Health Pulse Low back pain? Try this first Back pain has hobbled our species ‒ and confounded the medical profession—since humans first got up on two legs. In a refreshing departure from the pill-centric approach, the 2017 American College of Physicians (ACP) clinical guidelines encourage patients with chronic lower-back pain to consider these non-drug options first: • Physical activity, including strength and co-ordination exercises and mind-body activities such as tai chi and yoga • Mindfulness-based stress reduction • Acupuncture • Biofeedback (reducing muscle tension through feedback from sensors placed on the skin) • Low-level laser therapy • Spinal manipulation • Psychological therapies Only if suchmeasures fail to offer relief do the guidelines recommend anti-inflammatory drugs or muscle relaxants ‒ or, as a last resort, the antidepressant duloxetine or the weak opioid tramadol. And don’t just take orders from your doctor: a 2017 analysis found that active involvement in your care can significantly decrease the intensity of your lower-back pain. Sources: www.healthafter50.com What’s that word again? Seafood may help you remember Your momwas right after all: fish isbrain food. A 2016 study published in Neurology showed that eating seafood protects against loss of some types of thought processes. Among the 915 elderly men and women in the study, those who ate more seafood retained more semantic memory ‒ long-termmemory related to ideas and meanings ‒ and perceptual speed than those who ate less. What’s more, regular seafood consumption slowed overall cognitive decline in those subjects who carried the APOE4 gene, a gene predisposing people to Alzheimer’s disease. These results led study investigators to recommend one meal of seafood per week. With all the tuna melts and fish tacos on today’s menus, that shouldn’t be too difficult. Sources: www.healthafter50.com All the rage That’s the title of a 2017 documentary based on the work of Dr. John Sarno, who believed that most back pain stems from unexpressed emotions and who wrote several books on the subject. Through interviews with Dr. Sarno, other experts and his passionately devoted patients, the movie turns the treatment of chronic pain, well, on its back. alltheragedoc.com Where heart meets mind You may have heard about the Mediterranean and DASH diets ‒ eating plans designed to preserve heart health. Both plans favour foods low in saturated fats and cholesterol, and DASH places an added emphasis on curbing salt consumption. As it happens, a hybrid of the two regimens may do more than preserve your heart ‒ it may also protect your brain. Two large studies have found that an eating plan dubbedMIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) can keep brains working better for a longer time. In the first study, seniors who followed the MIND plan were 35% less likely to perform poorly on brain function tests. Even among those who didn’t fully stick to the plan, the odds of a poor performance dropped by 18-24%. In the second study, which involved older women, those who closely followed the MIND guidelines had a 34% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who ignored them. These results make sense, given that the brain uses 20% of the heart’s output for getting oxygen and glucose. A strong pump helps the brain sustain its normal function, while a weaker one curtails the brain’s food supply. A heart-healthy diet also safeguards the blood vessels inside the brain, thus lowering the odds of micro-strokes and other brain stressors. In a nutshell, what’s good for the heart may also be good for the brain. That’s something to remember the next time you’re standing in front of aisle six, trying to decide between the deep-fried potato chips and the low-salt, kettle-baked variety. Sources: www.webmd.com/alzheimers CSANews | FALL 2017 | 37
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