*INTRODUCTION
*WHAT IS?- Inflammation
*HEALTH NEWS - The latest news in health
*FEATURE ARTICLE - Ronald Cox,
Ph.D. presents Part II of the FITT Principle (the application of the
principle)
*HEALTH RESEARCH - Current research you
should be aware of
*HOW TO CONTACT US
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the fifth issue of Health-E-Newsletter, a
weekly newsletter for those interested in a wide variety of up-to-date
health news. Our mission is to provide informative, useful, and
current health news for the betterment of our community. This
information was found online and in peer-reviewed health and medical
journals and is not intended to be a replacement for professional health
care. Please forward this to friends, family, discussion groups
and others so that they may benefit as well. If you have
questions, comments, suggestions for future articles, or to
subscribe/unsubscribe, please let us know at:
Essence of Wellness
Yours in health,
Dean L. Smith, D.C., M.Sc.
Jane Palmer Smith, D.C.
We look forward to serving you.
_________________________________
WHAT IS?
This week we discuss inflammation.
Undoubtedly, when you hear the word inflammation you probably
associate it with many different situations or conditions. Perhaps
you think of a sprained and swollen ankle as inflamed or perhaps you
think of a painful sunburn or an injury that produces a cut. These
types of situations all have some degree of inflammation associated with
them. But what is inflammation? How does it happen? Is
inflammation bad or good? What are characteristics of
inflammation? Why should I care and how does it affect me?
These are questions I will attempt to answer this week.
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is the primary process
through which the body repairs tissue damage and defends itself against
infection.
How does inflammation happen?
Inflammation can begin by two different
means, either through immune or non-immune mechanisms. Regardless
of the cause of inflammation, both mechanisms use similar ways to
accomplish their goals. Non-immune inflammation is initiated by
injury, or by release of bacterial products or components of dying
tissue. Immune inflammation is initiated by a specific reaction of
proteins that are recognized as "foreign" to the body.
Two basic types of inflammation exist: acute inflammation and chronic
inflammation. The function of acute inflammation is to deliver
plasma and cell products of the blood to tissues beyond blood vessels.
The plasma that "leaks" into the tissues (edema or swelling)
causes dilution of toxic materials and increases lymphatic flow.
Certain blood cells (phagocytes) penetrate the inflamed tissue and
destroy infectious agents while clearing the tissue of waste products
and releasing other cells (cytokines) that activate healing.
Chronic inflammation on the other hand is designed to "heal"
the tissue involved in acute inflammation. It does this by
clearing the site of the products of acute inflammation and by replacing
the damaged tissue. Later, scar tissue (fibrosis) may form, which
serves to wall off dead tissue or infection. As a response to
injury, inflammation clears and restores damaged tissue; as a diseased
process, inflammation produces tissue damage.
Is inflammation good or bad?
Again, inflammation is the primary
process through which the body repairs tissue damage and defends itself
against infection. So without inflammation you have lost your prime way
to heal tissue. However, left unchecked, unrecognized or not
properly addressed, inflammation can lead to problems. Prolonged
inflammation without proper attention can lead to "junk scar"
formation which tends to be painful and is difficult to manage and may
limit normal function.
Typical characteristics of inflammation
There are five classic signs of
inflammation:
1. increased blood flow appears red (rubor)
2. increased local temperature (calor)
3. increased blood flow brings cells and cell
products to the area causing increased tissue mass (tumor)
4. tissue swelling and chemicals act on nerve
endings to produce pain (dolor)
5. swelling and pain lead to loss of function (functio
lasea)
Why should I care?
Ever had pain, injuries, allergies, etc. Of course,
we all have experienced the process of inflammation. In order to
understand the healing process it is important to grasp the idea of
inflammation. The process of inflammation moves from acute to
subacute to chronic stages and to resolution or scarring. Most
importantly, excessive or prolonged activation, as well as inadequate
activation of these systems may have serious effects.
Manifestations of inflammation in different tissues are similar even
though the process is inititiated by different events (infections,
trauma, etc.).
HEALTH NEWS
Breastfeeding for two or more years reduces a woman’s
risk of developing breast cancer by 50 percent, according to a study
conducted by a Yale researcher among women in China.
Super-aspirin is turning out to be a super-failure,
perhaps even a deadly one. Five years ago, when large-scale testing
began, researchers were optimistic that the drug would improve on the
plain variety. But study after study has ended badly - even shockingly.
Now some believe the pharmaceutical industry should call it quits. Stop
the testing, they say, because super-aspirin may actually kill more
volunteers than it saves.
It’s never healthy to keep your stress bottled up
inside, but all the evidence suggests that a slow simmer is almost
always safer than a raging boil. Anger, especially anger manifested in
bouts of uncontrollable rage or fury, can do serious damage - and not
just to household items or innocent bystanders.
Nausea and emesis in early pregnancy are common phenomena
affecting as many as 70% of pregnant women but little is known about the
etiology and role of this common and often incapacitating bodily
response. Within the biomedical community it is common for morning
sickness to be thought of as a symptom of pregnancy, almost as if
pregnancy were a disease. I suspect you’re now thinking, ‘No one
would be so stupid as to propose that pregnancy be thought of as a
disease’. Well, believe it or not, that’s exactly what was suggested
earlier this year.
________________________________
FEATURE ARTICLE
* Special thanks again to Dr. Cox for
Part II of the FITT Principle
By: Ronald Cox, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of
Physical Education, Health and Sports Studies, Miami University
Application of FITT
Last month we described the FITT
principle. Please refer to the January article for the specifics. In
brief, FITT stands for the frequency, intensity, time
(duration) and type of exercise. The American College of Sports
Medicine (ACSM) guidelines for cardiorespiratory exercise provide the
following recommendations. A Frequency of 3-5 days per week; an
Intensity of 40-85% HRR; a Time of 20-60 min (can be accumulated in 10
min bouts throughout the day); and the Type is any exercise that uses
over 50% of the skeletal muscle mass (walking, swimming, biking etc). A
specific program utilizing the FITT principle for aerobic or
endurance type of program may look like the following.
The frequency is 5 days per week.
Day
Intensity
Time
Type
Mon: 65% of maxVO2 or 65% of
HRR 30 min
Treadmill jog
Tues: 60% of HRR
30 min
Swim (kicks)
Wed: Intervals*
1 min/2 min
Tread mill
* After a warm-up of 10 min at 65% of HRR,
1 min of running is done at 85-90% of HRR and followed by 2 min at 65%
and then 1 min at 85-90%. This is repeated 10 times for a total time of
30 min. Though this session is the same length as the others it will
expend about 20% more calories than the others. It is one way to
increase the caloric expenditure of an exercise session without
increasing the time. However, it is intense and should not be used more
than twice a week. It is also a "tried & true" method for
increasing cardiorespiratory capacity or fitness.
Thurs: 60% of HRR 30 min Bike/Lifecycle
Fri : 60% of HRR 30 min Treadmill
In subsequent weeks the type of exercise
(treadmill vs bike or swim) can be switched so that treadmill exercise
is performed once during the week and bike is done three times. It is
primarily a matter of individual preference, but keep in mind that high
impact exercise such as treadmill running is ‘harder’ on the joints
than is cycle or swimming.
Flexibility
Simply stated, flexibility is the ability
of a joint to move freely through its full range of motion. I should add
that this movement should be without pain. If pain or restricted range
is evident, you have a flexibility problem. You are not alone and the
FITT principle can be applied to a program designed to enhance
flexibility.
Frequency:
Flexibility exercises should be performed 5-6 days per week in the
initial stages (6-8 weeks) and then maintenance can be achieved with 2-3
sessions per week.
Intensity:
The degree of stretch performed should be to a point of mild discomfort.
Guys, that means that you should not require a bullet or weight plate to
bite in order to perform the stretch. Stretching to slightly below the
pain threshold and then attempting to relax the muscle constitutes
proper performance.
Time or repetition:
Time required for a session will depend on the number of flexibility
exercises. In general, each stretch should be repeated 3-5 times and the
final position held for 10-30 seconds.
Type:
There are three modes or types of stretching exercises.
The first is Ballistic stretching
which is exercise done with jerky, rapid and bouncing type movements.
These are generally not recommended but athletes may employ them in some
of their training to prepare them for some of their events (e.g. the
rapid stops and turns of a soccer player).
The second is slow-sustained
stretching. The muscle is lengthened gradually through the full range of
movement and the final position is held for 10-30 seconds.
The third and final form is called proprioceptive
neuromuscular facilitation (whew—PNF for short). This relies on a
‘contract and relax’ method and will require the aid of a partner.
For example, your partner will move the limb in the desired direction
(stretching) short of complete stretch. You then contract the muscle
while your partner prevents movement (this is an isometric contraction
done for about 6 seconds), you relax and your partner then increase the
degree of stretch to a slightly greater degree. This is repeated several
times until a point of mild discomfort is experienced.
This is a very effective training method,
but also somewhat complicated. An alternative and time saving method is
to stretch between the sets of your resistance training program.
_______________________________
*HEALTH RESEARCH
Honesty and integrity are key
characteristics expected of a doctor, although academic misconduct
among medical students is not new.1
A survey of 428 American students in 1980 found that 58%
reported cheating during medical school.2
We assessed students' attitudes and behaviours on
"cheating" and aimed to raise awareness of
academic misconduct.
Evidence has accumulated pointing to an
association between idiopathic scoliosis and postural control in which
vision is involved. An association between scoliosis and ocular
troubles is present in many diseases, but no study on a large blind
population has yet been undertaken. These findings are compatible with
a postural etiology of scoliosis in the visually impaired population.
WHEN ASKED, "what causes violence
among children and adolescents?" I respond, "there is no
cause, only the accumulation of risk factors."1
This means that no single factor does much to tell the story. Rather,
each adds to the cumulative risk. This model is an important
derivation of the "ecological" perspective on human
development. From such an ecological perspective, when the question is
"does X cause Y?" the best answer is "it depends."
It depends on the context in which that X and Y are operating.
______________________________
HOW TO CONTACT US
Essence of Wellness Chiropractic Center
Dean Smith, D.C., M.Sc.
Jane Palmer Smith, D.C.
890 South Barron St.
Eaton, Ohio 45320
(937) 456-4555
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