Back Clinic Health News El Paso Functional Medicine Team. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez brings the latest articles, blog posts, technology, and advancements in health for the El Paso, TX. community. Dr. Jimenez follows health science, which is the protection and improvement of the health of families and communities through the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Combined with this comes research for disease and injury prevention and detection and control of infectious diseases. In addition, we take a global functional fitness treatment approach to regain complete functional health.
Dr. Jimenez presents health news El Paso articles from his own experience and various sources on a healthy lifestyle or general health issues. I have spent over 30+ years researching and testing methods with thousands of patients and understand what truly works. Health professionals try to prevent problems from happening or recurring through implementing educational programs, recommending policies, and administering services. A big part of public health involves the promotion of health care equity, quality, and accessibility.
Most people stretch and hardly pay any attention to it. Throughout the day a person may stretch upon waking or after they�ve been sitting in the same position for a while. They might do some stretches before working out or as part of physical therapy. Stretching often makes us feel better but it might be surprising to discover that it is actually beneficial to optimal body function.
As a person ages their muscles begin to tighten. This is a natural part of the aging process. However, it can cause inhibit range of motion and joint stiffness, making normal day to day activities more difficult. After certain injuries stiffness can set in, causing pain and decreased flexibility.
What many chiropractic patients may be surprised to learn is that stretching is a great complement to chiropractic care. When combined with simple stretches and low impact exercises, chiropractic patients often find that their injuries heal faster, their pain is reduced, and they simply feel better and more energetic. If that isn�t enough to convince you to incorporate stretching into your daily wellness routine, maybe these four compelling benefits will.
STRETCHING
Helps Keep The Spine Aligned
When you stretch the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and lower back it will improve your posture by helping to keep your spine in better alignment. When your muscles are not stretched properly they begin to draw up � and it usually isn�t in a uniform or symmetrical manner.
This means that muscles on one side of your spine may draw up more than the muscles on the other side. This can result in your body being pulled to that side, causing your spine to be pulled that way. Stretching prevents this from happening and when combined with consistent chiropractic care it can ensure good spinal health.
Improves Flexibility & Range Of Motion
Most people know, on some level, that stretching improves flexibility and range of motion. However, many do not act on that knowledge and they often wind up at the doctor�s office complaining of back pain. Stretching will make you more flexible which, in turn, will make you less prone to injury.
Your muscles will be able to work as effectively as possible. It is important that you don�t overdo it though. Some people take terrible risks when they stretch, thinking that if they force their bodies into certain positions or if they �bounce� to get a deeper stretch then they will be more flexible. Actually, the reverse is true. Stretching in an unsafe way such as bouncing or forcing your body far beyond its limits will result in injury including pulled muscles and muscle tearing.
Helps Relieve Stress & Detoxify The Body
When you stretch, two very significant things happen. First, your blood flow increases as blood is rushed to the muscles, your organs, and your brain. Secondly, it moves oxygen through these areas. As a result, toxins that have accumulated in your soft tissues are dispelled.
The simple stretching that relieves tension in muscles, combined with the detoxifying effect will help you feel less stressed. Stretching is a great stress management exercise, one you can do just about anywhere. You don�t need any special equipment and you can even do it right at your desk while you are working. A bonus is that you�ll feel the de-stressing effects instantly.
It relies on the body�s natural ability to heal itself by releasing the tension and easing the stiffness of the muscles in that area. The stiffer those muscles are, the more they will hurt when you try to move. By relaxing them through stretching you will find that you move much easier and with less pain.
Stretching has so many great benefits. Talk to your chiropractor about a customized stretching plan that you can do at home. You�ll love what it does for you. If you don�t have a chiropractor, give us a call at (915)850-0900. We�re here to help!
Is it possible to have a small stroke and not even realize it?
Yes, according to new research that found about 35 percent of Americans experience symptoms of a warning stroke. Yet only about 3 percent get immediate medical attention.
Most adults who had at least one sign of a “mini” stroke — a temporary blockage also known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA) — waited or rested until symptoms had faded instead of calling 911 right away, according to the research from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA).
“Ignoring any stroke sign could be a deadly mistake,” said ASA chair Dr. Mitch Elkind, in a news release from the organization.
“Only a formal medical diagnosis with brain imaging can determine whether you’re having a TIA or a stroke. If you or someone you know experiences a stroke warning sign that comes on suddenly — whether it goes away or not — call 911 right away to improve chances of an accurate diagnosis, treatment and recovery,” he said.
Determining the Early Signs of a Stroke
An ischemic stroke occurs when a clot blocks blood flow to the brain. People who experience this type of stroke may be treated immediately with a special clot-busting drug. A device called a stent retriever may also be used to remove the clot and help prevent long-term disability.
A TIA precedes about 15 percent of strokes. People who have a TIA are at greater risk for a stroke within three months, the experts said.
The American Stroke Association uses the acronym F.A.S.T. to help people remember the most common stroke signs:
Face drooping.
Arm weakness.
Speech difficulty.
Time to call 911.
Other sudden warnings signs of stroke include:
Confusion.
Trouble speaking or understanding.
Numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, particularly on one side of the body.
Vision loss in one or both eyes.
Trouble walking.
Dizziness.
Loss of balance or coordination.
Unexplained severe headache.
The survey of more than 2,000 adults found that those who suddenly experienced trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, or numbness or weakness in their face or a limb, were most likely to call 911. The most common symptom was a sudden, severe headache. About 1 in 5 people experienced this symptom, according to the study.
The researchers noted that 77 percent of those polled were not familiar with a TIA. More than half of the participants said they would dial 911 if they thought they or someone else had symptoms of a TIA but only 3 percent of those who did have these warning signs actually made the call.
People who’ve had a stroke or TIA must work with their doctor to make lifestyle adjustments and follow a treatment regimen to help prevent another event, the researchers said.
“Officially, about 5 million Americans, or 2.3 percent, have had a self-reported, physician-diagnosed TIA,” said Elkind. “But as this survey suggests, we suspect the true prevalence is higher because many people who experience symptoms consistent with a TIA fail to report it.”
SOURCE: American Stroke Association, news release, May 1, 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: Headache and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, it’s common for auto injury symptoms to manifest within the first 24 hours following the incident. Neck pain and headaches are some of the most prevalent symptoms associated with whiplash and other auto injuries. Due to the sudden back-and-forth jolt of the head from the impact of a car wreck, the complex structures surrounding the cervical spine or neck can become damaged or injured.
Undetected or “silent” seizures may contribute to some symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease, such as confusion, a small study suggests.
The seizures occur in the hippocampus — a part of the brain involved in the consolidation of memories. Researchers suspect that treating these seizures could help manage Alzheimer’s or possibly slow it down.
“While it is not surprising to find dysfunction in brain networks in Alzheimer’s disease, our novel finding that networks involved in memory function can become silently epileptic could lead to opportunities to target that dysfunction with new or existing drugs to reduce symptoms or potentially alter the course of the disease,” said study senior author Dr. Andrew Cole.
Cole directs the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Epilepsy Service.
“We now have to study more individuals to validate this finding and understand how prevalent it is in Alzheimer’s patients, whether it occurs in other neurodegenerative disorders and how it responds to treatment,” he said in a hospital news release.
Prevalence of Seizures to Alzheimer’s Symptoms
The study involved only two women. They were both in their 60s with symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The women had bouts of confusion or asked the same questions repeatedly.
Brain images and cerebrospinal fluid tests suggested they had Alzheimer’s, but swings in the women’s symptoms were much more dramatic than usual.
Neither of the women had a history of seizures. Normally, a test called an EEG conducted from the scalp can detect abnormal electrical activity in the brain of people who have seizures. But, in these two women, no such abnormalities were found, the researchers said. Since the hippocampus is a key part of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease, and also a common source of seizures in people with epilepsy, the researchers honed in on that part of the brain and conducted additional tests.
Electrodes were placed on both sides of the women’s brains through a naturally occurring opening at the base of the skull. Their brain activity was monitored for 24 to 72 hours.
The study found the women had seizure-like activity in the hippocampus. One woman had frequent surges of electrical activity usually associated with seizures that were not picked up by the scalp EEG. Three seizures occurred during sleep. None of these episodes caused any noticeable symptoms. Anti-seizure drugs eliminated the seizure-like activity. In the year that followed, the woman only had one incident of confusion, which occurred when she missed doses of her medicine.
The other woman also had frequent spikes in electrical activity in the hippocampus during sleep. This patient was also treated with anti-seizure medication but the treatment was discontinued due to unwanted mood-related side effects.
“Our findings confirmed the presence of serious dysfunction of the neuronal networks affected by Alzheimer’s disease and confirmed our hypothesis that epileptic phenomena are an important component of that disturbance,” said Cole. But, he added, more study is needed. The researchers hope to develop a way to detect these silent seizures without using the minimally invasive electrodes in the brain.
SOURCE: Massachusetts General Hospital, news release, May 1, 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: Headache and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, it’s common for auto injury symptoms to manifest within the first 24 hours following the incident. Neck pain and headaches are some of the most prevalent symptoms associated with whiplash and other auto injuries. Due to the sudden back-and-forth jolt of the head from the impact of a car wreck, the complex structures surrounding the cervical spine or neck can become damaged or injured.
A combination of exercise and sufficient vitamin D levels may reduce the risk of serious heart problems more than either one alone, a new study suggests.
An analysis of data spanning 20 years from more than 10,000 U.S. adults found that those who got the recommended amounts of exercise and had adequate vitamin D levels had a 23 percent lower risk of heart attack or stroke.
People who met physical activity targets but were deficient in the so-called “sunshine vitamin” did not have a lower risk.
The combined benefit of having adequate vitamin D and exercise levels was better than either factor alone, according to the Johns Hopkins University study. It was published recently in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
While the observational study does not prove cause and effect, it does support the idea that adequate exercise and vitamin D are signs of good health, the researchers said. Vitamin D is produced when the body is exposed to sunlight and is found in some foods.
“In our study, both failure to meet the recommended physical activity levels and having vitamin D deficiency were very common,” study co-author Dr. Erin Michos said in a university news release.
“The bottom line is we need to encourage people to move more in the name of heart health,” Michos added.
She is associate director of preventive cardiology and associate professor of medicine at the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease at Johns Hopkins.
Though the study found that the more people exercised, the higher their vitamin D levels, this was true for whites but not for blacks, the researchers said. Michos said people with darker skin may produce vitamin D less efficiently because their skin pigments act as a natural sunscreen.
Most adults can get adequate levels of vitamin D with a few minutes a day of sunlight in spring, summer and fall, along with eating a well-balanced diet that includes oily fish such as salmon and fortified foods like cereal and milk, according to Michos.
SOURCE: Johns Hopkins University, news release, April 27, 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: Chiropractic and Athletic Performance
Chiropractic care is a popular, alternative treatment option which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries and/or conditions associated to the musculoskeletal and nervous system, primarily the spine. Many athletes, and civilians alike, seek chiropractic care to restore their natural health and wellness, however, chiropractic has been demonstrated to benefit athletes by increasing their athletic performance.
(HealthDay News) — Wrist-worn activity trackers such as Fitbit don’t reliably assess heart rate, a new study finds.
While the devices may have some legitimate benefits, they shouldn’t be used for medical purposes, researchers suggest.
Evaluating four wearable activity trackers from Fitbit, Basis and Mio, the investigators compared results to those from an electrocardiograph (EKG). The researchers found results varied among the different models, and were much less accurate during exercise than at rest.
“These devices are probably good enough to inform consumers of general trends in their heart rate — high or low — [but] it’s important to have more accurate information when physicians are relying on this data to make decisions on medications or other tests and treatments,” said Dr. Mitesh Patel.
Patel is an assistant professor of medicine and health care management at the University of Pennsylvania. He wasn’t involved in the study.
However, the study’s lead author cautions against making too much of the discrepancies.
“At any moment, the tracker could be off by a fair bit. But at most moments, it won’t be,” said Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
“The heart-rate feature performed better at rest,” she said. “They’re not as precise during exercise.”
A 2014 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 20 percent of American adults owned a wearable activity tracker.
For the new study, 40 healthy adults, aged 30 to 65, were recruited to test the Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Charge, Basis Peak and Mio Fuse.
Generally, when compared with the EKG results, the activity trackers were near the correct mark, Cadmus-Bertram said. But occasionally, their estimates of heart rate could swing too high or too low.
At rest, the Fitbit Surge was most accurate; Basis Peak was least accurate, the study authors said.
During exercise on a treadmill at 65 percent of maximum heart rate — defined as 220 beats per minute minus age — accuracy suffered more.
The monitors could overestimate heart rate by as much as 39 beats per minute (Fitbit Surge), or underestimate it by as much as 41 beats per minute (Fitbit Charge), the study found.
The findings support those of a study released last month at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting. Depending on the type of activity, the wrist devices were up to 34 beats per minute off, those researchers found.
Again, the devices were least accurate during exercise.
Some wrist-worn activity trackers use a light-emitting diode, or LED, that measures heart rate by detecting changes in the amount of blood in the skin.
Patel said accuracy may be a problem because the devices move around on the arm, especially during exercise.
Meanwhile, Fitbit’s maker said its fitness trackers aren’t intended to be medical devices. The company issued a statement in response to the new study.
“We conducted extensive internal studies which show that Fitbit’s PurePulse technology performs to industry standard expectations for optical heart rate on the wrist,” the statement said. Moreover, “Fitbit devices were tested against properly calibrated industry standard devices like an EKG chest strap across the most popular activities performed worldwide — including walking, running, biking, elliptical and more.”
Cadmus-Bertram cautioned that the data for the new study were collected about a year ago.
“Not only have newer models since been released, but the algorithms behind the data are presumably being updated and improved on a regular basis,” she said. “So the results we found might be different if we did the study again now.”
In general, she’s remains a fan.
“On the whole, fitness trackers still provide a tremendous amount of useful information to the average user who just wants some feedback to help them to increase their exercise level,” Cadmus-Bertram said.
The study findings were published online April 11 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
SOURCES: Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, Ph.D., assistant professor, kinesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Mitesh Patel, M.D., M.B.A., M.S., assistant professor, medicine and health care management, Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Fitbit, statement, April 10, 2017; April 11, 2017, Annals of Internal Medicine, online
(HealthDay News) — When a bedside alarm goes off in a child’s hospital room, anxious parents expect nurses to respond pronto.
That rarely happens, however, and a new study helps explain why.
Reasons Why Response Time In Question
Researchers found that nurses are usually quick to react when alarms are urgent. But, they’re slower to respond at the end of the workday or when they suffer from “chronic alarm fatigue.”
Also, having parents present doubled the response time on average, the study found.
But, delayed response time didn’t threaten any of the 100 patients evaluated in the study, the researchers said. And just half of 1 percent of more than 11,000 alarms analyzed were deemed “actionable,” or crucial.
“The nurses were overall doing a great job predicting which alarms were going to be important,” said study lead author Dr. Christopher Bonafide, an assistant professor of pediatrics with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Their intuition was correct.”
The high number of false alarms in U.S. hospitals has led to “alarm fatigue” among nurses. As a result, the Joint Commission — the organization that accredits American hospitals — issued new guidelines for managing alarm monitors.
The beeps and buzzes alert staff to medical problems facing patients such as high heart rates, dips in oxygen levels in the blood and dangerous heartbeat patterns, Bonafide said.
Too Many False Alarms
But, many false alarms are caused simply by babies moving around and disrupting sensors, he said.
“When an alarm goes off and the nurse is already in the patient’s room, they can immediately look up, check on the patient, and make sure everything is OK,” Bonafide said. “When a nurse isn’t in the room, some hospitals like ours have the ability to send them a text message to the phone that they are carrying.”
For this study, researchers analyzed video of 38 nurses caring for 100 patients at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 2014-2015.
Almost all of the 11,745 beeps and buzzes that sounded were valid. And 50 were deemed critical, “the important ones we would not want anyone to miss,” Bonafide said. Nurses responded in about a minute, on average, to these alarms.
However, overall, half of the total alarms took 10.4 minutes or more to address, the study found.
Years on the job and caseload accounted for some differences in response time.
“Nurses with under one year of experience responded faster than nurses with one or more years’ experience,” Bonafide said. “Nurses taking care of just one patient responded faster than those caring for more than one patient. And for each hour that passed in a nurse’s shift, their response time got a little bit slower.”
Other factors appeared to contribute, too.
“If family members were absent from the bedside, response time was faster than if parents were there,” he said. The median response time was six minutes when family members weren’t there, and 12 minutes when they were.
Also, “more complex” patients got faster responses, Bonafide said. “And patients who had prior alarms that required interventions to be taken got faster responses than those who had not had those experiences.”
Marjorie Funk, a professor at Yale University School of Nursing, praised the study. She said the findings shouldn’t worry parents about leaving their child’s side at hospitals.
“Alarms for serious events sound different, and nurses respond immediately,” Funk noted. “Other alarms may require their attention, but they can finish what they are doing for another patient before responding or can ask a colleague to respond.”
Bonafide said there are no guidelines that tell nurses how quickly they should response to various alarms. But, he thinks the system needs improvement.
“There’s quite a lot we can do to improve the safety and performance of these systems and make them work for us and provide truly useful information that helps nurses identify patients who are getting into trouble,” he said.
When a child is hospitalized, Bonafide and Funk agreed that it’s appropriate for parents to ask questions. These might include asking physicians and nurses, “Why is my child being continuously monitored? What problems are you looking for?” and “What should I do if an alarm goes off?”
The study appears in the April 10 issue of JAMA Pediatrics.
SOURCES: Christopher Bonafide, M.D., assistant professor, pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Marjorie Funk, Ph.D., RN, professor, nursing, Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, Conn.; April 10, 2017, JAMA Pediatrics
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
(HealthDay News) — Blood tests to diagnose and monitor rheumatoid arthritis may be thrown off by obesity in women, a new study suggests.
“Physicians might assume that high levels of inflammation mean that a patient has rheumatoid arthritis or that their rheumatoid arthritis requires more treatment, when in fact a mild increase in levels of inflammation could be due to obesity instead,” explained study author Dr. Michael George, who’s with the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia.
Blood tests for C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) can help physicians check the severity of inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis patients, the researchers said.
Previous studies have suggested that obese women may normally have higher CRP and ESR levels. So, the authors of this study decided to take a closer look at the issue.
The study included information from more than 2,100 people with rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers then compared that information to data from the general population.
A higher body mass index (BMI — an estimate of body fat based on weight and height) was associated with greater CRP in women with rheumatoid arthritis and women in the general population, especially in severely obese women. There was also a modest association between obesity and ESR.
Conversely, in men with rheumatoid arthritis, a lower BMI was associated with greater CRP and ESR.
The findings may help improve understanding of the link between weight and inflammation. It may also help doctors learn more about how this relationship differs between women and men, the study authors added.
The findings were published April 10 in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
“Our results suggest that obesity may lead to increased levels of CRP and ESR in women with rheumatoid arthritis,” George said in a journal news release.
“The increase in these levels of inflammation was not because rheumatoid arthritis was worse in these women,” he said.
“In fact, we found that obesity leads to very similar increases in these lab tests even in women without rheumatoid arthritis,” he added.
Doctors should be careful when interpreting the results of these lab tests since both rheumatoid arthritis and obesity can contribute to inflammation levels, George said.
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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