By Dr. Jolie Bookspan| Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation

Dr Bookspan is a military researcher. Harvard School of Medicine clinicians have named her “The St. Jude of the Joints.” A degenerating disc, or one that is slipped (herniated) can be painful and frightening. Despite the fact that discs usually can heal quickly and easily, people are commonly told that a disc problem is a difficult and long-term condition.They are told to accept and “live with” pain and reduced ability. They may stay on pain and anti-inflammatory drugs for long periods. Recent news reports from Time Magazine and The New York Times quote spine specialists as saying that back pain is mysterious, and that commonly used modalities like acupuncture, strengthening, surgery, massage, chiropractic just aren’t working. However, the case is that back pain is usually simple to understand, and simple to fix without surgery or special beds or equipment.

William Silkworth, wrote in the preface of The “Big Book” the following: “The action of alcohol on chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy: that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker.” Alcoholics often eat poorly, limiting their supply if essential nutrients and affecting both energy supply and structure maintenance. Furthermore, alcohol interferes with the nutritional process by affecting digestion, storage, utilization, and excretion of nutrients.

March 15, 2017
Source:The Endocrine Society

A less strenuous form of exercise known as whole-body vibration (WBV) can mimic the muscle and bone health benefits of regular exercise in mice, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s journal Endocrinology.

WBV consists of a person sitting, standing or lying on a machine with a vibrating platform. When the machine vibrates, it transmits energy to the body, and muscles contract and relax multiple times during each second.

Many people find it challenging to exercise regularly and that is contributing to the obesity and diabetes epidemics. These disorders can increase the risk of bone fractures. Physical activity can help to decrease this risk and reduce the negative metabolic effects of each condition.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

The signs and symptoms of gout almost always occur suddenly — often at night — and without warning. They include:

Intense joint pain. Gout usually affects the large joint of your big toe, but it can occur in your feet, ankles, knees, hands and wrists. The pain is likely to be most severe within the first four to 12 hours after it begins.
Lingering discomfort. After the most severe pain subsides, some joint discomfort may last from a few days to a few weeks. Later attacks are likely to last longer and affect more joints.
Inflammation and redness. The affected joint or joints become swollen, tender, warm and red.
Limited range of motion. Decreased joint mobility may occur as gout progresses.

By Ronen Katz
SFG II, SFB

Man can survive weeks without solid food, days without water, but only mere minutes without air. Ancient traditions knew the importance of breathing. Breathing technique drills were a necessary component for guarding both one’s health as well as developing on mental and spiritual levels. Breathing drills are also essential for success as a StrongFirst practitioner, and here is why.

Breathing Drills Increase Force Production

In the years during which I lived in Japan, Masutatsu Oyama – the founder of Kyokushin karate – used to begin and end his lessons with a special breathing exercise. The instruction was to start with the inhalation breath at tanden (three fingers beneath the navel) – the area that is considered the center of force in the world of martial arts. The ratio between inhalation and exhalation was 1:2 (in other words, if the inhalation lasted four seconds, the exhalation lasted eight seconds). 

Columbia University Medical CenterSummary:Drug-eluting stents, a less-invasive alternative to bypass surgery, are as effective as surgery for many patients with a blockage in the left main coronary artery, a major international study has found. A major international study has found that drug-eluting stents, a less-invasive alternative to bypass surgery, are as effective as surgery for many patients with a blockage in the left main coronary artery. Findings from the EXCEL (Evaluation of XIENCE versus Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularization) trial were published this morning online in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Washington, DC. The trial research team included interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from 126 centers in 17 countries.

Published: April, 2008

For many people, choosing one or the other is a toss-up.

Angioplasty or bypass surgery? Which is best when cholesterol-laden plaque narrows a coronary artery and chokes off blood flow to part of the heart muscle?

There’s no simple answer. It depends a lot on your situation: how many arteries are blocked, where the blockages are, your overall health, and your preferences. It also depends on how you define “best” “” most durable, shortest recovery, fewest complications, or longest survival.

At first glance, angioplasty with stent placement seems to be a clear winner. It requires a small nick in the groin, local anesthesia, an overnight hospital stay, and a relatively rapid recovery. In comparison, bypass surgery requires opening the chest, general anesthesia, a several-day hospital stay, and weeks of sometimes painful recovery. These differences are one reason why nearly 1.3 million angioplasties were performed in 2007 in the United States alone, compared with 470,000 bypass surgeries. On the other hand, surgery is the king of the hill when it comes to durability and freedom from chest pain. Far fewer people need a repeat procedure after bypass surgery than angioplasty. 

Harvard Women’s Health Watch
Published: June, 2006
There’s no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but new treatments can ease the symptoms and prolong independence.

“You’ll be fine for years. Go out and do your job.”

That’s how Janet Reno, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) at age 57, recalls her neurologist’s advice. She took it to heart, not only returning to her demanding job as U.S. Attorney General but also taking up kayaking.

Reno and about a million others in the United States and Canada are living with PD, a progressive disorder caused by a loss of brain cells that produce the chemical messenger dopamine, most noticeably in an area of the brain that controls movement. For now, there’s no cure, but advances in treatment have made it easier for Reno and others to remain active for many years. Physicians are also increasingly recognizing that dopamine-producing nerve cells can be disturbed in brain areas other than those involved in motor control — and even outside the brain — which helps explain a host of mysterious symptoms that can accompany the disorder (see “More than a movement disorder”).