DAILY HEALTH UPDATE: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 Dr. Jeff Allyn, Berkley Chiropractic Clinic

“Eat healthily, sleep well, breathe deeply, move harmoniously.” ~ Jean-Pierre Barral


Mental Attitude: Live To Be 120? When people were asked whether they would want medical treatments to extend their lives by decades so they could live to be 120 or more, 56% of adult Americans aged 18 and over declined the offer. When asked how long they would like to live, 69% gave an answer of between 79 and 100 years. The median ideal age is 90 years, about 11 years longer than the current life expectancy of Americans.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 2013

Health Alert: Destroy Your IQ? Two serious fight-related head injuries can impact a teenage boy’s IQ to the equivalent of losing a whole year of school. For girls, a similar loss of IQ is possible after just one serious fight-related head injury. Falls in IQ are linked to lower academic and professional performance, behavioral problems, mental disorders, and decreased life spans. Each fight-related injury resulted in a drop of 1.62 IQ points for boys and a fall of 3.02 IQ points for girls. Missing a whole academic year is equivalent to a loss of between 2 and 4 IQ points.   Journal of Adolescent Health, August 2013

Diet: Antioxidents and Conception. Women undergoing fertility treatment often take dietary supplements, including antioxidents, to improve their chances of becoming pregnant. However, a study of over 3,500 women who attended fertility clinics found that antioxidents had no effect on conception, either in improving pregnancy rates or hindering them. The Cochran Library, August 2013

Exercise: Little Girls Not Exercising Enough. Just 38% of seven-year-old girls in the United Kingdom (UK) get the recommended amount of daily exercise, compared to 63% of boys in the same age group. UK guidelines call for children to exercise just one hour per day.   BMJ Open, August 2013

Chiropractic: Chiropractic and Chest Pain. Over six million Americans suffer from angina pectoris (chest pain), the most common form being stable angina pectoris. A study of 50 patients with cervicothoracic angina (a form a stable angina pectoris) found that 70% benefited from eight chiropractic treatments over a four week period with improvements in chest pain, emotional health, mental health, and vitality. Patients in a control group who received no treatment reported no such improvements.   Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, November 2005

Wellness/Prevention: Resetting Your Clock. According to new research, camping in the wilderness for a week can synchronize our internal clocks to the solar day, allowing our bodies to normalize melatonin levels. On average, study participants went to bed and awoke two hours earlier when only exposed to sunlight and campfire light. All of the participants' sleep patterns synchronized with sunset and sunrise, despite the fact that the study included both early birds and night owls.   Current Biology, August 2013