Dr.Koziel Chiropractic Clinic Newsletter
Our free monthly e-newsletter is designed to be used as a resource for our patients in discovering and empowering them to make the best choices for their health and wellbeing.
1355 15th St
Suite 150
Fort Lee NJ 07024
Phone 1: 201-592-1378
Elliot Koziel D.C.
email - website
Do Antioxidant Supplements Help Women?
Vincent Platania
[ read article ]
Heart Healthy
Susun Weed
[ read article ]
Hearts Made Strong
Shirley Knapp
[ read article ]
The Importance of Excersise
Moderate physical activity performed in midlife or later appears to be associated with a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment -- and a six-month high-intensity aerobic exercise program can improve cognitive function in individuals who already have the condition.
Each year, 10 percent to 15 percent of individuals with mild cognitive impairment will develop dementia, as compared with 1 percent to 2 percent of the general population.
Physical exercise may protect against mild cognitive impairment by means of the production of nerve-protecting compounds, greater blood flow to the brain, improved development and survival of neurons and the decreased risk of heart and blood vessel diseases.
Sources:
Eurekalert January 11, 2010
Archives of Neurology January 2010;67(1):71-9
Archives of Neurology January 2010;67(1):80-6
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The Hidden Benefits of Exercise
Regular workouts may help fight off colds and flu, reduce the risk of certain cancers and chronic diseases, and slow the process of aging.
A growing body of research is showing that regular exercise can boost your body's immune system, increasing the circulation of natural killer cells that fight off viruses and bacteria.
Regular exercise has also been shown to combat the ongoing damage done to cells, tissues and organs that underlies many chronic conditions.
Studies have found exercise can lower blood pressure, reduce bad cholesterol, and cut the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.
Medical experts say inactivity poses as great a health risk as smoking, contributing to heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, depression, arthritis and osteoporosis.
Sources:
Wall Street Journal January 5, 2010
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Lifestyle Changes That Will Keep You Alive
Americans spend billions every year on a dizzying array of health schemes. But some of the best approaches to health care are cheap and within your grasp, if only you can find the will to make some lifestyle changes.
1. Experience the benefits of sex
Sex has many apparent health benefits. Studies suggest sex can boost your immune system and reduce stress.
2. Keep your teeth clean
Diabetes, low birth weight babies and heart disease have all been linked to gum and bone disease in your mouth. Even heart attacks have been linked to bad dental hygiene.
3. Use the sun
A little sunshine is good for your mood and allows your body to produce necessary vitamin D, which is lacking in some 70 percent of American kids these days.
4. Drink less
After years of hearing that moderate drinking is good for your health, a study in November, 2009 found that having a drink or two each day might be something that healthy people do, rather than the drinks being the cause of their good health. And if you're having more than a couple drinks a day, then you're at higher risk for liver damage and diabetes.
5. Wash your hands
Hand washing remains the best prevention against the flu and many other diseases.
6. Get some rest
Serious lack of sleep -- less than six or seven hours a night -- has been associated with increased risks of high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and cancer. Lack of sleep can also contribute to auto accidents and on-the-job injuries.
7. Stop smoking
About half of all smokers die from smoking, and of these, about half die around age 50 or sooner.
8. Don't stress
Stress kills. It causes deterioration in everything from your gums to your heart and can make you more susceptible to a range of ills, from colds to cancer.
9. Exercise
Over and over, studies find a host of exercise benefits, not just for your body: It can raise kids' academic performance and stimulate adult brains. Exercise makes bones stronger and alleviates many types of chronic pain. Regular exercise has even been associated with a lower risk of cancer.
10. Eat better
Choose real food instead of sugar laced with traces of real food. Cook at home rather than eating fast food, and use spices, rather than gobs and gobs of oil or sugar, to spice up your meals
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How Dangerous is Outdoor Second-Hand Smoke?
Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new study suggests that these outdoor smoking areas might be creating a new health hazard.
The study, thought to be the first to assess levels of a nicotine byproduct known as cotinine in nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke outdoors, found levels up to 162 percent greater than in the control group.
Secondhand smoke contains several known carcinogens, and there may be no safe level of exposure.
Cigarettes are also "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, according to a new international study.
The research team describes the study as the first to show that cigarettes could be the direct source of exposure to a wide array of potentially pathogenic microbes among smokers and people exposed to secondhand smoke.
Bacteria of medical significance to humans were identified in all of the tested cigarettes and included:
Acinetobacter (associated with lung and blood infections)
Bacillus (some varieties associated with food-borne illnesses and anthrax)
Burkholderia (some forms responsible for respiratory infections)
Clostridium (associated with food-borne illnesses and lung infections)
Klebsiella (associated with a variety of lung, blood and other infections)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (an organism that causes 10 percent of all hospital-acquired infections in the United States)
Sources:
Science Blog November 18, 2009
Eurekalert November 19, 2009
Environmental Health Perspectives October 22, 2009
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene November 2009; 6(11):698-704
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Do Antioxidant Supplements Help Women?
Vincent Platania
website
It seems that everyone is jumping on the antioxidant bandwagon and why not? New research is coming out all the time that seems to indicate antioxidants can prevent cancer, strengthen your immune system and even keep you from aging. Antioxidants work by sucking up free radicals that can damage your body's cells and transporting them to the liver where eventually they exit the body.Heart Disease in particular has been the subject of recent studies. Researchers in Italy examined three hundred and seven middle aged women for Atherosclerosis. This is the formation of plaques and lesions in the coronary arteries, which can signal the development of cardiovascular disease years before a doctor diagnosis's it. These women did not take vitamin supplements containing vitamins A, C or E. The researchers took blood samples to measure the women's baseline level of various antioxidants, took questionnaires and performed ultrasound examinations of their carotid arteries and branches of the heart. They found that women who had plaques building in their arteries had a low intake of vitamin E. Women with the lowest baseline concentrations of Vitamin E in their blood were twice as likely to have plaque build up in their carotid arteries and branches of the heart.
In a side note some promising research has come up relating to breast cancer in women. Researchers gave thirty-two women between the ages of thirty-two and eighty-one with metastasized breast cancer a multivitamin supplement. It contained vitamin C, E, Beta Carotene, selenium, coenzyme Q10 and other vitamins and minerals daily for eighteen months. None of the patients died during this period, which is wonderful because without supplements it could be expected that at least four of the volunteers would have died. Also the cancer in each of the patients appeared to stop spreading. Six of the patients showed partial remission. One of the six patients in partial remission had her dosage of coenzyme Q10 increased to 390mg daily and within two months her tumor could no longer be seen on a mammogram.
Antioxidants are beneficial but they seem to be able to do only do so much. In a French study publicized in 2004 it was found that antioxidants tended to benefit men more than women. The Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale and Unite de Surveillance et d'Epidemiologie Nutritionnelle studied the effects of taking supplements in more than thirteen thousand men and women for seven and a half years. The participants were divided into groups, each one taking a different antioxidant daily. The antioxidants were ascorbic acid, Vitamin E, Beta Carotene, Selenium, Zinc and a placebo. At the end of the study they found that the men who took antioxidants were thirty-one percent less likely to develop cancer than women. Some of us women may be automatically thinking what a sexist finding! While it is possible that antioxidants are simply more effective in men it's not probable. It is more likely that the men had a lower baseline of antioxidants in their bloodstream than women, in other words women may have a better diet than men with lots of antioxidants and their baselines were already high. So the antioxidants that men took simply brought the men's baseline up and the antioxidants that women took may have been superfluous.
As a result of this study the researchers suggested that you are able to get a high and beneficial level of antioxidants in your blood with a diet containing lots of fruits and veggies.
We offer gentle, safe, natural, chiropractic care centered on the individual needs of each patient. Providing the best alternative healthcare is our goal.