Soda could be making your kid angry

What does soda have to do with your child’s aggressive behavior? According to a new study, quite a bit!

A new study published in The Journal of Pediatrics found that children who consumed soda tended to measure higher on scales that measure aggressive behavior than kids who do not drink soda.

Of course –  this is not meant to entirely put the blame on soft drinks all together; but it does bring up a certain level of caution.

According to the study, mothers completed a checklist on children’s behaviors over the previous two months to measure withdrawal, attention and aggression. The mothers were also asked how many servings of soda their children drank per day and about other habits such as TV watching. Overall, 43 percent of the kids drank at least one soda per day and 4 percent drank four or more servings.

Seriously? Who the heck drinks 4 or more servings of soda per day?!?

Aggressive behavior was measured on a scale between 0 and 100 – with higher scores indicating more aggression. Kids who reportedly drank no soda scored 56 on the aggression scale, on average. That compared to 57 among kids who drank one serving per day, 58 among those who drank two servings, 59 among those who drank three servings and 62 for four soda servings or more per day. Researchers found that drinking two or four or more servings of soda per day was tied to higher aggression scores. Overall, kids who drank four or more servings of soda per day were twice as likely to destroy other people’s belongings, get into fights and physically attack people, compared to children who didn’t drink soda, according to the study.

The suggestions of the lead scientists were for children to stick to healthy beverages such as water to stay hydrated. Water is all natural with no potential side effects on behavior.

Chiropractic Helps You to Regain Your Health

As a Doctor of chiropractic, I specialize is non-invasive ways to regain health. Our office provides a drug-free, hands-on treatment that targets the source of pain as well as correct spine abnormalities that are interfering with your body's ability to be well. Studies show that chiropractic treatment is increasingly recognized as one of the safest and most effective health care solutions. Chiropractic care can be used successfully to treat injuries resulting from automobile accidents and sports injuries but it is better utilized for overall health and wellness.

By correcting spine imbalances, you improve the function of spinal nerves that allow your body to work better.

It's Back to School for Kids

It's BACK to School time for all those kiddos! And with back to school, most educational programs will include spinal check up that includes a basic scoliosis screening. And while school nurses focus on scoliosis when it comes to spinal checkups, study after study has proven the link between asymmetries in the spine and organ tissue health.

In short: Your child's health is directly related to the alignment of their spine!

Now that they are back to school- New activities, new back packs, new classes, and new teachers are a few of the factors that contribute to an increased stress load for parents and children this time of the year. All of these factors significantly contribute to poor health outcomes whether symptoms are present or not. Every one of these stressors interacts with the nervous system, yet one of the most overlooked areas of health assessment and maintenance is the spine.

Spine health = Your Child's Health

Your child's spine is not simply a stack of bones that helps them to stand up straight. Rather, it's a neuro-structural organ that when moving correctly, allows for a cascade of signals to occur between the brain and the body. Research from one of the most well-respected medical journals in the world explains that when a spine is not moving correctly or in the proper position, a cascade of pathways are triggered in the spinal cord and nervous system. This alteration in the spine and nerve pathways, known as vertebral subluxation, predisposes a child or adult to a plethora of visceral chronic diseases as well as the progressive condition called Scoliosis. Scoliosis is a condition where the spine becomes increasingly curved and deformed. Scoliosis is very dangerous to organ function as it progresses.

Contrary to popular knowledge and belief, the cause of scoliosis relates more to nervous system dysfunction than genetics, physical traumas, or deformity. A 2000 study showed that any subtle changes to the health of the spine puts stress into the nervous system and sets the stage for scoliotic curves to be formed. The biggest obstacle in preventing or treating scoliosis is detection. Scoliosis progresses with an absence of symptoms, and by the time conditions present, the young person is already suffering.

Understanding the development of scoliosis empowers parents with purpose when taking their children to a Chiropractor before the smaller spinal problem can progress into something more severe and less reversible – like scoliosis. Vertebral subluxations are not rare and can even be found among infants who endured the trauma of childbirth.

Children Need Chiropractic Too!

Subluxation interferes with the nervous system but is very detectable and correctable by a Chiropractor.

Research continues to support the philosophy that Chiropractors have been subscribing to and teaching for the past 120 years. Spinal health plays a tremendous role in longevity and quality living and is very frequently overlooked by medical professionals until a severe condition like scoliosis begins showing symptoms. Chiropractic is committed to changing this system of health care by educating all people about the importance of spinal care. Children going back to school should serve as an annual reminder for families to have a spinal check-up by a Chiropractor professionally trained to help all people achieve better health and avoid the progression of preventable conditions that negatively impact children who are meant to be a healthy and full of abundant life.

Sleep Deprivation Disconnects Your Brain from Your Heart

If you find yourself having communication problems – you might be sleep deprived.

A UC Berkeley study shows that sleep deprivation prevents you from reading facial expressions accurately. Facial expressions are one the most important aspects of non-verbal communication. This means that lack of sleep can have serious consequences, such as not noticing that a child is sick or in pain, or that a potential mugger or violent predator is approaching.

According to the study author, “Recognizing the emotional expressions of someone else changes everything about whether or not you decide to interact with them, and in return, whether they interact with you.” You can read more in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Considering that two-thirds of the industrialized world population does not get quality sleep; it's safe to say we all have communication problems!

Study Design

For the experiment, 18 healthy young adults viewed 70 facial expressions that ranged from friendly to threatening, once after a full night of sleep, and once after 24 hours of being awake. Researchers scanned participants’ brains and measured their heart rates as they looked at the series of visages.

Brain scans as they carried out these tasks – generated through functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) – revealed that the sleep-deprived brains could not distinguish between threatening and friendly faces, specifically in the emotion-sensing regions of the brain’s anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex.

Additionally, the heart rates of sleep-deprived study participants did not respond normally to threatening or friendly facial expressions. Moreover, researchers found a disconnection in the neural link between the brain and heart that typically enables the body to sense distress signals.

“Sleep deprivation appears to dislocate the body from the brain,” said lead study author, Matthew Walker. “You can’t follow your heart.”

Sleep Deprivation Literally Blocks the Brain from the Body

As a consequence, study participants interpreted more faces, even the friendly or neutral ones, as threatening when sleep-deprived.

“They failed our emotional Rorschach test,” Walker said. “Insufficient sleep removes the rose tint to our emotional world, causing an overestimation of threat. This may explain why people who report getting too little sleep are less social and more lonely.”

On a more positive note, researchers recorded the electrical brain activity of the participants during their full night of sleep, and found that their quality of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) or dream sleep correlated with their ability to accurately read facial expressions. Previous research by Walker has found that REM sleep serves to reduce stress neurochemicals and soften painful memories.

“The better the quality of dream sleep, the more accurate the brain and body was at differentiating between facial expressions,” Walker said. “Dream sleep appears to reset the magnetic north of our emotional compass. This study provides yet more proof of our essential need for sleep.”

Chiropractic can Improve Sleep Quality

Studies state that when the body’s central circadian rhythms are disturbed, it results in increased levels of cortisol aka the stress hormone. When the cortisol levels remain high for a prolonged period, it reduces the density of the bones and the muscle mass, weakens the immune system, accumulates fat in the abdomen area, and impacts the functioning of the thyroid gland. All of these lead to poor health and back pain! Sometimes insomnia can also lead to mental disorders.

Although there are many medications available in the market, those that claim to solve the sleep disorders do not help to any great extent. These pills cause side effects and can also lead to cancer and heart attacks if used for too long. To have a peaceful sleep, you need to treat the actual cause of the problem from its roots. A good chiropractor will investigate the actual cause of the problem in depth and correct it.

Chiropractic care and  adjustments will help you to relax. It also improves the blood flow in the nervous system and corrects any misalignments, or sublaxations in the spine. These subluxations compress the nerves and cause lack of communication between the spine and the brain. These subluxations lead to a process called stress response which puts the body out of balance and do not let the body rest. A well trained chiropractor will adjust these subluxations with safe and careful techniques to get your body to function normally.

Along with chiropractic care, insomnia and sleep issues can be improved with significant changes in your lifestyle. The changes include the following:

• Limited intake of caffeine
• Eating dinner before six in the evening
• Avoiding television and computer time an hour before bed
• Staying active by doing regular exercises (not too close to bedtime)
• Avoiding excess alcohol
• Investing in a good supportive mattress and pillow that support your spine
• And most importantly setting a daily routine

Regular chiropractic care can address and solve several problems that may be causing sleepless nights, such as back pain, breathing problems, and restless leg syndrome. Many people have felt that their sleep has improved after getting regular wellness adjustments. Regular chiropractic care can improve the symptoms and conditions of insomnia patients and helps them sleep better thus improving the quality of their day to day life. Plus, chiropractic care is much safer than most prescription sleep aids.

Acute edema and Back Pain

There are literally hundreds of reasons why you could suffer from back pain. I'm writing this article to bring awareness to the fact that back pain could be caused by something as far fetched as “acute pulmonary edema”. Edema is fluid that builds up because of problems in our circulatory systems; mainly arteries and veins. This abnormal build up of fluid will eventually cause damage to our cells. Just think what happens when you over water plants. The cells of the plant take in all the water and eventually swell to their death.

When edema occurs, you can most certainly assume that there is heart failure also occuring, but it's important to know that edema can result in back pain as well.

Causes of edema:

Edema can arise from any combination of heart disease, heart attacks, congestive heart failure, inhaling smoke, improper salt balance and blood vessel disease. Edema can also result from blunt force traumas such as car accidents, blows to the head or serious falls. The most common cause of edema is heart failure.

Experts will often use X-rays, ECG, and monitor Homodynamic to discover edema. Of course, edema can lead to major problems, such as too much sodium, potassium, fluid build up and artery blockages that can result in clots.

Symptoms of Edema:

Edema can present with fatigue, coughing, one-side heart failure (Right often), breathing difficulties and of course back pain.

Edema can also effect your joints, cartilages, muscles etc, which can cause tenderness, ulcers of the legs, and so forth. Edema affects the veins found in the neck as well, which is one of the leading causes of back pain.

Edema and Back Pain Summary:

As I mentioned earlier, back pain can start with edema due to failure of the heart not pumping blood appropriately. As circulation continues to decrease, the tissues will become inflamed and begin to swell. This swelling will then place a large amount of pressure on your tissues including ligaments, muscles and tendons. This is where you can start to experience neck and or back pain.

Back pain has affected millions of people, yet the leading causes emerge from nerve and musculoskeletal disorders. Still, many diseases and disorders can cause back pain, including edema. In fact, when doctors discover musculoskeletal and nerve disorders, they often link one of the potential causes to edema.