DelVecchio Back and Neck Care Center

Your Weekly Health Update

Harness the Natural Healing Power of Your

Body, Mind & Spirit

Monday 02/27/2012

Courtesy of: Dr. Nick DelVecchio

Del Vecchio Back & Neck Care Center
7595 W. 66th Ave, Arvada, Colorado

303-422-3657 

Visit us at:  www.backcare4you.com

Chiropractic Care: Big Purses

Big purses are handy and convenient, but there is a downside. Once you can pack them up with everything you need: cell phone, wallet, water bottles, and more it is a load on your neck, shoulders and back.  Doctors from Baylor Medical Center report that patients commonly complain of back, neck, and shoulder pain without even realizing that the cause may be slung over their shoulder. According to these doctors, it’s not uncommon for purse to weigh as much as 7 to 10 pounds. Even more so, if you carry your purse on one side of your body it may cause future health concerns due to an imbalance when you stand or walk. Experts suggest that the solution is simple and necessary- downsize!

Mental Attitude:  Green Exercise

A recent study looked at green exercise such as walking, cycle, fishing and gardening to determine if these had a positive effect on health, especially mental health.  The researchers noted that those green environments that contained water generated greater improvements. Green exercise was thought to have the biggest impact on young lives and those with mental illness. Interestingly researchers speculate that health care related costs could be reduced by increasing access to nature and by “self medicating” using green exercise and its environment.

Health Alert: Homeopathy & Herbal Medicine

More and more people, from all walks of life, are turning to homeopathy to treat big and small problems.  This is a form of global medicine to treat disease. It takes into account specific psychological and physiological aspects of the individual.  An example: in classical medicine, a group of people having the flu will be given the same treatment, regardless of the individual’s symptoms, and /or how that person reacts to the treatment. With homeopathy, however, each person in the same group of flu-ridden people would receive a different treatment, one adapted to the symptoms of the individual. These remedies help the person’s immune system to react and fight the clause of the illness.

Wellness/Prevention:  Juicing Your Way to Health

Nutritionists recommend eating fresh fruits and vegetables everyday because they are full of vitamins and minerals, which are very important to our body and its functioning. The way you cook can destroy vitamins: these tiny elements are fragile.  For example, vitamin C is particularly sensitive to heat.  Raw fruits and vegetables keep their micronutrients.  Juices are tasty.  Moreover, they are easily absorbed during digestion.  Why, because they are extracted from squeezed fruits and vegetables.  A juice is a liquid made up of water, vitamins, and minerals, without fiber.

Dr. Nick  DelVecchio

Your Weekly Health Update

Harness the Natural Healing Power of Your

Body, Mind & Spirit

Monday 02/20/2012

Courtesy of: Dr. Nick DelVecchio

Del Vecchio Back & Neck Care Center
7595 W. 66th Ave, Arvada, Colorado

303-422-3657 

Visit us at:  www.backcare4you.com

Chiropractic Care:

Canada has a government-run national health care system, and those reviewing this system, lobbied for the inclusion of chiropractic care. A comprehensive study reviewed all the published literature on lower back pain (LBP) and made some astounding suggestions. In a nutshell, it concluded that: chiropractic should be the treatment of choice for LBP – excluding traditional medical care altogether! Since then there has been an overwhelming body of evidence indicating that chiropractic management of low-back pain is more cost-effective than medical management, here is no clinical or case-control study that demonstrates or even implies that spinal manipulation is unsafe, and best of all, there is good empirical evidence that patients are very satisfied with chiropractic management. These findings also suggest that chiropractic care should be integrated into the full spectrum of health care and that chiropractic act as the “gatekeeper” for all musculoskeletal cases that come into the hospital.

Mental Attitude:  Don’t Gamble With Your Emotions

People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their emotions and their behavior. Unfortunately, too many people take their mental and emotional health for granted – focusing on it only when they develop problems. But just as it requires effort to build or maintain physical health, so it is with mental and emotional health. The more time and energy you invest in your emotional health, the stronger it will be. The good news is that there are many things you can do to boost your mood, build resilience, and get more enjoyment out of life.

Health Alert: Are Antibiotics Helpful for Treating Acute Sinusitis

An article published in the February 15 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, stated that most symptoms of acute sinusitis resolve on their own just as quickly without antibiotic as they do with. This trial examined the effectiveness of Amoxicillin 1500mg/day for 10 days. They compared two study groups (one which did not receive medication) and found that the symptom relief was not significantly different between the two groups. One of the biggest concerns is that we are over-exposing patients to antibiotic and creating antibiotic-resistant infections.

Wellness/Prevention:  How to Lower Your Sodium Intake

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released their finding and recommendations for daily sodium intake. Your daily intake should be no more than 2300mg/day for healthy individuals and less than 1500 mg/day for those that are at risk (hypertension, kidney disease and diabetes). The latest National Health and Nutrition Survey showed that the average daily intake for men in the US was 3266 mg. Forty four percent of the sodium consumed came from ten major foods: bread, processed meats/cold cuts. Poultry, pizza, soup, sandwiches, pasta mix dishes, meat mix dishes, cheese and savory snacks. Federal agencies here in the US are studying stricter standards similar to those in the UK; that regulate the amount of salt that food manufacturers, restaurants and food-service companies can put in their products.

Dr. Nick  DelVecchio

Your Weekly Health Update

Harness the Natural Healing Power of Your

Body, Mind & Spirit

Monday 02/13/2012

Courtesy of: Dr. Nick DelVecchio

Del Vecchio Back & Neck Care Center
7595 W. 66th Ave, Arvada, Colorado

303-422-3657 

Visit us at:  www.backcare4you.com

Chiropractic Care: Vitamin D Findings

A recent study completed by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, reviewed 19 trails and 28 observational studies, to analyze the effects of vitamin D. They looked at the effects of vitamin D to promote bone health and prevent cancer. It was found that 300 – 1100 IU of vitamin D combined with 500 – 1200 mg of Calcium daily reduced fracture risk in older patients. The findings did show that Vitamin D alone does not aid in the promotion of healthy bone nor does it demonstrate that it can reduce cancer risk. A final report will be published in the near future. 

Mental Attitude:  The Choice Is Yours

Your life is the product and result of your choices. You will have, and always had this ability. You can choose to let the current state of the economy bring you down or look for opportunities in the face of adversity and challenge. Choose to focus your attention on what you can do and what you will achieve. The way you choose to see the world creates the world as you see it. So, why not have a positive outlook on life, family and country to make things better for you as well as those close to you.

Health Alert: Smoking and Men’s Health

A new research study has linked smoking to cognitive decline in men. This study followed 7,000 people; concluding that long-term ex-smokers has cognitive decline similar to those that never smoked. Those men that had recently stopped smoking showed some decline (especially in executive functioning tasks), and those that continued to smoke over the next decade, had a significantly more rapid decline. There is also increasing evidence that smoking is risk factor for early onset dementia.

Wellness/Prevention:  Treatment for Prehypertension

The definition of “prehypertension” includes a systolic (top number) blood pressure (BP) greater than or equal to 120 -139 mmHg and diastolic (bottom number) BP values between 80 – 89 mmHg. People that fall into this category of prehypertensive are at an increased risk (as high as 63%) of developing hypertension in the future. To reduce the risk of future complications, the current guidelines recommend lifestyle modifications. These include such things as lowering sodium intake, eating a well balanced diet with fresh fruits and vegetables and increase exercise and weight loss.

Dr. Nick  DelVecchio

Your Weekly Health Update

Harness the Natural Healing Power of Your

Body, Mind & Spirit

Monday 02/06/2012

Courtesy of: Dr. Nick DelVecchio

Del Vecchio Back & Neck Care Center
7595 W. 66th Ave, Arvada, Colorado

303-422-3657 

Visit us at:  www.backcare4you.com

Chiropractic Care: Chiropractic Care and Creativity

Creative thinking is one of the greatest human assets in that it initiates new thoughts and world changing ideas. Creativity is the ability to generate ideas of both novel and useful form to a particular social setting. Innovative thoughts inspire excitement and unlock the depths of human potential. New research has shown that chiropractic adjustments significantly improve the creative thought process. Life would be dull, bland and stale without the ability to be creative. The unrestricted human mind has the ability to solve problems with new ideas that build off of the latest technology of the day. In fact, nearly every problem mankind has ever faced has been solved by a new, more creative way of thinking and living.
Mental Attitude:  Is This Weather Making You SAD?

Several factors contribute to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and may include decrease of sunlight, genetics and age. Brain hormones are involved in the regulation of our mood and functioning. Melatonin is a hormone that our brains produce during the hours of darkness. It is involved with regulation of sleep, body temperature and release of other hormones. As with any hormone, the amount produced is important. People with SAD produce too much melatonin, disrupting our internal body clock leading to depressive symptoms. If you have had episodes of depression that clearly have an onset in fall or winter followed by remission of symptoms in the spring or summer, you may have SAD.

Health Alert: Sweet as Sugar

Researchers of a new study conducted by the University of CA (San Francisco) stated that Americans are eating too much sugar. Personal intervention does not work because sugar is addictive and can be extremely toxic to our bodies. They believe that some sort of societal intervention is necessary; this excessive use of sugar should be regulated the same way as alcohol and tobacco.

Wellness/Prevention:  Finding the Right Mattress

Good sleeping posture, like good standing posture, allows the body to follow the natural S-shape curve of the spine; by contrast, poor sleeping positions can strain muscles and ligaments and increase the risk of developing a compressed nerve and, consequently, back pain. Your mattress affects your sleeping posture.  It is a “good fit” if it supports the natural curves of your body, particularly the spine and knees. A mattress that is too hard, for example, will create gaps between it and your body. The result is pressure points that restrict circulation and interfere with sleep by causing the person who is asleep to move around to restore circulation. Extra soft mattresses may feel plush, however a mattress that is too soft may not give your back the support it needs. While mattresses wear out at different rates, it is suggested that you may need a new mattress if you wake up with stiffness, numbness, aches, and pains; you had a better night’s sleep somewhere other than your own bed (such as a hotel); or your mattress shows visible signs of overuse (it sags, has lumps, the interior is exposed). So when looking for a new mattress, play the three little bears and try several to determine what works for you.

Dr. Nick  DelVecchio

Your Weekly Health Update

Harness the Natural Healing Power of Your

Body, Mind & Spirit

Monday 01/30/2012

Courtesy of: Dr. Nick DelVecchio

Del Vecchio Back & Neck Care Center
7595 W. 66th Ave, Arvada, Colorado

303-422-3657 

Visit us at:  www.backcare4you.com

Chiropractic Care: Obesity and Disc Degeneration.

According to a study published in Arthritis and Rheumatism on January 27, 2012, MRI data showed that obesity is associated with an increase risk of disc degeneration. One of the most common medical problems that patient seek care for is lower back pain; a widespread cause of physical and emotional stress, loss of work, and a decline in quality of life. These authors found that for the first time, research shows that elevated BMI values are significantly greater in individuals with disc degeneration.

Mental Attitude:  City Living versus County Living

While city living offers many amenities and advantages not found in rural living, it might have a downside in the area of mental health. City dwellers generally are more socially stressed and are at a higher risk of developing mental illness than their rural counterparts. Although scientists have been aware of this, they did not know the reason why. A new study (Nature 474, 498-501) pinpointed two areas of the brain that seem to be involved in responding to “city” stress, the amygdale (an area that regulates anxiety and fear) and the second is the anterior cingulated (a region that is a more global regulator of stress). The researchers also found that although the two brain structures are separate, they are linked by forming a circuit.  These areas of the brain were found to be hyperactive in city dwellers and can cause mental illness.
Health Alert: Heart Disease Risk Begins Earlier Than Thought.

An analysis of eighteen studies confirmed that the differences in risk-factor burdens in middle-aged adults leads to greater differences in lifetime cardiovascular disease risk (New England Journal of Medicine, 01/26/12). This study shows that people in their 40’s and 50’s have a dramatically higher lifetime risk if they have one or two risk factors present. Practitioners have for many years, followed a standard of looking at risks based on about ten years in that person’s future. This research indicates that risk factors should be evaluated at the time of the visit and may show that the patient’s threat of heart disease may be as much as 50% higher based on their current condition. 

Wellness/Prevention:  Bone Health

On the very forefront of new bone research is science showing that thyroid hormone, leptin, insulin, and your blood sugar metabolism is directly linked to healthy bone function. This remarkable discovery places even more importance on maintaining bone health, density, and strength. Everyone thinks of calcium for bone health, but not all know there are vitamins that are necessary too. Vitamin D is critical for bone health because it helps the intestines absorb calcium, Vitamin A is important for osteoblast (bone building cells) and osteoclast (bone breaking down cells) production, studies show that low levels of Vitamin B12 are linked to a higher risk of osteoporosis in both men and women, Vitamin C is essential to the formation of collagen, the foundation that bone mineralization is built on and Vitamin K helps attract calcium to the bone for growth and development. Even better is that these can all be found in a well-balanced diet.

Dr. Nick  DelVecchio