April Showers.......

Well, Spring has arrived and I can't find my rake, shovel, or my wheel barrel. After you read the last article, you may find a degree of humor in that comment!

Spring brings the excitement of a new year and the beauty of green grass, blue lakes and flowering gardens.  It also, however, brings the realization that we have been fairly inactive all winter.

Here are some of my simple rules for Spring:

• Take your time.  Pace yourself when beginning a project, especially yard clean up.  

• Don't ignore your body. If it looks to heavy to pick up, it probably is.  Get help!  If you are stiff and sore from the prior work day, warm up with a walk or a few minutes on the treadmill.  A 5-minute warm up may save you a trip to my office.

• Be smart.  If you have a medical condition that requires drugs or monitoring, you should clear all strenuous activities with your doctor.  Trying to tough-out a project or working through pain may become a life-threatening ordeal.

• Exercise, Exercise, Exercise.  Begin all exercise programs with an easy warm up.  To jump full force into any routine without warming up is like grinding the motor of a car that is too cold to start...your battery can wear down too!

• Get a seasonal hobby.  Find a simple, but rewarding hobby for each season.  This not only gives you something to look forward to as the seasons change, but it helps you to enjoy each and every season.

Enjoy this issue of my ENews!

Dr. Frisch

Wonder Why You Blush?

I would venture to say the every human being blushes.  In addition to that, I suspect that most animals have the ability to blush as well!  That's right. Animals can blush too!  You may be saying right now..."How do you know that they are blushing when they are covered with fur?"  I would know that animals can blush because blushing serves a distinct and needed evolutionary function.

As humans, we have emotions and feelings that stimulate and are stimulated by distinct areas of our brains.  When an emotion like embarrassment or guilt stimulates the amygdala and hypothalamus our brains release neurotransmitters that affect our vascular system via the sympathetic nervous system.  The blood vessels dilate, the skin warms, and turns a nice shade of red!  This blushing reflex tells others that we may be feeling uncomfortable about something that just happened, but it can also mean something else.

Blushing can actually serve as a biological tool.  Let's us suppose that you are a young male and you are attempting to stretch your bounds of authority by challenging a dominant male (father, teacher, police).  When you are discovered (or caught) doing something wrong by this authority figure, your ability to blush reveals that you knew that you were doing something wrong and you are embarrassed.  This acknowledged error may allow you to get off with a slap on the wrist, a small fine or even keep you from being physically harmed.  The ability to blush may actually save our lives!

Another benefit of blushing may arise in our attempts to find friends and dating partners.  When someone is physically aroused by being in a happy or pleasant setting (party, family gathering, first date), adrenaline is released.  This adrenaline release can cause an enhanced body state that places us slightly on guard and ready to fight or flee if need be.  In this prepared state, the blood flow to the capillaries of our skin is increased and we begin to blush.  If we add the emotions of being happy (telling jokes), embarrassed (jokes), or even attracted to another person (let's hope not a joke), we can begin to blush.  This blushing can then reveal a vulnerability that friends may find endearing, shows others that we are sensitive, or may reveal an attraction not previously known by a member of the opposite sex.....but they know now!

Blushing then is a self-preserving reflex, expresses embarrassment, reveals our sensitive side and can indicate to a member of the opposite sex that we may have an attraction to them, which means the human race can continue on for at least one more generation.  All of this happens because of a chemical, neurological and vascular response, which is totally out of your conscious control.  Pretty cool, huh?

I personally do not get concerned about blushing and I do it all of the time.  If someone knows enough about me to make me blush that means that I have a friend who cares about me, a partner who knows my funny side, and a genuine grasp on the world around me.  To blush means that we are experiencing life and likely enjoying it as well.  Not to blush, to me, would seem a pretty boring existence.  To all of you blushers out there....BEAM ON!!!!!

Muscle Stem Cells Transformed Into Cartilage  

^{(Picture: Gray's Anatomy)}

A significant step has been taken in 'curing and remodeling' the devastating effects of osteoarthritis, as well as other types of degenerative joint diseases.

A group of scientists led by Dr. John Huard, Director of the Growth and Development Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, were successfully able to use muscle stem cells to repair cartilage that had been damaged by arthritis.  The results were published in the February issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism.

The initial research altered the cartilage growth in rates suffering with arthritis.  The muscle stem cells were actually transformed into cartilage cells by 'boosting' the muscle stem cell with a protein (BMP-4).  This revealed for the first time that cartilage cells could be created and generated within a living organism, which is what has to happen to reverse a degenerative process like arthritis. the generation of new cartilage continued for 6 months!

Human studies are planned and once initiated, they are anticipated to last for 48 weeks.  The muscle stem cells will be taken from the individual, boosted with the protein and then cultured into patches, which will then be applied to the damaged cartilage, much like a living, growing Band-Aid.

This research is ground-breaking for the betterment of human life.  We will soon be able to take a cell from one of our muscles and grow our own repair patch for damaged cartilage, within our own bodies!  How great is that?

Stem cell research is, I feel, the future of medicine and health care.  The ability to regenerate injured tissue within our own bodies means that heart disease, liver disease and even spinal cord trauma may be successfully treated and even cured.  This is not magic or against God's will.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  

The ability to dream a cure, create a model of care and succeed in helping people with that care is exactly why God gave us a brain that learns and accumulates knowledge!  Anything less, means that we wasted the talents given to us!

How exciting is this study!!!!!!

Are Sports and Arthritis Linked?  

"Do I rest or exercise an arthritic joint?"

This debate has raged on for many years.  The correct answer is actually....DO BOTH!

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and accounts for more than 80% of all reported arthritis conditions.  There are, however, other types of arthritis conditions that are more systemic and inflammatory.  These include rheumatoid, gout, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, and even psoriasis-related arthritis.  Unlike osteoarthritis, these conditions are not trauma-related.

Osteoarthritis begins due to instability of a joint!  

Osteoarthritis results from the body trying to stabilize an unstable joint.  The joint instability may have arisen from an injury or repetitive trauma to the area, but how the instability began is not nearly as important as long long it stays!

Time is the key factor in the progression of osteoarthritis.  Left unchecked, the brain and body will attempt to stabilize the instability.  Dehydration will occur and calcium will begin to be deposited in the area.  This results in traction spurs and an eventual fusion of the joint.  The brain doesn't care if you have had an injury, it only wants stability of the area.  An injured joint that is not allowed to regain mobility will become immobile.  It is a pretty simple concept and the brain follows the simplest path to stability!

Is exercise good for osteoarthritis?

The answer to this question is YES!  Those of you who do receive regular chiropractic care understand how important the "structure and function" relationship really is.  When you have proper structural stability and motion, the joints can function properly and you can receive the maximum benefits from exercise.  An arthritic joint will benefit from exercise as well, but there are a couple of rules to follow:

• If you do not have a chiropractor...get one!  If you can find a chiropractor that uses the Activator Technique it is even better!  He or she will stabilize your arthritic joints both structurally and neurologically!

• Do not overstretch an arthritic joint.  Remember, the arthritic joint exists because the body likes stability.  Instead of stretching the joints to death, warm up the area for 5 minutes with slow but steady motion.  An exercise bike is of great benefit for this.

• Do not be afraid that you are causing further damage by exercising an arthritic joint.  The damage is already done!  Recent research indicates that the motion of exercise may actually STOP the joint break down, rather than quicken it!

• Slow, controlled with training is also of benefit.  the strong that a muscle is surrounding an arthritic joint, the less pain you will have when you do exercise it!

Exercise is good for arthritic joints and may actually slow or stop the arthritic process.  Don't be afraid to exercise an arthritic joint, but be smart about it as well.  You can't exercise arthritis away, but it sure beats the heck out of letting a joint fuse by neglect!

Eileen's Corner

"Spring is here! This means that our food choices move from warm and comforting to fast and good.  This dish will be welcome at any spring party or gathering."

Deviled Eggs

6 Large Eggs, boiled and peeled

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise

1 1/2 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle Relish

1 Teaspoon prepared Mustard

Salt and pepper

Paprika

Half the eggs lengthwise.  Remove the yolks and place them in a small bowl.

Mash the yolks with a fork and stir in the mayonnaise, pickle relish and mustard.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fill the egg whites evenly with the yolk mixture and sprinkle with the paprika.

Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Eileen

p.s. You may want to lock the door so that there are some left for the party!

BRAIN FOG

If you have ever had a vehicular crash or a simple fender bender and felt somewhat dazed, disoriented or 'just out of sorts' after the accident, you may have actually suffered trauma.

Trauma after a crash doesn't just involve the neck and spine, but you can actually suffer from mild brain deficits too.  The brain floats in the skull cavity and it does move around.  The brain can be slammed from side-to-side with heavy trauma, like a concussion.  If you have ever heard of older boxers being called 'punch drunk', it is because the repetitive brain injuries altered their ability to think and speak.  They often slur their words as well.  Not every injury to the brain has to be hard and repetitive, however.  The brain can be mildly injured and you may not even realize it!

A study published last week in the Neuroscience Newsletter (March, 2006) revealed that mild traumatic brain injuries are predictive and can be tracked.  This research was performed in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York.

The study involved 21 peopled determined to have mild traumatic brain injury.  The researches hypothesis was that mild traumatic brain injury might impair the axons (nerves) that affect smooth eye motion.  They used 26 people as normal controls in the study.

The results of the study showed that people with mild traumatic brain injury were not able to target eye motions as well as the control group.  The TBI group also failed to process information given to them that relied on higher order brain processing and attention span!

This was the first study of its kind that found a direct relationship between the ability to control eye motion and position as it related to true brain processing deficits due to trauma.  Simple, smooth eye function may actually be an early and predictive test to determine if someone has actually sustained a mild brain injury after a trauma. 

I will be following this research closely.  I have preached brain dysfunction as a result of crash-related injury with many patients over the years.  I coined the term 'BRAIN FOG' to describe the symptoms that they experience.  After a crash people describe being forgetful, spacey, not able to focus on simple tasks or work.  They report that it is like 'thinking through fog'.  More than one accident victim has had to leave a note to themselves so that they don't forget to pick the kids up from school....again!  The spouse of an injured person often has more difficulty dealing with the dysfunction than the person who was injured.  The symptoms of forgetfulness and the difficulty of focusing thoughts and tasks will often resolve within 2 years of the injury.  Some people, however, will suffer with traumatic brain injury long after the crash.

If you or someone that you know is suffering with the symptoms that I have described above, it is likely a true injury of not just to the brain, but of the the nervous system as well.  A consult with a chiropractor would not only be indicated, but probably the best chance for the person has to regain both physical and cognitive ability.  Most chiropractors work with specialists, like neurologists, to aid in stabilizing trauma.

Research continues to provide the answers to the questions of trauma-related dysfunction.  Our only job is to listen and learn!

Have a great month!

Dr. Frisch