Back and Spine Health Exercise: Exercise is one of the most significant ways to increase longevity, improve health, and decrease pain and suffering. A proper exercise program can improve flexibility, mobility, increase strength, and reduce back pain. Knowledge of the best exercises to improve health or decrease pain is essential to a workout plan or pain management program. Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for overall health. The many benefits include improved health and fitness and reduced risk of chronic diseases.
There are many different types of exercise; it is important to pick the right types. Most benefits from a combination of exercises: Endurance or aerobic activities increase your breathing and heart rate. They keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve your overall fitness. Examples include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, and biking.
Strength or resistance training, exercises make your muscles stronger. Some examples are lifting weights and using a resistance band. Balance exercises can make it easier to walk on uneven surfaces and help prevent falls. To improve your balance, try tai chi or exercises like standing on one leg. Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body stay limber. Yoga and doing various stretches can make you more flexible.
The Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics (JCCP) is the official peer-reviewed journal of the ICA Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics. It is committed to publishing research, scientific and professional papers, literature reviews, case reports and clinical commentaries for chiropractors and other health care professionals interested in the treatment of the pregnant, postpartum and pediatric patient. Through the publication of these papers and the dissemination of this information, the JCCP seeks to encourage professional dialogue and awareness about chiropractic pediatric care to help enhance patient care and improve patient outcomes.
Editors: Sharon A. Vallone, DC., DICCP., Cheryl Hawk, DC, PhD.
We are hopeful that this venue will provide field clinicians interested in maternal health and pediatric chiropractic with current research, case reports and clinical commentary that they will find both useful and informative. �We invite you to submit your own research or scientific writing for consideration for publication in this journal.
Many people in the United States will experience back pain at some point in their lifetime, whether it’s a temporary or chronic issue. However, a great percentage of individuals with this debilitating complication are overweight or obese.
Fortunately, research has demonstrated that weight loss can have a considerable effect towards relieving symptoms of back pain. Weight loss programs can be very helpful for patients with weight problems and back pain. While there are a variety of programs available, not every program is the same and it may be difficult to find the best one for each individual. Some are commercialized and others are managed by a physician. Some weight loss programs recommend the use of supplements while others prescribe medications. Others may or may not be covered by insurance companies.
What to Look for in a Weight Loss Program
Considering all the differences in weight loss programs, it’s ultimately essential for Americans to first do some research in order to find the most appropriate program for them before signing up and spending any amount of money. Several weight loss programs may even provide practices that your healthcare professional may have advised you to avoid participating in if they would have been consulted first.
A recent study evaluated 191 different weight loss programs in the Maryland, Washington, DC and Virginia region of the country. From the wide array of programs, their websites provided little to no relevant information regarding they type of weight loss program. Important details, such as the type of diet, the amount of exercise and physical activity, types of behavioral therapies, and the use of medications, were all missing online, factors which were heavily considered for the study. Most websites had not been designed to offer details of each program, but rather offer contact information for clients.
Several of the weight loss programs also incorporated weight loss supplements and medications, an important piece of information which they also failed to mention on their websites. Individuals must be cautious of taking products which have not been approved by the FDA. There are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved medications and supplements available to help treat excess weight and obesity, however, these must be prescribed by a licensed and qualified healthcare professional.
Three essential factors to an effective weight loss program, as recommended by the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and the Obesity Society, which should be featured include:
a moderately reduced caloric meal plan;
a regimen for increased physical activity;
and a behavioral therapy strategy.
Seeking Professional Advice
Because many weight loss programs are commercialized products or services, these can most commonly offer practices which may not meet professional standards. According to Dr. J Michael Gonzalez Campoy, MD, PhD, FACE, a specialist in obesity medicine, people seeking a weight loss program to participate in should primarily seek advice and guidance from a healthcare professional who specialized in treating weight issues and obesity.
�With the epidemic of overweight and obesity in this country, two-thirds of Americans will seek help managing their weight. The point is well taken that there is too much commercialism, or selling products with a promise of unrealistic achievements. It is best for each patient to address weight management with their personal healthcare professional first,” stated Dr. Gonzalez Campoy.
When it comes to finding the best weight loss program for your own needs, speaking to a licensed and qualified expert can be the most suitable alternative, as this option can often be safer and more effective than other weight loss programs. Patients can find obesity medicine doctors through the website of The American Board of Obesity Medicine, abbreviated as ABOM.
When Back Pain is an Issue for Weight Loss
Although many people with excess weight and obesity seek weight loss program alternatives to lose weight, it can often be difficult for them to engage in the practices due to back pain. Studies have shown that back pain is most prevalent on individuals with weight issues and that can play a huge role on their inability to engage in a proper weight loss program. However, inactivity can also ultimately lead to muscle weakness and stiffness, particularly affecting core strength, which is necessary for supporting the spine and its surrounding structures.
Aquatic therapy, or physical activity in a pool, is a low-impact form of exercise that can be a good choice for people with back pain, helping them reduce weight and strengthen the muscles. Additionally, people with obesity and excess are more likely to experience muscle weakness and stiffness along their lower back, making it difficult for them to walk on a treatmill or step mill. Although overweight or obesity complications can contribute to back pain, consulting a healthcare professional is a good approach to learning the best possible way for them to stay active and avoid further injury.
If symptoms of back pain worsen and/or they are accompanied by tingling sensations, numbness and/or weakness, it may be advised to obtain a proper diagnosis to determine the source of the symptoms and adjust or stop physical activity and exercise immediately. Furthermore, regular physical activity and exercise can help prevent aggravating back pain during intense or prolonged workouts. Over time, regular exercise and physical activity will help increase the individual’s strength, flexibility and endurance, improving their overall health and wellness.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .�
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
A good attitude about weight loss will go a long way in helping you to achieve success. Whether your weight problem has resulted from eating the wrong foods, lack of routine physical exercise, using food to resist anxiety, age, or genetics �you can help defeat that by setting reasonable goals and expectations that are realistic.
The initial step to take would be to discuss your set for weight loss and general health by means of your physician. Your physician can assist you to make informed choices about treatments that contain weight loss plans and exercise suitable to your needs.
Therapies include dietary, behavioral, drug, and for some patients, surgical alteration of the digestive system to reduce the quantity of food consumed. A safe and realistic weight reduction plan may result in success.
Evaluating your body weight is more involved than stepping on the scale. This info is assessed to find out your risks due to extra weight (eg, high blood pressure).
Nutrition Means To Feed Your Body
In the event you haven’t detected, the ‘D’ word (Diet) hasn’t been used in this post as it relates to weight reduction. Granted, caloric reduction will be required by a weight loss program. Yet, for many overweight or obese folks, a weight loss program means exercising, handling anxiety, and making lifestyle changes, which might comprise relearning how to eat.
It’s vitally crucial that you feed your body the nutrients it needs to be healthy and live. No one food contains all the essential nutrients �it takes combining a wide variety of foods to help meet your body’s needs. If you have been heavy or obese for a long time, your body may really be starving for necessary nutrients!
Nutrients Their Food Sources & Activities In The Human Body
*Fats are essential in taking the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. There are just three types of fats:
Saturated Fat will raise blood cholesterol levels. These fats are found mostly in meat and diary products.
Polyunsaturated Fat tends to lower blood cholesterol levels. It’s mainly found in plant sources such as safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, and cottonseed.
Monounsaturated Fat tends to lower the bad cholesterol or LDL (low density cholesterol). Examples include canola oil, olive oil, peanut oil, and avocados.
Although this amount is exceeded by most Americans, dietary ingestion of fat shouldn’t exceed 30% per day.
Remove the skin from poultry, trim visible fat from meat, an easy method to cut back fat consumption is to choose lean cuts of meat, choose water-packed tuna, and pick dairy products made from skim or low-fat milk.
People who were active and exercised regularly before their stroke were less likely to face disability after the attack, researchers say.
But the amount of body fat a person had did not seem to be tied to post-stroke disability, the study found. Fitness was key, though.
“Being physically inactive before stroke predicts a higher risk of being dependent both before and after stroke,” said study author Pamela Rist, of Harvard University. Her team’s findings were published online April 5 in the journal Neurology.
The new study involved more than 18,000 people with no history of stroke who were followed for an average of 12 years. During that time, nearly 1,400 of the participants suffered a stroke but survived.
Three years after their stroke, those who had exercised regularly before their stroke were 18 percent more likely to be able to perform basic tasks — such as bathing on their own, the researchers found.
The fitter individuals were also 16 percent more likely to be able to perform more complex tasks, such as managing money on their own, compared to those who did not exercise before their stroke, the findings showed.
“We also found that a person’s body mass index was not a factor in predicting their level of disability after stroke,” Rist said in a journal news release. Body mass index is an estimate of body fat based on weight and height.
Two experts in stroke care who reviewed the findings said the study highlights the importance of exercise.
The research “provides additional evidence that regular exercise has health benefits that last into a person’s future,” regardless of stroke, said Dr. Andrew Rogove. He directs stroke care at Northwell Health’s Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, N.Y.
Dr. Ajay Misra is chair of neurosciences at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. He said the study “provides insight into the fact that doctors should emphasize to their patients not only weight-reduction strategies for stroke and possibly heart attack prevention, but also the importance of leading a very active lifestyle to improve their chances of survival and recovery in case a stroke occurs.”
SOURCES: Andrew Rogove, M.D., medical director, stroke, Northwell Health’s Southside Hospital, Bay Shore, N.Y.; Ajay Misra, M.D., chairman, neurosciences, NYU Winthrop Hospital, Mineola, N.Y.; Neurology, news release, April 5, 2017
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is an well-known, alternative treatment option utilized to prevent, diagnose and treat a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the spine, primarily subluxations or spinal misalignments. Chiropractic focuses on restoring and maintaining the overall health and wellness of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations, a chiropractor, or doctor of chiropractic, can carefully re-align the spine, improving a patient�s strength, mobility and flexibility.
Parking yourself in front of the TV may make you as likely to develop dementia as people genetically predisposed to the condition, a Canadian study suggests. In a study of more than 1,600 adults aged 65 and older, those who led a sedentary life seemed to have the same risk of developing dementia as those who carried the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene mutation, which increases the chances of developing dementia.
Conversely, people who exercised appeared to have lower odds of developing dementia than those who didn’t, the five-year study found.
“Being inactive may completely negate the protective effects of a healthy set of genes,” said lead researcher Jennifer Heisz, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
However, the study didn’t prove that lack of exercise caused dementia risk to increase. It only found an association between the two.
Prevalence of Dementia Due to Inactivity
The APOE mutation is the strongest genetic risk factor for vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease and, especially, Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers said. People with a single APOE “allele” may have a three to four times increased risk of dementia than non-carriers, the study authors said. How exercise may reduce the risk for dementia isn’t known, Heisz said.
These study results, however, suggest that your physical activity level can influence your dementia risk as much as your genetics, Heisz said. “You can’t change your genes, but you can change your lifestyle,” she added.
The kind of exercise that’s best isn’t known, although the people who were physically active in the study reported walking three times a week, Heisz said.
“Which means you don’t have to train like an Olympian to get the brain health benefits of being physically active,” she said.
The report was published Jan. 10 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Dr. Sam Gandy directs the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He said the study findings aren’t “really a surprise, but it is good to see it proven.” Other scientists showed some years ago that people with the APOE mutation could virtually erase the risk of developing amyloid plaques in the brain if they became regular runners, Gandy said. Amyloid plaques are one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s.
“That was an amazing report that, I believe, has been underpublicized,” Gandy said.
However, this new study suggests that if you are blessed with genes that lower your risk for Alzheimer’s, you could lose that benefit if you don’t exercise, he said.
“I cannot understand why the fear of dementia is not sufficient to induce everyone to adopt a regular exercise program,” Gandy said. “I tell all my patients that if they leave with one, and only one, piece of advice, that the one thing that they can do to reduce their risk of dementia or slow the progression of dementia is to exercise,” he said.
About 47.5 million people around the world are living with dementia, the researchers said, and that number is expected to surge to 115 million by 2050. With no known cure, there’s an urgent need to explore, identify and change lifestyle factors that can reduce dementia risk, the study authors said.
SOURCES: Jennifer Heisz, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., director, Center for Cognitive Health, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City; Jan. 10, 2017, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Chiropractic Care for Older Adults
Chiropractic care is an alternative treatment option which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries and/or conditions associated with the musculoskeletal and nervous system, primarily the spine. Chiropractic utilizes spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to treat a variety of injuries and conditions. As people age, degenerative injuries and conditions can commonly occur. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment has been demonstrated to benefit older adults with spinal degeneration, helping to restore their original health and wellness.
Getting overweight adults to adopt new heart-healthy eating habits is an uphill battle. But giving them a handout about nutrition may be better than nothing, new research suggests.
“There’s an urgent need for innovative approaches to support the implementation of current dietary advice,” said Dr. David Jenkins, lead author of the new study from the University of Toronto. To prevent chronic disease, U.S. nutrition guidelines recommend diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, plus foods that lower cholesterol such as oats, barley, nuts and soy.
Jenkins, who is chair of nutrition and metabolism at the university, and his team tried three ways of encouraging these healthy habits. The researchers randomly assigned more than 900 overweight adults to one of four groups.
Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits
One group received advice about diet through phone calls. Another got a weekly food basket but no advice about diet. The third group got both advice and food baskets. A fourth group, used as “controls,” did not receive advice or food baskets. Everybody in each group got a “food guide” handout about diet.
Six months later, participants overall had only slightly increased their consumption of healthier foods like fruits and vegetables, regardless of group. The researchers said the only consistent increases were seen in the group that received both food and advice. And by 18 months, that slight increase in healthy eating was dwindling, the investigators found. Still, weight and blood pressure dipped a bit in all the groups, including the control group, according to the study.
The results were published Feb. 27 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“These data demonstrate the difficulty in effectively promoting fruit, vegetable and whole grain cereals to the general population using recommendations that, when followed, decrease risk factors for chronic disease,” Jenkins said in a journal news release.
But the author of an accompanying journal editorial suggested looking at the results as a “glass half-full.”
“Each country and scientific society must prioritize the strategies best adapted to local customs and regulations,” wrote Dr. Ramon Estruch, an internist at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, in Spain.
“However, it appears that simply giving a copy of healthy dietary guidelines causes small changes in the right direction. Perhaps we should start with this extremely simple, no-cost procedure at schools, workplaces, clinics or sports centers, while the other strategies are slowly developed and implemented,” Estruch suggested. Jenkins disclosed grant funding from several food-related companies.
SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, news release, Feb. 27, 2017
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
Parkinson’s disease can cause tremors, stiffness and trouble with walking. But a new study suggests that regular exercise can slow the progression of the disease. Even those with advanced Parkinson’s can benefit from activity, the study authors said.
The research included more than 3,400 patients in North America, the Netherlands and Israel who were followed for more than two years. During that time, Parkinson’s-related changes in mobility were assessed by timing how long it took patients to rise from a chair, walk about 10 feet, turn and return to a sitting position.
The results were published online recently in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.
Connection Between Parkinson’s Disease and Exercise
“We found that people with Parkinson’s disease who maintained exercise 150 minutes per week had a smaller decline in quality of life and mobility over two years compared to people who did not exercise or exercised less,” said lead investigator Miriam Rafferty, of Northwestern University and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
“The smaller decline was significant for people who started the study as regular exercisers, as well as for people who started to exercise 150 minutes per week after their first study-related visit,” she said in a journal news release.
The study didn’t look at what specific types of exercise might be best for people with Parkinson’s disease. But the findings suggest that at least 150 minutes a week of any type of exercise offers benefits.
“People with Parkinson’s disease should feel empowered to find the type of exercise they enjoy, even those with more advanced symptoms,” Rafferty added.
The study also found that people with more advanced Parkinson’s disease saw the greatest benefit from 30-minute-per-week increases in exercise. This finding could prove important in making exercise more accessible to these people. Currently, their increased disability may limit their independent participation in community and group exercise programs, according to the researchers.
“The most important part of the study is that it suggests that people who are not currently achieving recommended levels of exercise could start to exercise today to lessen the declines in quality of life and mobility that can occur with this progressive disease,” Rafferty said.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Chiropractic Care for Older Adults
Chiropractic care is an alternative treatment option which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries and/or conditions associated with the musculoskeletal and nervous system, primarily the spine. Chiropractic utilizes spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to treat a variety of injuries and conditions. As people age, degenerative injuries and conditions can commonly occur. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment has been demonstrated to benefit older adults with spinal degeneration, helping to restore their original health and wellness.
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