November 4, 2003 [Volume 4, Issue 23]

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In this issue of To Your Health:

• Sticking Your Neck Out for Chiropractic
• Workout, Baby, Workout!
• Music Soothes More Than the Savage Beast
• Peanuts: The Right Type of Fat

Sticking Your Neck Out for Chiropractic

If this is your first visit to the chiropractor, here's just one example of what you've been missing. Manual therapy preserves the mobility - and money - of patients, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. An Amsterdam research team studied 183 patients with neck pain of at least two weeks' duration. Of the patients (18-70 years of age), 60 received manual therapy, 59 received physiotherapy, and 64 received treatment from a general practitioner (GP). A higher percentage of patients in the manual therapy group reported "complete recovery" after seven weeks than either of the other two groups:

• Sixty-eight percent of the patients receiving manual therapy recovered.
• Fifty-one percent of physiotherapy patients recovered.
• Thirty-six percent receiving care from the GP recovered.

But that's not all: After six months, total treatment costs for patients assigned to the manual therapy group were only approximately one-third the total treatment costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care:

• Manual therapy: $402
• Physiotherapy: $1,167
• General practitioner care: $1,241

Left untreated, neck problems can lead to significant, long-term disability. But take some relief in knowing that by correcting this problem using chiropractic, you're receiving the best care possible - and saving money at the same time!

Reference: Korthals-de Bos IBC, Hoving JL, van Tulder MW, et al. Cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner care for neck pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal, April 26, 2003: Volume 326, pp. 911.

For more information on neck pain, visit www.chiroweb.com/find/tellmeabout/neckpain.html.

Workout, Baby, Workout!

Growing evidence suggests that simple exercises can help babies grow and stay healthy - even when administered in the first few weeks of life. Consider a recent study involving 24 infants; if the results are any indication, preventing bone-thinning ailments, such as osteopenia, may be as simple as providing flexion, extension and nurturing.

A team of Israeli researchers matched low-birth-weight infants of similar development (4-7 days after birth) and divided them into an exercise group and a control group of 12 infants apiece. Growth rate and characteristics of bones, such as strength, were measured at enrollment (during the first week of life) and at four weeks.

Infants in the exercise group received regular five-minute sessions of flexion and extension at various joints, five times a week for four weeks; infants in the control group received similar-length periods of holding and stroking, but without range-of-motion activity. Although physical activity did not appear to influence bone formation, bone density remained stable in the exercise group while decreasing significantly in the control group.

While this a very small sampling, and infants are not the easiest subjects to physically evaluate, results point to what many health care providers have been saying all along: Exercise - at whatever age and whatever amount - can positively impact a number of health conditions, including bone density. It's also important to note that flexion and extension are common techniques utilized by chiropractors in the clinical setting.

Reference: Litmanovitz I, Dolfin T, Friedland O, et al. Early physical activity intervention prevents decrease of bone strength in very low birth weight infants. Pediatrics July 2003: Volume 112, Number 1, pp.15-19.

To learn more about pediatric health, go to www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/pediatrics.

Music Soothes More Than the Savage Beast

Research from the University of Hong Kong provides evidence that music soothes more than just the "savage beast," a quote attributed to William Congreve in the 1697 play "The Mourning Bride." If the researchers' findings are any indication, this quote could also refer to the recovery of brain injury patients.

The journal Neuropsychology describes a study of a group of 90 schoolchildren (6-15 years of age). Half received musical training in their school's string orchestra between one and five years' duration; the other half obtained no musical training. Verbal memory was tested by reading each subject a word list and checking to see how many words were remembered -10 minutes after the reading and 30 minutes after the reading. The same test was performed again, but with images replacing the words. Children with musical training recalled and retained significantly more words than those without the training.

As far as researcher Dr. Agnes Chan is concerned, the instrument or music type is not as material as the learning process in assisting verbal training. She feels this could be the basis of a new approach to helping those with memory loss after brain injury.

So, think twice before turning off that "noise," your children are listening to (or producing themselves). It may be hurting your ears, but it could also be helping them build better memories.

Reference: Ho YC, Cheung MC, Chan AS. Music training improves verbal but not visual memory: Cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations in children. S. Chan, Ph.D. Neuropsychology 2003: Volume 17, Number 3, pp.439-50.

Peanuts: The Right Type of Fat

Peanuts are the most widely consumed nut in the United States. Peanuts have been viewed as unhealthy in the past because of their high fat content, but recent research may be proving the critics wrong. Consider the results of this study published in the Journal of American College of Nutrition.

Research undertaken by Professor Richard Mattes, et al., of Purdue University, recruited 15 healthy adults for three trials: substitution of 500 calories of subjects' daily fat intake with 500 calories of peanuts; adding the same amount of peanuts to their daily intake; and allowing individuals to eat peanuts any way they chose. The results? Triglyceride levels (higher levels of which have been linked to heart disease) in the subjects were lowered drastically; in some cases, by as much as 24 percent. Perhaps the most appealing news is that research yielded "no significant change in body weight, despite adding 500 calories of peanuts a day for eight weeks."

The researchers concluded: "This particular study indicates it may be an appropriate health recommendation to include peanuts in the daily diet." These findings add to the evidence linking regular peanut consumption to heart health.

So eat those peanuts! They're available in a variety of forms, although you may want to choose the unsalted variety, since sodium is a fairly well-established risk factor for high blood pressure. Many health food stores also offer salt-free peanut butter or peanut butter that doesn't contain added sugar, preservatives, or anything else - just heart-healthy peanuts!

Reference: Alper CM, Mattes RD. Peanut consumption improves indices of cardiovascular disease risk in healthy adults. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2003: Volume 22, pp.133-141.

For more information on the fundamentals of sound nutrition, visit www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/nutrition.

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