LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

inflammation

ROLE OF INFLAMMATION THAT PLAYS IN BONE LOSS – (03-05-07)

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Follicle-stimulating hormone stimulates TNF production from immune cells to enhance osteoblast and osteoblast  formation

While this was a mouse study, it does have some potentially important implications. First, it further confirms the role that inflammation plays in bone loss. Basically, the more inflammation present, the more cells that are produced to break down bone (osteoclasts) and thus greater bone loss.

The marker of inflammation, TNF-alpha, was increased by FSH, a hormone that will increase around peri-menopause as the body tries to jump-start the ovaries to release an egg. Next implications, ascorbic acid was found to prevent this increase in osteoclasts in the presence of elevated TNF alpha.

Read entire article here

 

FISH OILS LOWER INFLAMMATION AND STOPS BONE LOSS – (02-11-07)

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Conjugated linoleic acid inhibits osteoclast differentiation

We have unquestionably moved from the “milk it does a body good” dogma of bone health to one of inflammation driven bone loss.  Given that unhealthy lifestyles lead to inflammation, it is no big surprise that osteoporosis is becoming a larger and larger issue in Western cultures.  It has less to do with dairy and calcium intake (and given that animal proteins like dairy are more inflammatory…) and more to do with lowering oxidative stress and inflammation.

This is one of the reasons why we have seen fish oils help with bone–it has no direct effect on bone, rather, it lowers inflammation and stops the loss of bone.

Read entire article here

INFLAMMATION – A MAJOR PLAYER IN CVD – (01-21-08)

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Comparison of Characteristics of Future Myocardial Infarctions in Women With Baseline High Versus Baseline Low Levels of High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein

While the research is plentiful, the concept that inflammation is a major player in CVD has been slow to catch on. This study is just another that adds to the research, with some additional tidbits added in. The higher the hsCRP levels, the sooner healthy women had heart attacks and the more likely these women were to experience a fatal heart attack. The real kick in the glut region is that the use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol probably is not having its impact on CVD risk via cholesterol, but rather by acting as an anti-inflammatory.

However, there are many other, much more potent, means of lowering inflammation that don’t involve medications that lower levels of CoQ10, an absolutely essential nutrient for healthy cell function.

Read entire article here

DO YOU KNOW THAT INFLAMMATION PRODUCES FATIGUE? – (02-04-08)

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TNF-alpha suppresses the expression of clock genes by interfering with E-box mediated transciption

In case you’re confused by this title, don’t worry–so am I. But the take home message from this mouse study is that TNF-alpha, a cytokine that produces inflammation in the body, interferes with the body’s sleep wake cycle, produces fatigue.

Fatigue is a very common complaint for patients presenting to their PCP. Unfortunately, the evaluation of fatigue in the typical doctors’ office does not extend beyond looking for anemia and checking the thyroid. Yet, these two problems don’t scrape the surface of what creates fatigue. Adrenal issues need to be looked at, and, as we see in this study, inflammation is a major player as well.

Read entire article here

CONTROVERSIES OVER VITAMIN E AND HEART DISEASE – (04-28-08)

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Effect of high-dose gamma-tocopherol supplementation on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with coronary artery disease

There has been much controversy lately over Vit E and heart disease. I’ve addressed this in past issues of the Updates, but suffice it to say that I feel this scare against Vit E has been perpetuated by physicians who don’t really understand how Vit E works.

One of the concerns with these studies is that they used to synthetic form of Vit E instead of the natural, RRR-tocopherol form. Well, in this study we see that 2 years of relatively high dosages of RRR-tocopherol lowered markers of oxidative stress but had no impact on the thickening of the carotid arteries.

Read entire article here

ALKALINE DIETS FAVOR LEAN BODY MASS IN OLDER ADULTS – (09-01-08)

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Alkaline diets favor lean body mass in older adults

Sarcopenia–the age associated loss in lean body mass–is generally viewed as an inevitable consequence of getting older. This is just not true. While the ability to gain muscle mass with exercise is retained in the elderly, it is the increased breakdown that becomes a factor. Increased muscle breakdown occurs with inflammation, sedentary lifestyles, stress, etc… Anything we can do to retain muscle mass as we age is going to have a very clear cut, positive impact on quality of life and risk of chronic disease.

This particular study gives us additional knowledge in how to support our lean body mass by switching to an alkaline, plant-based diet.

Read entire article here

SHOULD I GET A MASSAGE AFTER I WORKOUT?

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The easy answer is, of course, yes.  But why?  Massage therapists, personal trainers and chiropractors have stated forever that massage helps to “wash out” lactic acid produced during a workout and this will help reduce soreness from competition or exercise.  Turns out, this isn’t exactly true.

Actually, in this particular study, the levels of lactic acid went up after massage while, at the same time, blood flow was reduced in the muscle region being treated.  This just continues to sound like the opposite of what has always been promoted under the health benefits of massage.  So what did the researchers find?

Overall, massage sent chemical signals into the cells of the muscles (for those technical junkies… it activated the mechanotransduction signaling pathways focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2).  This resulted in two powerful effects.

First, it lowered the production of inflammation in the injured / exercised muscle.  Imagine this–forget taking anything like ibuprofen or Tylenol or Alieve because you worked out too hard–just call our office for an appointment instead!  Not only do you avoid derailing the healing process with over the counter drugs, but you will actually lower the damage that would have otherwise occurred from the exertion.  Pretty neat.

Second, and even more astounding, massage (via the signalling pathway noted above) actually increased the number of mitochondria!  For those of you who are new readers, you may be scratching your head trying to remember what Ms. Pendleton had said about mitochondria in your high school biology class 30 years ago.  Regular readers, however, will understand that the mitchondria are the holy grail of good health.  The more mitochondria we have and the better they function, the less likely we are to get any disease.  Period.

Could this mechanism be one of the reasons we see some of the benefits of massage and improvements in chronic pain patients, patients with fatigue or fibromyalgia patients?  Could massage actually lower your risk of diabetes by improving mitochondrial function??  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, if you are local and have a strong desire to increase your own mitochondrial function, sign up for our massage club today and start improving your health.

HOW DANGEROUS SOY IS FOR OUR HEALTH -(05-04-09)

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Effect of Soy Nuts on Adhesion Molecules and Markers of Inflammation in Hypertensive and Normotensive Postmenopausal Women

Here’s another one of those article talking about how dangerous that deadly soy is. Seriously though, I remain confused as to how many websites talk about how dangerous soy is for our health, and yet, from a research standpoint, the outcomes are overwhelmingly positive.

This particular study adds further weight to the positive evidence, finding that the addition of soy nuts resulted in improvement in markers of the health of our blood vessels. Keep in mind that, when we talk about soy we are NOT talking about veggie burgers and tofu hot dogs and tofu turkey, but rather less processed forms of soy like soy nuts, soy milk and tofu.

Read entire article here