empowereddoctor.com - sportsmedicine

Chiropractic Helped U.S. Olympic Medal Count

2008-10-10

A chiropractor who also was coach of the U.S. Olympic men's water polo team helped the group to win the silver medal in Beijing, in a match against Hungary, by providing members with daily chiropractic adjustments. "I can honestly say that without chiropractic, many Olympic athletes would not be able to perform to their potential," said Merrill Moses, the team's goalkeeper. "We take such a pounding on our bodies, especially in water polo, because it's a contact sport. I like to get a chiropractic adjustment every day just to keep my body healthy."

Even a Little Exercise Confers Benefits

2008-09-26

Your life can be changed - and extended - by just a little regular exercise, according to a report by a blue-ribbon U.S. panel. A commission empaneled by the federal Department of Health and Human Services says your most important exercise paraphernalia are your legs. The panel declares that a moderately paced half-hour walk five days a week will lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and many other disorders. And the benefit will be conferred even if you're overweight or obese - and regardless of your age, race or gender.

One Simple Solution to Neck Pain: Good Posture

2008-09-08

Treating and preventing chronic neck pain can often be successfully accomplished by something as simple as adopting correct posture while waking and sleeping. While the pain sufferer can treat the symptoms of frequent neck "cricks" with neck stretch exercises, painkillers or ice applications, the symptoms' root causes must be dealt with differently. These root causes often involve some kind of poor posture, says Dr. Brian Bruel, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation on the one hand, and anesthesiology and pain management on the other, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Posture violators might crouch over a desk all day long, slouch on a sofa while watching TV, or contort themselves while reading.

High Impact Means High Bone Density for Children

2008-09-05

High impact activities like jumping and skipping has been shown to benefit bone health in adolescents. A ten minute school based intervention, provided twice a week for eight months, greatly improved bone and muscle strength in healthy teenagers when compared to regular warmups. Physiotherapist Ben Weeks said the warm-up, which included high intensity jumps and lunges of gradually increasing complexity and repetition, was specifically designed to stimulate skeletal growth. By the end of the study, students worked up to about 300 jumps per session.

Stay Young by Running

2008-08-28

For people who run regularly, you may be extending your disability-free, higher quality of life. When senior author, James Fries, began research on vigorous exercise in 1984, many scientists expected the results would do more harm than good. Some experts believed the long-term effect of serious running would be an onslaught of orthopedic injuries, with older runners suffering from chronic injury. But Fries believed it would improve quality of life and reduce the period at the end of a person's life where they couldn't carry out daily tasks on their own.

8 Ways Exercise Keeps You Young and Healthy

2008-08-12

Exercise may not halt the aging process, but mounting evidence suggests people who stay active can slow its effects. The latest issue of Mayo Clinic Women's Healthsource offers 8 benefits to regular exercise. It Provides Energy: Feeling tired and lethargic is largely a result of being inactive. Endurance exercises like walking, swimming, jogging, biking, and rowing improves stamina and energy. Even after a few weeks in a walking program, people have more energy for activities. It Improves Mental Health: There's considerable evidence that regular physical activity can help reduce stress, manage mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety, improve sleep quality, boost mood, and enhance the overall feeling of well-being.

Specific Strength Training Relieves Chronic Neck Pain

2008-04-01

Neck pain has become increasingly prevalent over the past two decades and is now second only to back pain, the most common musculoskeletal disorder and most common cause of disability in working Americans. Women are more likely to suffer from neck pain than are men, especially those who engage in repetitive tasks such as working at a computer keyboard. Previous studies have not proven whether or not exercise alone can treat neck pain. . However, a recent study in Arthritis Care and Research found that specific strength training exercises led to significant prolonged relief of neck muscle pain while general fitness training resulted in only minor pain reduction.

Stay Active or Grow Old

2008-02-15

People who are physically active in their free time may be biologically younger than those who live sedentary lifestyles, a recent British study suggests. Researchers looked at the physical activity levels, smoking habits and socioeconomic status of 2,400 white twins. DNA samples were collected from participants in order to examine length of telomeres-repeated sequences at the end of chromosomes in white blood cells - which serves as a possible marker of a person's biological age. Study participants had an average telomere loss of 21 nucleotides per year. But those who were more active in their leisure time had longer leukocyte telomeres than those who were less active.

For Longevity Being Fit Is Paramount, Regardless of Weight

2007-12-13

A study by researchers at the University of South Carolina has found that fitness may be more important to longevity, than body weight. People who are not at optimal weight but who are active have a lower mortality risk than those of normal weight but low fitness levels. The study was conducted by researchers who tracked 2,600 people ages 60 and older to determine how physical fitness and body fat affected their death rates over a 12 year period. During the study there were 450 deaths. The participants were assessed by a treadmill test, weight, and body mass index. The researchers found that those in the lowest fifth rank of fitness had a death rate of four times higher than participants ranked in the top fifth. The results indicate that being fit provides protection against mortality in men and women 60 and older, whether they're normal weight or overweight..

Worried Sick? There Might Be Some Truth There

2007-11-19

A recent report by health provider BUPA has found that people's worries are damaging their health by causing sleepless nights, loss of sex drive, and erratic eating habits. The 2007 Worry Report demonstrates that almost one in five people constantly worry about numerous things, and more than half feel they worry more now than five years ago. Half of the people surveyed this year, which is 6% more than in 2006, claimed they were more worried about their health and their family's health than about other concerning issues such as climate change or terrorist attacks. The survey finds that almost three quarters of people worry, but around 19% admit to worrying all the time or about a number of things.