LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Miscellaneous

DO PROBIOTICS KNOCK OUT RECURRENT URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS? – (02-04-08)

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Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Children

I honestly feel that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in children is one of the most devastating things we are doing to screw up their health for a lifetime. SO MUCH occurs in the GI tract of a developing baby to determine the fate of the GI, immune, cardiovascular and neurological systems that we need to protect it and treat it like glass. Antibiotics destroy this delicate balance. One thing we don’t seem to understand as a medical approach is that destruction of normal, protective flora with antibiotics actually INCREASES the risk of future infections.

This study further confirms this, showing that “protective” antibiotics for urinary tract infections in children can increase the risk for antimicrobial resistance by 7.5 times! On the flip side, probiotics coupled with some pure cranberry juice (or d-mannose, the sugar in cranberry that does the work) will knock out most recurrent UTIs.

Read entire article here

IMPAIRED GLUTATHIONE SYNTHESIS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA – (03-17-08)

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Impaired glutathione synthesis in schizophrenia: Convergent genetic and functional evidence

A friend had taken a class for her masters degree on psycopharmacology. One of the instructors staunchly believed that the ONLY answer for schizophrenia was pharmacology. Unfortunately, the research doesn’t support this notion, and this professor will only perpetuate dogma, leaving patients suffering with this condition that may be able to be greatly helped.

In this ex-vivo study, researchers determined that the cells of patients with schizophrenia may not deal with oxidative stress effectively, leaving the nervous system susceptible to damage. This could then correlate with lifestyle factors that increase oxidative stress such as lower phytonutrient diet, stress and environmental exposures to produce schizophrenia.

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RED WINE INTAKE OF MODERATE AMOUNT SHOWS A POSITIVE HEALTH BENEFIT – (03-17-08)

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Life style habits such as alcohol consumption and physical activity in relation to serum apoB / apoA-I ratio amongst 64-year-old women with varying degrees of glucose tolerance

Alcohol is always a hot topic when it comes to health. In general, almost all the studies looking at red wine intake of moderate amount (up to 1/2 bottle / day) show a positive benefit. This study is no different, although they did not look at type of alcohol consumed. Of note in this study was that alcohol intake above one glass per day was needed to show a positive effect.

Also, this article had an interesting finding; exercise “leading to sweating” had a positive effect. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the term “leading to sweating” used, but it gives us a real good idea of what level was needed. Walking in many cases is probably not enough. So, try jogging on the treadmill holding a glass of red wine.

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L-CARNITINE TREATMENT REDUCES SEVERITY OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FATIGUE – (05-26-08)

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L-carnitine treatment reduces severity of physical and mental fatigue and increased cognitive functions in centenarians

L-carnitine is a substance that helps shuttle fatty acids across the mitochondrial membrane to allow them to be used for fuel. Anything that supports the function of the mitochondria is going to have positive benefits on a variety of conditions, most notably in those cell types that require high amounts of energy such as the neurons.

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ARE YOU AWARE OF THE BENEFITS OF DARK CHOCOLATE? – (05-26-08)

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Dark Chocolate Improves Coronary Vasomotion and Reduces Platelet Reactivity

Some people are still not aware of the benefits of dark chocolate. It contains high levels of flavonoids, which puts it in the same category as tea, wine and many fruits. The key here is DARK chocolate, which has a much higher cocoa content. As a family, we always keep some high cocoa content dark chocolate around the house, usually mixed with some type of almonds, berries or hazelnuts.

Interestingly, in this study, the benefits were quite broad as it relates to the health of the blood vessels, improving several markers of coronary artery health, making the blood less likely to clot and lowering oxidative stress markers. Wash it down with some grapes, tea or red wine, and you’re good to go.

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DECLINING WILD SALMON POPULATIONS IN RELATION TO PARASITES (08-04-08)

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Declining Wild Salmon Populations in Relation to Parasites from Farm Salmon.

It is very rare that a server in a restaurant understands that there is a significant difference between farm raised and wild caught salmon. One server even thought that “Atlantic salmon” on the menu grown in aquifers in a river (must’ve been the “Atlantic” river….) but fed corn are a good thing.

Farm raised are generally fed corn (high in omega-6 instead of the omega-3 we associate with fish) and given a dye for the pink color. No comparison to wild caught. Now, in this article, we find that the growing of farm fish is creating a hazard for wild caught salmon. Yet ANOTHER reason not to eat or support farm raised.

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L-CARNITINE TREATMENT REDUCES SEVERITY OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FATIGUE – (08-04-08)

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L-Carnitine treatment reduces severity of physical and mental fatigue and increases cognitive functions in centenarians.

While the results of this study seem pretty amazing, the bottom line is that L-carnitine is necessary for fatty acids to be shuttled into the mitochondria to be burned for energy. So, basically, all the researchers did was increase the ability of these patients to create ATP and energy for the cells.

In addition to supplementation with L-carnitine, exercise, higher phytonutrient diet, low stress and a hundred other interventions will positively effect this same pathway.

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ALPHA AND GAMMA FORM THE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME – (09-01-08)

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Gamma-tocopherol Supplementation Alone or in Combination with alpha tocopherol in Metabolic Syndrome

We’ve talked before about the differentiation between the tocopherols, and that while Mother Nature provides primarily gamma tocopherol, man sees fit to give almost exclusively the alpha form. The gamma, form, however, according to most of the research, packs a much stronger punch when it comes to protection from oxidative stress then does the alpha form. This is likely why we have not seen a strong response (and some small evidence of harm) in the clinical trials using high dose alpha tocopherol alone.

This study compares the alpha and the gamma form together and separately on biomarkers for metabolic syndrome and found that the combination of the two was the most effective.

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