With the weather staying this beautiful I know what I’ll be doing this weekend – getting out in the sun for a run down by the beach. Apparently this will provide yet another benefit – exercise improves cognitive functions like memory. A new article on the New York Times website has all the info you need:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/how-exercise-may-boost-the-brain/?ref=health

This article came out late last year but I’m a little slow I guess. A study which followed nearly 10,000 adults found that those who regularly used natural supplements to reduce inflammation had the following results:

intake of glucosamine decreased inflammation by 17%,
chondroitin led to a 22% decrease in inflammatory markersand
fish oil lowered levels of inflammatory markers by 16%

It;s good news for anyone looking to limit or reduce the use of pharmaceuticals, as some medications have been linked to an increased risk of cardiac events.

Is your child laying awake at night coughing and you’re not sure what to do? A new study has found that honey can be used as an alternative to cough syrups etc for young children suffering from Upper Respiratory Infections (URI).
The study involved 300 children aged 1-5 over the period of a year. The children were given a single dose of 10 g of eucalyptus honey, citrus honey, labiatae honey. I personally have had great results with Manuka honey so would have loved to have seen how effective that was, knowing …

We’ve already seen how effective exercise is for reducing men’s risk of developing cancer http://www.chrisjonesosteo.com.au/?p=348, now it’s the ladies turn. Along term study of nearly 6,000 women “found that those who exercised the most had a 25 per cent lower chance of developing cancer than those who were the least active”.
This new research supports findings from late last year which found “women who carry out lots of vigorous exercise are approximately 30% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who don’t exercise vigorously”. That study followed over 30,000 women. …

I wanted to do a short article on the recent findings with respect to common anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs). You may or may not have heard that a number of these drugs have had warnings issued regarding their use after research discovered they had the potential to have serious side effects.
Talking to patients, I felt that not enough people were aware of the current state of affairs.
These are medications you may have had prescribed or bought over the counter for arthritis, back pain, headaches, sports injuries and many other everyday complaints.
Voltaren …

“Red Flags” are signs or symptoms you may be suffering from that can be indicators of serious conditions. If you or anyone you know experiences any of these you should consult a health care practitioner. The list includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Shortness of Breath
Loss of Consciousness
A Change in Bowel or Bladder Habits
A Persistent Cough
Pain on Breathing
Chest Pain
Pain or Difficulty on Urination
Tremors
Unexplained Weight Gain or Loss
Excessive Thirst
Swelling in your Throat
Altered Vision or Hearing
Balance Problems
Dizziness
Night Sweats
Fever
Continued numbness in any part of your body
Continued Tingling in any part of your …

Really bad it seems!
In the May 2nd 2009 edition of the Good Weekend Magazine there was an article about the hazards of excessive drinking. It was specifically looking at women, but it discussed the topic in general as well, and I was so surprised by some of the stats that I thought I should share them:
“The lifetime relative risk of death (that’s right, DEATH!) from an alcohol related disease MORE THAN TRIPLES when consumption goes from 2 to 3 standard drinks a day”.
“At 10 standard drinks a day, women have …

In this study the authors measured the Vitamin D levels in people suffering chronic pain to see if it may be a contributing factor. Vitamin D does play a role in pain perception and neuromuscular functioning, and so dysfunctions related to Vitamin D levels may present as abnormal (in this case elevated) pain states.
The researchers measured the Vitamin D levels in 267 people and compared it with other parameters “such as the amount and duration of narcotic pain medication used, self-reported levels of pain, emotional distress, physical functioning, health perception”.
…

What I wanted to do in this blog was summarise an article I read in a journal recently. It’s the sort of journal the general public don’t get access to and so most people don’t get the information. The study tried to compare the “scope, completeness, and accuracy of drug information in Wikipedia” with the information on a well established, reputable, edited, objective website (The Medscape Drug Reference Database).
It’s good to see someone doing this study. These days it’s extremely common for people to research their condition on the internet. …