2009 June | ProActive Chiropractic Health and Wellness Blog

Chiropractic as effective as drug combination treatment for high blood pressure, with much less risk

June 30, 2009 | Filed under: Heart Health

ABC Reports Chiropractic Effective for Decreasing High Blood Pressure. Watch the report here .

A special chiropractic adjustment can significantly lower high blood pressure, a placebo-controlled study suggests.

“This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination,” study leader George Bakris, MD, tells WebMD. “And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems,” adds Bakris, director of the University of Chicago Hypertension Center. Read more from the WebMD.com article.

Aerobic Activity Keeps You (And Your Brain) Looking Young

| Filed under: Brain Health,General Interest

ScienceDaily (2009-06-30) — Physically active elderly people showed healthier cerebral blood vessels than those who are not active.

This is the first study to compare brain images of elderly subjects who exercise with those that do not.

The high activity group reported participating in an aerobic activity for a minimum of 180 minutes per week for the past 10 consecutive years. The low activity group told investigators they had no history of regular exercise and currently spent less than 90 minutes a week in any physical activity.

Aerobically active subjects exhibited more small-diameter vessels with less tortuosity, or twisting, than the less active group, exhibiting a vessel pattern similar to younger adults. If you want to keep your brain young, stay active.

Gisele Bundchen knows Victoria’s Secret — that Chiropractic makes pregnancy easier

June 28, 2009 | Filed under: Celebrities and Chiropractic,Pregnancy

Making sure that she is in tip top shape throughout her pregnancy, Gisele Bundchen was spotted out at a chiropractor’s office in Santa Monica on June 23, according to celebrity-gossip.net.

I use this bit of gossip to point out that Gisele knows when you need to be at your best and when drugs won’t cut it. Tom Brady has also stated that chiropractic helped him win three Super Bowl championship rings and two MVP awards. Whether you are pregnant or you need to have snap judgment and clarity, chiropractic is the way to keep you healthy.

Pop Superstar Madonna Rocks The Show Thanks to Her Chiropractor

June 27, 2009 | Filed under: Celebrities and Chiropractic

Madonna is 50 and going on her new tour with her chiropractor. “It’s going to be very draining, and she needs him around to aid in her recovery time after each show,” an insider tells online gossip column In Case You Didn’t Know.

Utilize ProActive Chiropractic to get you Back To Work, Back To Play.

Fructose is worse than glucose, according to new study.

June 25, 2009 | Filed under: Nutrition

“Researchers at the University of California, Davis report in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that consuming too much fructose can actually put you at greater risk of developing heart disease and diabetes than ingesting similar amounts of glucose.

Both groups gained similar amounts of weight by the end of the 12 weeks, but only the people drinking fructose-sweetened beverages with each meal showed signs of unhealthy changes in their liver function and fat deposits. In this group, the liver churned out more fat, while the subjects consuming similar amounts of glucose-sweetened drinks showed no such change. The fructose-drinking volunteers also were not as sensitive to insulin, the hormone released by the pancreas to capture and break down glucose in the blood and store it as fat,” says Time Magazine.

Dramatically decreasing the amount of fructose you consume is the take home lesson. Getting an annual comprehensive lab to monitor how well your body handles sugar is also a wise move.

Video-game-playing kids are at higher risk

June 23, 2009 | Filed under: General Interest

A new study reports that nearly one in 10 children and teens who play video games show behavioral symptoms that may indicate addiction. The study was published in the May issue of the journal Psychological Science. Read more from the USA Today article here.

Eat Walnuts; reduce likelihood of breast cancer

June 22, 2009 | Filed under: Nutrition

I am constantly telling patients that walnuts are a well-rounded snack. They contain healthy fats including omega 3, are relatively high in protein, and now researchers have found another reason to eat walnuts.

“Walnuts contain multiple ingredients that, individually, have been shown to slow cancer growth, including omega-3-fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols,” the team wrote in a summary of their findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s 100th annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.

So keep walnuts and other raw nuts available at your desk to snack on throughout the day.

New Heart Risks Found for ADHD Meds, CBS M.D. recommends Chiropractic

June 21, 2009 | Filed under: Drugs,Heart Health

To watch the video click here.

William Pelham, Jr., Ph.D., director of the Center for Children and Families at the State University of New York at Buffalo and not involved with the study, said he thought the findings would establish that “from a risk-benefit perspective, there is no justification for using stimulants as a first-line treatment [for ADHD].”

“I believe this study will add substantially to recent papers that establish that stimulant drugs, while useful for a minority of ADHD children when needed as a short-term adjunct to psychosocial treatments, have no long-term effects other than serious side effects,” including growth suppression, sudden death, and substance use, according to a recent article in medpagetoday.com.

Ritalin and other ADHD drugs are very similar chemically to cocaine, which is one reason they are quickly becoming the drug of choice for teens. It is relatively cheap and accessible for them and is more incognito. And since it’s a prescription drug, they perceive it to be safe. However, if abused by taking at high dosage or by injection or snorting, it can be just as addicting as cocaine, according to the U of U.

“The nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among U.S. college students is now at its highest level in 15 years,” said professor Sean Esteban McCabe of the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center, according to an article in CCT. Most students contacted at UC Berkeley, Stanford, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Barbara said Adderall is usually obtained from friends for free or at cheap prices. But some say they have seen people sell the drug to strangers.

Of course, medications are indicated for some, but safer options should be utilized first before putting your child on a drug of this level. At ProActive Chiropractic, we integrate chiropractic care with many lifestyle and nutritional changes to conservatively manage or co-manage ADHD. For example, too little sleep can increase hyperactive tendencies, according to a study in Sleep described here.

Anti-inflammatory drugs raise dementia risk.

June 18, 2009 | Filed under: Brain Health,Drugs

A study which was expected to show that Anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs would lower the risk of dementia actually showed the opposite.

“During the study, 476 people developed dementia, and heavy NSAID users had a 66% higher risk of developing the condition than those with low or no use,” according to a description of the study given by USA Today.

So NSAIDs increase your risk of developing dementia — what helps to decrease your risk? Believe it or not, curry may reduce plaque buildup in the brain, according to researchers at UCLA. Read more from the WebMD article.

… A big bowl of curry. Now that’s a fun prescription to fill.

Food, Inc. film opens in SF… 3 blocks away from Proactive Chiropractic!

June 12, 2009 | Filed under: General Interest

“Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults,” says Food, Inc.’s website.

Update- 6/27/09
I finally got around to seeing the movie tonight and enjoyed it. I thought they did a good job combining the information in a digestible and entertaining way. Even those who consider themselves “the choir” will get something out of the film. I look forward to talking with you about it at our next visit at my San Francisco office.

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