Training-Induced Brain Structure Changes In The Elderly

This is amazing information! In this age of dementia, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's we have here evidence that the brain is always plastic. By inputting information into the brain the output will be the reward of better cognition and function. I don't mean to say that learning to juggle will stave off these diseases but anything that improves brain function gives you a better chance. And this goes to show that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" simply doesn't hold water. The brain is always ready to receive new information and reward it's owner with improved function.

Chiropractic care is a great way to improve brain function and don't forget that your brain controls the rest of your body! How does it do this? In every muscle and joint there are tiny receptors (structures that receive information). When we move they are activated and fire their information into the Central Nervous System (the spine and brain). When this happens the brain is happy and lights up. The brain celebrates this input by sharing it with the rest of the body and you benefit with better function of your organs and total physiology.

Sometimes joints become locked or fixated and muscles become weak or tight. This can be due to many reasons. Chemical, physical, structural, emotional, etc. Locked up motion receptors no longer feed information into the brain and so you have both a local (at the joint) and global (throughout the body) decrease of function. Some of these changes are slow and even imperceptible for decades and sometimes the effects are more immediate. Either way its just a matter of time before a problem is perceived. Remember that by the time you perceive pain the problem has been there building up for some time! This is outside of the occurrence of a traumatic accident.

Locked up motion receptors have effectively gone off line and the brain no longer recognizes the level of the the locked up joint.

The chiropractic adjustment does three main things to reverse this:

1. It restores the normal range of motion to the joint
2. It puts a quick stretch in the muscle
3. It provides a barrage information into those receptors

When this happens those receptors which were locked up and still now scream to the brain "We're still here. We just couldn't talk to you for awhile." The brain is only too happen to hear this since it just received a huge message from those joint levels and brings them back online. Function is now improved. And those tight muscles just received a quick stretch which helps them relax and perform better. Best of all you feel better, looser, lighter, with less stress due to the release of endorphins and enkephalins from the brain's natural pharmacy.

Chiropractic promotes plasticity of the brain and nervous system. It promotes joint structure and function. It promotes health.

From Faculty of 1000 Medicine

Training-Induced Brain Structure Changes In The Elderly: Commentary from F1000

Posted 08/15/2008

Lutz JänckeAuthor Information

Boyke J, Driemeyer J, Gaser C, Büchel C, May AJ Neurosci 2008 Jul 9 28(28):7031-5
Commentary from Faculty Member Lutz Jäncke

This is the first study published so far demonstrating cortical plasticity in the elderly and, thus, supports the view that cortical integrity and possibly cognitive functions can be shaped by training, even in the elderly. One of the most interesting and possibly important findings in cognitive neuroscience has been the discovery that the human brain can be shaped by experience. In this context, it has been shown that even specific characteristics of brain anatomy (e.g. gray and white matter density) can be changed by experience. This study demonstrates that gray matter changes can even be induced in the elderly. The authors of this study focused on healthy elderly citizens (on average 60 years of age) and conducted a training study during which these subjects learned three-ball cascade juggling. It turned out that senior citizens learned to juggle but with less proficiency compared with adolescents. However, similar to the young group, gray matter changes in the older brain related to skill acquisition were observed in area hMT/V5 (middle temporal area of the visual cortex). A further finding relates to the hippocampus and reveals that elderly volunteers who learned to juggle showed transient increases in gray matter in the hippocampus on the left side and in the nucleus accumbens bilaterally.

Faculty of 1000 Medicine Evaluations, Dissents and Author responses for: [Boyke J et al. Training-induced brain structure changes in the elderly. J Neurosci 2008 Jul 9 28 (28):7031-5]. 2008 Jul 17. www.f1000medicine.com/article/id/1115644/evaluation

Trace Arsenic in Water Linked to Diabetes

Here is another reason to think seriously about detoxing. A simple urine test can determine the levels of heavy metals in the body. Heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium are now ubiquitous in the air, water, and soil. That means it's in everything we eat, drink, and breathe. Unfortunately these metals play havoc with normal human physiology in many ways, most notably in damaging the brain. Here is new evidence that shows a link between arsenic and increased levels of Type II Diabetes. Researchers are unsure yet as to whether or not arsenic increases the risk of diabetes or if diabetics simply excrete more arsenic, but whatever the case may be it's better not to have an abundance of arsenic in the body.

My office tests for heavy metals and based on the results offers lab testing, nutritional help, and a detox program to rid the body of heavy metals and other toxins.



Trace Arsenic in Water Linked to Diabetes
Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press

Aug. 19, 2008 -- A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes, researchers say. The study's limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected.

Still, the analysis of 788 adults' medical tests found a nearly fourfold increase in the risk of diabetes in people with low arsenic concentrations in their urine compared to people with even lower levels.

Previous research outside the United States has linked high levels of arsenic in drinking water with diabetes. It's the link at low levels that's new. The findings appear in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The good news is, this is preventable," said lead author Dr. Ana Navas-Acien of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

New safe drinking water standards may be needed if the findings are duplicated in future studies, Navas-Acien said. She said they've begun a new study of 4,000 people.

Arsenic can get into drinking water naturally when minerals dissolve. It is also an industrial pollutant from coal burning and copper smelting. Utilities use filtration systems to get it out of drinking water.

Seafood also contains nontoxic organic arsenic. The researchers adjusted their analysis for signs of seafood intake and found that people with Type 2 diabetes had 26 percent higher inorganic arsenic levels than people without Type 2 diabetes.

How arsenic could contribute to diabetes is unknown, but prior studies have found impaired insulin secretion in pancreas cells treated with an arsenic compound.

The policy implications of the new findings are unclear, said Molly Kile, an environmental health research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health. Kile wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

"Urinary arsenic reflects exposures from all routes -- air, water and food -- which makes it difficult to track the actual source of arsenic exposure let alone use the results from this study to establish drinking water standards," Kile said.

Also, the findings raise a chicken-and-egg problem, she said, since it's unknown whether diabetes changes the way people metabolize arsenic. It's possible that people with diabetes excrete more arsenic.

The United States lowered arsenic standards for public water systems to 10 parts per billion in 2001 because of known cancer risks. Compliance was required by 2006, years after the study data were collected in 2003 and 2004.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/19/arsenic-diabetes.html

The leading cause of bankruptcy:Private US health insurance

The whole U.S. healthcare system is in financial critical condition. The middle class population literally cannot afford to get sick. If they do their lives will be in devastating financial ruin. No one is safe except for multimillionaires.

G-d's Pharmacy

Does Chiropractic Work?

Cancer is Fungus

A prominent Italian oncologist explains his view that cancer is fungus and can be easily treated. I would like to find out more about his treatment and success rate. Can this really be so simple?

The key here is to reduce acidity and toxins in the body! Alkalize through diet and elimination of toxins! Don’t create an environment where bacteria, viruses, parasites, and disease can take hold. Increased acidity=disease!

pH test your saliva and urine. If your saliva is below 7.0 it’s time to get a plan going.