Fitness

Diet: Oatmeal for Breakfast = Fullness & Lower Calorie Intake at Lunch.

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Diet: Oatmeal for Breakfast = Fullness & Lower Calorie Intake at Lunch.

Your breakfast choice may affect how full you feel during the rest of the morning and how much you eat for lunch. Scientists from the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital report that having oatmeal for breakfast results in greater fullness, less hunger, and fewer calories eaten during lunch compared with those eating a ready-to-eat cereal for breakfast. The researchers believe that the greater satiety effect of oatmeal cereal compared to sugared ready-to-eat cereal or water might be due to slower gastric emptying, as they found that oatmeal took longer to leave the stomach.

Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, January 2015

Health Alert: Chemical Exposure May Drive Earlier Menopause in Women.

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Health Alert: Chemical Exposure May Drive Earlier Menopause in Women.

Researchers have discovered that women exposed to high levels of certain chemicals found in household items, personal care products, plastics, and the environment typically begin to experience menopause two to four years earlier than women with less exposure to these chemicals (which include PCBs, pesticides, phthalates, and furan). Senior study author Dr. Amber Cooper adds, “Many of these chemical exposures are beyond our control because they are in the soil, water, and air. But we can educate ourselves about our day-to-day chemical exposures and become more aware of the plastics and other household products we use.” The research team recommends further research to determine how much exposure is needed to impact female health.

PLOS ONE, January 2015

Mental Attitude: Childhood Neglect May Affect Brain Development.

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Mental Attitude: Childhood Neglect May Affect Brain Development.

A new study finds that severe childhood neglect may cause structural changes to the brain, but early intervention may reverse such alterations. Researchers found that children who remained in institutional care exhibited structural changes in certain areas of the brain’s white matter which facilitate communication between different areas of the brain. However, they found that children who had been moved from institutional care to foster care had white matter similar to that of children who had never been in institutional care, suggesting that the movement to foster care reversed the white matter abnormalities. The researchers write, “Our findings have important implications for public health related to early prevention and intervention for children reared in conditions of severe neglect or adverse contexts more generally.” JAMA Pediatrics, January 2015

Wellness/Prevention: Preventing Second Hip Fractures.

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Wellness/Prevention: Preventing Second Hip Fractures.

After analyzing long-term data on nearly 40,000 first-time hip fracture patients, University of British Columbia researchers found that roughly 8% will experience a second hip fracture in the decade following their first hip injury. In light of this finding, they recommend that secondary hip fracture prevention interventions should continue beyond just the early post-fracture period. Bone, February 2015

Chiropractic: Becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic…

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Chiropractic: Becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic…

To become a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic, an aspiring chiropractor must meet stringent academic and professional requirements. Currently, an individual must complete the following steps to become a licensed chiropractor: complete required general college-level studies, obtain a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and complete a clinical internship through an accredited four-year chiropractic college program, pass the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners’ and/or other state-required examinations, and satisfy any other individual state-specific requirements for licensure, which include mandatory continuing education credits in all but one state. Additionally, a Doctor of Chiropractic can earn additional certifications in areas such as pediatrics, radiology, neurology, nutrition, spinal trauma, and more. National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, August 2014

Exercise: Make it Fun and Keep Going.

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Exercise: Make it Fun and Keep Going.

When exercising, it is important to make your routine enjoyable and fun to help ensure that you keep exercising. The American Heart Association suggests the following: wear shoes that are comfortable and fit properly, wear clothing that is appropriate for weather conditions, start slow, stick to a consistent workout time, make expectations reasonable for your health and abilities, include fun activities with family and friends, track you progress, and reward yourself for success. American Heart Association, February 2015

Diet: Soda Consumption May Prompt Early Puberty in Girls.

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Diet: Soda Consumption May Prompt Early Puberty in Girls.

Harvard researchers report that girls who consume a lot of sugary drinks may enter puberty earlier than girls who do not consume such beverages. The female participants in their study who drank more than 1.5 servings of sugary drinks per day began having periods 2.7 months earlier than those who drank two or less sugary drinks per week. Study author Dr. Jenny Carwile adds, “Starting periods early is a risk factor for depression during adolescence and breast cancer during adulthood. Thus, our findings have implications beyond just starting menstruation early.” While this study does prove that drinking sugary drinks causes early puberty, the researchers add that there is no good reason for anyone to drink sugar-sweetened drinks or sodas regularly at any age. Human Reproduction, January 2015

Chiropractic: Musculoskeletal Pain Affects School Teachers.

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Chiropractic: Musculoskeletal Pain Affects School Teachers.

An assessment of 486 self-evaluation surveys from female school teachers in Saudi Arabia reveals that musculoskeletal pain is surprisingly prevalent in the profession. Their most common complaint was low back pain, followed by knee pain, heel pain, shoulder pain, upper back pain, hip joint pain, ankle pain, and neck pain. Furthermore, nearly half (46.1%) of the teachers surveyed claimed that their pain affected their teaching performance. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, November 2014

Exercise: Muscle Weakness Affects 1 in 5 Older Americans.

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Exercise: Muscle Weakness Affects 1 in 5 Older Americans. Twenty percent of Americans 80 years of age and older have weak muscle strength, according to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prior studies have linked fading muscle strength to slower walking speed and an increased risk of death. The CDC recommends that seniors should strive to maintain optimal physical conditioning through good overall preventive care, nutrition, and exercise.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 2015

Health Alert: Many Public Defibrillators Failing Over Past Decade.

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Health Alert: Many Public Defibrillators Failing Over Past Decade.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that there have been 72,000 reports of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) devices failing since 2005. AEDs are portable devices that are usually found in public places that are designed to save lives by automatically detecting potentially deadly heart rhythms and delivering an electrical shock to restore a normal heart rhythm. Based on the findings, the FDA plans to strengthen its approval process by inspecting manufacturing facilities and having manufactures file annual reports on device performance.

Food and Drug Administration, January 2015