June 3, 2016
One of life’s great ironies is that the advancement of research often proves that, old wives tales notwithstanding, the sensible wisdom of old can be right on the money. The latest to be proven is the reason why we should be eating our spinach – a phrase many of us wouldn’t have heard since childhood when a parent weilded Popeye comics as an often ill-fated attempt to make us finish our greens. A recent study emerging from Japan has revealed that spinach may actually help protect our eyes from macular degeneration [1]. This study is significant as macular degeneration is […]
June 2, 2016
It happens to boxers and football players. It even happens to most children over the course of childhood. It is the simple concussion. For many years, this hasn’t been a hot topic, but a new movie is shining a little light on what can happen when this occurs repetitively. “Concussion – the movie,” stars Hollywood heavy-weight Will Smith and is a dramatised account of Dr. Bennett Omalu who first shone the light on what was happening to American Football players as a result of repetitive concussions. The movie has already attracted a number of awards and nominations, with some calling […]
May 31, 2016
Iodine is a powerful element needed for the production of thyroid hormone, that it helps synthesize the hormones that regulate metabolism. Without it, the thyroid can’t function properly. Many of us are also aware that there’s an iodine deficiency problem in certain regions. There are actually estimates that up to 40% of the world’s population is iodine deficient. According to Dr David Brownstein, an author, physician and practitioner of holistic medicine, the problem could be far greater than the thyroid function of 40% of the population. “I’ve been interested in the use of iodine for approximately the last 20 years,” […]
May 26, 2016
Story at a glance: As sleep continues, CSF floods the brain bathing each and every cell in the brain. The brain cells themselves shrink, in order to increase the space between the cells. This gave the CSF more surface area to cover. The clearance of amyloid-beta (a protein produced by brain cells) is much more rapid in the sleeping brain. A build up of amyloid-beta is what is thought to be one of the key elements in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. We all know we need it and we know we don’t function well without it but neuroscientists have […]
May 26, 2016
“How could I not have noticed her back was like this before?” a parent asks, “What could I have done?” Almost every parent of a child who is diagnosed with scoliosis utters similar words. It’s a common scenario – a parent unfamiliar with what scoliosis is, how to notice the warning signs in their children, or what to do about it if they do notice something. The fact is, scoliosis is not on people’s radars until it’s too late. This June has been officially designated as International Scoliosis Awareness Month. It’s a month focussed on uniting scoliosis patients, families, physicians, […]
May 24, 2016
One of the foundational concepts of chiropractic is the connection between the brain and the body. This notion that the brain and body affect each other in profound ways is cemented into our everyday practice. Yet for the most part, western medicine has been a little slower to embrace the connection between mental, emotional and physical health. Therefore, it’s encouraging that more and more recent studies are starting to show a high correlation between emotional distress and primary care visits. It’s hardly shocking information for us in chiropractic, which has always espoused the holistic nature of the body, and the […]
May 24, 2016
“People don’t buy what you do. People buy why you do it.” This is the statement that lies at the heart of Simon Sinek’s groundbreaking book “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,” and his Ted Talk on the same topic. Both works are grounded in Sinek’s analyses of great leaders and commercial successes. In a world that seems flooded with messages of ‘buy this, buy that,’ Sinek provides a refreshing how-to guide on cutting through the noise. In 2006, Sinek made a discovery that profoundly changed his worldview: there was a pattern in the communication […]
May 19, 2016
A study recently published in the Journal of Brain, Behaviour and Immunity reveals an interesting link between our view of ourselves and our levels of interleukin-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine instrumental in the human inflammatory response. The study took 41 healthy, adult participants and exposed them to some psychosocial stressors that most of us find pretty nerve-wracking: maths and public speaking. After performing the tasks, all undertaken in front of judges, their blood was drawn and analysed for the presence of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 [1]. The findings were interesting: “It turned out that the group with the highest measured levels […]
May 19, 2016
The desire to contribute to something that is bigger than yourself is something that seems hardwired into the human psyche. For as long as history remembers, people have found humanitarian missions an incredible way to answer this need. It opens eyes and instills a deep sense of satisfaction as you make a contribution to a person, a family or a community in need. Yet when looking for opportunities to best serve, it can be easy think ‘What can I do?’ Who would I volunteer for anyway?’ It may surprise some to know that there are very specific ways that chiropractors […]
May 17, 2016
“It’s the best thing since sliced bread!” How many times have you heard that expression? The humble invention of pre-sliced bread seems to have become the benchmark for good ideas in modern times. Perhaps you’d find it interesting to know that for the first 15 years in the life of sliced bread, no one bought it. It was, by definition, a complete failure. It actually took fifteen years for someone to figure out how to get that idea to spread [1]. For generations, marketers have focused on the masses. They targeted their efforts at finding the average customer and making […]
May 17, 2016
In many ways, today’s child is growing up in a vastly different world to that of their parents. The majority of us who spent our childhoods prior to the advent of technology grew up in a world that was rich in play, imagination, activity and nature. It was low on tech and high on all things sensory. If we dreamed of being a chef, we ‘baked mud pies.’ If we dreamed of being an explorer, our backyard was transformed into an untamed wilderness in the world of our imagination. If we dreamed of being a princess, we raided the dress […]
May 12, 2016
Story at-a-glance Negative thoughts result in a heightened sympathetic nervous system. They also increase the tone of the accessory muscles of respiration, affect the head position and the cervical spine and cause vestibular compensation. So, if someone has forward head posture, fixated upper costals, and subluxations throughout their spine, it could affect their respiration, heart rate, and digestive secretions. Adverse stress shifts the focus to a more negative health outcome, with an increase in muscle tone that alters normal joint function – what we call a subluxation. Subluxation can represent the downstream manifestation of negative or adverse stress. As chiropractors, we are driven to find out […]
May 12, 2016
Story at-a-glance First impressions matter. Health practitioners often don’t have a lot of time to spend getting to know a patient. If we don’t know how they best communicate and undestand, information can be lost. There are four main personality types. Understanding them can help us ensure key health messages hit home. Personality types can be masked under stress, but understanding core needs can help us discover what truly makes a person tick. Personalities: we all have them. They all vary. Some we click with, and some we don’t. As health practitioners, the art of communicating effectively with all of […]
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 […]