To Your HealthTYH Archives

May 21, 2002 [Volume 3, Issue 11]

 

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In this issue of To Your Health:

Do You Need a Tune-Up?

Smooth and efficient body movements depend on the coordination of multiple "trunk" muscles of the back and stomach. Some of these muscles generate power, while others help your body maintain balance and control. The multifidus in particular appears to be a primary contributor to control and stabilization in the lower back, acting as a "fine-tuning" muscle.

A recent study in the European Spine Journal measured activity in the back muscles of three groups of people: healthy individuals, acute back-pain patients, and chronic back-pain patients (pain for at least one year). Muscle activity was measured during strength, coordination, or stabilization exercises involving kneeling and lifting, in the multifidus muscle and a group of power-generating muscles of the back during maximum exertion.

During coordination exercises, there was a significant decrease in muscle activity of the control/stabilization muscles in the chronic-pain group compared to the healthy group. Testing revealed significantly lower activity in both stabilization and power-generating muscles in the chronic-pain group during strength exercises.

In the long run, low-back-pain patients may have problems with balance and coordination in back movements, due to weakened control muscles. A reduction in activity in the multifidus and other "fine-tuning" muscles during coordination exercises may be one reason behind the origin and recurrence of back pain. If you have low back pain, talk to your doctor of chiropractic about how to safely strengthen your back muscles. For more information about back pain, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/backpain.html.

Reference: Danneels LA, Coorevits PL, Cools AM, et al. Differences in electromyographic activity in the multifidus muscle and the iliocostalis lumborum between healthy subjects and patients with sub- acute and chronic low back pain. European Spine Journal 2002:11(1), pp. 13-19.

Assisted Reproduction: Know the Risks

Many couples experiencing difficulty having a child turn to assisted reproductive technology to combat infertility. Methods of assisted reproduction include in vitro fertilization, or assisted fertilization outside of the body, and individual sperm injections into the mother's egg. These are reported as safe, if not completely natural, ways to have a child, but research has not evaluated their risks. Are infants conceived using assisted reproduction more likely to suffer from birth defects than naturally conceived infants?

The prevalence of major birth defects in infants conceived with assisted reproduction was determined in this Western Australian study, published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine. Between 1993 and 1997, the prevalence of major birth defects was calculated for three groups: approximately 300 infants conceived with sperm injection, over 800 conceived with in vitro fertilization, and 4,000 natural births.

Compared to natural births, the odds for a major birth defect were doubled for both groups of assisted-reproductive-technology infants. Also, infants conceived using reproductive technology were at a higher risk for multiple major birth defects, and defects in muscles, bones, and chromosomes. Assisted reproductive births were more likely to involve Cesarean section, pre-term birth, and low birth weight.

If you are contemplating assisted reproduction, consider all of the risks involved to yourself and the child before you elect to use the procedure. Weigh all the alternative options available, including adoption, and ask yourself: Is it worth the risks?

Reference: Hansen M, Kurinczuk JJ, Bower C, et al. The risk of major birth defects after intracytoplasmic sperm injection and in vitro fertilization. The New England Journal of Medicine 2002:346(10), pp. 725-730.

To read more articles on consumer safety, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/general/consumer/index.html.

Give Tennis Elbow a Rest

Tennis elbow is a painful condition caused by overuse and injury of the muscles and tissues around the elbow, and lasts from 6-24 months. Tasks involving tools like hammers and screwdrivers are often related to cases, although half of all tennis players also experience the condition -- as the name implies. Corticosteroid injections in the elbow, which suppress the body's natural inflammatory response to injury, have been deemed safe and effective for short-term medical treatment of tennis elbow, but their long-term success rate is unknown.

The authors of a study in The Lancet assigned patients who suffered from tennis elbow into three groups based on treatment to be provided: wait-and-see (no treatment besides ceasing activity), physiotherapy, or corticosteroid injections. Patients underwent six weeks of treatment, and recovery was evaluated over the following year.

In the nearly 200 patients who completed the study, injected corticosteroids proved most effective at the end of six weeks. However, physiotherapy and wait-and-see groups showed the highest recovery success rates in the long run. One year after the start of the study, 91% of the physiotherapy patients and 83% of the wait-and-see patients claimed success, compared to only 69% of the corticosteroid patients.

These results suggest that rest and physiotherapy may be more effective than corticosteroid injections for long-term treatment of tennis elbow. Corticosteroids may provide a short-term solution to pain and disability, but will probably only prolong the condition by masking these symptoms and allowing more damage to be done.

Reference: Smidt N, van der Windt D, Assendelft W, et al. Corticosteroid injections, physiotherapy, or a wait-and-see policy for lateral epicondylitis: A randomized controlled trial. The Lancet 2002:359, pp. 657-662.

To learn more about the treatment of sports injuries, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/sports.html.

1 Tomato, 2 Tomatoes, 3 Tomatoes, More!

Italian-food lovers everywhere, rejoice: Tomato sauce is even healthier than previously suspected. Research is showing that tomatoes and tomato-based foods are excellent sources of lycopene, an antioxidant with cancer-fighting abilities; specifically, lycopene is believed to significantly reduce a man's chances of getting prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is serious: It affects one in four men over age 50, who may suffer impotence and incontinence as a result, and is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men.

A six-year study of prostate cancer in 40- to 75-year-old men was recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute as a follow-up to a previous six-year study. Nearly 50,000 men reported on the foods they ate so researchers could evaluate their intakes of lycopene-rich foods, including tomatoes and tomato sauces (e.g., pasta sauce and salsa); pizza; watermelon; and grapefruit.

Consuming tomato sauce (considered the best source of lycopene) more than twice per week reduced the odds for prostate cancer by about 25%, compared to consuming it less than once per month. A high estimated lycopene intake from any foods was also associated with a significant reduction in prostate cancer risk.

These data confirm previous reports of a reduced risk for prostate cancer through consuming tomato products and other sources of lycopene. Cooked tomatoes and tomato products, such as ketchup and various tomato sauces, are the optimal sources of lycopene.

Reference: Giovannucci E, Rimm EB, Liu Y, et al. A prospective study of tomato products, lycopene, and prostate cancer risk. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2002:94(5), pp. 391-398.

More nutrition information can be found at https://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/nutrition.

 

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