Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Kids 01/27/2010
An increase in chronic childhood disease is part of the reason parents today seek alternative health care for kids. Chiropractic care is an effective and affordable program by licensed providers that addresses children's health conditions associated with the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Gentle, noninvasive and drug free, chiropractic adjustments treat, resolve and prevent a wide range of health problems. Recent research by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) found spinal manipulative therapy safe and successful in treating children of all ages. Acute Conditions Acute conditions may result from birth trauma, sports mishaps and accidental injury. Chiropractic care benefits children by correcting the spinal alignment to improve their overall health. When vertebral joints are misaligned during birth or from a blow or fall, muscle tissue and nerves may also be affected. Spinal adjustment frees joints, restores motion and relieves nerve pressure, which may be the cause of additional ailments. Parents report successful treatment of children's health issues such as acute earache, upper respiratory infection, muscle pain, neck pain and accident trauma. Spinal manipulation for children as young as newborn babies is an alternative treatment for the discomfort of colic and other digestive disorders as well. Chronic Conditions Parents surveyed by the ICPA reported behavioral improvement for kids who saw a chiropractor, as well as improved sleep and stronger immune systems. Although scientific evidence in these areas is still inconclusive, the growing number of those seeking children's health care from chiropractors (up 8.5% since 1991, according to the American Chiropractic Association) is a positive endorsement of its benefits. Chiropractic America reports that natural, drug-free chiropractic care is sometimes more effective than traditional medical approaches for chronic earache, scoliosis and neck pain. Headaches and sleep disorders of nonspecific causes respond well to spinal adjustments, which affect and repair interrupted neural pathways. Asthma and allergy symptoms and patterns of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may also be treatable with chiropractic. Prevention Success in these areas has implications for chiropractic care's preventive capacity. Periodic ongoing adjustments at a young age may help stave off the above ailments before they begin. Proper spinal alignment now may delay or prevent degenerative bone or joint disease, such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. In addition to maintaining children's health, regular visits to the chiropractor also instill the value of proactive health care in kids. They'll be more likely to monitor and manage their health as they grow up and less likely to be afraid or in denial of any health problems. Encouraging good lifelong health habits is one of chiropractic's best benefits for kids. Visit Livestrong Add Comment What if you were to learn that every day, 25 percent of your calories came from a poison, disguised as a food? And what if you discovered that this chemical imposter was responsible for your insulin resistance and weight gain? And elevated blood pressure ... And elevated triglycerides and LDL ... And depletion of vitamins and minerals ... And even gout, heart disease and liver damage? What if you were to discover that this toxic substance had been dumped into your food in gradually increasing quantities for the last thirty years, with the full knowledge and blessings of the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, the USDA and the FDA? Would you be angry? I wish I could tell you that this is just a dramatic plot from some fiction novel, but it’s actually a shocking reality. The substance dealing such a crushing blow to your health and responsible for many, if not most of the chronic diseases that are so rampant in our society, is sugar -- and more specifically, fructose. We now know without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all its myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll on the health of this nation. By the end of this article, you will have a solid understanding of how and why this has happened. In order to really grasp this material, you’ll have to learn a little of the biochemistry of energy, which is rather technical. But hang in there -- the knowledge you’re about to gain, and the impact it will have on your health, will be well worth the effort. I will try my best to make the more technical aspects as simple as I can for you. Read complete article Acetaminophen Linked to Childhood Asthma 01/26/2010
Children given acetaminophen during the first year of life to reduce fever are more likely to develop asthma later on, a new study finds. These children are also more likely to develop rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema when they reach age 6 to 7, according to the report in the Sept. 20 issue ofThe Lancet. "If this association is causative, it would suggest that acetaminophen use is a risk factor for asthma and may explain the asthma has become more common," said lead researcher Dr. Richard Beasley, from the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand in Wellington. Since this study can't definitively say that acetaminophen is a cause of asthma, its use for children shouldn't be changed, Beasley added. "Acetaminophen is the preferred drug for relief of pain and fever in childhood," he said. Beasley thinks, however, acetaminophen should not be used routinely for childhood fever, but reserved for high fevers. "Acetaminophen is still the preferred agent, but the large amounts of acetaminophen used around the world are unnecessary," he said. "Its use should be limited to treat high fevers." For the study, Beasley's group collected data on 205,487 children from 31 countries around the world. These children participated in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. The researchers found that children who were given acetaminophen for fever during the first year of life had a 46 percent increased risk of developing asthma when they were 6 to 7 years old. In addition, children who were given high doses of acetaminophen within the past year had a more than three times increased risk of asthma. Those who were given medium doses had a 61 percent increased risk of developing the condition, Beasley's team reported. Acetaminophen use was also associated with an increased risk of severe asthma of about 22 percent to 38 percent, the researchers found. Read more Bruce Lipton explains how your thoughts, and the thoughts of those around you, can directly influence the state of your health. See Video For the past five years, and in my recent book OBSESSION: A HISTORY, I have been questioning the effectiveness of Prozac-like drugs known as SSRIs. I've pointed out that when the drugs first came out in the early 1990's there was a wildly enthusiastic uptake in the prescribing of such drugs. Doctors were jubilantly claiming that the drugs were 80-90 per cent effective in treating depression and related conditions like OCD. In the last few years those success rates have been going down, with the NY Times pointing out that the initial numbers had been inflated by drug companies suppressing the studies that were less encouraging. But few if any doctors or patients were willing to hear anything disparaging said about these "wonder" drugs. Now the tune has changed. Reason One: A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that SSRI's like Paxil and Prozac are no more effective in treating depression than a placebo pill. That means they are 33 per cent effective, which is the percent of patients who will respond well to a sugar pill. The article goes on to say that although SSRI's are effective to some degree in treating severe depression they don't have any effect on the routine type of depressions they are most often used to treat. The take-home message is--don't take SSRI's if you have normal, mild, or routine depression. It's a waste of money, and the drugs have serious side-effects including loss of sexual drive. Reason Two: A January 4 article in MedPage Today cites a study done at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins. The study says that doctors routinely prescribe not one but two or three SSRI's and other psychopharmological drugs in combination with few if any serious studies to back up the multiple usage. It's pretty obvious that the reason for these multiple prescriptions is that if one drug doesn't work, then perhaps two or three will. Doctors are in essence performing uncontrolled experiments on their patients, hoping that in some scattershot way they might hit on a solution. But of course drugs have dangerous interactions and most physicians are shooting in the dark with all the dangers that attend such bad marksmanship. Reason Three: More and more psychiatric disorders are appearing that might be called "lifestyle" diseases. What was called shyness, sadness, restlessness, shopping too much, high sex drive, low sex drive, and so on have increasingly been seen as diseases and many more will appear in the new DSM, the diagnotstic manual of psychological and psychiatric disorders. Increasingly the criteria for inclusion in the DSM involves whether the disorder responds to a category of drugs. If, as we've just seen, one of the key class of drugs that for 20 years has been considered effective now fails, what does that say for this idea that if a disease responds to a particular drug, then it is a particular disease? We have to rethink the whole biological basis for lifestyle disorders. Reason Four: We're an over-medicated society, and the goal of drug companies and a compliant and harried medical establishment is ultimately to have some drug coursing through every individuals bloodstream. It's a lot easier to quickly pop a pill or prescribe than it is to explore the reasons for a person's distress. Many of us remember the scenario in 1960's science fiction movies of a dystopic future or Soviet-style world with drugs used to control minds. Well, that future is here and the social control we dreaded is now accepted in the form of a pill. Reason Five: The whole serotonin hypothesis is challenged by these findings. What this new information shows is that there may be some help using SSRIs if there is a severe shortage of serotonin, but the average person's depression cannot simply be related to a "chemical imbalance." The human brain is too complicated and so are we to have a simple, quick explanation related to seratonin alone. We have no way of measuring serotonin the brain of a living person, short of cutting open the skull. We have not come up with what a normal level of serotonin should be and below which we can say that you would be depressed and above which we can say you will be happy. People with high serotonin levels can be depressed and those with low levels can be happy. Serotonin inducing drugs like ecstasy can make you feel very happy, but so can alcohol and heroin. We have to go back to the drawing boards on this one, so don't ever let anyone say "I've got a chemical imbalance" without asking them what they actually mean and where is the science to prove that statement. What Should You Do? Think twice, be skeptical, and question a simplistic diagnosis you might receive after discussing your condition for a short time with a rushed practitioner. If each person takes a stand, is willing to engage in therapies beyond drug-taking, we might actually have a responsible and informed public confronting an increasingly powerful medical-pharmalogical establishment. Drugs may not be the answer for you, and now it turns out that some drugs may not be the answer for almost anyone. For more information New Research Suggests Omega-3s May Slow Aging on Genetic Level; Some Heart Doctors Skeptical Heart disease patients have long been encouraged to eat more fish or take fish oil supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids. The reason? People who do, tend to live longer. Now, some say a study out this evening in the Journal of the American Medical Association might explain why. Specifically, the researchers behind the study report that for heart disease patients, omega-3 fatty acids may protect against death and illness by slowing biological aging. However, the findings were met with skepticism from some cardiac experts who said the study had serious limitations. In the study, Dr. Ramin Farzaneh-Far of the University of California San Francisco and colleagues followed more than 600 men with heart disease and found those taking the most omega-3 appeared "biologically younger" -- that is, the ends of their chromosomes, called telomeres, looked longer and healthier. "Patients with the highest levels of omega-3 fish oils were found to display the slowest decrease in telomere length, whereas those with the lowest levels of omega-3 fish oils in the blood had the fastest rate of telomere shortening," Farzaneh-Far said. "This suggests that these patients were aging faster than those with higher fish oil levels." Some doctors agreed that the findings seem interesting. "Telomeres do help the body repair damage," said Dr. Stephen Kopecky, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who was not involved with the study. "The longer they are, the more the damage repair that can occur." "It's a risk-free way of potentially extending lifespan and reducing disability," said Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Yet some cardiologists were quick to point out that the results are preliminary, and need to be replicated before physicians can use them in practice. Since the study was observational and couldn't prove cause-and-effect, "we don't really know whether ingestion of omega-3 fatty acids resulted in this 'benefit,'" said Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic. "It remains entirely possible that individuals who consume more fish also have other favorable healthy habits. ... The relationship between telomere shortening and cardiovascular health is not well established." This concern was echoed in a statement by a spokeswoman for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, who told ABC News that while the study "shows a possible association between omega-3 fatty acids and telomere length," it "does not show causation." Read more Battling Obesity in America 01/15/2010
190 Million Americans are Obese or Overweight. Childhood Obesity has Tripled in the last 30 Years The evidence of an epidemic is everywhere : • In 2018 it is projected that 42.8% will be obese costing this Country 344 Billion per year. • Two-thirds, more than 190 million Americans are overweight or obese. • Obesity-related diseases are a $147 billion dollar medical burden every year. • Childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty years. Read more articles The New Year is upon us, and for many people, it includes a New Year's resolution for achieving improved health and happiness in 2010. Here are twenty-five health-enhancing ideas to help you accomplish that goal. #1 - Replace sodas or soft drinks with tea or water. #2 - Commit to eating one raw fruit (or serving of vegetables) at every meal. #3 - Add 5 minutes a day to your exercise routine. Don't have an exercise routine? Start with 5 minutes a day! #4 - Get more sunshine! #5 - Learn some Pilates. It's probably the #1 exercise system for core strength and flexibility. #6 - Drink a super food smoothie every day. #7 - Buy more indoor plants: They purify the air in your home. #8 - Take a quality, wild-harvested fish oil supplement that contains vitamin D. #9 - Eat more quinoa: It's a high-protein, low-carb "grain" that can easily replace rice or couscous. #10 - When you get out of bed each morning, do five sit-ups first. It sounds simple, but just 5 sit-ups a day can make a difference. #11 - Instead of trying to find a parking spot so close to the grocery store, park farther away. You'll get a little more walking exercise and a little more sunshine. #12 - Get a good water filter so you can stop drinking tap water (or bottled water). #13 - Pick up a "gentle" art like Tai-Qi or Yoga. It will reduce your stress and improve your physical stamina. #14 - Take a relaxing hot bath with epsom salts and soothing herbs like lavender. It will do wonders for your mind and your muscles. #15 - Get a professional massage! Massage therapy is really, really healthy, and it's a great way to reward yourself for some of the other accomplishments you're making. Take advantage of the Massage specials available with Katelon. #16 - Grow your own sprouts! With a simple, low-cost sprouting machine, you can grow and eat your own sprouts. Eating just one ounce of sprouts a day still had a huge impact on preventing cancer and boosting immune function. #17 - Prepare for a Spring garden. Sure, it's cold and snowy right now, but make a commitment to start a garden this Spring, and you'll reap many health benefits in the months ahead. #18 - Get a mini-trampoline and do some rebounding in your living room. You can even watch movies or documentary DVDs at the same time. #19 - Make a point to get at least eight hours of sleep for 2-3 nights a week (or more, if you can). Most people are sleep deprived, and the health cost is enormous. #20 - Start visiting local farmers markets so that you eat more local food in 2010. You'll be healthier and happier as a result. #21 - Got a job you don't like? Quit it! Downgrade your lifestyle to live on less money, and then pursue what you really enjoy. Being happy in a small house is better than being miserable in a big one. #22 - Get off those medications! Make a point to learn how to safely and gradually get yourself off all the medications you can by eliminating underlying imbalances or illnesses. The fewer medications you take, the healthier you'll be! #23 - Throw out your television! Are you still watching cable TV or satellite TV? It's a complete waste of your life (but you already knew that). Disconnect the cable. Read more books and get your information online where news sources are more independent and intelligent. #24 - Make a decision to think of food as nourishment instead of entertainment. Eat what your body needs, not what your taste buds desire. #25 – Schedule your next adjustment and bring your family and friends in for a Free consultation with Dr. Clem and Discovery Wellness Center. Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny 01/12/2010
The remote, snow-swept expanses of northern Sweden are an unlikely place to begin a story about cutting-edge genetic science. The kingdom's northernmost county, Norrbotten, is nearly free of human life; an average of just six people live in each square mile. And yet this tiny population can reveal a lot about how genes work in our everyday lives. Norrbotten is so isolated that in the 19th century, if the harvest was bad, people starved. The starving years were all the crueler for their unpredictability. For instance, 1800, 1812, 1821, 1836 and 1856 were years of total crop failure and extreme suffering. But in 1801, 1822, 1828, 1844 and 1863, the land spilled forth such abundance that the same people who had gone hungry in previous winters were able to gorge themselves for months. (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2009.) In the 1980s, Dr. Lars Olov Bygren, a preventive-health specialist who is now at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, began to wonder what long-term effects the feast and famine years might have had on children growing up in Norrbotten in the 19th century — and not just on them but on their kids and grandkids as well. So he drew a random sample of 99 individuals born in the Overkalix parish of Norrbotten in 1905 and used historical records to trace their parents and grandparents back to birth. By analyzing meticulous agricultural records, Bygren and two colleagues determined how much food had been available to the parents and grandparents when they were young. Around the time he started collecting the data, Bygren had become fascinated with research showing that conditions in the womb could affect your health not only when you were a fetus but well into adulthood. In 1986, for example, the Lancet published the first of two groundbreaking papers showing that if a pregnant woman ate poorly, her child would be at significantly higher than average risk for cardiovascular disease as an adult. Bygren wondered whether that effect could start even before pregnancy: Could parents' experiences early in their lives somehow change the traits they passed to their offspring? Read the full article A leading health expert said the swine flu scare was a "false pandemic" led by drug companies that stood to make billions from vaccines, The Sun reported Monday. Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, claimed major firms organized a "campaign of panic" to put pressure on the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic. He believes it is "one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century," and he has called for an inquiry. An emergency debate on the issue will be held by the Council of Europe later this month. The Council of Europe covers 47 European countries and seeks to develop common and democratic principles between the nations. Wodarg said, "It's just a normal kind of flu. It does not cause a tenth of deaths caused by the classic seasonal flu. "The great campaign of panic we have seen provided a golden opportunity for representatives from labs who knew they would hit the jackpot in the case of a pandemic being declared. "We want to clarify everything that brought about this massive operation of disinformation. We want to know who made decisions, on the basis of what evidence, and precisely how the influence of the pharmaceutical industry came to bear on the decision-making." He added: "A group of people in the WHO is associated very closely with the pharmaceutical industry." The WHO recently reaffirmed its stance that the pandemic is not over. However, the number of swine flu deaths is dramatically lower than expected. In an interview with France's L'Humanite Sunday, Wodarg also raised concerns about swine flu vaccines. "The vaccines were developed too quickly. Some ingredients were insufficiently tested," he said. "But there is worse to come. The vaccine developed by Novartis was produced in a bioreactor from cancerous cells, a technique that had never been used until now. "This was not necessary. It has also led to a considerable mismanagement of public money. "The time has come at last for us to make demands on governments. The purpose of the inquiry is to prevent more false alarms of this type in the future." "We must make sure people can rely on the analysis and the expertise of national and international public institutions. The latter are now discredited, because millions of people have been vaccinated with products with inherent possible health risks." Read more | Author The monthly blogs you find here are written by various members of the Discovery Wellness Team with the intention of inspiring you to lead an informed, healthy, and balanced life. ArchivesMay 2010 Categories |

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