April 5, 2016
Neurogenesis, or the birth of new brain cells, has long been associated with the increasingly popular topic of neuroplasticity. As research on this relatively new topic advances, we are also starting to see that cognitive decline with aging need not be something we simply accept. Up until the 1990’s, the major school of thought surrounding brain cells was “you’ve already got all you’ll ever have.” Now we know that the brain can rewire itself. Dr. Sandrine Thuret, a neural stem cell researcher at Kings College in London, tells us that we can grow new brain cells, and there are some […]
April 5, 2016
Findings from a new study suggest that a misalignment of sleep timing is associated with metabolic risk factors that predispose to diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease [1]. The study asked participants to sleep 12 hours out of time with their normal sleep-wake routine. It mimicked a phenomenon known as “Social Jet Lag” where work schedules or other environmental factors interrupt the person’s biological circadian rhythm. The results are a cautionary tale, not only for shift workers or those who class themselves as night owls rather than early risers, but for those who like to splurge on weekend sleep-ins only to […]
March 31, 2016
Norman Doidge’s first book, The Brain that Changes Itself, was a game-changer. It shone light on the revolutionary discovery of neuroplasticity: that the brain was not hardwired as previously thought. This new idea stood in stark contrast to centuries worth of thinking that told us we were born with all the brain cells we would ever have, hence those with a mental limitation, traumatic brain injury or neurological problem were essentially stuck with it. The book was fruit of years invested into researching the issue, and comparing notes with other movers-and-shakers in the world of neurology. It offered hope to […]
March 31, 2016
When it comes to diet, there are a lot of voices out there telling us what to eat, but since books like “The 5:2 Diet” burst onto the scene a few short years ago, there are now voices telling us how to eat. Mark Mattson, a Professor of Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University and current Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute of Aging, hopes that this latest diet trend is more than a fad. It’s called Intermittent Fasting and he claims it can make us healthier and more productive. With extended life spans, comes a […]
March 29, 2016
We’ve known for a long time that some petrochemicals pose not-so-good news for health. We have seen research revealing that some BPA’s (that hide in certain plastics) bind to oestrogen receptor sites and fool the body into thinking it contains more oestrogen than it does. And we have long held notions that cosmetics and perfumes could be hiding some subtle nasties of their own. A new research paper has revealed that a concerning endocrine disruptor hides in something that lives in many a bathroom cabinet. A newly emerging study has revealed that many nail polishes contain a potential endocrine disruptor. […]
March 29, 2016
Few of us haven’t had some sort of encounter with motion sickness. Some suffer aboard boats or carnival rides, while others have had to pull the car over on a drive through sweeping hills so a partner or sibling can ‘have a talk to Mother Nature.’ Motion sickness is a fact of life for many people –one may be tackled with medication. So what exactly is it? Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, colds sweats and malaise while travelling, but some claim the definition should be a little broader than that. In fact, an article recently published in the Journal of […]
March 24, 2016
Something happened at about the same time as the 1980’s opened for business. Low fat, no fat and skinny food and drink alternatives started lining the shelves in supermarkets. Diet soft drinks reigned supreme, all so the general population could enjoy all the perks of food but without the calories. Promising a reduction in heart disease, real food was quickly being replaced with highly processed chemical storms in convenient packaging. But for all the talk of lowered fat and calories, some things didn’t improve. Obesity statistics got worse. Cholesterol didn’t improve. Heart disease rates didn’t drop. In fact, these problems […]
March 24, 2016
“When you turn on the stress response, and you can’t turn it off, now you are headed for disease,” said chiropractor and author Joe Dispenza in his recent Ted Talk [1]. But Joe wasn’t talking about tangible, real-time stressors. He was talking about the human capacity to turn on the stress response by thought alone. As chiropractors, we are very much acquainted with the sympathetic nervous system that activates during fight or flight. We know that stress has the potential to knock the body out of homeostasis, and that mindset can have an important role in this. But often, changing […]
March 22, 2016
Career planning starts young, sometimes even occurring in childhood as youngsters pretend to be doctors, nurses, mums, dads, builders, dancers and an assortment of superheroes. These dreams, while cute in the carefree days of childhood, can often carry over into the more serious career planning process that takes place later. But how do you encourage early aspirations for chiropractic, when a chiropractor’s best tool is their hands? It’s a question many a chiropractor has mulled over. The good news is that Dr Troy Miles has recently found a way to facilitate this – and its proving that innovation in this […]
March 17, 2016
Robert Waldinger has presided over a 75 year Harvard study that looked at a simple yet oh-so-complex topic: what keeps us healthy and happy over the course of our lifetime? The results throw an interesting light on health, happiness, relationships and priorities. At a recent Ted Talk, Waldinger spoke of a survey of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996). The survey asked them what their most important life goals were. An astounding 80% of respondents said one of their major life goals was to get rich. Another 50% said it was to get famous. “We are constantly told to […]
March 17, 2016
Enter the term ‘superfood’ into a search engine and you’ll get a plethora of slick articles telling you all about the ten superfoods you need to be eating to cure all your health issues, the fifty must-have superfoods you need in your pantry, and the list goes on. These antioxidant rich foods are praised for their detoxing properties and praised for their ability to help you slim down, bulk up, get pregnant, recover from inflammation, cut your risk of cancer and diabetes and much more. But nestled in amongst the ‘ten easy steps’ type blogs are some valid questions: are […]
March 15, 2016
Leading nutrition sources have some good news for us. Studies suggest that consuming a handful of nuts per day may reduce the risk of developing heart disease by 30-50% and reduce the risk of death from heart disease by around 20%. “This is based on the high proportion of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in nuts, and the low proportion of saturated fats, and is the results of studies comparing heart disease rates among people who eat nuts with those who do not [1].” In addition to this, there is preliminary evidence that suggests nut consumption of around 30 grams […]
March 15, 2016
A couple of years ago, Spinal Research got an exciting funding application that we were all too keen to get behind. At the time, debate was raging around the use of chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy and infancy. Dr. Heidi Haavik and her co-investigators, Dr. Jenny Kruger and Professor Bernadette Murphy were keen to investigate whether adjusting vertebral subluxations would alter pelvic floor muscle function. The results are in and the research report has been approved for publication, but as these things take time we thought you’d like the scoop. This is big news for women and chiropractors alike! The study […]
March 11, 2016
Many of you were lucky enough to have been at DGC 2016 and experience a powerful demonstration by Dr Michael Hall. As a part of Spinal Research’s quest to support our tribe to incorporate Spinal Health Checks or Health Education events into their practice philosophy, we asked Dr Hall if he would show attendees how they might integrate Neurological Screenings into practice and perhaps utilise some of the techniques to conduct Spinal Health Check Events. It was a fantastic demo! Dr Hall demonstrated some of the most popular tests that can be done by chiropractors. In simple terms, these tests […]
March 10, 2016
Sometimes you encounter a story that feels eerily like a movie, with a plot that’s unfolding right before your eyes. This one involved a chance meeting in Addis Ababa, the Capital of Ethiopia, when Australian Chiropractor Dr Bronwyn McNamara dropped in to a local clinic while on a humanitarian trip. At the time the chiropractor was treating someone so Bronwyn left her card and left, thinking nothing more of it. But the phone rang that night, with Dr. Selam Aklilu on the other end of the line saying, “You should have interrupted me!” Two years later, that chance meeting has […]
March 10, 2016
Sleep matters. This statement alone will cause gasps of surprise from … absolutely no one. But the degree to which sleep matters has been a topic of intense study for years. A recent study turned up some rather concerning findings – that the total amount of sleep has shrunk to around seven hours per person, per night [1]. We are, year by year, traipsing further and further away from the brain’s primal instinct – to sleep when the sun goes down and wake when the sun comes up. Sure, this ideal is impossible for shift workers, new parents, insomniacs, students […]
March 10, 2016
Over the last decade or so, the world of genetics has undergone quite a paradigm shift. The new science of epigenetics has emerged, and with it our health realities have started to change. We were no longer doomed to the health pitfalls that lurked in our family tree. In fact, there are many things we could do to influence our health, wellness and genetic expression. This is all well and good. But often the question lies in the ‘how’. How do we change our health future? How do we target the hypertensive gene, or the diabetic gene? What specific actions […]