Mental Attitude: Catching Colds? The risk of contracting a cold, regardless of pre-existing immunity, after being exposed to cold viruses is 52% less in parents compared with those who have no children. The finding may be expected considering that when children get colds, the parents may develop protective antibodies against the specific viruses that cause these colds. However, the findings revealed that based on levels of antibodies to the study viruses, the lower risk of colds in parents could not be explained by preexistin immunity. Volunteers who were parents tended to develop fewer colds irrespective of whether or not they had protective levels of antibodies. One possible explanation may be that being a parent improves regulation of immune factors (cytokines) that are triggered in response to infection. According to earlier research, cytokine responses explain the protective effects of psychological factors, such as lower stress or a positive attitude against the risk of colds. American Psychosomatic Society, July 2012
Health Alert: Cortisone. Injections of corticoid preparations can have severe side effects. In 278 cases of complications after corticoid injections, medical errors were found to have been committed in 40% of cases. Typical errors include faulty asepsis, treatment without indication, and injections that were too closely spaced in time or in excessive doses. Deutsches Arzteblatt International, July 2012
Diet: The Not So Small Intestine. Have you ever wondered how your body gets nutrients out of your food? Your small intestine absorbs most of your food; however, the small intestine is not that small. The average surface of the human small intestine is about the size of a tennis court! Gray’s Anatomy
Exercise: Good Reasons. Exercise improves respiratory muscle strength and muscle endurance (particularly important for asthmatics), reduces your risk of having a stroke and helps you to burn excess calories. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996
Chiropractic: Move Your Joints! Range-of-motion exercises can help maintain normal joint function by increasing and preserving joint mobility and flexibility. The Cleveland Clinic, 2007
Wellness/Prevention: Constant Change. A big reason to stay healthy is that the cells of your body are constantly replaced. Eating right and exercising will give the new cells the best chance to become healthy cells. For example, did you know that humans shed and re-grow outer skin cells about every 27 days? That’s almost 1,000 new skins in a lifetime! Gray’s Anatomy
Quote: “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” ~Albert Einstein
