DAILY HEALTH UPDATE: Friday, October 25, 2013 Dr. Jeff Allyn, Berkley Chiropractic Clinic

“If there's one thing I learned, it's that nobody is here forever. You have to live for the moment, each and every day… the here, the now.” ~ Simone Elkeles

Mental Attitude: Stress During Mid-Life Linked to Dementia Risk. A study that started in 1968 involving 800 Swedish women around the age of 40 has revealed that dealing with stress during middle age may trigger lasting physiological changes to the brain including a 21% increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and a 15% increased risk of developing any kind of dementia. The more stressors the women experienced, the greater their risk for cognitive problems later in life. The stressors identified in the study included divorce, loss of a child, death of their husband, loss of employment, and watching a close relative battle serious illness or alcoholism. Further research is recommended to see if stress management or behavioral therapy during stressful midlife events can lower the long-term risk for Alzheimer's disease and dementia identified in this study. BMJ Open, September 2013

Health Alert: Evidence Shows Steroids in Waterways. Recent research has discovered that common livestock steroids do not fully break down in water as previously believed. Researchers are working to understand the environmental effect of this class of drugs on species that rely on rivers and streams near cattle ranches. University of Iowa, September 2013

Diet: The Effects of Soy and Whey Protein Consumption on Resistance Training. A small study looked at the effects of consuming either soy or whey protein prior to resistance training. For fourteen days, male participants consumed either 20g of whey protein, soy protein, or a placebo and then performed six sets of squats at ten reps per set using 80% of their maximum lifting weight. Blood tests showed soy protein appeared to lower serum testosterone levels and whey protein appeared to blunt the effect of the stress hormone cortisol in the body. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, October 2013

Exercise: When Soccer Injuries Occur… Researchers have found that soccer injuries are more likely to occur if a player's team is winning, if the player is a forward (an attacking player), after a yellow or red card is issued against the other team, or as the number of free kicks (a kick right after a foul) increases. According to the study's co-author, Dr. Jaakko Ryynänen, “The ability to recognize periods of matches (games) when the injury incidence is high may be important in terms of preventive measures.” University of Gothenburg, October 2013

Chiropractic: Adjustments Effective After Low Back Surgery. A review of 32 patients who received chiropractic care after lumbar spine surgery revealed improvements in pain levels with no adverse effects. Journal Of Manipulative Physiological Therapy, July 2011

Wellness/Prevention: Having Children Lowers Mortality in Individuals with Diabetes. New research reveals that having children lowers mortality in people with type 1 diabetes, and women see benefits more than men. Lead author Dr. Lena Sjöberg writes, "The beneficial effect of having offspring on mortality was observed. It was, however, significantly smaller among men with diabetes than among women in the control group. In women, having offspring was associated with lower mortality in a similar way regardless of the diabetes status. One possible reason for this gender difference is that women with type 1 diabetes are trained and well motivated to achieve better metabolic control during pregnancy and that this motivation may persist also post partum." European Association for the Study of Diabetes, September 2013