March 23, 2000 [Volume 1, Issue 6]

"To Your Health" is brought to you by:

This issue features a number of articles you will want to share with your family, friends and co-workers. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to them via e-mail. If you have received this e-mail newsletter from someone else, you may subscribe free of charge and begin receiving your own copy by going to:

https://www.chiroweb.com/find/tyh.html

In this issue of To Your Health:

• Suffering from Neck Pain? Try a Cervical Pillow
• Mothers with High Cholesterol = Children with High Cholesterol?
• One More Reason Not to Smoke
• Dancing Your Way to Knee Pain

Suffering from Neck Pain? Try a Cervical Pillow

Cervical pillows are commonly prescribed by health care providers to patients suffering from neck pain. Twenty-eight patients (25-45 years of age) complaining of neck pain for more than two months used a particular brand of cervical pillow for four weeks to determine the effectiveness of the pillow in reducing chronic neck pain.

Pain severity was measured in the morning and in the evening with and without the use of the cervical pillow. Patients used the pillow for an average of seven hours each night for four weeks. Results showed that there was a significant reduction in reported neck pain, assessed both in the morning and at night. While the study did not always clearly differentiate between "neck pain," "neck and shoulder pain" and "neck and headache pain," these findings suggest that the cervical pillow may be beneficial in reducing chronic pain.

Consult your doctor of chiropractic to find out if a cervical pillow is right for you and what type or brand is the most appropriate for your condition. And for additional information on neck pain, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/neckpain.html

Hagino C, Boscariol J, et al. Before/after study to determine the effectiveness of the Align-Right cylindrical cerical pillow in reducing chronic neck pain severity. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Feb. 1998: Vol. 21, No. 2, pp89-93.

Mothers with High Cholesterol = Children with High Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is critical to many bodily functions (cell membrane production, sex hormones, digestive processes), although most people don't think of it in such a positive light. That's because excess cholesterol in the bloodstream can also cause hardening of the arteries, otherwise known as atherosclerosis, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Children generally have low cholesterol concentrations and don't develop atherosclerosis. However, atherosclerotic "lesions" (evidence of thickening in the arteries caused by the buildup of excess cholesterol) have been noted in some young adults and infants, even without a family history of the disease. This suggests that other factors may be involved.

A study published in the October 9, 1999 issue of The Lancet examined whether hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol levels in the blood) in mothers could be linked to the same condition in their children. More than 150 children age 1-3 were classified by whether their mother had normal or high levels of cholesterol during pregnancy; the children were then examined for evidence of atherosclerotic lesions.

Results showed that lesions were more pronounced and developed more rapidly in children whose mothers had high cholesterol levels, and this observation could not be explained when accounting for the conventional risk factors (high-cholesterol diet, family history, etc.).

These findings add to the considerable evidence emphasizing the importance of a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy. What you do while you're pregnant doesn't just affect you -- it can affect the health and safety of your child. Consult with your team of health care professionals to optimize your prenatal care.

Napoli C, Glass CK, Witztum JL, et al. Influence of maternal hypercholesterolemia during pregnancy on progression of early atherosclerotic lesions in childhood: fate of early lesions in children (FELIC) study. The Lancet, October 9, 1999: Vol. 354, No. 9186, pp1234-41.

For more information on women's health, visit https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/women.html.
For more information on children's health, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/childhood.html

One More Reason Not to Smoke

Despite prevention programs in schools, legal restrictions at restaurants and bars, and repeated health warnings on TV, nearly one in four Americans continues to smoke. For these people, lung cancer and emphysema could be lurking in their not-so-distant future, and evidence now suggests that smoking might also contribute to other conditions, including back pain.

If you smoke and you have back problems, especially a history of back problems, smoking might be making those problems worse. Results of a questionnaire mailed to 1,471 young men and women diagnosed with adolescent scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and 1,750 men and women without scoliosis revealed that smoking increased reported back pain not only in men and women with scoliosis, but also in healthy women. Back pain was also more frequent and more intense among smokers compared with nonsmokers in the study group.

These results suggest that smoking is associated with back pain, and that the impact may be even greater in people with spinal conditions. All the evidence shows that smoking is addictive, but picking up that first cigarette is a choice. Make the right choice -- it's much less painful in the long run.

Scott SC, Goldberg MS, Mayo NE, et al. The association between cigarette smoking and back pain in adults. Spine, June 1, 1999: Vol. 24, No. 11, pp1090-98.

For more information on back pain, visit https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/backpain.html

Dancing Your Way to Knee Pain

Back and forth, around and around, to the left, to the right, then back again. The repetitive movements of dance can contribute to any number of injuries, including tendinitis and stress fractures. Although ballet is considered one of the more graceful and delicate types of dance, ballet movements and positions can place particular stress on the foot, ankle and knee.

A survey of 22 ballet dancers (16 women and 6 men; average age of 30 years) examined the relationship between ballet and the incidence of knee injury. All but one of the 22 dancers reported experiencing some type of knee injury during their ballet training and career, with injuries occurring most frequently to the front of the knee.

The survey also revealed that only eight of the 21 dancers who reported a knee injury had practiced any specific preventive exercises (i.e., stretching, strengthening, etc.); following their injuries, almost all of the injured dancers began to incorporate such exercises into their regular routines.

So get out on that floor and move to the rhythm! But before you do, consider the potential for injury, especially if ballet is your dance of choice. Don't wait until after you get hurt to decide to adopt preventive exercises.

Credico M, Davis A. Knee injury in ballet dancers: incidence and the effect of preventive exercises. Journal of Sports Chiropractic & Rehabilitation, June 1999: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp43-49.

Unsubscribe Instructions:
Click this link and enter your e-mail address to unsubscribe from this newsletter.