Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Weekly Health Tips


Mental Attitude: “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
Thomas Jefferson

Heart Alert: Don’t Ignore the Warnings! According to researchers from Boston Univeristy’s Slone Epidemiology Center, one in 10 children uses at least one cough medication during any given week, and younger children are the most frequent users. Just over 10% of children ages 2-5 were given antihistamines, 9.9% were given decongestants and 7% were given cough suppressants. Even more startling, 7.6% of children under age 2 received antihistamines, 5.9% received decongestants and 9.4% received cough suppressants. The Food and Drug Administration issued a Public Health Advisory recommending parents and caregivers not use over the counter cough and cold products to treat children under age 2, announced it was in the process of reviewing whether the warning should be extended to older children (ages 2-11). In October, drug manufacturers announced they were extending the warning to include children ages 4 and younger, a move supported by the FDA. Apparently, some parents have not heard the warnings or are choosing to ignore them.

Diet: School Food Experiment. An experimental program banned candy, scaled back on snacks, handed out raffle tickets when positive food choices were made and spent time teaching good nutrition to teachers, kids and parents. The number of becoming obese dropped to half that of comparable schools that did not implement this program.
Associated Press, April 2008

Exercise: Interval Training. Lack of time is the number one reason people give for not exercising regularly, and lack of results, once they do start a exercising, isn’t far behind. Interval training every other day is a great solution for both of these common complaints. On the days you exercise, try intense bursts with periodic rest (5 minutes of exercise followed by 10 minute rest, repeat this 2-3 times).
American Council on Exercise

Chiropractic: Why Does it Hurt, I Didn’t Have an Accident? Often tissue fatigue is the answer. Overuse of muscles and soft tissue from repetitive motion can cause micro-tears. At a certain point, the tissue simply fails. It is then prone to inflammation and tightness, which cause pain.

Wellness/Prevention: Be Careful With Your Soap! Antibacterial agents: we have become overly obsessed with killing germs in the name of preventing illness. Antibacterial soaps are not only unnecessary, but may be harmful. The FDA classifies Triclosan, the most commonly used antibacterial agent, as a drug. The EPA classifies Triclosan as a pesticide.

Quote: “Each patient carries his own doctor inside him. They come to us not knowing that truth. We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides in each patient a chance to work.”
Albert Schweitzer, MD

No comments:

Post a Comment