10 reasons parents take healthy children to chirporactors....

http://welladjustedbabies.com/why-parents-take-children-to-chiropractors/

What Every Woman Should Know About Heart Attacks

February 17, 2011 by Holly S. Andersen, M.D.

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in this country (and now the world); it kills more every year than all cancers combined.

Sometimes, the first symptom of heart disease is sudden death. That’s why prevention is so important. This type of heart disease, “coronary artery disease,” is largely preventable. But to practice prevention, you need to know you’re at risk.

And women are far less likely to be aware of their risk.

Women are less likely to act when experiencing warning signs or symptoms of a heart attack. New symptoms of chest discomfort, shortness of breath, or fatigue that occur when you are physically active and that are relieved by rest can be signs that you have unstable heart disease.

Sudden or more gradual onset of unremitting chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack, but 45 percent of women having heart attacks do not experience chest pain. The heart can’t “feel” pain, so the brain has to make up a place for it to be coming from. This is called “referred” pain. Heart attack pain can be perceived as pain coming from the neck, throat, shoulder, arm or back. Symptoms of a heart attack can also mimic heartburn, or can cause excessive sweatiness or just profound fatigue. Women are more likely to experience these atypical symptoms.

Women wait longer than men before going to an emergency room. We are less likely to call 911. A recent AHA survey found that only 53 percent of women who believe they are having a heart attack would call 911. A Tufts University study of EMS data from Texas found that women are 55 percent more likely to suffer delays after they call 911 for chest pain.

Most people know that something is wrong when they are experiencing a heart attack. It is quite common for them to share this feeling with a nearby person. The worst person to tell is your spouse, as they are the most likely to say, “Relax, you’ll be fine.” A stranger off the street is more likely to respond by saying that you should get checked out.

If you think you are having a heart attack, don’t call your doctor, don’t call your best friend—call 911 first.

Not only do women have more atypical symptoms and wait longer before going to an emergency room, we’re also less likely to have a diagnostic electrocardiogram during a heart attack.

Not surprisingly, we’re less likely to be diagnosed correctly. But even if we are diagnosed correctly, we’ll be less likely to receive all the life-saving therapies available to treat heart attacks today. And even if the decision is made to give these therapies, they will be given, on average, at a significant time delay compared to men.

For those of us who treat heart attacks, we have a saying: “Time is muscle.” Even if you control for all of these variables, a woman will still be more likely to die from her heart attack than a man. And it is the youngest women who have the greatest death discrepancy rates compared to the youngest men – and we don’t know why.

Death rates due to heart disease have been declining in this country for decades, but our most recent data show that death rates due to heart disease have leveled off in our youngest adults, and may even be increasing in young women ages 29-45.

A woman who is discharged home after a heart attack will be less likely to be prescribed all the medications known to improved survival in heart attack patients.  She will be referred to a cardiologist less often, and will be enrolled in cardiac rehab less often.

Depression is more common in women than in men, and women who are depressed are many times more likely to die in the first few months after a heart attack. Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotropic medicines are clearly helpful in some women, but not all. In particular, being physically active, listening to pleasing music, and socializing have been shown to be helpful. Combining all three at once—say, by taking a brisk walk with a pal while sharing favorite music on your iPod—is even more of a winner.

Your life doesn’t have to end by a heart attack or after a heart attack. Indeed, some women lucky enough to survive their heart attacks live healthier and happier and better than ever before.  I take care of several amazing women who can testify to that. But women need to know their risk, they need to practice prevention, and they need to act if they think something is wrong. We would much rather treat indigestion in the ER instead of missing a heart attack. As women, we need to partner with doctors we can trust, but we need to be our own health advocates first.

Holly S. Andersen, M.D. is the Director of Education and Outreach at The Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute, The New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. She is a member of the Women’s Voices for Change Medical Advisory Board.

20 Health Benefits of Tumeric

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-benefits-of-turmeric.html

Massage Therapy Reduces Low Back Pain

By Massage Therapy Foundation Contributor

Non-specific low back pain is one of the most common muscular-skeletal issues reported by patients/clients seeking pain relief. Massage therapy is recognized in clinical practice as an effective treatment.

However, the Massage Therapy Foundationis always looking for scientific evidence to support clinical recommendations. This month's review illustrates study findings supporting the use of massage therapy to manage chronic low back pain.

A controlled trial was recently published in theAnnals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Daniel C. Cherkin and his colleagues at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, compared massage plus usual care to usual care alone in their study of participants, ages 20 to 65 years old (n=401). Study findings, "suggest that both relaxation massage and structural massage are reasonable treatment options for persons with chronic low back pain." Participants in the study received 10 weekly treatments at no cost, which consisted of either relaxation massage or structural massage, randomly assigned. Twenty-seven licensed massage practitioners, all of whom had a minimum of five years experience, received 1.5 days of protocol training and provided massage treatments. The LMPs knew which type of massage they were performing, which they did not disclose with participants. Additionally, participants were provided kinesthetic exercises to do in the home setting to help relieve their back pain between treatments.

Study findings suggest, "massage therapy improved function and decreased pain more than usual care in patients with uncomplicated chronic lower back pain [LBP] after 10 weeks." The participants who received massage in addition to usual care reported significantly lower Roland Disability Quotient scores (p=<0.001) and symptom bothersomeness scores (p=<0.001). The beneficial effects of massage lasted at twenty-six weeks (p=0.007) and fifty-two weeks (p=0.049) when measured by the Roland Disability Quotient. Symptom bothersomeness was only significantly reduced at the end of the ten-week trial. The authors note that "massage recipients were more likely than participants in the usual care group to experience clinically meaningful reductions" in functional limitations and low back pain symptoms.

Massage reduced self-reported medication use for LBP (p=0.006), including specifically NSAID use for LBP (p=0.027) at the end of the ten-week trial. However, the reduction in medication use did not persist by twenty-six weeks. Similarly, massage patients were able to decrease absenteeism to work or school caused by their LBP (p=0.018) at the ten-week mark, although these effects did not last either. Patients in the massage group were significantly more likely to be "pleased or delighted if LBP remained at the current level for the rest of life" at the end of the ten-week trial (p=0.007) than patients receiving usual care. In addition, massage patients were significantly more likely (p<0.001) to be "very satisfied with [their] LBP care" at ten weeks, twenty-six weeks and fifty-two weeks.

While some massage therapists are more skilled than others, the authors "found no evidence of differential effectiveness among the massage therapists." For the consumer, this implies that local massage therapists are a great choice for managing lower back pain. Also, the authors examined both relaxation and structural massage, but they "could not detect a clinically meaningful difference between the two types" of massage. This implies that structural massage - also known as neuromuscular and myofascial massage - may not be any more effective than relaxation massage at relieving nonspecific lower back pain. This is an exciting issue for future research to address.

A limitation to this study was that participants receiving only usual care were told that they were enrolling in a trial of massage therapy and received no massage therapy. In other words, they were not blinded to being in the control group. Also, these results may not be generalizable beyond the mostly-female group of mostly white individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain. Persons with known causes of back pain, including disk herniation, were completely excluded from the study. Persons with these back issues represent a specific population and need, which may also be addressed in future research to expand on the findings of this study.

The researchers report that at this point, there's little evidence of which mechanisms explain the beneficial effects of massage. Mechanisms may be explained by therapeutic touch, relaxing environment, therapist care, increased body awareness, self-care advice, a generalized central nervous system response, local stimulation of tissue or a combination of these influencing factors. What can be clearly stated is this research provides evidence to support the therapeutic benefits of massage for managing chronic low back pain.

So what does this study contribute to the field of massage therapy? This study provides the evidence to support the clinical decision to use massage therapy to manage clients'/patients' chronic low back pain. Further, different types of massage therapy can be equally effective whether relaxation, neuromuscular and/or myofascial. Finally, because multiple therapists provided treatments, and no differences were found between therapists, findings indicate specialized skill is not necessary to provide clients/patients with effective treatments to manage symptoms of low back pain. Further, the authors of this study provide massage protocols for applying massage for low back pain, so these study results can be replicated in practice. Want to incorporate these proven techniques into your massage practice? The exact study protocols are available free online atwww.trialsjournal.com/content/10/1/96.

Sources:

• Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ, Kahn J, Wellman R, Cook AJ, Johnson E, Erro J, Delaney K, Deyo RA. A comparison of the effects of 2 types of massage and usual care on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155:1:1-9,

The 14 MOST COMMON Fitness Injuries

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/injury-prevention/The-14-Most-Common-Fitness-Injuries.html

Fixing Fashion Faults

posted:8/31/2011

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To complement the MASSAGE Magazine article, "Gaga Over Heels: Myoskeletal Alignment," by Erik Dalton, in the September 2011 issue. Article summary: Last week while flipping TV channels, I happened to catch some interesting gossip from a cheesy entertainment show reporting that Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, was being treated for low-back pain at a local physical therapy clinic. This uniquely talented, five-time Grammy Award winner and self- proclaimed "high-heeled queen of sheen" has probably done more to mess up low backs than anyone since Mike Tyson. So, here she is at the ripe age of 25 suffering back spasm.
by Erik Dalton
How does one fix the foibles of fashion? We must educate our clients to the pitfalls of high heels; offer home-retraining exercises, where this is allowed within a massage therapist's scope of practice; and discourage this harmful addiction. But what if common sense fails? Should we accommodate this self-destructive behavior by developing a treatment plan while knowing its uselessness in the long term?
Perhaps some manual and functional movement methods provide temporary relief from high-heeled distress symptoms, but these modest gains will ultimately be ineffective in re-establishing natural gait. Studies consistently demonstrate that natural gait is biomechanically impossible for any shoe-wearing person. Until the client agrees to reduce the number of hours in heels, stubborn musculo-fascial imbalance patterns will persist.
The shoe's elevated heel will continue to shorten the Achilles and tighten calf muscles causing tentacles of strain—such as plantar fasciitis, shin splints, bunions and knee, hip and low-back pain—to infiltrate all systems of the body starting

with the feet. Stretching, strengthening, joint mobilization, structural integration and functional movement training are all effective tools for re-establishing proprioception, motor control and relieving pain from damage done, but only if the client first can resolve her high-heeled fashion addiction.
A few of my favorite joint-stretching and Myoskeletal Alignment routines for mobilizing foot fixations and accompanying fascial compartmental syndromes are pictured in the September issue of MASSAGE Magazine. Add these to your touch-therapy repertoire along with appropriate whole-body biomechanical assessments. To correct for length-strength imbalances and to restore proper motor control patterns, I recommend working in conjunction with a good functional movement therapist.
In compiling chapters for my upcoming book, Dynamic Body, I've been enlightened by some new and very exciting functional corrective strategies from illustrious contributing authors, including Judith Aston (Aston Kinetics™), Serge Gracovetsky (Spinal Engine®), Thomas Myers and Robert Schleip (Fascial Fitness™), and Craig Liebenson (Functional Performance Training™).
Find a good functional therapist who complements your hands-on work—or better yet, seek specialized certification training and deepen your existing skill-set.
Erik Dalton, Ph.D., created the Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques® and founded the Freedom From Pain Institute®. Dalton teaches to massage, sports, and pain-management therapists and offers top-selling home-study courses with Certified Myoskeletal Therapist certification. Visit www.erikdalton.com to read previously published MASSAGE Magazine articles and to subscribe to free monthly technique e-newsletters.

How Chiropractic Can Help With Your Pregnancy & Birth

How Chiropractic Can Help With Your Pregnancy and Birth

by BIRTH WITHOUT FEAR on AUGUST 24, 2011

Editor’s Note: This is a Guest Blog Post by Brandon Harshe, D.C with The Atlas of Life Chiropractic!

Morning sickness. Vomiting. Nausea. Back pain. Pelvic pain. Shortness of breath. Hormones gone wild. High blood pressure. Swollen ankles.

These symptoms are seen as normal during pregnancy, something you better get used to for the next 38-42 weeks. You wanted a baby, now deal with it. Right?

Wrong. Sure these examples are common among pregnant women, but the intensity or even the presence of these symptoms will greatly diminish if under Chiropractic care.

Why?

As we established in previous posts, the nervous system controls all in your body. Under the direction of your body’s Innate Intelligence, the nervous system will adapt to the changes brought on by a growing new life inside of you. This new life you carry has its own Innate Intelligence that will do whatever it must to preserve the health and well being of itself. This will come at your expense, causing a number of deficiencies that your Innate Intelligence will have no choice but to adapt to.

The presence of a vertebral subluxation will interfere with the nervous system’s ability to communicate back and forth with the body. The subluxation will result in three things:

1.) Body Imbalance – a subluxation at your atlas will tilt your head to one side. Your brain has a reflex called the righting reflex which keeps your eyes level with the horizon. This will cause your lower cervical spine to bend the opposite way of your head tilt. To compensate, your thoracic spine will bend the opposite way, then the opposite way in the lumbar spine, resulting in one side of your pelvis being drawn up and causing one leg to appear shorter than the other, as well as an uneven distribution of weight putting undue stress on the joints. An unevenly aligned pelvis during pregnancy can be incredibly painful, as well as problematic for the baby trying to get into a proper birthing position.

2.) Nerve Tension or Pressure – Because of these compensations traveling down your spine, the muscles on one or both sides of your spine will become very tight, and inflammatory effects will take place and escalate in places of spinal misalignment. These changes will add stress to the nerves exiting your spinal column at some level, be it the nerve root or further along the distribution of the nerve. The nerves exiting your spine all lead to various parts of your body, including muscles, organs, glands, and blood vessels. Left alone and, over time, this nerve stress will lead to degeneration in these various body systems.

3.) Brain Stem Tension or Pressure – A subluxation of your atlas (C1) vertebra will not only narrow the spinal canal in which the spinal cord travels down, but this narrowed space will result in an increase of pressure within this spinal canal. This added pressure will cause undue stress to the brain stem located just above the atlas.

If you remember Christopher Reeve, he shattered his atlas and nearly severed his spinal cord at the level of his axis (C2) vertebra. The brain stem is the Houston Control of your body, coordinating any and all communication from the brain to the body and vice versa. Because of an injury to this area near the brain stem, Christopher Reeve could not breathe on his own without a respirator and he eventually died of heart failure due to decreased brain stem function.

As you can see, the results of a vertebral subluxation do not equate to healthy changes in your body. Your Innate Intelligence can only do so much when given a limitation of matter. Add in a growing baby using up much of your body’s resources to survive and grow within you, and you can begin to see where a subluxation can wreak havoc on the health of a pregnant woman.

How?

The spinal compensations resulting from the subluxation may result in distorted pelvic positioning, causing the baby to get into an unfavorable position for birth, possibly breech. This unfavorable position could be adding increased pressure to your pelvic veins and vena cava (the large vein on the right side of your body carrying blood from the legs back up to the heart). This pressure could slow down the flow of blood back up to the heart, causing the blood to pool in your legs. This will only add to the swelling you might be experiencing in your ankles, as well as contributing to the increased risk of preeclampsia in your last trimester.

The nerve pressure and tension caused by the spinal compensations in the spine may lead to improper signals to be sent to various organs and tissues. Pressure and tension on the nerves in your mid to upper thoracic spine may lead to decreased function of the heart and/or lungs. This may result in an added shortness of breath. Or maybe high blood pressure, adding to that risk of preeclampsia.

Maybe pressure in the lower thoracic, lumbar, and sacral nerves results in decreased blood flow to organs such as your kidney and liver. This could result in decreased organ function, which may cause protein to leak into the urine, another sign of preeclampsia. Nerve tension in these lower spinal areas may result in a tight uterus, making you unable to relax during labor due to the pain you feel with each contraction. This might keep you from dilating properly, only adding to the stress a possible cesarean section can create.

A subluxation of your atlas will cause tension or pressure to the area of your brain stem. This tension or pressure will interfere with the brain stem’s ability to coordinate the messages being sent to the body by the brain. This could interfere with proper distribution of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. Since the placenta is being developed with the help of estrogen and progesterone, a lessened amount of both these hormones may result in complications with the placenta, and therefore the growing baby inside that placenta.

As you can see, a vertebral subluxation is not a minor thing to ignore. Even the most seemingly insignificant of subluxations will always run some kind of interference to the brain-body communication. This is never a good thing, and especially not when you are pregnant and your body needs the most help and the least interference.

You deserve to have the best chance at a successful pregnancy and childbirth, and you can only do that with a nervous system that is running free and clear of interference.

Another great reason to eat CHOCOLATE!!

Cocoa may enhance skeletal muscle function

March 2, 2012. Tags: Chocolate, Diabetes, Heart, Translational medicine

Improvement seen in patients with heart failure and type 2 diabetes in initial study.

Francisco Villarreal, UC San Diego

A small clinical trial led by researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicineand VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) found that patients with advanced heart failure and type 2 diabetes showed improved mitochondrial structure after three months of treatment with epicatechin-enriched cocoa. Epicatechin is a flavonoid found in dark chocolate.

The results of this initial study has led to the implementation of larger, placebo-controlled clinical trial at UC San Diego School of Medicine and VASDHS to assess if patients with heart failure and diabetes show improvement in their exercise capacity when treated with epicatechin-rich cocoa.

The study published this week by the journal Clinical and Translational Science looked at five profoundly ill patients with major damage to skeletal muscle mitochondria. Mitochondria are structures responsible for most of the energy produced in cells. These “fuel cells” are dysfunctional as a result of both type 2 diabetes and heart failure, leading to abnormalities in skeletal muscle. In patients with heart failure and diabetes abnormalities in both the heart and skeletal muscle result in impaired functional capacity. These patients often complain of shortness of breath, lack of energy and have difficulty walking even short distances.

The trial participants consumed dark chocolate bars and a beverage with a total epicatechin content of approximately 100 mg per day for three months. Biopsies of skeletal muscle were conducted before and after treatment. After the three-month treatment, the researchers looked at changes in mitochondria volume and the abundance of cristae, which are internal compartments of mitochondria that are necessary for efficient function of the mitochondria, and measurable by electron microscopy.

“The cristae had been severely damaged and decreased in quantity in these patients,” said one of the senior investigators, Francisco J. Villarreal, M.D., Ph.D., of UC San Diego’s Department of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology. “After three months, we saw recovery — cristae numbers back toward normal levels and increases in several molecular indicators involved in new mitochondria production.”

The results, which mimicked earlier studies showing improvement in skeletal and heart muscle function in animal models after treatment with epicatechin, were promising enough to prompt the larger study.

The principal investigator of this trial was Pam R. Taub, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at UC San Diego and the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Taub will be leading the new clinical trial at UC San Diego that will enroll normal sedentary subjects as well as patients with heart failure/diabetes who will be treated with placebo, or epicatechin-rich chocolate.

Patients who would like more information about the clinical trial can call (858) 552-8585, extension 3866.

Additional contributors to the published study include Israel Ramirez-Sanchez, Ph.D., Theodore P. Ciaraldi, Ph.D., Alan S. Maisel, M.D., and Robert R. Henry, M.D., UC San Diego School of Medicine and VA San Diego Health System; Guy Perkins, Ph.D., Anne N. Murphy, Ph.D., Robert Naviaux, M.D., Ph.D., and Michael Hogan, Ph.D., UC San Diego School of Medicine; and Guillermo Ceballos, M.D., Ph.D., Escuela Superior de Medicina del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City.

The study was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, American College of Cardiology and The Hershey Co.

Boost Your Metabolism by Knowing When to Eat

In the February issue of Massage Today, the first article in this series gave you a strategy for boosting your metabolism. Now, let's talk about when to eat. Humans have an internal rhythm that mimics the cycles of nature. Known as circadian rhythms, these patterns of physiological functioning repeat every 24 hours. For example, when you sleep at night, your blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature decrease. In the morning, your body temperature naturally rises to prepare you for a metabolic resurgence. So, how do you fire up your metabolism? Perhaps you decide to drink two cups of coffee for a morning boost and skip breakfast thinking it might help you to lose a little weight? How many of you reading this article have tried skipping meals in an attempt to lose weight? Were you disappointed with the lack of results? That's because your body gets confused when you don't eat. You are sending your body the message that no food is available so it had better start storing fat for the hard times ahead.

If you are reading this and thinking, "I'm not hungry in the morning," the next question is, "do you drink coffee in the morning before eating?" If the answer is yes, try waiting 30 minutes to start your coffee ritual in the morning. You may find that your appetite for breakfast returns. You may even find that without the coffee, which is an appetite suppressant, you are maybe even ravenous in the morning. If you want sustained energy all day, you must eat. Ideally, your breakfast will contain protein and unsaturated fat. Eating an all-carbohydrate breakfast or skipping breakfast entirely will set you up for cravings later in the day.

If our goal is to feel naturally energized during every waking minute of each day, if we follow our circadian rhythms closely, we will experience a greater energetic flow. For example, our muscles tend to gain more strength during the morning hours between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. This is the perfect time of day to exercise and, of course, our breakfast fuel supports this natural process. Then, between the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., our digestive functions get stronger and metabolism reaches its peak. Like nature, when the sun is highest in the sky, our body temperature is at its highest point of the day. This is when your body digests foods and burns fuel most efficiently. So, it is best not to waste your peak metabolic opportunity of the day by failing to schedule at least 30 minutes to eat lunch. From 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., our parasympathetic nervous system is activated. This is the best time of the day for heavier mental activity and less physical activity (which can be impeded if you are crashing from too much coffee and carbohydrate intake at breakfast and lunch).

The second best time of the day to exercise falls between the hours of 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. However, because the body's metabolic processes have already started to slow down for an evening of rest, a less vigorous form of exercise should be chosen. You might also recognize these hours as prime dinner time. But, based on what you now know about the daily cycles of nature, when do you think the largest meal of the day should be eaten? If you said lunch, you would be correct. From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., your body moves into its liver cleansing cycle. This is the second time of day when metabolic activity increases. During this time, the goal is to clean the blood and repair damaged tissue. We have all heard it said that going to bed with a full stomach, beyond the obvious discomfort, is bad for you. What's so bad about it? If you eat a big meal late in the day, your body must spend its important internal cleansing time doing the work of digestion. If you are living along with the cycles of nature, all is quiet and you are resting peacefully.

Knowing how and when to eat can help you maintain your energy level and be more productive throughout your day.

Benefits of Massage Therapy

This one's a blast from the past:

Benefits of Massage

Good Medicine

By Editorial Staff

Originally published in Body Sense magazine, Fall 2001.
Copyright 2001. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.


As you lie on the table under crisp, fresh sheets, hushed music draws you into the moment. The smell of sage fills the air and you hear the gentle sound of massage oil being warmed in your therapist's hands. The pains of age, the throbbing from your overstressed muscles, the sheer need to be touched -- all cry out for therapeutic hands to start their work. Once the session gets underway, the problems of the world fade into an oblivious 60 minutes of relief and all you can comprehend right now is not wanting it to end.

But what if that hour of massage did more for you than just take the pressures of the day away? What if that gentle, Swedish massage helped you combat cancer? What if bodywork helped you recover from a strained hamstring in half the time? What if your sleep, digestion and mood all improved with massage and bodywork? What if these weren't just "what ifs"?

Evidence is showing that the more massage you can allow yourself, the better you'll feel. Here's why.

Massage as a healing tool has been around for thousands of years in many cultures. Touching is a natural human reaction to pain and stress, and for conveying compassion and support. Think of the last time you bumped your head or had a sore calf. What did you do? Rubbed it, right? The same was true of our earliest ancestors. Healers throughout time and throughout the world have instinctually and independently developed a wide range of therapeutic techniques using touch. Many are still in use today, and with good reason. We now have scientific proof of the benefits of massage - benefits ranging from treating chronic diseases and injuries to alleviating the growing tensions of our modern lifestyles. Having a massage does more than just relax your body and mind - there are specific physiological and psychological changes which occur, even more so when massage is utilized as a preventative, frequent therapy and not simply mere luxury. Massage not only feels good, but it can cure what ails you. 


The Consequences of Stress
Experts estimate that 80 percent to 90 percent of disease is stress-related. Massage and bodywork is there to combat that frightening number by helping us remember what it means to relax. The physical changes massage brings to your body can have a positive effect in many areas of your life. Besides increasing relaxation and decreasing anxiety, massage lowers your blood pressure, increases circulation, improves recovery from injury, helps you to sleep better and can increase your concentration. It reduces fatigue and gives you more energy to handle stressful situations. 

Massage is a perfect elixir for good health, but it can also provide an integration of body and mind. By producing a meditative state or heightened awareness of living in the present moment, massage can provide emotional and spiritual balance, bringing with it true relaxation and peace.

The incredible benefits of massage are doubly powerful if taken in regular "doses." Dr. Maria Hernandez-Reif, from the Touch Research Institute (TRI) at the University of Miami, is known for her massage research, along with colleague Tiffany Field. Together, they and other researchers have done outstanding work proving the value of massage. While their studies have shown we can benefit from massage even in small doses (15 minutes of chair massage or a half-hour table session), Hernandez-Reif says they know from their research that receiving bodywork 2-3 times a week is highly beneficial. And if we lived in a fantasy world, Hernandez-Reif has the answer. "I feel a daily massage is optimal."

It's undoubtedly a wonderful thing when your therapist begins unwinding those stress-tightened muscles, and your day's troubles begin to fade away. But it's the cherry on top to know this "medicine" only gets better with frequency.


What You Already Know: The Benefits of Massage
In an age of technical and, at times, impersonal medicine, massage offers a drug-free, non-invasive and humanistic approach based on the body's natural ability to heal itself. So what exactly are the benefits to receiving regular massage and/or bodywork treatments? 

- Increases circulation, allowing the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs. 

- Stimulates the flow of lymph, the body's natural defense system, against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the cells that fight cancer. 

- Increased circulation of blood and lymph systems improves the condition of the body's largest organ - the skin. 

- Relaxes and softens injured and overused muscles

- Reduces spasms and cramping

- Increases joint flexibility. 

- Reduces recovery time, helps prepare for strenuous workouts and eliminates subsequent pains of the athlete at any level.

- Releases endorphins - the body's natural painkiller - and is being used in chronic illness, injury and recovery from surgery to control and relieve pain. 

- Reduces post-surgery adhesions and edema and can be used to reduce and realign scar tissue after healing has occurred. 

- Improves range-of-motion and decreases discomfort for patients with low back pain.

- Relieves pain for migraine sufferers and decreases the need for medication.

- Provides exercise and stretching for atrophied muscles and reduces shortening of the muscles for those with restricted range of motion.

- Assists with shorter labor for expectant mothers, as well as less need for medication, less depression and anxiety, and shorter hospital stays.


Other Body Therapies
Alexander Technique - A movement re-education therapy that was created by a mid-19th century actor who tried to understand his own movement dysfunctions on stage. The emphasis is on observing and modifying improper movement patterns, thereby reducing physical stress on the body.

Craniosacral Therapy - A gentle method of manipulating the body's craniosacral system (consisting of thin membranes and cerebrospinal fluid which surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord) in an attempt to improve the function of the central nervous system, dissipate the negative effects of stress and enhance health and resistance to disease. 

Reiki - A therapy based on universal life energy that serves to align chakras and bring healing energy to organs and glands. Utilizes visualization as practitioner acts as a channel for the life energy.

Rolfing - Used to reorder the major body segments, this technique utilizes physical manipulation and movement awareness to bring the body into vertical alignment. Treatments are offered in a 10-session series.

Shiatsu - A deep, finger-pressure technique using the traditional acupuncture points of Asian healing. Works to unblock energy flows and restore balance to meridians and organs.


The Need for Touch
As a society, we are touch deprived and this can lead to disease or emotional dysfunction. From the cradle to the nursing home, tactile stimulation and the emotional assurance of caring touch bring about a sense of well-being and security. In numerous studies conducted on massage for infants, TRI researchers have found improved weight gain and development in pre-term infants, improved weight gain and motor behavior in cocaine-exposed infants, and improved weight gain and decreased stress behavior in HIV-exposed infants. Full-term infants also benefit with increased alertness and social behavior, less crying and increased weight gain.

Organic Facts - Coconut Oil

Virgin Coconut Oil: Coconut Oil is surely not an unfamiliar name with most of us, but Virgin Coconut Oil may be. No! Unlike most of your presumptions, it is not another name given to the ordinary coconut oil by some company, just to increase its sale, claiming that it is the purest form available with them. There indeed is a substance called Virgin Coconut Oil and, if not entirely, it has some differences with the ordinarycoconut oil. These differences mainly lie with the source (more specifically, the physical form of source), the method of extraction and its benefits. Virgin Coconut Oil is rapidly gaining its popularity throughout the world over the Ordinary Coconut Oil, and it is not in vain.

Difference between Virgin Coconut Oil and Ordinary Coconut Oil: Let us check out what made these two sisters, born of the same mother, so different from each other, yet being so similar.

• Extraction: The main difference between Ordinary Coconut Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil lies in their processes of extraction. While the former is extracted by cold compression or cold milling of Copra (another name for dried Coconut kernels), with a moisture content of around six percent, the latter is extracted from the coconut milk obtained from the fresh coconuts. Thereafter, using processes like fermentation, churning (centrifugal separation), refrigeration and action of enzymes, etc., the oil is separated from the water or moisture. In some cases, this fresh coconut oil is boiled to get the oil by evaporating the water or moisture. However, in case of Virgin Coconut Oil, the raw materials and the process of extraction should not allow any involvement of heat. Therefore, in good & reputed firms that manufacture Virgin Coconut Oil, throughout the whole process, utmost care is taken to ensure that the kernels and the raw material, i.e. the coconut milk, are not subjected to heat or sunlight. In some cases, Virgin Coconut Oil is also extracted directly by cold compression of fresh dried coconut meat. This is also called Micro-expelling.

• Appearance: The Virgin Coconut Oil looks very slightly different from the Ordinary Coconut Oil and this differentiation cannot be done with naked eyes. This difference is mainly due to the presence of certain colloidal and other particles and moisture in it. On the other hand, ordinary oil is refined and is left predominantly with the fatty acids in it and almost nothing else. Ideally, virgin Coconut Oil should be as clear as water. But, its color may vary slightly depending upon processing.
• Virtues: Virgin Coconut Oil has very good taste and smell, like those of fresh coconuts, since it is derived from fresh coconuts and is subjected to very low, if not totally nil, heat and sunlight. It is also not refined. This preserves all the natural goodness of this oil, such as high content of Vitamin-E and minerals, which are otherwise almost robbed from the Ordinary Coconut Oil during processes like heating, filtration, refining, bleaching etc. which are done to make it colorless and odorless. Further, Virgin Coconut Oil is very effective as a moisturizing agent. Its anti oxidant properties are far better than those of the normal coconut oil.
• Composition: No! They do not differ much in composition, except that a few good things, such as few poly-phenols, vitamins and minerals, contributing to the taste, fragrance and goodness of coconut oil are more in Virgin Coconut Oil than the its ordinary counterpart. Further, it is richer is Medium Chain Fatty Acids, good cholesterols and has almost no Trans Fatty Acids.

Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil: Not being subjected to heat (even if it is, it is subjected to very low heat), sunlight, being extracted from fresh (non-dried) coconuts with different process of extraction, it is certainly more in benefits than the ordinary coconut oil. It is higher in vitamin content, anti-oxidants (which is nil or negligible in ordinary coconut oil), minerals, medium chain fatty acids, taste, fragrance and even protein. The shelf life of virgin coconut oil is very long, much longer than any other edible oil and its own variant, the RBD (Refined Bleached Deodorized) coconut oil. It does not go rancid easily. Due to presence of higher amounts of Lauric and Capric acid, prospect of using VCO in aiding treatment of AIDS is also being explored.

What does your pocket say about it? Well! Let me be very frank. All good things were never, are not and will never be cheap. Virgin Coconut Oil is not an exception either. It is dearer than the ordinary coconut oil (since production is less and costlier). The prices may vary depending upon the manufacturer, quality, and quantity (retail and bulk). But eventually it costs more than its ordinary counterpart.

Tracking it down: Philippines, Indonesia, Java, Burma, Sri Lanka and India and a few tropical countries and the major producers of Virgin Coconut Oil, and but obvious, it is more available in this belt. Still, in India, it may not be found in your local grocery shop or in the one down the street. Big malls and departmental shops may keep it, more so in the big cities. You can order it over the internet too, but that would be further dearer. So, you can also ask or order the manager of your local shopping mall to get it for you. That’s it. One thing you must keep in mind. When you are out to buy it, go for the reputed and trusted brands or those from government companies. There are many players in the market who just add some artificial flavor to the ordinary coconut oil and sell it as Virgin Coconut Oil.

Additional Information: The Virgin Coconut Oil extracted by cold compression method is considered better than that extracted by the fermentation method, since the oil extracted by fermentation has higher moisture content and goes rancid earlier. If you ever need to melt it (during winter), please do not put it to direct heat. Instead, put it in a little cup and put the cup in warm water.

Conclusion: Virgin Coconut Oil is absolutely safe and healthy oil. It deserves a try. Believe me!

This article is contributed by Aparup Mukherjee.

Sources of Information:

• Reports of Coconut Development Board of India,
• Reports of KERAFED.
• Text books of various courses of agriculture.
• Various other reports on internet.