The Mysteries of Acupuncture

Knee pain. It can be never-ending or sporadic, but regardless of the condition, it interrupts daily tasks and can prevent you from doing the simplest activity. I, myself, know firsthand how knee pain can interfere with your day. But where does it come from?

According to William C. Shiel Jr., a doctor in the field of rheumatology, he describes knee pain as a symptom that occurs from athletic activities, trauma injuries and aging. The complexity of the design of the knee, and the fact that it is an active weight-bearing joint, are factors in making the knee one of the most commonly injured joints, Shiel writes in his article Knee Pain. Of the number of different diagnoses that can be made, Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder, which is due to aging and wear and tear on a joint.

Knee osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage (or menisci), which provides “cushion” between the bones, wears away, causing pain and stiffness, reports The Huffington Post. The condition affects one in two people by the time they are 85 and is often treated with drugs, therapy and sometimes surgery. According to a new study, however, acupuncture could be a viable option to relieve symptoms as well.

Published in the journal of Acupuncture in Medicine, the study consisted of 90 older adults, with an average age of 71, who had osteoarthritis. Each participant’s diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis was the same: they were viable to have surgery as an option for correcting the situation.

The study consisted of having all the individuals receive weekly acupuncture treatments for one month, and then once every six weeks from that time forward. However, not all the participants received treatment for the same amount of time. After a year had gone by, 41 of them continued to receive it and by the time two years had passed, it decreased to 31. Regardless, what British researchers found was that consistent acupuncture, after one month, appeared to decrease pain and stiffness that comes with osteoarthritis. 

So, what causes this healing affect to occur?  Experts still aren’t entirely sure, writes The Post. According to Theories on the Effects of Acupuncture on the Nervous System, although no singular theory has been successful in entirely proving or discovering the intrinsic significance of acupuncture on the nervous system, it is generally accepted that the effects of acupuncture on the body involves the release of opioid peptides in the body.

Opioid peptides? That’s a mouth full! Opioid peptides are thought to be closely involved with the perception of pain in the central nervous system. They are comprised of endorphins, enkephallins and dynorphins, types of neurotransmitters that are found in neurons throughout the body. So with all this medical jibber-jabber, what does this actually mean? The theory is as follows: 

Google Something... Anything

If you haven’t already heard it before, I will kindly remind you once again, using the Internet benefits your brain for the long haul. It’s actually been said that doing an Internet search stimulates aging brains even more than reading a book. Just ask Jean Carper, award-winning medical journalist and the author of 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s.

Carper’s research lead her to Gary Small, MD, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, who said, “Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.” See? I told you so. Small, using MRI scans, measured the intensity of activity in the brains of middle-aged and older adults while they searched something on the Internet. 

He discovered that activity picks up dramatically in the brains of experienced surfers – mainly in regions related to decision-making and complex reasoning, which are not stimulated simply by reading. And, as an added bonus, the MRIs showed that the more frequent Internet user had twice as much brain activity than beginners.

What’s even more jaw dropping? “Small found that people ages 55 to 78 who rarely used the Internet previously were able to trigger these key centers in the brain after only one week of surfing the Web for an hour each day.” One reason as to why perusing the Web may be so beneficial, is because of the multiple decisions you are forced to make with the click of your mouse to get to the root of the information you are looking for. With this constant decision making process, we engage important cognitive circuits in our brain, giving ourselves a mental workout!

Mental exercise, like physical exercise, appears to strengthen your brain’s resistance to mental decline and Alzheimer’s, writes Carper. And our world is full of technology that encourages us to do this without realizing it because it’s fun, engaging and you can challenge yourself without breaking a sweat!

A great way to stimulate your brain is to play quick “brain games” that can be found online, such as Posit Science. Here, they offer the 60-Second Brain Game, the Brain Speed Test, the Word List Recall and more. Posit Science not only offers a Total Training Package, but also offers Brain Training products that focus on enhancing different parts of your brain, such as auditory or visual.

Does this peak your interest? Want to check it out? Well SERC is more than happy to announce that you can experience it in person! Come out and participate in our free eight-week computer-based brain-training program at the Iroquois Branch of the Oakville Public Library. For more information as to how you can join please click on our flyer below. More locations to be announced soon!

And remember, it’s never too late to start browsing the web – happy surfing!

Cocoa: Enriching Lives

Tweet

Image provided by Google

Who knew that the sweet ingredient we find in chocolate is the same element that may also be good for cognitive function in the aging adult. Cocoa, that sweet, delicious piece that completes chocolate recipes, is currently being recognized as a source that could improve cognitive function for individuals with early memory decline.

According to a study conducted by Giovambattista Desideri of the University of L’Aquila in Italy and colleagues, and funded by Mars, Incorporated, researchers reported that elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who consumed high or moderate levels of dietary cocoa flavanols for two months had significant improvements on certain cognitive assessment tests, reports medpage Today.

Flavanols are a group of natural compounds that are found abundant in cocoa. Previous studies have suggested that eating flavanols presents cardiovascular benefits. Catherine Kwik-Uribe, a study author and R&D Director at Mars Botanical, said, “The results of this latest research build on these earlier findings and provide promising indication that diets that contain cocoa flavanols may offer significant benefits as we age.” 

It’s been estimated that up to 20 per cent of adults aged 65 or older have a form of mild cognitive impairment, and recent evidence indicates that more than six per cent of adults aged 70-89 develop the condition each year, reports Mars, Inc. 

Desideri and colleagues assessed 90 older adults with MCI who were randomized to drink varying levels – high, intermediate and low – of a dairy-based cocoa per day for 8 weeks. The research team assessed the varying levels of cognitive function using standard tests that examined various aspects of memory, cognitive processing speed, executive function, as well as global cognition. 

As a result, they found that tests that examined the processing speed, working memory and executive function were significantly improved after two months of regular consumption. Test times completed by the participants after the eight-week study were reduced up to 30 per cent. In addition, scores on the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), which is commonly used as a measure of executive function and language, were also significantly better. 

These findings, recently published in the online journal Hypertension, have stressed that due to the short-term duration of these studies, this has not yet been proven to be a consistent cognitive benefit, but shows (positive) signs as to the effects dietary cocoa flavanols can have with daily intake. 

While researchers continue their studies on cocoa, it can’t hurt to get a jump on your flavanol intake. We aren’t suggesting you run around going on a chocolate binge, because that isn’t healthy. But flavanols can also be found in tea, apples and grapes, and indulging in any of these three products once a day can’t hurt. At least now I’m not feeling so bad about that brownie I ate at lunch…

Solve Retirement Conundrums: Ask Questions

Tweet

Photo provided by Huffington Post

The other night, I sat at the dinner table with family and friends of all ages. As the night wore on, light-hearted topics became serious discussions, and one stood out like a sore thumb. After we all agreed how nice it was to share the night with such good company, the table suddenly fell silent as Carol (name changed for privacy), in her 80s, piped up and said, “Yes, it’s a nice change because it’s lonely living by yourself… but I’m not ready to move into a retirement home.” 

It’s been two years since Carol’s husband passed away. Her children visit her frequently, and try to include her in as many family activities as possible. Blessed with a great-grandchild a year ago, her social circles have expanded a little, but not to a great extent. As we sat around the table, a little stunned at the comment, Carol’s daughter-in-law gently pointed out that there is no rush to move into a retirement home, but should the day come that she is ready, they offer a lot more social gatherings than many people think. 

Carol agreed wholeheartedly with her daughter-in-law, admitting that retirement homes probably offer a great deal, but expressed concern over being ‘put’ into the ‘wrong’ kind of home, or not liking the place she might end up. As I sat there listening and watching Carol’s reaction, I began to wonder how many other individuals are confronted with these conflicting emotions? When is it considered the “right” time to move into an age-segregated community? Who would benefit from it and who wouldn’t?

Well, no sooner had I started asking these questions myself, I then stumbled upon a Huffington Post article, Retirement Communities: The 7 Things You Should Ask. According to the Post, “the idea that if you’ve seen one retirement community, you’ve seen them all is far from the truth.” And this is true! One of our recent posts, What’s your niche?, focused on the development of many different kinds of retirement homes that cater to individual interests. Therefore, becoming engaged in the social atmosphere is easier when you know that the majority of the residents living in a “themed” retirement community share the same interests.  

So, where to start? SERC wants to encourage you to explore your options and really make sure that you understand them. Instead of assuming the worst in retirement communities, its best to understand what they have to offer and how you can find the most rewarding experience that fits you. Retirement isn’t the end, only a new beginning.

Below we’ve copied the seven questions and answers, provided by HuffPost50, to start your research and help you on your journey (if you so choose) today!

Improve Your Quality of Life

Tweet

Exercise. Ex-er-cise. Ex-errrr-ciiisssee. Out of breath yet? Sometimes, just thinking about being active is mentally exhausting. Why? Because follow-up questions tend to trail behind the statement, “I think I should do some exercise.” But what will you do? Drive to the gym and jump on the elliptical? Brush the dust off of the treadmill in your basement and hope that it still starts up? Maybe search for a personal trainer?  We try to think of all these “extreme” measures that we believe will get us to our peak physical condition. But in reality, it’s the simplest tasks that can benefit our health the most.

And what would that be, you may wonder? Walking. What could help motivate you? A pedometer.

Yes, a pedometer. According to a new study that was completed by Gregory Kolt, head of the School of Science and Health at the University of Western Sydney in Penrith, Australia, 300 New Zealand seniors found that weekly walking times nearly doubled when they wore the devices, reports Florida Today. 

The study tracked the walking rates for over a year of relatively non-active people aged 65 or older. Randomly separated into two groups, one received the pedometers to track their step-by-step movements, while the other did not. They were then asked to follow New Zealand’s “Green Prescription” for physical activity – an initiative aimed at getting people to engage of at least 30 minutes of moderate activity a day.     

As a result, researchers found that those who wore the devices almost doubled their average weekly workout time, about 50 minutes per week, while older adults who were without remained at an average of 28 minutes. As a bonus, both groups experienced significant improvements in their blood pressure. 

So why would the pedometers help to increase their activity levels? Well, according to Kolt, “wearing the device allows users to see how much physical activity they are accumulating through their general daily routines, upping the odds that they will stay with the routine.” And the best part is that pedometer’s are affordable devices that can easily be obtained.    

So, I dare you to take the challenge. See how far you can go in a day, and then push yourself to walk further than you did the day before. All you can do is benefit from it and improve your quality of life.  It’s a win-win situation.      

(Motivation) Don’t believe the study? Then check out the 9 minute video below: “23 and ½ Hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?” by Dr. Mike Evans, a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto. It certainly got me moving!