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Overloaded backpacks causing children serious back injury, study warns

Parents should make a daily check of the how many items their school-age children stuff into their backpacks because the excess weight is causing them permanent damage.

Ravina said the study found that about 76 per cent of the children carried backpacks exceeding 10 per cent of their body weight — “and the experts saying it should not exceed 10 per cent” — while 20 per cent carried more than 15 per cent of their body weight.

“In our opinion, it would be quite easy to avoid these problems. For example parents could supervise the contents of backpacks of schoolchildren. We have found that on many occasions they carry to school unnecessary materials,” he said, adding that schools could also emphasize the inherent risk of overloading backpacks.

Original Article

It is recommended that your child’s backpack weigh no more than 10% of their body weight. Other recommendations include using a bag that has wheels and can be pulled behind and get your children checked for spinal subluxations by a Chiropractor.

Exercise Can Change Your DNA

Scientists discover that physical activity leads to beneficial changes in gene activity, even after a single workout.

Exercise does a lot of good things — it burns calories, helps keep your weight in check and lowers your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Now add one more thing to the list: physical activity can change your DNA.

Unlike the aberrations and genetic mutations caused by carcinogens and toxins, exercise-induced alterations to DNA are more like tune-ups, helping muscles to work better and more efficiently. What’s more, these changes occur even after a single 20-minute workout.

Time Article

Ultimately the healthier your DNA, the healthier you are. Chiropractic adjustments have also been shown to change your DNA. So for best results, receive Chiropractic care and exercise on a regular basis.

Fever Increases Immune System Defense

Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute found that a higher body temperature can help our immune systems to work better and harder against infected cells. The finding was published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

“Having a fever might be uncomfortable, … but this research report and several others are showing that having a fever is part of an effective immune response,” John Wherry, Ph.D., deputy editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, said in a statement.

The secret is in a kind of immune cell, or lymphocyte, called a CD8+ cytotoxic T-cell. This kind of lymphocyte is able to destroy cells infected with viruses and even tumor cells, researchers said. Researchers found that a higher body temperature (like one achieved in a fever) raises the number of these CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells, which means a greater body response against infection.

However you need to be careful if you have heart disease, have suffered a stroke or endured other medical complications. “This is not a blanket recommendation,” he says. “Secondary consequences to the fever can cause other conditions in the patient to occur or worsen. If someone has a persistent fever of 104, it’s a sign of infection, and it”s not just some viral thing you are going to get over.”

This is certainly not the first research to suggest that fevers ramp up our body’s immune responses. Discover magazine reported in 2007 on another Roswell Park Cancer Institute mouse study, which showed that mice that were heated up produced more immune cells to fight disease than mice that weren’t heated.

Article

Derrick Rose attributes triumphant return to Chiropractic

Derrick Rose returned to resounding applause Monday afternoon. He only missed the last five games, due to back spasms. Chiropractic helped him return back to the court.

Perhaps fittingly, when Derrick Rose briefly made Stuart Yoss the most famous chiropractor to Bulls fans everywhere, Yoss was being true to his craft.

“I was working, seeing patients,” Yoss said by phone Tuesday afternoon.

Never mind that it was Presidents’ Day when Rose told ESPN’s Doris Burke “the whole week I was seeing a great chiropractor, Stuart Yoss. He did a great job of getting me back.”

Article

For Sinus Infection, Don’t Bother with Antibiotics. Try this instead.

Sinus infections are drippy and painful — an all-around headache, quite literally. When symptoms arise, patients often rush to the doctor for a prescription, usually an antibiotic, to put an end to the suffering.

But it turns out you’d do just as well to take a sugar pill and treat yourself with standard drugstore remedies. According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by researchers at Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis, the antibiotics typically prescribed by doctors work no better than placebo for reducing symptoms of infection.

“Patients don’t get better faster or have fewer symptoms when they get antibiotics,” Jay F. Piccirillo, professor of otolaryngology and the study’s senior author, said in a statement. “Our results show that antibiotics aren’t necessary for a basic sinus infection — most people get better on their own.”

What’s a person to do about the sinus congestion and unbearable pain and pressure? Keep reading for natural ways to get sinus infection relief.

  • Get steamy: The heat and steam from a hot shower does wonders for congestion and sinus pressure. Close the bathroom door and run the shower on superhot for a few minutes, staying in the bathroom to breathe in the steam. Lower the temp and hop in, allowing the hot water to gently massage your sensitive sinuses. If you don’t want to get in the shower, you can also place a towel over your head, and lean over a pot of superhot water, breathing in the vapor.
  • Try a Neti pot: To loosen up mucus and help it make its way out of your sinuses, give a Neti pot a try. Follow the instructions, adding noniodized salt and warm sterile (not tap) water to the pot. Mix it well, place the spout in one nostril, lean over the sink, and gently flush out allergens and mucus. If you’re really clogged, try using it after a hot shower. If this freaks you out, use an over-the-counter nasal saline spray instead.
  • Hot compress: If the pressure is getting to you, run a washcloth under hot water, lie down and place the folded hot compress over your eyes. Gently press along your sinuses, massaging the sensitive areas to loosen up mucus.
  • Sleep with a humidifier: If your symptoms are worse at night, keep your head slightly propped up with some pillows and sleep with a cool mist humidifier on your night stand. A night of breathing in moist air can greatly improve symptoms in the morning.
  • Drink up: Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water. Staying hydrated can help loosen thick mucus, so you’re able to blow your nose effectively. We recommend this ginger tea for working through symptoms related to colds.
  • Get sweaty: If you’re feeling up for it, do a high-intensity cardio workout that gets you hot and sweaty, preferably on your own so you don’t risk getting others sick. This is a great way to get congestion relief.
  • Reduce triggers: If you suffer from chronic sinus infections, it may be allergy-related, and worth a trip to an allergist. After dealing with a six-month-long sinus infection, I realized I had developed an allergy to my cats.
  • Get Chiropractic Adjustments: Chiropractic adjustments to the neck and upper back not only boost your immune system, they can also help open up the sinuses and allow them to drain.

 

Time Article (the study showing antibiotics don’t work) and the suggestion are from here.