The spine can be thought of as a mechanical device that needs proper care and maintenance. The better you care for your spine, the longer it will operate without problems. However, it will wear out faster if neglected.

As we age, we all develop some degree of spinal degeneration – it is unavoidable. However, some people have more or fewer symptoms, depending on individual variation, genetics, overall health status and concurrent health issues. As the population ages, spinal degeneration and its complications will become a bigger and bigger problem, causing greater disability. The need for expert care for the spine as we get older will only grow.

Each stage of spinal degeneration has certain characteristics most patients can see and understand. These stages are explained below.

Spinal Degeneration – Stage I
Spinal degeneration begins with changes that occur inside the intervertebral disc. These changes include a loss of disc volume due to fluid loss. If there are concurrent diseases involved in the degeneration, it may progress faster than when only age-related. Either way, degeneration at this stage may or may not cause symptoms, but can lead to pain, spinal stenosis and joint problems. Physical changes include a loss of disc height, mild approximation of spinal joins and spinal segment dysfunction.

Stage II
Stage II involves the loss of normal curvature of the spine, as revealed through bone scans. The space between discs narrows moderately to severely, and discs may bulge from between the bones. Joint surfaces become rougher and bone spurs may appear at the spinal joints. There may be notable dysfunction of spinal segments, resulting in instability.

Stage III
Stage III can involve significant losses of normal spinal curvature. The discs degenerate profoundly and the space between discs narrows even further. The discs herniate and bone spurs are common. This stage may be associated with spinal stenosis, or a narrowing of the spinal column, which can create pressure on the spinal cord. Segment dysfunction progresses and may lead to degenerative fusion, also known as ankylosis, in which spinal vertebrae cement together.

Chiropractors are experts in evaluation and care of the spine. They are qualified to provide appropriate preventive care and treatment to help restore and maintain normal spinal alignment and functioning. While some degree of spinal degeneration cannot be avoided as we age, regular and proper chiropractic care can slow the progress of the process, prevent new problems from appearing and provide symptom relief.

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Flying presents many health challenges to frequent fliers. The overall stress, the lack of a consistent healthy diet, the extended periods of sitting, the effects of cabin air and the discombobulation of jet lag, all take their toll on the frequent flier.

To deal with the ever-present stress of flying, avoid the chemical (medication, alcohol, etc.) and aim for more spiritual/physical, such as meditation or deep relaxation. Although some airports offer lounges for frequent fliers, sometimes the best option is a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and a meditation tape.

Medical reports have shown that long periods of sitting are significantly detrimental to health and there have been cases where long-haul flights have caused fatal instances of deep-vein thrombosis due to prolonged sitting. Frequent fliers are well advised to stretch regularly, either by getting up and walking the isles or by performing in-seat stretches. These can include neck stretching (tilting ear to shoulder and slowly rolling the head forward and down towards the other ear), back stretching (holding the armrests while twisting the chest to the left and right) and shoulder/arm stretching (placing the palm of the right hand at the nape of the neck, holding the right elbow with the left hand with the left elbow facing upwards and pulling the right elbow gently to the left, and then repeat the procedure on the other side).

A balanced regular diet is essential for health, regardless of occupation, but can be a challenge in airports due to the demands of boarding times and the temptations of fast food. Avoid processed and packaged foods, opting instead for fresh fruit that can easily be brought onboard. Whenever possible, eat at airport establishments that offer freshly cooked meals with fresh ingredients.

Hydration is very important when flying since cabin air is often exceptionally dry. Drink lots of water even though this might increase your number of trips to the toilet. Think of your trips to the toilet as a plus as it gets you out of seat and gives you another chance to stretch. Avoid in-flight alcohol and caffeinated drinks, as these will exacerbate your dehydration. Do not use the tap water from aircraft restrooms, as these are not meant to be potable.

Jet lag requires preparation and post-flight management in order to minimize its effects. For those fliers who will be returning to their point of departure in a short time, maintaining the same sleeping schedule (as much as possible) is highly recommended. For those staying in the destination’s time zone for longer than a day or so, adapting to the new time zone early by using a light box can significantly improve recovery from jet lag. Avoiding alcohol and caffeine, which alter sleeping patterns, can help to reduce jet lag. Switch to the new time zone immediately on arrival and avoid thinking about the time back home.

As a frequent flier, be sure to treat yourself to any airport facilities that help reduce stress and care for the body in healthy ways (massages, quiet rooms, etc.) and avoid those that provide only short-term pain relief.

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Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are eating disorders that affect an estimated 8 million Americans, mostly women, though about 10% of those who have an eating disorder are men.

Anorexics have an irrational fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image. They refuse to maintain a healthy body weight and are obsessed with thoughts of food, dieting and how their body looks, to the exclusion of other things, such as interaction with friends and family or the pursuit of hobbies.

Some signs of anorexia are:
1) Dieting despite being underweight – Anorexics follow diets that severely restrict caloric intake. They may eat only certain low-calorie foods, refusing anything they consider a “bad” food, such as fats and carbohydrates.
2) Obsession with calories, nutrition and grams of fat – They will measure the nutritional content of every morsel they put in their mouth and will obsessively read the nutrition label on each item they buy in the supermarket, rejecting anything with too many calories. They are likely to read every diet book they can find and may keep a food diary listing everything eaten throughout the day.
3) Lying about eating – Anorexics may say they have eaten when they haven’t, and will make excuses for getting out of mealtimes. They may feign illness, hide food or throw it away to keep from eating.
4) Obsession with body image – Despite being severely underweight, they may see themselves as fat, weighing themselves constantly and denying that they are too thin. They may cover up with baggy clothes so their thinness doesn’t show. Rapid, drastic weight loss is another sign of anorexia.

Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by regular cycles of binging and purging. The person suffering from bulimia will binge on food, consuming up to 5,000 calories in an hour, then will feel guilty and do all they can to purge the excessive calories by inducing vomiting, using laxatives or exercising fanatically.

Some signs of bulimia are:
1) Lack of control over eating – Bulimics are not able to stop eating, consuming food to the point of stomach pain.
2) Large amounts of food disappearing – Food may disappear mysteriously from the person’s refrigerator, with no appreciable sign of weight gain. They may keep stashes of food hidden away for when they want to secretly binge.
3) Going to the bathroom after eating – immediately after a meal they may go to the bathroom to vomit, possibly covering the sounds by running water in the sink.
4) Vomit smell – either in the bathroom after a meal, or on their person, someone with bulimia may try to cover it up with air freshener or by using mouthwash or breath mints.
5) Regular use of laxatives or exercise – they may use diet pills, diuretics or laxatives after eating, or do a lot of calorie-burning exercise immediately after a meal.

Anorexia and bulimia can cause serious, long-lasting damage to health, so getting treatment for it is important. Of all mental illnesses, these are the ones with the highest rates of mortality, so if you suspect that you or anyone you know may have these illnesses, see a mental health professional as soon as possible.

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Degenerative disc disease is misnomer, because it’s not really a disease. It is a term that refers to the normal changes in the spine as we age. In particular, it refers to the deterioration of our spinal discs, which are the soft, cushiony discs between our bony vertebrae.

Spinal discs are like shock absorbers, in that they separate the bones and allow the spine to bend, twist, and flex. Degenerative disc disease usually occurs in the lumbar region of the spine (lower back) and the cervical region (neck). It results in

1. The breakdown of cartilage, also known as osteoarthritis
2. The bulging of discs, also known as disc herniation, and
3. The narrowing of the spinal canal, also known as spinal stenosis.

These conditions can lead to pain and nerve problems, due to pressure on the nerves and spinal cord.

The cause of degenerative disc disease is aging. Aging leads to a loss of fluid in the discs, making them more brittle and less flexible. They also become thinner, which brings the vertebrae closer together. In addition, small cracks or tears in the discs may cause leakage of the jellylike material inside. This causes bulging, breaking, or fragmenting of the discs.

Degenerative disc disease does not affect everyone the same way and at the same rate. It is usually worse among smokers and those who do heavy physical labor that taxes the spine. People who are overweight and obese tend to have worse symptoms as well. A sudden injury can also initiate the process of deterioration.

When the discs between the vertebrae get thinner, there is less cushion for the spine and it loses stability. In response, the body generates bone spurs, also known as osteophytes, which can cause pain due to pressure on the spinal nerves. The pain may be felt in the back or the neck, depending on the person and the location of the degeneration. Discs that are affected in the neck region can lead to pain in the arms or neck, while affected discs in the lumbar or lower region can lead to leg, back, or buttock pain.

Your doctor or chiropractor can diagnose degenerative disc disease through the use of a physical examination and a medical history. He or she will look for areas of tenderness, range of motion, pain, numbness, reflexes, and any additional conditions such as fractures or infections. Imaging tests are not particularly useful for degenerative disc disease. Treatment usually includes ice or heat, anti-inflammatory medications, and rest. Stretches and physical therapy are often recommended.

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Water is the elixir of life, but do we get enough of it? Many people think that substituting sodas, coffee and juice for water is enough to keep us hydrated and healthy, but nothing can beat the original and the best – water.

Our bodies are made up of 43-75% water, and it’s an essential component of our health. The wide range in percentages comes from measuring different populations ranging from newborns (~75%) to obese people (~45%), with normal adult hydration at about 57-60%.

We can survive a month without food, but we’ll die after a week without water. The body is able to absorb many nutrients and salts better thanks to water’s ability to transport these nutrients and oxygen to our body’s cells and organs. Detoxifying is vitally important to our health, since it cleans our bodies of impurities. The best way to excrete these impurities is through urine and sweat – both of which depend on our water intake. Upping your water intake may help to reduce the risk of kidney stone formation. The kidneys filter our waste products through the blood and out via urination. If the concentration of salt in our urine is high, and our water content low, this increases the risk of kidney stone formation. By drinking more water, this concentration of salts is reduced.

We are at risk of sunstroke if our bodies become dehydrated. When we sweat, this cools our body down. If dehydrated, the body cannot sweat and overheats, which can damage the body’s internal organs.

If you suffer from high blood pressure, maybe it’s your water intake that is the problem. When our bodies excrete and lose more than the optimal amount of liquid, our blood vessels constrict, which can cause our blood pressure to increase. If blood pressure is increased by a deficiency in water, this may also increase the risk of heart disease. Because the constricted blood vessels cause an increase in blood pressure, the heart works harder to compensate for the reduced volume of blood. Lower blood pressure and greater consumption of water help lower stress on the heart.

What’s more, drinking more water can help you stay younger looking. Drinking a lot of water helps keep the skin clean and fresh-looking by removing impurities through sweating. Water also helps to keep the skin hydrated, which means younger looking skin – sagging and wrinkled skin is usually a sign of dehydration. Drinking water also cuts hunger pangs and acts as a good filler. Water has zero calories, so consider trading in your sugary drinks and juices to help control your weight.

If increasing your water intake seems like a chore, why not add lemon or mint to your bottle to make it taste better? Eat more fruits rich in water such as watermelon, and try to drink water more regularly over the course of the day. Having a glass of water or water bottle near you during the day has been shown to increase water consumption without effort.

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The effect of alcohol consumption on your health can be either positive or negative, depending on the amount you drink. Like most things, moderation is the key to getting the greatest benefits from alcohol. Those who drink moderately generally live longer and in better health than those who either abstain completely or drink heavily.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), moderate drinking lowers your risk of heart disease by 40 to 60 percent. And people who normally consume one or two drinks daily have the lowest rate of mortality, according to the Nutrition Committee of the American Heart Association. The mortality rates of those who have suffered a heart attack are 32 percent lower than those of abstainers. The moderate consumption of alcohol leads to a lower incidence of strokes and can reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and prostate problems.

A European study found greater arterial elasticity in volunteers who had a drink of beer, wine or spirits each day, compared to those who were abstainers. In another study of over 18,000 men from the Physicians Health Study, those who increased the number of drinks they consumed from one to six per week showed a 29 percent lower risk of contracting cardiovascular disease. This was also found to be useful to diabetics, who achieved a 58 percent reduction in heart disease risk by consuming an alcoholic drink every day.

Alcohol has been shown to increase your “good” HDL cholesterol while reducing your “bad” LDL cholesterol, in addition to decreasing clotting and increasing blood flow to your heart. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found the risk of stroke to be cut in half for those who take two alcoholic beverages per day.

A standard drink is considered to be one:

• 12-ounce bottle or can of beer
• 5-ounce glass of wine
• 1 1/2 ounce serving of distilled spirits (the equivalent of a shot glass)

“Moderate” drinking is considered to be the consumption of one to three alcoholic drinks per day, depending on your body size. Less than that provides only minimal health benefits and more than that leads to a number of health problems, including liver disease, cirrhosis, cancer, high blood pressure and depression. The over-consumption of alcohol is one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide, according to a study in The Lancet.

Of course, those who are pregnant, suffering from alcoholism or have adverse reactions to alcohol should abstain, as the benefits do not outweigh the risks. But for most healthy adults, moderate alcohol consumption will help them live longer and healthier lives.

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Gardening is hard work! It can put quite a strain on your muscles, especially those in your back. If you don’t garden regularly, be sure to start slowly and work your way up to longer gardening sessions. Here are some suggestions for making the most of your garden while treating your back with care.

First, be sure to warm up your back muscles with some stretching before you go out, particularly in colder weather. Gardening may involve significant reaching and twisting, so perform some of those moves gently indoors before heading out. Be sure to keep water nearby and to take breaks often. If you start to feel any pain, stop and rest. Otherwise, you risk injuring your back and making it impossible for you to do anything at all in your garden.

Garden Layout

• Use mulch on the surface of your garden and avoid leaving bare spots. This will reduce weeds and help the soil retain moisture, so you don’t have to water as often.
• Use raised flowerbeds, which are both attractive and help reduce the need to bend down. You can grow vines and other trailing plants around the edges.
• Make sure your flowerbeds are narrow enough that you don’t have to reach too far over them.

Plants

• Remember that slow-growing shrubs are less trouble to maintain than perennials or annuals.
• Use fruit trees grown on dwarf rootstocks. This will allow you to pick fruit at a reasonable height.
• Consider ground-covering plants to keep weeds under control. Weeding is hard on the back due to all the bending over.

Tools

• Use forks and trowels with long handles, and other tools with extenders to reduce your need to reach.
• Make sure your pruners and loppers are sharp and have ratchet systems. Cutting will be easier and there will be less strain on your back and shoulders.
• Get a holster for secateurs and attach it to your belt, so you don’t have to keep reaching down to pick them up.
• Avoid heavy watering cans for irrigation. If you use a can, only fill it half way.

How to reduce digging
If you spread compost and fertilizer or manure over a flowerbed surface in the late autumn, the soil has time to settle before spring planting. Worms will take organic matter into the soil and you won’t have to dig so much. This approach requires initial digging to level the soil and remove weeds, but over time you will be able to dig less and less. Many gardeners feel that this method is better than traditional “double digging” because it leaves the soil structure intact. Contact a specialist at your local gardening center for more details on this back-saving approach to gardening.

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Generic drugs are medications that include the same active ingredient at the same dosage as a brand-name drug. The US Food and Drug Administration requires that generic drugs have exactly the same pharmacological effects, dosage, intended use, administration route, side effects, safety, risks, and strength as the brand-name drug.

Some people worry that because the generic version costs so much less than the brand-name drug, that the quality or effectiveness of the medication might be compromised in order to save money. However, the generic versions cost less not because of cutting corners, but because the manufacturer has not had to pay for researching, developing, and marketing a new medication. The bulk of the expenses for drug manufacturers come from research, development, and promotion of the drug, and companies that develop new drugs are given a patent. The patent usually lasts for 7 years and allows them to sell the drug exclusively until it expires. When patents near expiration, other manufacturers can request permission to create and sell generic forms of the medication. Since they don’t have the startup expenses of development, they can sell the drug less expensively. In addition, competition between various companies who manufacture generic versions can drive the price even lower.

It is a myth that generic medications are made in inferior facilities or that they are poorer in quality to brand name medicines. The FDA also regulates the facilities that make medications and all must meet the same stringent standards. In fact, many manufacturers make both generic and brand-name drugs, so a lot of the generic versions you may use are created in exactly the same facility as the brand name drugs.

There is also no evidence that there are any differences in rates of side effects between generic and brand name products.

Finally, there is no truth to the idea that generic medicines take longer to work, because the FDA requires that both kinds of medications work as fast and as effectively as the original product. The company making the drug must demonstrate that its medication delivers equal amounts of active ingredient within the same time frame as the brand-name product. They also must demonstrate bioequivalence, or that the product performs in the same manner as the original. The reason that some of the tablets or capsules in generic versions look different from name brand version is that US trademark laws require them to have different colors, flavors, or inactive ingredients.

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