March 13, 2012 by Marcia MuellerI think one of the most frustrating things for me in my practice is when I get a patient who is not active physically. Often these patients are also overweight and/or have other problems that could be helped by exercise. They know they should be active, but for a lot of reasons they just can't get in the habit of exercising. In the book, "Move a Little, Lose a Lot", James Levine, MD and Selene Yeager offer some great scientifically studied non exercise solutions. They contend that we are suffering from a "sitting disease". What the authors recommend is doing non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), standing, bending, turning, walking, etc. during the day. Dr. Levine is Professor of Medicine in the Department of Endocrinology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I've linked to a People's Pharmacy Podcast and a very engaging YouTube, from the Mayo Clinic. If you only have time for one, watch the YouTube video, it is only 13 minutes. He's pretty inspiring.
March 13, 2012 by Marcia MuellerIn my practice I see many patients wanting help with fertility. One of the things we always talk about is stress and how good acupuncture is for stress. Research published in "Fertility and Sterility" showed that patients going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) did significantly better when they also participated in a stress reduction program.
March 13, 2012 by Marcia MuellerBeing a huge baseball fan I took notice when I saw this article in the NY Times about young pitchers. The bottom line is that to prevent arm injury it doesn't matter if kids throw curve balls or not, it's the total number of pitches thrown. With kids often playing on more than one team they often throw way more than they should. The study cited in the article is linked here.
February 28, 2012 by Marcia MuellerIf you are taking painkillers, antihistamines or pyschotrophic drugs you might want to check this link to Indydiscoverynetwork. If you follow the link to the Anticholinergic Burden Scale you'll see a list of some pretty common drugs that can affect brain function. Some common over the counter drugs that have a strong negative effect on brain function are Benadryl and Tylenal PM. Some of the common prescription drugs listed are Flexeril a common muscle relaxant; Xanax and Paxil, phyciatric meds; and the blood thinner Warfarin. You can also read about medications and cognitive function on the NY Times. Realizing that I am biased, Chinese medicine has great herbs for sinus congestion and acupuncture has been shown to help depression. So if you feel you want to take less medication perhaps acupuncture and herbs can help you feel and think better.
February 28, 2012 by Marcia MuellerIf a joint is shot I've been a proponent of getting replacement surgery sooner rather than later because I have seen what my patients do to compensate. They adjust their gate which cause a whole new set of problems, they become less active, and because of the almost constant pain they either take tons of anti-inflammitories or they take narcortic pain pills. By examining Medicare records over 12 years researchers found evidence that the length of life increases when patients get knee replacement.
February 22, 2012 by Marcia MuellerThis article reports on a Japanese study on exercise and the brain. There has been evidence that exercise helps maintain brain function, but not much proof on why. This shows one possible explanation.
February 21, 2012 by Marcia MuellerAre you confused about the conflicting information you're getting about vitamin D? For some of the latest info on Vitamin D check out this podcast from The People's Pharmacy.
