I am providing a link here to an excellent review of gut bacteria published by the National Institutes of Health--check it out--its good.  It has great pictures and accurate information regarding the dangers of antibiotics.  Here are a few quotes:

The microbiota is similar to an organ in that it performs functions essential for our survival. And just as with the heart or the lungs, when an environmental agent alters the function of the microbiota, the result can be disease.

Both human and animal studies have shown that even a one-time antibiotic treatment can lead to long-term shifts in microbial populations. The health consequences of these long-term shifts are still largely unknown.

“The incidence of [H. pylori] infection has been declining in the United States and other developed countries, which may contribute to the increasing incidence of [esophageal adenocarcinoma].”

In a study reported by Johan Dicksved et al. in the April 2007 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, children raised according to the “anthroposophic” lifestyle touted by philosopher Rudolf Steiner—with restricted antibiotics and plenty of microbe-rich fermented foods—showed higher microbial diversity than farm children, whose diets included more farm-produced animal products.

Psychological stress appears to reduce the numbers of Lactobacilli species in the human gut while increasing the growth of pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas species, as reported by Femke Lutgendorff et al. in the June 2008 issue of Current Molecular Medicine. 

"Helena Parracho and colleagues reported in the October 2005 Journal of Medical Microbiology that 91.4% of 58 autistic children studied had a GI disorder, compared with 25% of otherwise-healthy siblings..."

Several studies have reported a strong correlation between disrupted microbial composition and allergies and asthma. Infants with atopic eczema had lower microbial diversity in their guts as well as fewer species of Bifidobacteria, compared with healthy infants, according to a study by Mei Wang et al. in the January 2008 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The bacteria in a gut, to a larger extent than I think we appreciate, both reflect and determine the state of your health.  Antibiotics are incredibly over-prescribed to the detriment of the user.

Another study shows cardiovascular benefits from milk.  The study followed 2,225 people over age 55 for 6 years.  By the end, high dairy consumption was associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of hypertension.  If you have read my raw milk page, you know that raw milk is full of benefits including cancer prevention, weight loss, improved gut function, improved immune systems, bone building, and cardiovascular benefit. 

This new study is the last chink in the armor of the "low fat, less dairy" argument for heart disease prevention.  High blood pressure is one of the greatest risk factors for both heart disease and stroke, and for decades it's been preached that a low-fat diet was the answer.  Unfortunately, despite the implementation of guidelines for less saturated fat and increased consumption of such dead foods as canola oil and aspartame, hypertension is incredibly prevalent.  It is time that we quit following "expert" guidelines and ate a healthy, whole-food, non-processed diet. 

Remember too, that chiropractic care has been proven to be more effective than medication--the following is a quote from WebMD:   ""This procedure (chiropractic adjustment) 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.  Eight weeks after undergoing the procedure, 25 patients with early-stage high blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure than 25 similar patients who underwent a sham chiropractic adjustment. Because patients can't feel the technique, they were unable to tell which group they were in."

Read the study here.

It's in everything--high fructose corn syrup.  This is a sugar that exists in nature which man has figured out how to produce cheaply in large quantities, and at a great expense.  One new study shows that the more high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) you eat, the more food you want to eat.  The authors concluded that "The fact that fructose metabolism by the brain increases food intake and obesity risk raises health concerns in view of the large and increasing per capita consumption of high fructose sweeteners, especially by youth."  It is likely that soda makers and other marketer's of HFCS know that the products make you eat more, and that is precisely why they use them--the more you eat, the more you want.  Read the study here.

Another study that just came out demonstrates that consuming a diet high in fructose for just seven days causes "ectopic lipid deposition in liver and muscle and fasting VLDL-triacylglycerols and decreased hepatic insulin sensitivity."  This means that fat is deposited in the liver and in muscle where it shouldn't be, and that the riskiest type of cholesterol changes occur, and that insulin resistance begins.  This is the beginning of the road to diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, and other chronic illness.  Read the study here.

I suggest eating sugars in moderation, and only in there natural form; agave nectar, molasses, maple syrup, and fruits are good alternatives to precessed sugars.  And, quit eating high fructose corn syrup! 

Over the years there have been numerous case reports of chiropractic curing tinnitus.  Recently, the International Tinnitus Journal published a paper titled "The Potential Role of Joint Injury and Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in the Genesis of Secondary Meniere’s Disease." 

This paper states the following:

• “Chiropractic manipulation of disorders of the cervical spine has been successfully used to treat patients with vestibular symptoms.”
• The cervical spine can be related to Meniere’s disease through either vascular or neurological mechanisms:
• The vascular mechanism includes the observation that the vertebral artery supplies the middle ear,
  the vestibulocochlear nuclei, and a cervical joint dysfunction could affect the artery and compromise regional blood flow.
• The neurological mechanism includes that the vertebral nerve which contains the sympathetic
  control of the vertebral artery “may be irritated by cervical injury and become dysfunctional.”

In essence, what the authors are saying is that a dysfunctional cervical spine causes a disturbance in the nervous system where the sympathetic, or "fight or flight" nervous system, becomes hyperactive.  This results in blood vessel constriction to organs, including the middle ear.  It also results in "neurogenic inflammation"--a state where inflammation occurs even in the absence of injury.  The authors also acknowledge the power of chiropractic to reverse these changes.  I can attest to this, as I have seen it in my clinic.

The most important take-away from this article is that spinal dysfunction disturbs the nervous system such that distant organs can suffer.  "Back pain" is just one symptom in a system wide disorder, and chiropractic has the answer!

Read the article here.

A new study found that in children with autistic spectrum disorders visual convergence is often affected.  Convergence is the ability to "cross the eyes" when focusing on a near object.  This is a very interesting study from a neurological and chiropractic perspective.  The nerve cells the coordinate convergence are very midline in the brainstem--they are in the same column of nerve cells that is responsible for "core muscles" of the spine.  This midline column of cells requires exquisitely tuned inputs from the body to generate appropriate output (coordination).  If you think of the central nervous system as a computer, this means that without comprehensible input (you typing and using your mouse appropriately), your computer will be unable to generate appropriate output.  Similarly, in humans, if the spine and brain are unable to appropriately process sensory input, output cannot be appropriately generated and dysfunction occurs.  

The single greatest input into your nervous system is gravity--input occurs from conception until your last breath.  This input sets the stage by creating a "background hum", priming the nervous system for all other inputs.  Without this "background", other sensory inputs cannot reach an appropriate threshold at an appropriate time to create a level of input that accurately reflects reality at any given moment. 

In chiropractic neurology, we spend a great deal of time examining the eyes--this is because you can easily see the coordination or lack of coordination in eye movments during an exam--its basically an incredibly precise muscle test.  With this information, a treamtent plan, including adjusments and other forms of stimulation can be created that can literally change your perception of reality!  If you or someone you know suffers from ADD, ADHD, Asperger's, or autism, I highly recommend consulting with a chiropractic neurologist--it can be life changing!

Read the new study here.

New research shows that pynogenol, an extract from pine bark, significantly decreases pain and inflammation related to arthritis.  The study followed 156 patients with painful arthritis of the knee; 77 were given 100mg of pycnogenol per day, while the remaining 79 were given a placebo.  After 3 months the treatment group outperformed the placebo group with less pain, increased walking distance, less edema (swelling) in the foot, and 58% less anti-inflammatory use.  

A follow-up to that study found large reductions in CRP (an inflammatory marker in the blood), fibrinigen (an indicator of inflammation and fibrosis), and free radicals following pycnogenol use (read the study here).

Keeping in mind that the diseases that plague modern man are all associated with inflammation and free radical production, on would expect pycnogenol to be helpful in other disorders as well.  A review of the literature over just the recent pasts reveals the following (you can click each topic to read the research): pycnogenol is very effective in the treatment of diabetes, fertility disorders, ADD/ADHD, and dementia (pycnogenol improves memory).

Read the study on knee arthritis.

A great new study shows that you not only grow your brain with mediation, you grow the best parts!  Specifically, the study found that long-term mediators have significant increases in gray matter (gray matter includes nerve cells and their dendrites, or "connections") in the frontal lobe and the hippocampus.

The frontal lobes are evolutionarily the newest part of the brain; they are what make us human.  Frontal lobes are responsible for judgement, planning, ordering, and impulse and response control (and a whole lot more).  The hippocampus is related to long-term memory and spatial navigation--it is the first part of brain to be affected by Alzheimer's.  Interestingly, if you have a strong hippocampus, you are much more resistant to Alzheimer's.  The authors of the study state that the increases in gray matter in these regions among mediators "might account for meditators' singular abilities and habits to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior."

 Remember, you are incharge of your own brain!  We all do a great favor to all of humanity (not to mention ourselves) by creating the very best brains we can, and you can qoute me on that!

Check out my Stress Reduction page and click on the "A Simple Meditation" link to the left to learn a basic meditation.

Read the study here.

 An alarming number of older adults are being prescribed drugs that act on the central nervous system.  These drugs are primarily being prescribed for depression, sleep problems, pain, and anxiety.  New research demonstrates that in addition to the known side-effects of these drugs, they contribute to cognitive decline in the elderly.

"Central nervous system (CNS)-active medications (e.g., benzodiazepines, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants, traditional antipsychotics) are commonly prescribed to older adults and represent a frequent cause of adverse medication effects, including problems with mobility, falls, and cognition.^[1-3] Medications that adversely affect cognition in particular lead to greater morbidity and healthcare use by older people.^[1-3] More importantly, CNS medication-induced cognition problems may be reversed by adjusting or discontinuing these medications altogether."

"This study confirms a strong association between highest combined daily dose of CNS medication use and cognitive decline."

These findings add urgency to implementing alternative means of treatment for the disorders that these drugs are used to treat.  Chiropractic care has been shown to be more effective than drug therapy for most types of chronic pain (do a search on my site for "pain"), sleep education and herbal products help many people with sleep issues, and lifestyle changes including stress reduction techniques, diet changes and supplementation with omega-3's and amino acids help most people with anxiety and depression.

Increasingly the public needs to be educated as to the full scope of chiropractic care.  Often thought of as "alternative" treatment, chiropractic espouses natural methods to bring about changes in humankind.  These practices are mainstream, proven, and methodical.  In the rare cases that they fail, nothing is lost and less conservative, more experimental therapies such as prescription drugs may be tried!

Read the study here.

 

Researchers recently found some suckers to eat potato chips.  They fed 160 grams of chips to 14 healthy volunteers for 4 weeks.  At the end of 4 weeks every marker of inflammation was significantly increased.  These included oxidized LDL cholesterol (remember from my Cholesterol Article that the oxidized LDL is the problem), IL-6 (a marker of inflammation and immune system dysregulation), and C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and dementia).  After 28 days of not eating chips these levels dropped, but not back to normal!

You may recall a previous blog (read it here) where every serving of french fries that preschool girls eat per week increased the risk of breast cancer by 27%.  The mechanism is probably the same: when starches are browned a carcinogen called acrylamide is formed.  Additionally, most french frie and potato chip products are laden with omega-6 oils and trans fats--oils known to increase cancer risk and inflammation.

Read the study here.

Chiropractic is one of the most effective treatments for TMJ (jaw) problems.  Chiropractors are specially trained to evaluate and treat these problems at the level of the temperomandibular joint, and perhaps even more importantly, the upper neck.

The TMJ has both a mechanical and a neurological connection to the upper neck.  Often chronic upper neck problems lead to a TMJ problem.  A new study demonstrates that a single chiropractic adjustment to the upper neck improves mouth opening (the total distance you can open your mouth) and "pressure pain thresholds" (how much pressure is required to produce pain) over the temples.  This powerfully demonstrates the effect of neck adjustments in the function of the TMJ. 

If you or a loved one suffers from TMJ pain, see a chiropractor--no one is better trained to assess and treat your problem!

Read the study here.