DAILY HEALTH UPDATE: Thursday, January 23, 2014 Dr. Jeff Allyn, Berkley Chiropractic Clinic

“Your value doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth.” ~ Unknown

Mental Attitude: Reading a Novel Stimulates Lasting Changes in the Brain. Researchers say reading a book causes lasting effects in regions of the brain that are responsible for language receptivity and for making sensory representations of the body. Based on functional MRI findings, these changes can last for five days after reading a novel. Lead study author Dr. Gregory Berns writes, "We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else's shoes in a figurative sense. Now we're seeing that something may also be happening biologically." Brain Connectivity, December 2013 

Health Alert: Select Bacteria Can Live for Long Periods of Time on Toys, Books, and Cribs. A new report has found that Streptococcus pneumonia and Streptococcus pyogenes can persist on many surfaces much longer than previously believed; in some cases, the bacteria can survive for weeks or months outside of a host organism. This suggests that better strategies are needed to prevent infections, especially in daycare centers, schools, and hospitals. University at Buffalo in New York, December 2013  

Diet: Girls at Higher Risk of Malnutrition. A new study notes higher rates of malnutrition among female children in the United States. Among girls of all ethnicities, 7.2% had a vitamin D deficiency, 8.9% had an iron deficiency, and 27.5% had iodine deficiency. Pan American Journal of Public Health, October 2013  

Exercise: An Easy Way to Improve Your Work-Life Balance. It's easy for stress at work to affect family-life and vice versa. New research finds that employees who exercise daily are better able to manage the stresses of the workplace as well as the conflicts that arise in the home. According to lead author Dr. Russell Clayton, "The idea sounds counterintuitive. How is it that adding something else to our work day helps to alleviate stress and empower us to deal with work-family issues? We think exercise is a way to psychologically detach from work – you’re not there physically and you’re not thinking about it either – and, furthermore, it can help us feel good about ourselves." Human Resource Management, January 2014  

Chiropractic: Maintenance Care Helps. Thirty patients with chronic low back pain received chiropractic adjustments for one month. The patients were then divided into two groups: one group received maintenance chiropractic adjustments every three weeks for ten months while the other group did not. The maintenance group reported lower disability scores after nine months compared to the control group. This study further supports the role of maintenance chiropractic adjustments for maintaining function and reducing pain.  Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapeutics, October 2004  

Wellness/Prevention: New MRI Technique May Help MS Diagnosis. A new MRI method called quantitative susceptibility mapping can help doctors better diagnose and track the progression of conditions like Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This technique can quantify nerve changes and separate the white matter degeneration observed in MS from iron deposition. Lead researcher Dr. Ravi Menon explains, "With this methodology, we now have a quantitative way to interpret myelin and iron concentrations, and in particular, any changes to them over time." Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, December 2013 
 
For More Information on Back Pain, Neck Pain, Headaches, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Whiplash, and To Sign Up For Our Daily Health Update Emails, Go To:www.DrJeffAllynBlog.com or our website at:www.berkleychiropracticclinic.com 

(This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic   advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice   and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.)