can see, the weight of the head is back over the shoulders and the shoulder posture is appropriately positioned back in the image titled “Good Head Posture.”
It is important to understand correcting Forward Head Carriage takes time – in fact, it takes a minimum of 3 month before this becomes an automatic new habit. Of course, it could take longer or, completely fail IF you are not VERY conscientious about CONSTANTLY reminding yourself to position your posture as shown above in the “Good Head Posture” image. An exercise based on this posture correction technique is performed by retracting your chin/head as far back as you can and holding that position for 5-10 seconds. Doing this multiple times a day, between the time you maintain a partial chin tuck (“Good Head Posture”) position will further facilitate the posture retraining process.
If you, a family member or a friend require chiropractic care, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our service. We are proud that chiropractic care has consistently scored the highest level of satisfaction when compared to other forms of health care provision, and we look forward in serving you and your family presently and in the future.
YOU MAY BE A CANDIDATE FOR CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR NECK PAIN! FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 512-263-0040