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July 11, 2006 [Volume
7, Issue 15]
In this issue of To Your Health:
- Chiropractic: Hitting It Big
With College Athletes
- Five Ways Men Can Lower Their
Risk of Heart Disease
- Dairy Foods and Diabetes in
Women: Think Low-Fat
Chiropractic: Hitting It Big
With College Athletes
 It's
estimated that more than one-third of the American public uses the
services of doctors of chiropractic and other complementary and
alternative medicine (CAM) providers each year. Among those who
take full advantage of CAM's benefits are professional athletes;
in fact, many pro sports teams now have chiropractors and other
CAM providers as part of their medical or training staff. A new
study shows that chiropractic and other types of CAM are extremely
popular among athletes on the college level as well.
In this study, researchers gave a
survey to more than 300 college athletes attending a Division I
school in Hawaii. The survey asked the athletes about their use of
different types of CAM in the previous year, along with their use
of traditional medical care. Fifty-six percent of the athletes
reported using some type of CAM within the past 12 months, with
more women using CAM than men. Chiropractic was the second most
popular form of CAM, just behind massage; 29 percent of the
athletes said they had used chiropractic at least once in the past
year.
While considerable evidence
suggests chiropractic can improve the performance of elite
athletes, there's just as much evidence which shows chiropractic
care is effective for a variety of everyday problems, too. Back
pain, neck pain and migraine headaches are just a few of the many
conditions that can be treated with an adjustment by a
well-trained doctor of chiropractic. If you suffer from any of
these conditions, make an appointment with your chiropractor
today.
Nichols AW, Harrigan R.
Complementary and alternative medicine usage by intercollegiate
athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine May
2006;16(3):232-7.
Five Ways Men Can Lower Their
Risk of Heart Disease
 Listen
up, men! You probably know you don't eat as well as you should or
exercise as much as you should. You also probably know that a poor
diet, lack of exercise, smoking and other bad habits significantly
increase your risk of having a heart attack or developing heart
disease later in life.
The good news is that the damage
isn't irreversible; in a recent study, researchers tracked the
incidence of heart disease in a group of more than 42,000
middle-aged men for 16 years. By analyzing a series of
questionnaires, the scientists found five specific "lifestyle
factors" or habits that appeared to lower the risk of heart
disease:
- not smoking;
- having a body mass index (BMI)
of 25 or less;
- exercising regularly (at least
30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise daily);
- drinking in moderation; and
- eating a diet high in fruits,
vegetables, fiber, chicken and fish, and low in trans-fats and
saturated fats.
Just how important were these
factors? According to the study, men who accomplished all of the
above were 87 percent less likely to develop coronary heart
disease compared to men who followed none of the habits. Even
adopting just two healthy habits reduced the risk of coronary
heart disease by 27 percent.
In other words, it's never late to
change. If you're looking to make significant changes to your
lifestyle, talk to your chiropractor; he or she will be happy to
work with you in creating an exercise program, making changes to
your diet, or other changes that will improve your health and
fitness levels.
Chiuve SE, McCullough ML, Sacks FM,
et al. Healthy lifestyle factors in the primary prevention of
coronary heart disease among men. Circulation
2006;114:160-167.
Dairy Foods and Diabetes in
Women: Think Low-Fat
According to the American Diabetes
Association, up to 9.2 million in the United States have type 2
diabetes, which increases the risk of heart disease, kidney damage
and other disorders. The results of a new study suggest that a
diet that contains high amounts of low-fat dairy products can
provide some protection against developing type 2 diabetes, and
that the more dairy products a women eats, the lower the risk.
In this study, scientists examined
the dietary records of more than 37,000 women who were
participating in a national health survey. The scientists looked
at the intake of various dairy foods and calcium, and then
compared those statistics with the number of women in the study
who developed diabetes over a 10-year follow-up period.
According to the analysis, women
who consumed the highest amounts of dairy foods were 21 percent
less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women who ate the
lowest amounts of dairy foods. Each serving-per-day increase in
dairy products reduced the risk of diabetes by 4 percent. Low-fat
dairy foods appeared to be more effective in lowering diabetes
risk. Most high-fat dairy foods, on the other hand, showed little
to no benefit, or actually increased the risk of developing
diabetes.
Liu S, Klevak A, Choi HY, et al. A
prospective study of dairy intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes
in women. Diabetes Care July 2006;29(7):1579-1584.
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