Health Tip for the week of August 1st- Exercising with arthritis.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Regular exercise therapy can reduce the pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, according to a report published in the July issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Investigators led by Dr. Margriet van Baar of the Netherlands Institute of Primary Health Care in Utrecht, the Netherlands, reviewed the results of six studies that focused on the effects of exercise in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. "Exercises included aerobic exercises or resistance (i.e. weight-training) exercises,'' according to van Baar and colleagues.

They reported significant "beneficial effects'' from exercise therapy, including improvements in self-reported pain, disability, walking ability, and overall sense of well-being. Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee appeared to derive more benefit from exercise than those affected by osteoarthritis of the hip.
SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism 1999;42:1361-1369.

Health Tip for the week of August 8th- Work days lost to headaches.
In a study of 8,000 headache suffers, tension headaches cause 1.5 days lost workdays each year.  While migraine headaches cause 8.1 days of lost work time per year.  Meanwhile, 6.5 workdays were lost each year from all other headaches.

Most people are concerned about sickness effecting lost workdays, while something as common as headaches cause many lost work days, totaling more than $1 million in lost wages and productivity.  Studies continually show that Chiropractic helps relieve headache pain and symptoms.
SOURCE: Journal of Occupation and Environmental Medicine  1997;39:320-327.

Health Tip for the week of August 15th- Painful blisters.
Do your feet suffer from blisters whenever you go hiking or play sports?  Try a little antiperspirant.  According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, those who applied antiperspirant to their feet for three consecutive nights before a long hike had significantly fewer blisters than those who used a placebo.

Apply a regular strength anti-perspirant to see if it helps you cut back on blisters, which are caused when socks or shoes rub against moist skin.  Also, remember to change your socks if your feet feel damp and consider wearing socks made from polypropylene, which draws moisture away from the skin.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Health Tip for the week of August 22nd- Fat-Free food.
Companies know how important it is to have fat-free food products available for their consumers, so sometimes they will modify the food just so the can put the famous "Fat-Free" label on their product.  So how does one know if the food is actually fat-free?  Your best defense is to read the label.

Companies are very good at altering their foods.  Most fat in foods is made of "Triglycerides," 3 fatty acids all connected together that your body uses to make fat.  However, companies have figured out that if they break up these little triglycerides into two parts, they make little compounds that have 2 fatty acids on it and another that has 1 on it.

They then put these compounds in the food and since they are not actually fat, it is legal for them to label the food "Fat-Free."  Although, when you eat the food, your body takes the 2 broken up compounds, puts them back together, and makes them a triglyceride again!

So what you need to look for on labels under the "Ingredients" is two things called "mono and diglycerides."  The diary companies are the biggest culprits that do this little trick.  Some foods they do this to are: fat-free ice cream, fat-free sour cream, some fat-free sherbets and many more.
SOURCE: Dr. Linda Bowers, BS, MT, DC, DABCO, DABCI, DACBN, DACAN

Health Tip for the week of August 29th- Folic Acid.
Experts believe that folic acid -- a B vitamin found in green, leafy vegetables, orange juice, beans and fortified grains -- reduces risk for heart disease by lowering blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine.

The Dutch researchers gave a group of patients either (an inactive) placebo or 5 milligrams of folic acid daily for 4 weeks.  Examination of the subject's cardiovascular function revealed that folic acid supplementation improved the ability of blood vessels to dilate.

When blood vessels are flexible -- contracting or expanding in volume as needed -- risks for high blood pressure and clots may be reduced.  This restoration of vessel responsiveness is especially important in patients with high cholesterol, who are at increased risk for narrowed arteries and dangerous clots.
SOURCE: July 27th issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.