Compass Chiropractic

We’ve all heard that lifestyle modifications such as eating better and exercise can improve our health, but Lee Berk, DrPH, MPH, director of the molecular research laboratory at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif. believes that laughter should be added to that list.

”The parallel between moderate exercise and mirthful laughter is uncanny,” Berk says.  Berk has found that ”mirthful laughter” reduces the stress hormones known as cortisol and catecholamines, much the same way that moderate physical exercise does. It’s also been found to enhance immune system functioning and may lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Berk’s most recent study looks at the effect laughter pays on appetite.  Subjects had blood drawn to measure appetite regulating hormones before and after watching a funny film.  The study found that there was a decrease in certain hormones that suppress appetite after a subject laughed.

At first glance you might think to yourself, “I’m hungry enough, I’m never laughing again!”  From this research it is thought that laughter doesn’t increase appetite, but rather balance your appetite.  This information is likely to be used with the elderly who have very little appetite and who need to increase their food intake.

Link to the original article: WebMD

For you dose of laughter…

Almost everyday we are told about the wonderful medical breakthroughs on the horizon and how they will change our lives; but do they?  With all the time and money that goes into medical research one would expect that we would be the healthiest we have ever been in history, but we know that this is not the case.  Not only are we at one of our sickest times in history, but many underdeveloped counties without our vast resources remain much healthier than us.

The bottom line is that we’re sick! The good news is that we can fix it without costly medical interventions.  What if I told you that there are four simple things you can do that would almost eliminate the chance of sick?  A study of over 23,000 Germans concluded that the follow diseases could be reduced significantly with four simple lifestyle modifications:diabetes by 93%, myocardial infarction by 81%, stroke by 50% and cancer 36%.

Here is a list of the lifestyle modifications that produced these positive effects: 1) not smoking, 2) keeping your BMI under 30,  3) getting 3.5 hours a week of physical activity, and 4) adopting a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, grains and low in meats.  Doesn’t sound so bad when you consider the benefits.

To determine your BMI (body mass index) visit the NIH website BMI Calculator.

For those of you who are not smokers your a quarter of the way to decreasing your chances of diabetes by 93% and heart attack ny 81%!  Take small steps and remember that physical activity can be performed in many different fashions and doesn’t always require going to the gym.

The following is the original study:

Healthy living is the best revenge: findings from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam study.

Arch Intern Med. 2009 Aug 10;169(15):1355-62.

Ford ES, Bergmann MM, Kröger J, Schienkiewitz A, Weikert C, Boeing H.
Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. eford@cdc.gov

BACKGROUND: Our objective was to describe the reduction in relative risk of developing major chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer associated with 4 healthy lifestyle factors among German adults.

METHODS: We used data from 23,153 German participants aged 35 to 65 years from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam study. End points included confirmed incident type 2 diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction, stroke, and cancer. The 4 factors were never smoking, having a body mass index lower than 30 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), performing 3.5 h/wk or more of physical activity, and adhering to healthy dietary principles (high intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain bread and low meat consumption). The 4 factors (healthy, 1 point; unhealthy, 0 points) were summed to form an index that ranged from 0 to 4.

RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 7.8 years, 2006 participants developed new-onset diabetes (3.7%), myocardial infarction (0.9%), stroke (0.8%), or cancer (3.8%). Fewer than 4% of participants had zero healthy factors, most had 1 to 3 healthy factors, and approximately 9% had 4 factors. After adjusting for age, sex, educational status, and occupational status, the hazard ratio for developing a chronic disease decreased progressively as the number of healthy factors increased. Participants with all 4 factors at baseline had a 78% (95% confidence interval [CI], 72% to 83%) lower risk of developing a chronic disease (diabetes, 93% [95% CI, 88% to 95%]; myocardial infarction, 81% [95% CI, 47% to 93%]; stroke, 50% [95% CI, -18% to 79%]; and cancer, 36% [95% CI, 5% to 57%]) than participants without a healthy factor.

CONCLUSION: Adhering to 4 simple healthy lifestyle factors can have a strong impact on the prevention of chronic diseases.

Not getting enough vitamin D  may make asthma worse, according to a new study.

Researchers found that low vitamin D levels were associated with worse lung function compared to higher vitamin D levels in people with asthma.

In addition, the study showed that people with low vitamin D levels didn’t respond as well to asthma treatment  compared to people with higher vitamin D levels.

“Our findings suggest that vitamin D levels influence a number of important features of asthma, including lung function, bronchospasm, and therapeutic response to steroids,” researcher E. Rand Sutherland, MD, MPH, chief of the pulmonary division at National Jewish Health in Denver, says in a news release. “The next question to answer is whether giving supplemental vitamin D will lead to clinical improvements in patients with asthma.”

Vitamin D is most commonly produced by the skin  in response to exposure to sunlight and is also found in some foods.

To read the rest of the article on WebMD click here

How clean is your home? You may not have much dirt in your home, but you may have chemicals in your home that are much more harmful.

When we think of pollution, we typically think of air pollution outside of our homes created by smoke stacks and burning fossil fuels.  We rarely think of air pollution when it comes to the air we breathe in our own homes, but we should.  Studies have shown that the level of pollution in our homes is often worse than the air we breathe outside.

One of the most dangerous pollutants in our homes are the cleaning supplies that we use.   These chemicals are not only dangerous when ingested, as we are reminded by Mr. Yuck, but can contribute to diseases such as asthma and lung cancer when inhaled. For those of you with little ones it is even more important to use safe cleaning supplies as they spend more time closer to the cleaning surface and tend to put things in their mouths that have been on the floor.

Luckily there are options that are natural and effective, not to mention locally made.  Tracey Clean is a company out of Indiana that produces natural cleaning supplies.  You can purchase their products on their website, Traceycleannaturalproducts.com.

For more information about indoor air quality, visit the EPA’s website on Indoor Air Quality.

At some point in your life you have most likely heard reports about how “dirty” certain everyday locations can become.  I remember hearing about how many organisisms there are on a public telephone, which I guess is not very important for our times.  Under desks, on top of desks, door knobs, sinks, food etc… One could make themselves mad by trying to avoid all of these bugs, so don’t try because we can’t avoid them.

We have 10 times as many organisms on our body than we have cells in our body and we have an estimated 50 to 70 trillion cells in our body.  That’s just our body, that number doesn’t take into account the number of organisms that are in out environment. with all those organisms we should be sick all the time right?

Hopefully you’re still reading this an not hold up in a bubble some where.  My point is not to scare you into hinding, but to make the point that we can not avoid the bugs in our environment.  If we can’t avoid them what can we do?

Luckily our body is equipt with a wonderful immune system that protects us from these foriegn invaders, but like most things it needs maitenance.  Maitenance comes in the form of healthy eating, exercise, restful sleep and stress reduction to name some of the ways to keep your immune system in tip-top shape.   Taking these small, daily precautions can prevent the illnesses that will keep you out of the game.

Driving into the office this morning I heard a story on  NPR about a scientist who believes that he has created the best David Bowie song of all times.  This topic might seem like a departure from my typical posts, but trust me I will relate David Bowie to health care.

The scientist in this story went through the most popular David Bowie songs of all time and tried to distill the similarities down to what each of them had in common.   After his exhaustive research he found a “formula” for what make the most  popular David Bowie song.  He then decided to create what should be the greatest Bowie song of all times, but fell flat.  I heard the song and quickly realized that there was a certain something that was missing.

As I was listening to this story it reminded me of something very familiar, then I realized;  this is how we look at health in our country.  The belief  that if we can only understand the smallest parts of our bodies then we can understand the whole of our bodies.  I will tell you that this did not work with Bowie and by the looks of our current health in this country it is not working for our health either.

It is safe to say that there have been countless numbers of people who have done Bowie covers over the years, some better than others. If it were only the lyrics that make  the song, each time it is performed (regardless of the performer)  it should have the same effect on the listener.  If we could find the “best” lyrics we should be able to put them all together in one song and have a “super song” but we know this is not the case.  Anyone who has been moved by a song knows that there is something more to that song than just a collection of notes, just like there is something more to the human body than just a collection of cells.

Each of our bodies contains our own personal universe of trillions of cells that are all working together to sing the  song of life.  Universe literally means “one song,” but more often than not we don’t listen to this song because we’re playing the role of the scientist dissecting the notes, beats etc.  We can’t  look at a sheet of music and understand why one song can bring happiness to some and sorrow to others, because there is more to the song than the sum of its parts much like our own individual song or our “universe.”

In order to find  health we need to be able to hear our song, which is nearly impossible with all the distractions we are subjected to on a daily basis.  For thousands of years people have been searching for ways to “tune in” to our personal song even before we were bombarded with stimulus.  There is not a technique that works for everyone, when trying to tune in; for some it’s a hobby, a sport or a meditation.

Take some time each day to tune into your own song and you will find yourself bringing awareness and attention to the things that are truly important in your life.

A recent study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed that exposure to air pollution while mom is pregnant can adversely affect the unborn child’s IQ. The pollution particles that appear to be to blame are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).  PAHs are found in high levels in urban areas because they are released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco.

“The decrease in full-scale IQ score among the more exposed children is similar to that seen with low-level lead exposure,” said lead author Frederica P. Perera, Dr.P.H., professor at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health.

PAH’s can be controlled with the used of eco-friendly sources of energy and policy that supports limited these emissions.   Unfortunately that doesn’t help the unborn children of today.

Once we step out of our home we have limited control over the exposure we have to airborne chemicals like PAHs, but we do have control in our home environment.  One of the best ways to create a healthy home environment is to add natures air purifiers, plants.  NASA did a 2 year study to determine the air purifying benefits of house plants. NASA research on indoor plants has found that living plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air that some will be launched into space as part of the biological life support system aboard future orbiting space stations.  For a list of  the most pollution fighting plants click here.

Click here for the original NIH study.