DAILY HEALTH UPDATE: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 Dr. Jeff Allyn, Berkley Chiropractic Clinic

“Realize that everything connects to everything else.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Mental Attitude: Even Casual Marijuana Use Changes the Brain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of young adults who use marijuana at least once a week show alterations in the areas of the brain involved in motivation and emotion. Compared with non-users, marijuana users also appear to have a larger nucleus accumbens, the brain region involved in reward processing. Investigator Dr. Hans Breiter reports that their findings raise "a strong challenge to the idea that casual marijuana use isn't associated with bad consequences." Journal of Neuroscience, April 2014

Health Alert: Cover Your Mouth! Using high-speed photography, researchers at MIT have discovered that individual droplets from coughing and sneezing are surrounded by an invisible cloud of gas that helps them travel up to 200 times farther than previously thought, even through building ventilation systems! Their findings reveal the importance of covering your mouth and nose with a tissue while sneezing or coughing to prevent the spread of germs. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, March 2014

Diet: High-Fat Diet Increase Risk of Certain Types of Breast Cancer. A decade of diet and lifestyle data on nearly 330,000 women indicates that a diet high in total and saturated fat is associated with a greater risk of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, April 2014

Exercise: Teen Girls Who Exercise are Less Likely to be Violent. A recent report suggests that physical activity may help decrease violent behavior among teen girls. Students were asked to complete a survey that included questions on how often they exercised, how many sit-ups they can do, the time of their longest run during the previous four weeks, whether they played on an organized sports team in the past year, if they had carried a weapon during the previous month, and if they had been in a fight or a member of a gang during the previous twelve months. Results showed that females who reported exercising regularly had decreased odds of being involved in violence-related behaviors such as carrying a weapon, being in a fight, or being in a gang. Among males, there was no correlation between exercise and violent behavior. American Academy of Pediatrics, May 2013

Chiropractic: Recommended for Back Pain. Available evidence shows that spinal manipulation is more cost-effective and clinically effective than other accepted treatments for low back pain, including medical care. Ontario Ministry of Health, August 1993

Wellness/Prevention: High BMI During Pregnancy = Poor Pregnancy Outcomes. Women who have a high body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy or during the early stages of pregnancy have a much greater risk of fetal death, stillbirth, and infant death than women with a normal BMI. JAMA, April 2014

For More Information on Back Pain, Neck Pain, Headaches, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Whiplash, and To Sign Up For Our Daily Health Update Emails, Go To:www.DrJeffAllynBlog.com or our website at:www.berkleychiropracticclinic.com 

(This information is brought to you in conjunction with www.Chiro-Trust.org, it is solely advisory and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.)