To Your HealthTYH Archives

January 14, 2003 [Volume 4, Issue 2]

 

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In this issue of To Your Health:

Veterans Salute Alternative Medicine

American civilians clearly love complementary and alternative medicine (CAM): Visits to CAM practitioners exceeded the number of visits to primary care physicians from 1990-1997. Do military veterans, who may be exposed to more injuries and ailments than the general public, similarly seek alternative health to heal themselves?

To determine the prevalence of CAM usage by military veterans in the southwestern U.S., over 500 veterans from the Southern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care System were randomly selected to complete a phone interview. "CAM" included chiropractic, acupuncture, herbal remedies and homeopathy in this study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Half (50%) of the veterans indicated previous or current CAM use, which is at the high end of the estimated 30-50% of other Americans using CAM. Back pain was the most common ailment in CAM users (50% of users), followed by hay fever (43%) and medication allergies (39%).

Why the interest in alternative medicine? Because in many cases, it's been proven more effective than traditional medicine. Talk to your doctor of chiropractic about the many alternatives to conventional medical care, and the variety of conditions chiropractic is proven to treat.

Reference: Baldwin CM, Long K, et al. A profile of military veterans in the southwestern United States who use complementary and alternative medicine: Implications for integrated care. Archives of Internal Medicine 2002:162, pp. 1697-1704.

Check out https://www.chiroweb.com/find/whatis.html for more information about chiropractic.

Exercise: Is Quality or Quantity Better?

There is a long-standing debate as to whether the intensity or the duration of exercise is more important for good health. It's been shown that men who exercise at high intensity cut their risk for heart disease nearly in half, compared to sedentary men, yet similar risk reduction also applies to low-intensity exercise, and varying levels of energy expenditure.

Almost 50,000 men ages 40-75 completed multiple questionnaires from 1986-1998 assessing diet, lifestyle, medical history and exercise. In this study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, walking/hiking; jogging; bicycling; tennis; swimming; rowing; calisthenics; outdoor work; weight training; and racquetball were all considered as types of exercise.

Higher amounts of physical activity did translate into corresponding reductions in risk for coronary heart disease (CHD); men with the greatest amount of activity reduced their risk 30%, compared to sedentary men. But wait - high exercise intensity also independently lowered risk for CHD - 17% more than low-intensity exercises. Activities that offered the most significant reductions in CHD risk included running, weight training and rowing. A faster walking pace was found to reduce heart-disease risk more than a slower pace, regardless of the total time spent walking.

So, which is better: intense exercise for a couple of hours per week, or low-intensity exercise for several hours per week? There is no definite answer. It appears, though, that regular aerobic exercise each week, combined with some high-intensity training, may be optimal. Your chiropractor can help you determine the exercise-intensity level that is safe for you, and help you focus on maintaining that level of fitness.

Reference: Tanasescu M, Leitzmann MF, et al. Exercise type and intensity in relation to coronary heart disease in men. Journal of the American Medical Association 2002:288(16), pp. 1994-2000.

Go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/sports.html for more information about fitness.

How Sweet It Isn't

Although they lack many necessary nutrients and accelerate tooth decay, soft drinks have been shown to provide up to one-quarter of all the calories eaten by children and adolescents. Another problem with these beverages is that the more of them kids drink, the less milk and juice they drink. Is soft-drink consumption also associated with eating fewer fruits and vegetables?

More than 500 students in grades four through six in Houston, Texas, provided diet records in their classrooms for 3-7 days. The results of this study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, showed that sweetened beverages accounted for 51% of the volume of beverages drank by students each day (soft drinks and fruit-flavored drinks were both considered sweetened beverages).

The study also showed that students who drank the most sweetened beverages ate 62% less fruit than students who drank the least. Additionally, those who drank the most sweetened beverages consumed about 330 more calories per day (and consumed more high-fat vegetables) than those who did not consume any sweetened drinks.

Fruits and true fruit juices provide nutrients that reduce risks for sickness and chronic diseases, and not drinking enough of them as a child may lead to bad habits lasting into adulthood. Obviously, if a child is filling up on sugary drinks, he or she won't have room for other, healthier foods and drinks, and may be consuming too many calories in the process.

Reference: Cullen KW, Ash DM, et al. Intake of soft drinks, fruit-flavored beverages, and fruits and vegetables by children in grades 4 through 6. American Journal of Public Health 2002:92(9), pp. 1475-1478.

For more nutrition information, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/nutrition.

Bad Company

Nearly 10% of women of reproductive age suffer from endometriosis, a painful disease in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus, the endometrium, forms outside the uterus and develops into small growths. Besides pain and inflammation, this disorder may cause infertility, and based on a recent study in Human Reproduction, it may also be associated with other disorders.

The study compared immune-system-disorder, chronic-pain, and allergy prevalence in over 3,500 women with endometriosis to women in the general population. It seems this condition keeps bad company. Women with endometriosis were found to be significantly more likely to suffer from multiple disorders, including:

  • chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - more than 150 times more likely;
  • fibromyalgia - almost twice as likely;
  • hypothyroidism - seven times;
  • rheumatoid arthritis - 1.5 times;
  • allergies - over three times;
  • asthma - more than double the risk;
  • multiple sclerosis - seven times; and
  • lupus - over 20 times more likely.

Despite pelvic pain and other symptoms of endometriosis, many women are not diagnosed with the disorder for many years. Women should be aware of the symptoms, such as extreme pain during periods, heavy or irregular bleeding and fatigue, and discuss any concerns with their doctors. Also, if you suffer from any of these conditions, it may not be a coincidence that you also suffer from different disorders.

Reference: Sinaii N, Cleary SD, et al. High rates of autoimmune and endocrine disorders, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and atopic diseases among women with endometriosis: A survey analysis. Human Reproduction 2002:17(10), pp. 2715-2724.

For more studies related to women's health, check out https://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/women.

 

 

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