Healing is like the stock market. It never progresses in a straight line. You've got to expect some ups and downs along the way.
You might experience a surge of relief when you first start your chiropractic care only to be followed by a relapse. Soon you're back on track again. Progress continues with bouts of highs and lows, and you might even experience a plateau or dip in your improvements. But don't make the mistake of "pulling out of the market" early. Keep the big picture in mind. Like stocks, the gains in chiropractic care are best seen over time. When you look back and see how far you've come since your first visit, you'll realize the dividends are paying off. Content provided by Principle33.
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Your doctor says you have arthritis in your spine and you're concerned with how it got there. Was it from the physical stress of your job? The 15 years of league bowling? Or maybe the accident you had when you were a teenager? It's hard to tell.
When it comes to arthritis the real problem isn't what you DID, but what you HAVEN'T BEEN DOING. Joints wear down faster when they're 'stuck' and misaligned. That's why it's important to keep them lined up and moving with Chiropractic adjustments. Blaming the activities in your life for your arthritis is like blaming the sidewalk for scuffing your shoes. Things naturally wear down when you use them over time, including your spine. Instead, focus more on prevention with regular maintenance care. Content provided by Principle33. Sprinklers, pools, and sun! The perfect recipe for fun this summer. And to prevent that fun from burning and peeling over the next week, here are some common sense tips provided by the Peoria Health Department. Source: The Community Word The Peoria City/County Health Department is reminding the public about Sun Safety during summer fun. During outdoor summer activities, the sun can cause painful sunburns for people of all ages. Sunburns can happen quickly but can also cause problems over the years. Sunburns can increase the risk of a child, teen, or young adult developing skin cancer later in life. A person does not have to be at the pool, beach, or on vacation to get too much sun. Their skin needs protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays whenever they are outdoors. There are easy options for protection from the sun’s UV rays. *Seek shade – UV rays are strongest and most harmful during midday, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., so it is best to stay out of the sun during these times. If this is not possible, seek shade under a tree, umbrella, or a pop-up tent. Use these options to prevent sunburn, not to seek relief once it has happened. UV rays, of course, are present on bright and sunny days, but UV rays can also penetrate through cloud and haze cover, making cloudy and overcast days dangerous as well. *Cover up – Clothing that covers the skin helps protect against UV rays. Although a long-sleeved shirt and long pants with a tight weave are best, they are not always practical. A t-shirt, long shorts, or a beach cover-up are good choices, but it is wise to double up on protection by applying sunscreen or keeping in the shade when possible. *Get a hat – Hats with a wide brim to shade the face, head, ears, and neck give great protection. Baseball caps are popular, but they do not protect the ears and neck. If wearing a cap, be sure to protect exposed areas with sunscreen. *Grab shades – Sunglasses protect your eyes from UV rays, which can lead to cataracts later in life. Look for sunglasses that wrap around and block as much of 100% of both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays as possible. *Rub on sunscreen – Use sunscreen with at least sun protection factor (SPF) 15 or higher and both UVA and UVB protection. For most effective protection, apply sunscreen generously 30 minutes before going outdoors. Do not forget to protect ears, noses, lips, and tops of feet. For more information about summer safety, visit their website at www.pcchd.org or call (309) 679-6131. Source: Wall Street Journal
The FDA’s much-anticipated new sunscreen rules are out, nearly four years after the agency originally proposed changes. Though we’re all used to picking a sunscreen on the basis of its sun protection factor (SPF), that number refers only to UVB rays, which cause burning and skin cancer. The longer-wavelength UVA rays can wreak their own damage, though, including playing a role in premature aging and contributing to skin cancer. (Here’s how the Skin Cancer Foundation explains the types of radiation.) The FDA is now requiring sunscreens to indicate whether they protect against UVA rays, too. If you see “Broad Spectrum SPF” on the label, that means the product has cleared the agency’s bar for protecting against both types of ultraviolet radiation. And the SPF value will indicate the degree of that protection. Only broad spectrum-designated sunscreens with SPF values of 15 and up can claim to reduce the risk of skin cancer and premature aging (if used as directed and along with other protection measures.) Sunscreens that don’t carry the broad spectrum label or that do, but have an SPF of between 2 and 14, can claim only that they help prevent sunburn, the FDA says. Separately, SPF levels would be capped at 50 — since the agency says there’s not enough data higher SPFs provide significantly more protection — under a proposed FDA rule. Changes first proposed by the FDA back in 2007 included a four-star rating system to characterize UVA protection; that was scrapped on concerns it would be overly complicated, Dow Jones Newswires reports. In addition, sunscreens will no longer be labeled as waterproof or sweatproof, nor can they be called sunblocks. “These claims overstate their effectiveness,” the FDA says. Sunscreens labeled as water-resistant are permitted, but the product label has to indicate whether it will be effective for 40 minutes or 80 minutes while swimming or sweating. Here’s what the new labels will look like. Read from last year’s series of posts answering your sunscreen questions, including why you need to apply it before going into the sun, what it means to be allergic to the sun and whether you should avoid sunscreen to get some vitamin D. Did you ever think you'd read the following sentence? "Extended TV watching has reached epidemic proportions." It occured in this article on June 14, 2011.
Source: CNN No one ever claimed that watching TV was healthy, but doctors are only now discovering just how bad it can be. Evidence from a spate of recent studies suggests that the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to develop a host of health problems and to die at an earlier age. In a new analysis published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers combined data from eight such studies and found that for every additional two hours people spend glued to the tube on a typical day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 20% and their risk of heart disease increases by 15%. And for every additional three hours the study participants spent in front of the TV, their risk of dying from any cause during the respective studies jumped 13%, on average. "When put together, the findings are remarkably consistent across different studies and different populations," says Frank Hu, M.D., a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, Massachusetts, who coauthored the analysis. The increased risk of disease tied to TV watching "is similar to what you see with high cholesterol or blood pressure or smoking," says Stephen Kopecky, M.D., a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in the research. The new analysis, he adds, "elevates the importance of the sedentary lifestyle" as a risk factor. "[TV watching] is not a good behavior for you no matter where you are in life, whether you're young or old," Kopecky says. Extended TV watching has reached epidemic proportions, especially in the U.S. Around the world, people spend more time engaged in this pastime than in any other activity except working and sleeping, but by one estimate the average American spends no fewer than five hours a day in front of the TV -- more than Europeans and Australians. "That's a lot," Hu says. The connection between TV and disease isn't a mystery. TV watching eats up leisure time that could be spent walking, exercising, or even just moving around, and it has also been linked to unhealthy diets, including consuming too much sugar, soda, processed food, and snacks -- foods, perhaps not coincidentally, that are often found in television commercials. What's more, some studies suggest that prolonged sitting, over and above its impact on eating habits and exercise, may cause metabolism changes that contribute to unhealthy cholesterol levels and obesity. "This is really the couch-potato syndrome," Hu says. "These are extremely sedentary people who spend several hours on a couch watching TV. They're very passive and their energy expenditure is very low, even compared to other sedentary behaviors like sitting and reading, or sitting while driving." The studies Hu and his coauthor drew upon for their analysis included more than 175,000 people around the world and generally lasted between 6 and 10 years. Although the design of each study was slightly different, most controlled for a long list of health factors (such as body mass index, cholesterol levels, and family history of disease) in an effort to pinpoint the effect of TV watching. Extrapolating their findings to the entire U.S. population, the researchers estimate that for every two hours Americans spend watching TV each day, there are 176 new cases of diabetes, 38 additional deaths from heart disease, and 104 additional deaths due to any cause per 100,000 people per year. Individual physicians may not see a dramatic rise in illness and death as a result of excessive TV watching, but the cumulative effect could have a major impact on public health in the long term, Kopecky says. "Over time, we're going to see a difference." |
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DisclaimerUnless otherwise attributed, all content is written by Kyle Johnson, DC, of Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria.
All images used are under Creative Commons license. Although every effort has been made to provide an accurate description of our chiropractic care and its benefits, the information given on this website and blog is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, medical advice for any condition. If you have any questions regarding your condition, you should seek the help of Dr. Johnson in person, so that he may properly assess your condition. This blog is provided by Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, S.C., proudly located in Peoria, IL. |