May 10, 2016
Story at-a-glance New research reveals that chocolate consumption has benefits to cognitive function. Benefits can include visual-spatial memory, scanning and tracking, abstract reasoning and working memory. Eating the right type of chocolate matters. So you pack your food with high quality fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. You buy the meat that’s been fed the right kind of feed, and you stay away from highly processed foods or anything laden with food additives or sugars. But you’ve still got this one Achilles heel – you just can’t resist the pull of chocolate. Stress less, friend! You are not alone and, as […]
May 10, 2016
Story at-a-glance Since a 2006 study linked flouridated water to lowered IQ levels in children, Harvard researchers have long held concerns around flouridated water and neurotoxicity. A newer study from Grandjean and Landrigan looks at flouride and cognitive disorders such as ADHD, Autism and Dyslexia. There appears to be cause for concern, prompting the researchers to urge a new framework of action surrounding flouride and other neurotoxic substances Fluoride was introduced to water supplies decades ago as a method of battling tooth decay. Since being introduced to Beaconsfield, Tasmania in 1953, the use of fluoride in drinking water has crept […]
May 5, 2016
Story at-a-glance Social media and the internet is making it increasingly easy to access information, both good and bad. This is one reason why it’s more important than ever to pair quality chiropractic research with strong communication skills. Research is helping us understand the underlying mechanisms of chiropractic, so that we can confidently say why and how it works. Communicating these findings, and empowering chiropractors to do the same, is a key focus of newly established Haavik Research. On the day we first sent the Spinal Research blog live, we ran a piece on “Communicating Beyond Pain” with Brandi MacDonald. […]
May 5, 2016
Story at-a-glance Science is showing us that health and personality are linked, but new research shows that the news isn’t all bad for pessimists. There are certain ways in which a healthy dose of pessimism, can actually improve things. A new book, Rethinking Positive Thinking, provides scientific research suggesting that starry-eyed dreaming isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and outlines the ways in which a little pessimism can help us achieve our goals. As science continues to back the connection between mind and body, it might be easy to think that if you tend towards pessimism it’s all bad […]
May 3, 2016
Story at-a-glance For the most part, we are blind to what happens after people leave our practice. Health practitioners are starting to see possibilities in the use of technology like the FitBit to fill this knowledge gap. The FitBit could have multiple possible research applications. The ability to gather and analyse health data may have potential to add insight to clinical practice. Ten years ago, the pedometer was the peak fitness device inspiring people to get moving. It had one function: to measure how many steps you took. This gave people a good, hard look at how much they were […]
May 3, 2016
Story at-a-glance Australian research establishes the neuroprotective factors in curcumin (a compound found in tumeric). This compound may inhibit a type of degenerative brain plaque (found in Alzheimer’s sufferers). It also appears to protect against oxidative stress, reduce inflammation and improve the function of neurotransmitter systems. From a chiropractic paradigm, life should be lived fully, throughout every part of our lives. A number of signs and symptoms of aging are associated with extended life. For those who live in the sickness-care paradigm, the focus remains on minimising the negative effects of aging. For those of us who live and breathe […]
April 28, 2016
Story at-a-glance Contrary to prior thinking, research now shows that there are immune cells present in the brain under normal circumstances. This presents a major shift in theory and reinforces the link between brain and body. It may lead to further research on neurological dysfunction and how it relates to the immune system and the body overall For a long time, the medical and scientific textbooks stated plainly that the brain was the only major organ that lacked direct connection to the lymphatic system. However, that’s not what Antoine Louveau saw when he looked through his microscope. After imaging and dissecting the […]
April 28, 2016
Story at-a-glance David Fletcher discusses the use of technology in chiropractic care, and its role in bringing certainty and objectivity to detection of vertebral subluxations Much of the currently available technology doesn’t just measure the spine itself – it also plays a role in demonstrating that the nervous system is involved further afield. Fletcher illustrates how we can use technology to communicate structure, function and the role of stress in the world we live in.. Following Parker Gold Coast, Spinal Research sat down with a number of our keynote speakers to discuss research, subluxations, and paradigms in practice. David Fletcher was […]
April 26, 2016
Story at-a-glance This Randomized Controlled Trial showed that chiropractic can help improve function in older people, with a possible impact on their overall health and quality of life. We should encourage older adults to get checked! There was a really big improvement in one of the measures as a result of more than 4 weeks of chiropractic care, but not less. Sometimes the improvements in function that we’re looking for just take time Practical Application: 12 weeks of chiropractic care has resulted in improvements in some factors that are important for falls risk (sensory and motor function), as well as […]
April 21, 2016
Concerns around the cost of chiropractic care may possibly contribute to many a person’s objection. For those who don’t quite understand its value, it can appear as a health care practice that eats into the budget, rather than a proactive investment into ongoing health. Recent research is starting to bust that myth, claiming that costs of care for the entire initial episode (of chronic lower back pain), and per episode day were lower for people who used chiropractic care. The study [1] emerges from America, where the cost of medical care is a concern for many citizens. This new research […]
April 21, 2016
Fermented foods seem to have taken the health-world by storm in recent years. Kombucha is no longer an obscure concept, but a health fixture in many households. While many prefer the bottled and purchased variety, others are dedicated in the home-fermentation process and laud the gut-healing effects that the fermented drink yields. But Kombucha is not the only fermented food, and gut health is no longer the only benefit. In truth, fermented foods have been around for centuries. Some of the earliest records show Chinese workers eating acid-fermented vegetables while building the Great Wall of China. Ancient Greek writings include […]
April 19, 2016
As health practitioners, we know stress can be bad for health. It can act as a barrier to adaptation and put undue pressure on the endocrine system. It can fire up the sympathetic nervous system designed only for fight or flight, and keep it fired up for an extended amount of time. But try telling a stressed, busy, or under-pressure person that they need to relax and you just might find yourself faced with a swag of objections. Winding down just isn’t that easy for all people. Here’s the thing: regardless of whether winding down is easy for a person, […]
April 19, 2016
With an encouraging bank of evidence slowly building around the chiropractic profession, and a world of work yet to be done, it’s important to mark each positive move in terms of research. One such study that may have flown under the radar focused on the link between chiropractic care and inflammatory markers, giving preliminary indications that chiropractic can make a statistically significant difference in terms of inflammation. The study took chronic pain sufferers, administered chiropractic adjustments focused on the lower back (which was also the locus of pain) and compared their inflammatory markers with a pain-free control group. Though preliminary, […]
April 14, 2016
How many of us in our clinics have seen individuals become pregnant under chiropractic care, where they were never able to become pregnant before? How many of us have seen individuals with depressed immune systems suddenly become well by being adjusted? How many children have we seen whose immune or behaviour issues dramatically improved while under chiropractic care? How could this be possible? As Chiropractors, we have proclaimed to have a direct influence on a patient’s nervous system through the chiropractic adjustment, and further claim that patients who remain subluxated will have some form of neurological dysfunction. However, if we asked most […]
April 14, 2016
In 1998, James Gilmore and Joe Pine of the Harvard Business Review wrote an article that tracked the development of consumerism over decades. It was called “Welcome to the Experience Economy” and it introduced a powerful phenomenon that has changed the face of how we shop, not just for goods but for services as well. Commodities alone aren’t good enough for consumers anymore. They are looking for more than a product now. They’re looking for an authentic experience. Joe Pine has since become a keynote speaker, covering the experience economy on stages across the world. He talks about how the […]
April 12, 2016
We are very excited to announce that another Spinal Research Foundation facilitated research has been published in a highly reputable journal [1]. The study, undertaken by Heidi Haavik, Kelly Holt, Bernadette Murphy and others is published in the journal Neural Plasticity. And the results are very exciting for chiropractic! The journal Neural Plasticity boasts an impact factor of 3.5 (as a comparison, The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics has an impact factor of 1.5.) This from Heidi Haavik [2]: “We do know that spinal function does affect brain function. There’s now solid evidence that adjusting the spine changes brain function. This […]
April 12, 2016
Since its inception roughly 14 years ago, Crossfit has morphed from a health-fad into a bona fide health movement that has swept the world. It claims to reap faster results in terms of health, fitness and weight loss due to its combination of Olympic lifting progressions, gymnastic skills and high intensity cardio workouts [1]. But Crossfit has a PR problem – rumoured high levels of injury. Fans of Crossfit sing its praises. Critics of the sport are just as loud in their disapproval. In truth, good data on the injury rate of Crossfit has been a little slow to emerge. […]