When most of us sneeze, we put it down to a cold or even allergies, and our first thoughts are to pop an antihistamine pill – not to call a chiropractor! But did you know that a chiropractor could help you overcome your allergy problems? Most people associate chiropractors with back and neck issues, and while it’s true that chiropractors can help with such health conditions, they can also help the body achieve optimum health by ensuring the spine is correctly aligned.

A study from the University of California [1] found that signals from the nervous system may influence the function of the immune system. While our immune system is there to fight against viruses, disease and infection, and helps to keep the body performing at its peak, it also works to dispel foreign contaminants that enter the body. When we sneeze because of an allergy, it’s because our body detects the presence of a foreign object in the system, such as dust, mites, pollen, etc. and it produces chemicals to neutralize and expel the allergens. These chemicals are known as histamines. In the case of allergies, the immune system overreacts to the presence of the allergens in the body.

A chiropractor treats the patient by releasing the stresses on the patient’s nervous system, which as a result causes the immune system to work more effectively and as a consequence allergies are thereby reduced. Patients with misaligned spinal vertebra may have pinched nerves, which apply pressure and stress the system. Once the trapped nerve is released, the nervous system in general is free from stress and the body can then work more effectively to neutralize the allergy-causing chemicals found in the body.

Spinal health is as beneficial to the body as is good nutrition.

What else can be done? Enjoying tree nuts, like walnuts and pecans, apples, fish (for the fish oils), red grapes, and tomatoes have all been shown to help your body deal with allergies. (Time Article).

[1] Goetzl EJ, Voice JK, Shen S, Dorsam G, Kong Y, West KM, Morrison CF, Harmar AJ., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Nov 20;98(24):13854-9. Epub 2001 Nov 6.

[2] Brandes LJ, Simons KJ, Bracken SP, Warrington RC., J Clin Oncol. 1994 Jun;12(6):1281-90.

According to researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, obese Americans are trying to lose weight — and many are successful.

“I was surprised by how many people in our study had success,” says lead researcher Dr. Jacinda Nicklas, a clinical research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. “We have this impression that it is really difficult for obese people to lose weight, but no, they are losing weight. Even if it’s a modest amount, you don’t have to be thin to have a nice health effect.”

How did the successful losers do it? Here’s what didn’t work: using fad techniques like 30-day liquid cleanses, taking nonprescription diet pills and eating “diet” foods. Obese Americans who reported weight loss were more likely to steer clear of the so-called latest and greatest in dieting and instead adopt the classic technique of eating less and exercising more, reporting that they “drank lots of water” and “ate less fat,” for example.

The most popular strategies were eating less, exercising more, eating less fat and switching to lower-calorie foods. People who used commercial weight-loss programs and prescription weight-loss pills also saw success, but only a small portion of the study participants used them. Meanwhile, liquid diets, nonprescription diet pills and popular diets showed no association with weight loss.

Time Article

Sweet news about those chocolate cravings: People who eat moderate amounts regularly are thinner than those who eat chocolate less often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL2AHSMWELE

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.

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.

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.

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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.”

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