Mental Attitude: Adversity Early in Life Affects Development.
Examinations of 274 children and adolescents have uncovered a link between physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and faster biological aging, including pubertal development and cellular aging. Additionally, the researchers found that children exposed to other forms of early life adversity, such as neglect and food insecurity, showed signs of delayed pubertal development. Senior author Dr. Katie McLaughlin adds, “[The findings] demonstrate that different types of early-life adversity can have different consequences for children’s development.”
Biological Psychiatry, November 2018

Health Alert: Gut Bacteria May Be Linked to Body Movement…
Researchers from the California Institute of Technology have discovered that when they changed the composition of gut bacteria in fruit flies, it had a corresponding effect on the locomotive capabilities of the test subjects. While further research is necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms involved and if such findings may carry over to humans, the findings suggest dietary modifications could one day aid in the treatment of movement disorders, like Parkinson’s disease.
National Institutes of Health, October 2018

Diet: Low-Fat Diet May Improve Cancer Survival?
According to a new study involving mice, a simple dietary change could potentially help increase the survival rate of obese children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Researchers discovered that when obese mice with leukemia were switched to a low-fat diet, they were five times more likely to survive than subjects that continued to consume a high-fat diet. Lead researcher Dr. Steven Mittelman adds, “The most exciting thing to me about this study is the fact that this shows that a dietary intervention could potentially help us kill leukemia cells in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia… The current treatments for leukemia are very toxic, so finding a way to use a healthy diet, without increasing the toxicity of therapy to treat people with cancer, would be incredible.”
Cancer & Metabolism, October 2018

Exercise: Only Three Percent of Children Reach Recommended Daily Activity Levels.
In a study that included 807 children, aged nine or ten, researchers found that although a third of the boys and girls in the study exercised an average of 60 minutes per day, only 3% did so every day. Researcher Dr. Lisa Price notes, “We don’t know whether averaging 60 minutes a day will be different in terms of health outcomes compared to 60 minutes daily—more research is needed to look into this… We do know that most children aren’t doing enough physical activity, and that this has consequences not just in childhood but in adulthood too.”
Journal of Physical Activity and Health, November 2018

Chiropractic: Sleep Troubles May Predict Chronic Widespread Pain.
Over the course of an 18-year study, researchers observed that participants who developed problems with initiating sleep, maintaining sleep, early awakening, and non-restorative sleep had about double the risk for developing chronic widespread pain. Past research has uncovered a two-way relationship between poor sleep and musculoskeletal pain, underscoring the importance of seeking care to manage conditions like neck pain and back pain as soon as possible—rather than delaying treatment—in order to reduce the risk of disturbed sleep and subsequent chronic widespread pain in the future.
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, November 2018

Wellness/Prevention: When to Wash Your Hands.
Frequent hand washing is an excellent way to prevent illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that you should always wash your hands in the following instances: before, during, and after preparing food; before eating food; before and after caring for someone who is sick; after using the bathroom, changing diapers, or cleaning up a child who has used the bathroom; after blowing your nose, sneezing, or coughing; after touching an animal, their cage, or their food or handling animal waste; after handling garbage; and if you have dirty hands.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 2018