Veterans are more likely than non-Veterans to experience low back pain. Chiropractic care can help.
Call Lakewood Chiropractic today and schedule an appointment. 904-733-7020
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood
Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain,
sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto
accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA
patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
Follow us on Twitter!
Visit our Facebook page!
At Lakewood chiropractic we specialize in treating patients with comprehensive solutions using the most advanced chiropractic techniques and treatments, including Laser Therapy, massage therapy, VAX-D, acupuncture and functional nutrition to help patients quickly and effectively relieve their pain without the need for surgery or prescription drugs. We focus on the underlying causes rather than just your symptoms. And, most importantly, we treat you like family.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Friday, February 23, 2018
21st Century Stress
This is turning out to be a pretty tough century. Or at least so far. The recent earthquake-like shocks in the economy have impacted everyone, and most people's stress levels are sky-high. Jobs have been lost, retirement savings have shrunk drastically, and energy prices are rising again. Economic stress leads to real physical stress. Stress is more than just a state of mind. Stress has real physical components, including tight muscles, headaches, difficulty falling asleep and restless sleep, abdominal pain, allergies and asthma, inflammation, and high blood pressure. Some results of stress may have long-term consequences. Prolonged high blood pressure, for example, may lead to heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Long-term inflammation may lead to weight gain, diabetes, and even kidney disease. Of course, we could have stress because we have stress. We're stressed, and now we begin worrying about all the things that could go wrong because we are under stress. Not a good plan. A better plan would involve being proactive and beginning to take action steps that support our health and well-being. The action steps include the usual suspects - exercise and good nutrition. Everyone knows they "should" be doing regular exercise and "should" be eating good food every day, the difficulty is that no one wants to do what they "should".3 The way to reducing one's stress levels is in choosing to take action. We choose healthy behaviors because we want to, not because we think we "should." The concept of personal choice is powerful and may lead to shifts toward behaviors that are healthy. From an information point of view, both exercise and good nutrition have potent effects on a person's health.1,2,3 Both reduce inflammation. Both neutralize circulating free radicals, reducing a number of health risks, and both provide new energy resources, making us healthier and happier. Choosing good health improves our lives in countless ways. By choosing, we take back the power of good health. Everyone in our lives benefits from our renewed energy, creativity, productivity, and love for life. Beginning a program of chiropractic care is another positive choice we may make. Chiropractic adjustments help our bodies work more efficiently and effectively, directly reducing physiologic stress and indirectly improving our ability to effectively manage the stress in our daily lives. Your chiropractor is an expert in health, wellness, and well-being and will be glad to help you design exercises and food plans that will work for you. Remember - being healthy is a choice! Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit: Lakewood Chiropractic Jacksonville, Florida 32217 904-733-7020 lakewoodchiropracticjax Visit our facebook page! Follow us on Twitter! 1Appel LJ, et al.: Effects of comprehensive lifestyle modification on blood pressure control: main results of the PREMIER clinical trial. JAMA 289(16):2083-2093, 2003 2Elmer PJ, et al.: Effects of comprehensive lifestyle modification on diet, weight, physical fitness, and blood pressure control: 18-month results of a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 144(7):485-495, 2006 3Viera AJ, et al.: Lifestyle modifications to lower or control high blood pressure: is advice associated with action? The behavioral risk factor surveillance survey. J Clin Hypertens 10(2):105-111, 2008 |
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Friday, February 9, 2018
Vitamin D - The Superstar Supplement
You
may remember the public health slogan, "Vitamin D helps build strong
bones". This message could be seen on colorful school posters and heard
on radio and television programs as early as the1950s. Getting enough
Vitamin D was a major health issue, primarily for its role in preventing
childhood rickets - "softening of the bones".1 More recently, and quite dramatically, vitamin D has been strongly associated with reduced cancer risks, preventing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, preventing cardiovascular disease, and even helping to prevent diabetes.2 Vitamin D seems to be a one-stop shop for helping combat many serious chronic diseases, and yet vitamin D deficiency is common in the United States.3 Very few foods are natural sources of vitamin D. The primary source of vitamin D for humans is sunlight - sunlight causes cells in the skin to produce vitamin D. But most of us don't spend enough time outside to get sufficient sunlight to provide us with our normal daily requirement of vitamin D. Supplementation is needed, in the form of fortified foods such as milk and in vitamin/mineral tablets. Interestingly, meeting our vitamin D and calcium daily requirements is only one step on the road to healthy, strong bones. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the intestinal tract. Also, vitamin D helps bone cells utilize calcium to build new bone. But - in adults, new bone will only be built if there's a need for it. Mechanical stress causes the body to produce new bone - and the best source for this kind of bone-building mechanical stress is exercise. Yes, the E word. It's not enough to passively swallow a bunch of supplements every day. We need to exercise regularly to get the most out of the nutrition we're providing our bodies. When we exercise - particularly when we do strength training and other gravity-resisting activities such as running, walking, and bicycling - our bodies react not only by building new muscle but by building new bone as well. This response follows a physiologic principle known as Wolff's Law - bone remodels along lines of physiologic stress. In other words, bone responds to mechanical challenges by building more bone. The result is more dense, stronger bones. Such bones are significantly less likely to fracture. And. logically, exercise helps prevent loss of bone mass, a primary cause of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and older adults. Chiropractic health care helps provide assistance to these metabolic processes. All of our metabolic activities are directed by signals from the nerve system. Our nerve impulses tell our cells when to start and when to stop these complicated biochemical processes. Chiropractic care helps ensure proper flow of information throughout the nervous system, helping us maintain optimal physical health and well-being. Your chiropractor is an expert in nutritional health and will be able to recommend a program and plan that will be right for you. Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit: Lakewood Chiropractic Jacksonville, Florida 32217 904-733-7020 Visit lakewoodchiropracticjax.com! Visit our facebook page! Follow us on Twitter! 1Lins P: Vitamin D physiology. Prog Biophys Mol Biol 92)1:4-8, 2006 2Cavalier E, et al:Vitamin D: current status and perspectives.Clin Chem Lab Med 47:1, 2009 3Holick Me, Chen TC: Vitamin D deficiency: a worldwide problem with health consequences. Am J Clin Nutr 87(4):10805-10865, 2008 |
Osteoporosis
Developing
osteoporosis is a frightening prospect for many older people. If a
person with osteoporosis falls and fractures a hip, the recovery may be
slow and prolonged and the person may never be the same. Also, hip
fractures in the older population may often be fatal, the person dying
from a blood clot that made its way to the lungs or a major blood vessel
in the brain.So, there are many very important reasons for treating osteoporosis. And of course, preventing osteoporosis in the first place is even more important. The very good news is that prevention is easy. It just requires some work, attention, and discipline. Osteoporosis - loss of bone mass - is prevented in large part by daily vitamin D and calcium supplementation and by regular exercise. When is the right time to begin such a program? Right now. It's never too early in life to begin regular exercise and begin regular vitamin and mineral supplementation. Even if you're an older person who hasn't exercised in many years, today is the right time to begin. Make sure to check with your chiropractor to learn about the types of exercise that are b |
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Bursts of Activity
We all know that 30 minutes per day of strenuous exercise will provide many health benefits. Recent Federal guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services1 have even made this official. The real question for most of us is how to find the time to exercise regularly and consistently. All we have is 24 hours each day to get done all the things we need to get done. Exercising often takes a back seat to work, shopping, cooking, cleaning, getting the kids ready for school and ready for bed, and all the other million-and-one little details that demand our attention every day.
Most of us have the motivation to exercise2 - we want to do it, and we know it's important and good for us.3 But when to fit it in? A few hardy souls bite the bullet and get up at 5:00 AM - making more time in the day by getting less sleep. Others exercise at the end of a long day, but sometimes that's stressful and counterproductive. However they do it, many people make real efforts to exercise a few times each week.
Most likely - over time - our good intentions get stymied by our daily concerns. Deadlines and scheduling take precedence and the most easy-to-jettison item on our to-do list - exercise - gets lost in the process. And sooner rather than later we're back to not exercising at all. Public health experts and policymakers have been struggling, too, with this apparent no-win situation. The outcome is brand-new recommendations relating to short bursts of activity during the day. These three- to five-minute bursts have been studied and shown to provide real health benefits to real people under real-world circumstances.
Instead of taking coffee breaks at work, people are beginning to take activity breaks. Three to five minutes of climbing office building stairs or brisk walking outside the building or a quick series of calisthenics are all it takes. Six to ten such breaks fulfills the daily requirement of 30 minutes of exercise. No separately scheduled exercise time is necessary. You're already at work, you're already taking breaks. So the breaks become exercise breaks. And you get your exercise done. And you feel great for the entire day, due to bursts of endorphins occurring throughout the day.
These bursts of activity are also ideal for people working at home, as well as for school children. Studies in schools are showing increased attention spans and increased learning as a result of short bursts of intense physical activity. Everyone can do this. And finally, everyone can have a workable system for getting the exercise they need. Your chiropractor is a fitness expert and will be glad to help you design an exercise program that works for you.
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor," and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
Visit lakewoodchiropracticjax.com!
Visit our facebook page!
Follow us on Twitter!
1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Washington, DC, DHHS, 2008. 2Vallance JK, et al: Maintenance of physical activity in breast cancer survivors after a randomized trial. Med Sci Sports Exerc 40(1):173-180, 2008 3Heckman GE, McKelvie RS: Cardiovascular aging and exercise in healthy older adults. Clin J Sport Med 18(6):479-485, 2008
Most of us have the motivation to exercise2 - we want to do it, and we know it's important and good for us.3 But when to fit it in? A few hardy souls bite the bullet and get up at 5:00 AM - making more time in the day by getting less sleep. Others exercise at the end of a long day, but sometimes that's stressful and counterproductive. However they do it, many people make real efforts to exercise a few times each week.
Most likely - over time - our good intentions get stymied by our daily concerns. Deadlines and scheduling take precedence and the most easy-to-jettison item on our to-do list - exercise - gets lost in the process. And sooner rather than later we're back to not exercising at all. Public health experts and policymakers have been struggling, too, with this apparent no-win situation. The outcome is brand-new recommendations relating to short bursts of activity during the day. These three- to five-minute bursts have been studied and shown to provide real health benefits to real people under real-world circumstances.
Instead of taking coffee breaks at work, people are beginning to take activity breaks. Three to five minutes of climbing office building stairs or brisk walking outside the building or a quick series of calisthenics are all it takes. Six to ten such breaks fulfills the daily requirement of 30 minutes of exercise. No separately scheduled exercise time is necessary. You're already at work, you're already taking breaks. So the breaks become exercise breaks. And you get your exercise done. And you feel great for the entire day, due to bursts of endorphins occurring throughout the day.
These bursts of activity are also ideal for people working at home, as well as for school children. Studies in schools are showing increased attention spans and increased learning as a result of short bursts of intense physical activity. Everyone can do this. And finally, everyone can have a workable system for getting the exercise they need. Your chiropractor is a fitness expert and will be glad to help you design an exercise program that works for you.
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor," and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
Visit lakewoodchiropracticjax.com!
Visit our facebook page!
Follow us on Twitter!
1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Washington, DC, DHHS, 2008. 2Vallance JK, et al: Maintenance of physical activity in breast cancer survivors after a randomized trial. Med Sci Sports Exerc 40(1):173-180, 2008 3Heckman GE, McKelvie RS: Cardiovascular aging and exercise in healthy older adults. Clin J Sport Med 18(6):479-485, 2008
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Quick tips How to avoid getting sick this winter
- Get your vitamin D. You may be chugging orange juice to load up on vitamin C, but most people become deficient in vitamin D in the winter. Since its main source is sunlight, it's hard to load up on it in the winter. Research has shown vitamin D helps the production of T-cells that are responsible for killing harmful viruses and bacteria. Get your fix while the sun's hiding with salmon, eggs, mushrooms, and certain types of cereals and oatmeal.
- Don't skip the workout. It's hard to stay motivated in the winter, but exercise can aid in the prevention of sickness, or decrease the severity of symptoms. Working out helps increase circulation, thereby distributing the immune system's white blood cells.
- Get your zzz's. The suggestion to get 8 hours of sleep each night has been advised forever for a reason. Sleep is the body's way to recharge itself. When you're overly tired, your immune system has a harder time warding off illness.
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
Visit lakewoodchiropracticjax.com!
Visit our facebook page!
Follow us on Twitter!
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Health Care Breakthroughs - Hope or Hype?
Healthy Lifestyles |
Heart disease, diabetes, and obesity - a formidable triad. These chronic disorders are interrelated, and the presence of one will often lead over time to development of one or both of the others. The good news is that, for the most part, these three entities occur as a result of lifestyle choices. This means we can greatly reduce the likelihood of developing one or all of these conditions. For example, at present more than one-third of American children are overweight or obese. These kids are very likely to develop diabetes and, later on, heart disease. So, if you're overweight or obese as a child, you can look forward to a lifetime of health problems. Why do American kids have these problems? The answer is simple - they don't exercise, and they eat large amounts of junk food. The solutions are obvious and just as simple. Developing lifelong habits of regular exercise and good nutrition begins at home. Parents who exercise regularly and provide healthy, balanced meals for their kids help their kids develop the habit of making healthful lifestyle choices, habits that will last a lifetime. |
Business coverage of these issues is yet another reminder of how far health care has moved away from its original and sole focus on treatment. Sadly, the bottom line has become the bottom line. And yet, there may be real breakthroughs on the horizon. Advances in DNA analysis and nanotechnology may bring us closer to a world of personalized treatment for cancer and other disorders.
For example, university researchers have been working for years on methods to deliver cancer drugs to the actual tumor.1 If possible, this would substantially improve on current treatment which floods the patient's entire body with highly toxic anti-cancer medication.
These new methods - collectively termed targeted cancer therapy - involve the cancer drugs hitching a ride on very small particles - nanoparticles - which are programmed to seek out and attach to the malignant tumor.2 The toxic drug only interacts with the tumor cells, killing the tumor but not affecting any of the patient's normal cells. If this research pans out, meaningful progress would be made.
Early detection of disease - cancers, hormonal disorders, inflammatory diseases - is often discussed as a critical factor in the success of treatment. Recently, in the last ten years, progress in the fields of nanotechnology and DNA and protein analysis has brought us closer to real-world early detection.
Researchers are gaining the ability to analyze very small amounts of biomarkers - specialized proteins that may indicate the presence of specific diseases - in both blood and individual cells3. A lot more work needs to be done to standardize these tests and understand which biomarkers are related to which diseases - but this seems to be merely a matter time. Within ten or fifteen years, such analysis may become readily available and routine. This would be a real breakthrough.
However, rather than placing our bets on diagnostic and treatment methods that may or may not become available, doesn't it make more sense to take care of our physical health right now, today? The vast majority of diseases that affect Americans - heart disease, diabetes, and obesity - are, for the most part, lifestyle disorders. And, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that many cancers are also related to lifestyle.
Of course, lifestyle is a code word for good nutrition, regular exercise, sufficient rest, a positive mental attitude, and rewarding family and personal relationships. An important part of lifestyle is maintaining a body that works - and the best way to ensure good overall health is with periodic, regular chiropractic care.
Chiropractic treatment ensures your body is working at its optimum. Chiropractic treatment gives your body its best chance of functioning at a level of optimum health. Your chiropractor will be glad to help you learn how to achieve a healthy, vibrant lifestyle.
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic
https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield
1Choi MR, et al: A Cellular Trojan Horse for Delivery of Therapeutic Nanoparticles into Tumors. Nano Letters 7(12):3759-3765, 2007
2Zahr AS, Pishko MV: Encapsulation of paclitaxel in macromolecular nanoshells. Biomacromolecules 8(6):2004-2010, 2007
3Favis R, et al: Universal DNA Microarray Analysisof p53 Mutations in Undissected Colorectal Tumors. Human Mutation 24:63-75, 2004
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Getting a Good Night's Sleep
Ensuring Restful Sleep - Positive Self-Talk |
A great way to establish the habit of restful sleep is to quietly talk to yourself a little before falling asleep. In essence you're talking directly to your subconscious mind, and the instructions you give your subconscious can go far toward ensuring a good night's sleep and a successful day tomorrow. Positive self-talk has been championed by renowned plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz in his world-famous book, Psycho-Cybernetics, and by many leaders in the field of human peak performance, including Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, and Norman Vincent Peale. You can say things like:
You'll notice, after a few nights of brief, quiet positive self-talk, that you're falling asleep quicker and that your days are becoming much easier, much more enjoyable. Things are flowing your way. It's quite remarkable. |
Eating late at night - particularly fat-filled foods and snacks - may also interfere with a person's ability to fall asleep and sleep restfully. Late night meals engage all the resources of your digestive system - your body is actually doing a lot of work when it's supposed to be resting. Not good. And, of course, a lot of this late night food is stored as fat, creating additional problems.
Not enough exercise also contributes to lack of restful sleep.2,3 When you're doing vigorous physical work, your body needs to recover. Sleep allows your body to repair and rebuild, getting stronger in the process. Regardless of one's stresses and worries, vigorous exercise makes a physical demand on your body that will put you right to sleep.
If you're not exercising regularly, this strong physiologic need for deep rest is missing, and you'll likely be tossing and turning the night away.
Old, soft, lumpy mattresses are another potential sleep-disturber. But too-firm mattresses may also cause problems. A good mattress is supportive and comfortable - it "gives" in all the right places and provides a balanced, springy platform for a restful night's sleep. The solutions are straightforward and none of them involve medication. Regular exercise is the key ingredient. With consistent exercise, your body's need for sleep will win out over your conscious mind's automatic mechanism of repeatedly processing the day's events.
Chiropractic care may be another key ingredient. Gentle chiropractic treatment ensures that all your body's systems are talking to each other and the right messages are getting through. Chiropractic treatment ensures clear communication from one body system to another. Late at night, systems shut down when they're supposed to and the result
is a good night's sleep. Your chiropractor will be glad to provide you with important information on customized exercise and nutrition programs that will help you continue to be healthy and well.
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic
https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield
1Richardson GS: Human physiological models of insomnia. Sleep Med 8(Suppl 4):S9-S14, 2007
2Lee YC, et al: Lifestyle risk factors associated with fatigue in graduate students. J Formos Med Assoc 106(7):565-572, 2007
3Li F, et al: Tai chi and self-rated quality of sleep and daytime sleepiness in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Geriatr Soc 52(6):892-900, 2004
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