Omega-3 Fatty Acids Decrease Depression and Inflammation.

A new study out of Ohio State University’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research suggests that people whose diets contain dramatically more of Omega-6 than Omega -3 may be at greater risk for both clinical depression and certain inflammatory diseases. 

The report, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, suggests that we need to balance out our intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. The current typical American diet contains 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3; a ratio that researchers say should be lowered to 4-to-1, or even 2-to-1.The study, conducted in Ohio State University’s, focused on a group of 43 middle-aged to elderly men and women, nearly half of which were the caregiver spouses of people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. By including caregivers who typically report greater stress and more depression than similar adults, the researchers could look at how depression and diet might interact to affect inflammation. “The data suggest that higher depression and a poorer diet in terms of omega-3 can work together to promote inflammation.  Other researchers have shown that clinically depressed people — those with more severe depression — often have lower omega-3 levels in their blood, and several studies have shown that supplementing diets with omega-3 improves depression,” Kiecolt-Glaser said. In recent years, research has shown that an increase in omega-3 fatty acids in the diet has specific health benefits, especially in patients with depression, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.  Martha Belury, an associate professor of human nutrition, endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism at Ohio State said “We looked at people who were experiencing real depression, not those whose depression arose as a part of some experiment, and we could clearly see a relationship between lower omega-3 fatty acids and certain markers of depression and inflammation.” “This study has shown that a little bit more omega-3, could help reduce their markers for both stress and depression,” Belury said. Omega-3 is available as a nutritional supplement. “The important message for consumers is that they don’t have to take mega-doses of omega-3 to have some impact. It might not take a whole lot to have a significant clinical impact,” Belury said.  I highly recommend taking a daily Omega-3 supplement.  This study is one more that validates the importance of Omega-3’s on inflammation and mood.  Over the last three months are omega-3 supplement has outsold our calcium and vitamin D supplement and wellness pack for the first time in three years. 

You can purchase are omega-3’s online or if you’re ever in Beverly Hills stop by the office and save the shipping costs.  Thank you for reading, Daniel Jacobsen.

A Labor of Love

Mothers often point out to their children how much pain they had to endure giving birth (so their children will have sympathy and obey them!). This tactic may not be so common in the future, however. Women are increasingly opting to deliver through more convenient Caesarean sections, despite no medical necessity for surgery in many cases.

A recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) evaluated the success of its recent goal to reduce the number of C-sections in favor of natural births. Twenty-three percent of births were Caesarean in 2000, but the CDC would like to see only 15% of first-time mothers delivering by C-section. To follow current trends, the CDC examined California’s rates of vaginal births after Caesarean births (VBACs) from 1996-2000 birth certificates.The report indicated that VBACs actually decreased by 35% in the four-year period. In other words, merely 15% of women who had previously undergone C-sections chose to have a vaginal birth in a subsequent pregnancy in 2000.  Women appear to be opting for more C-sections, rather than fewer, in a reverse from trends in the ’80s and ’90s.

Countless studies show that vaginal births are safer for both mother and infant than Caesarean births. So why don’t women choose this natural form of birth? If you are pregnant, give birth naturally unless your doctor advises you otherwise. It may be a more painful, longer labor than if you have a C-section, but at least you can use it for “guilt-trip” material when your kids get older! 

Chavez GF, Takahashi E, et al. Vaginal birth after cesarean birth – California, 1996-2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC) 2002:51(44), pp. 996-998. 

“He was Healthy as a Horse”

  Have you ever heard the urban legend of the man who passed his physical examination with flying colors and died on the way home. 

Healthy people don’t die. They have undiagnosed conditions which have no symptoms. Symptoms don’t start the moment the first cancer cell invades the body.  The fact is with breast cancer it takes 3-5 years before the tumor is large enough (the size of a pea) before it can be detected.  We all know the earlier a condition is detected the better the chances or for a recovery. 

What about heart disease how many years do you have to have high cholesterol before you have a stroke. With strokes 40% of the time the first symptom is death. 

What about tooth decay how many years before a root canal. 

The same is true with your spine you can go years no symptoms and then suddenly you’re back will go out.  In the United States back pain is the number one reason for permanent disability in people under 45 years of age.  It is the second most common reason for missing work.  It is the second most common reason for hospital visits. 

What are you doing to prevent disease, what are you doing to stay healthy?

How often do you eat right (different from eating often)?  How often do you exercise? What is your stress like? Do you take your vitamins daily?  How much sleep do you get? When was your last check up? last pap smear? Last Chiropractic Adjustment? Last blood test?

Take care of yourself, if not now when,  If not you, then who?

Lower Back Pain Treatment, Medical Care Verses Chiropractic Care

If you suffer from low back pain (LBP) and you’d like to seek a doctor’s care, but you’re not sure where to go. Consider this: A recent study compared the effectiveness of chiropractic care vs. medical management for LBP and found that chiropractic care had a higher success rate in treating LBP than did traditional medical care.     

Researchers examined 2,870 adult patients with acute or chronic LBP from the practices of 51 chiropractic clinics and 14 general practice community clinics. At baseline and at various intervals over the next four years, patients rated the intensity of their current pain levels on a pain scale of 0-100 and completed a questionnaire designed to measure the effects of their pain on functional disability. 

Results: The greatest degree of improvement was seen within three months of the initial treatment of back pain, with a “modest advantage” seen for chiropractic care over medical care of chronic pain patients in the first 12 months. At the one- and three-month intervals, “clinical importance” was achieved with chiropractic care administered to chronic LBP patients. Comparing chiropractic vs. medical care, the average difference in pain scores was 12.2 points at one month and 10.5 points at three months, favoring chiropractic care. 

Haas M, Goldberg B, Aickin M, et al. A practice-based study of patients with acute and chronic low back pain attending primary care and chiropractic physicians: two-week to 48-month follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2004;27:160-169

The Beverly Hills Comprehensive Medical Group consists of Two Medical Doctors, Two Chiropractors, a Physical Therapist and a Massage Therapist.

11 Rules of Life You Don’t Learn In School by Bill Gates

In his book, Bill Gates talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings has created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept is setting them up for failure in the real world. 

RULE 1 – Life is not fair; get used to it.

RULE 2 – The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

RULE 3 – You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with a corner office, until you earn both.

RULE 4 – If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.

RULE 5 – Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

RULE 6 - If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7 – Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try “delousing” the closet in your own room.

RULE 8 – Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9 – Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.  Do that on your own time.

RULE 10 – Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11 – Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one. 

Thank you Daryn Harding for the article.

Vitamin D Reduces Risk of Colon Cancer

Research suggests that raising your daily intake of vitamin D could reduce your risk of developing colon cancer by 50 percent.

A review combined data from five studies involving over 1,400 healthy volunteers. Their blood serum was collected and examined for periods ranging from two to 25 years. Edward Gorham, Ph.D., a research epidemiologist with the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, found that levels of vitamin Din the blood consistent with an intake of 1,000 to 2,000 international units (IU) a day, lowered the risk of colorectal cancer by 50 percent.

The current recommendation of vitamin D is 400 IU daily. Earlier studies had shown that vitamin D could lower the risk of developing colon cancer by reducing the amounts of lithocholic acid, a carcinogenic toxin produced in the stomach by high amounts of animal fat.

My Calcium supplement contains 400mg of Vitamin D, it is available on my website or if you are in Beverly Hills stop by the office. Thank you for reading Dr Dan Jacobsen.