Pain in the Neck?

The cervical spine is made up of seven bones called vertebrae, and these vertebrae are separated by disks filled with a cushioning gel-like substance. 

Your cervical disks stabilize your neck and help it to turn. Decades of movement can really take a toll on the neck as two-thirds of people will experience neck pain at some point in their lives. 

Researchers estimate that 50% of the population at 40 years of age and 70% of those at 65 years, have some level of cervical disk degeneration. 

Cervical disk degenerative processes can cause radiating pain, as well as numbness and weakness in your shoulders, arms, and hands. 

 Clinical Evidence Concise, 2004.

25% of Health Care Workers Carry Diarrhea Spores on Their Hands

-->
A new study suggests that one in four healthcare workers’ hands are contaminated with Clostridium difficile spores after caring for infected patients. 
Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Many healthcare workers could be passing on C. difficile to patients, even after routine alcohol-based hand rubbing, supporting the need for routine hand washing with soap and water after treating any infected patient, regardless of the setting. 

Study leader Dr. Caroline Landelle explains, "Because C. difficile spores are so resistant and persistent to disinfection, glove use is not an absolute barrier against the contamination of health care workers' hands. Effective hand hygiene should be performed, even in non-outbreak settings." 

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, January 2014

Aerobic Exercise Better than Resistance Training for Obese Girls

In the past 30 years, adolescent obesity has tripled. 

Researchers divided 44 obese teenaged girls into three groups

1) one hour of aerobic activity performed on a treadmill or elliptical trainer three times a week for three months
2) one hour of resistance training using weight machines, also performed three times a week for three months
3) no structured physical activity for three months. 

Compared with the sedentary group, girls in both exercise groups had less total fat and intramuscular fat after the training period ended. 

However, the participants in the aerobic activity group also lost visceral and liver fat and experienced improved insulin sensitivity. 

In addition, they appeared to enjoy their workout more than the girls in the resistance training group. 

The authors of the study conclude, “Therefore, given the superior improvements in metabolic health with aerobic exercise and the enjoyment factor, we propose that aerobic exercise may be a better mode of exercise for adolescent girls of this age group”.   

American Physiological Society, November 2013

Get Your Kid Fit This Summer

Strength & Fitness training for kids is not about pumping iron or how much you can bench. Today's young athletes can enjoy greater success if they are instructed in proper movement patterns and the acquisition of speed, agility and quickness. 

Parents generally do not understand what personal training for children is all about. Below is an article from the Mayo Clinic about this very important topic. Enjoy.

From: Strength training: OK for kids? (Mayoclinic.com)
For kids, what are the benefits of strength training?

Done properly, strength training can:

* Increase your child's muscle strength and endurance
* Help protect your child's muscles and joints from injury
* Improve your child's performance in nearly any sport, from dancing and figure skating to football and soccer

And strength training isn't only for athletes. Even if your child isn't interested in sports, strength training can:

* Strengthen your child's bones
* Help promote healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels
* Boost your child's metabolism
* Help your child maintain a healthy weight
* Improve your child's self-esteem

What's the best way to start a strength training program for kids?

A child's strength training program isn't necessarily a scaled-down version of what an adult would do. Keep these general principles in mind:

* Seek instruction. Start with a coach or personal trainer who has experience with youth strength training. The coach or trainer can create a safe, effective strength training program based on your child's age, size, skills and sports interests. Or enroll your child in a strength training class designed for kids.
 
* Warm up and cool down. Encourage your child to begin each strength training session with five to 10 minutes of light aerobic activity, such as walking, jogging in place or jumping rope. This warms the muscles and helps reduce the risk of injury. Gentle stretching after each session is a good idea, too.
 
* Keep it light. Kids can safely lift weights, as long as the weight is light enough. In most cases, one set of 12 to 15 repetitions is all it takes. The resistance doesn't have to come from weights, either. Resistance tubing and body-weight exercises, such as push-ups, can be just as effective.
 
* Stress proper technique. Rather than focusing on the amount of weight your child lifts, stress proper form and technique during each exercise. Your child can gradually increase the resistance or number of repetitions as he or she gets older.
 
* Supervise. Adult supervision is an important part of youth strength training. Don't let your child go it alone.
 
* Rest between workouts. Make sure your child rests at least one full day between exercising each specific muscle group. Two or three strength training sessions a week are plenty.
 
* Keep it fun. Help your child vary the routine to prevent boredom.

Results won't come overnight. But eventually, your child will notice a difference in muscle strength and endurance — which may fuel a fitness habit that lasts a lifetime.


From: Strength training: OK for kids? (Mayoclinic.com)
 
Call Advanced Fitness (610-444-1711) to discuss our youth programs  

You will be amazed at what youth fitness training has evolved to over the last several years. Once you see how our Assessment and Programming model works, you will understand why every major health organization is touting the benefits of strength training for kids.

New Test Detects Brain Cancer in 30 minutes

--> Researchers have created a new technique that can speed up current methods of diagnosing brain cancer from two to three days to 30 minutes. 
The new technique uses infrared light on blood serum to detect whether gliomas (a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine) are present.  

Analytical and Bio-analytical Chemistry, September 2013

Vitamin B12 Deficiency!

After analyzing the health data of over 200,000 patients, researchers have determined that long-term (>2 years) use of heartburn and ulcer medications can increase a person’s risk for vitamin B12 deficiency by 65%, with higher doses associated with an increased risk. 

Vitamin B12 is absorbed into the body with the help of stomach acid and any drugs that suppress or neutralize stomach acid can also keep the vitamin from entering the body. 

Chronic B12 deficiency can increase a person’s risk for dementia, nerve damage, and anemia.  

Kaiser Permanente, December 2013

Produce with the least amount of pesticides

The Clean Fifteen™

EWG's Clean Fifteen™ for 2014 - the produce least likely to hold pesticide residues - are avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, cabbage, frozen sweet peas, onions, asparagus, mangoes, papayas, kiwis, eggplant, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Relatively few pesticides were detected on these foods, and tests found low total concentrations of pesticides.
Notable findings:

• Avocados were the cleanest: only 1 percent of avocado samples showed any detectable pesticides.
• Some 89 percent of pineapples, 82 percent of kiwi, 80 percent of papayas, 88 percent of mango and 61 percent of cantaloupe had no residues.
• No single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen™ tested positive for more than 4 types of pesticides.
• Detecting multiple pesticide residues is extremely rare on Clean Fifteen™ vegetables. Only 5.5 percent of Clean Fifteen samples had two or more pesticides. 

www.ewg.org

Produce with the highest level of pesticides

Highlights of Dirty Dozen™ 2014

EWG's Dirty Dozen™ list of produce includes apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, imported nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas and potatoes. Each of these foods contained a number of different pesticide residues and showed high concentrations of pesticides relative to other produce items.
In particular:

• Every sample of imported nectarines and 99 percent of apple samples tested positive for at least one pesticide residue.
• The average potato had more pesticides by weight than any other food.
• A single grape sample contained 15 pesticides. Single samples of celery, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides apiece. 

www.ewg.org

Watch Out for Distracted Drivers!

A new study finds that distracted drivers in the US are killing an increasing number of pedestrians and bicyclists. From 2005 to 2010, the number of bicyclists killed by distracted drivers has increased by 30%, while pedestrians killed by distracted drivers increased by nearly 50% over the same period. Study author Dr. Fernando Wilson states, “We’re constantly exposed to distracted drivers. I don’t think there’s a day that I don’t see someone driving and using their cell phone. A lot of time they’re texting… It’s something that’s pervasive in society. That’s one of the reasons it’s so difficult to deal with.” University of Nebraska Medical Center, November 2103