Don't stress out...it may affect your memory! In a study by researchers at McGill University, it showed the effects of glucocorticoids on human cognitive function in older adults, young adults and children.

Glucocorticoids are steroid hormones your adrenal glands release in response to stress. Although these hormones help regulate metabolism, blood pressure, and cardiovascular function, they may depress immunity. Several studies also reveal that both long- and short-term exposure to elevated levels of these stress hormones impairs memory and cognitive processing in children and adults. Chronically high levels of stress hormones in older adults may also shrink the hippocampus, a brain area involved in emotion and memory, by up to 14 percent, research suggests.
- posted by Jen's Journal @ 10:36 AM

 
Lymphatic drainage is a massage technique that focuses on the lymphatic system, which is primarily made of the lymph vessels and nodes. The lymphatic system works in direct conjunction with the circulatory and digestive systems to rid the body of toxins and disease. Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system does not have a muscle (the heart) to circulate its flow. The lymphatic system depends on muscular contractions to circulate and cleanse its system. Lymphatic drainage is a very subtle and gentle massage. It does detoxify the body, and should be used with caution and a warning to the client. Occasionally, it will help toxins reenter the blood flow and intestinal track and will make a client feel worse before they feel better. It should also be used with caution on clients that have a compromised lymph system such as cancer patients. Several cancer organizations recommend that therapists that practice on clients with a history of cancer have a minimum of 132 hours of training in lymphatic massage. I have 18 hours.

I usually recommend lymphatic drainage in small doses, in additional to some Swedish massage techniques (which also moves lymph), to clients who are having chronic sinus problems, bronchitis, or other recent illnesses that may be still lingering in their bodies. Many times, those same clients have cut back on or eliminated exercise, another primary method of lymph drainage, from their day-to-day lives because they aren’t feeling well.
- posted by Jen's Journal @ 1:54 PM

 
Here's a great new magazine to consider reading. A friend of mine writing an article for the May 2005 issue about using Feng Shui to plan (and plant) gardens to bring great energy to the outside of your home. The articles are online for your pleasure. Enjoy!
- posted by Jen's Journal @ 8:51 PM

 
Feeling guilty? Don't feel bad — that could be detrimental to your health! A recent study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that feelings of self-blame may lead to an increase in inflammatory action in the body, which can have an adverse affect on everything from the skin's ability to heal itself to autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.

In the study, healthy participants were randomly assigned to write about traumatic experiences in which they blamed themselves or neutral experiences during three 20-minute experimental laboratory sessions over 1 week. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor levels, an indicator of proinflammatory activity, beta2-microglobulin, cortisol (all obtained from oral fluids), and emotion were assessed prewriting and postwriting. The participants in the self-blame group showed an increase in shame and guilt as well as an increase in proinflammatory activity when compared with those in the neutral group. Cortisol and beta2-microglobulin levels seemed unaffected by the exercise. Those individuals in the self-blame group reporting the greatest feeling of shame also showed the greatest elevations in proinflammatory cytokine activity, while levels of guilt and general negative emotion were unrelated to cytokine changes. Conclusion: This data suggests that inducing self-related feelings can cause changes in inflammatory products, and that shame may have specific negative immunological effects.
- posted by Jen's Journal @ 9:35 AM

 
Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common yet relatively newly-recognized musculoskeletal problem that recently has been the subject of many studies and reviews. Fibromyalgia is characterized by muscle tautness and muscle stiffness, accompanied by well- defined and amply described tender/trigger points, fatigue, anxiety and non-restorative sleep. There is some indication that fibromyalgia may have some ties to other autoimmune diseases.

Three major types of fibromyalgia exist. The first type, idiopathic or primary fibromyalgia, occurs for unknown reasons, but is aggravated by such factors as overuse, stress, poor sleep, weather changes, etc. No other medical problem is recognized in patients with primary fibromyalgia.

In contrast, the second type, secondary or concomitant fibromyalgia, occurs in patients with well- recognized medical problems, usually chronic in nature.

The third type of fibromyalgia, and the variety about which this paper is concerned, is called post- traumatic fibromyaliga. It occurs in the setting of an acute injury, after which signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia appear.

Studies have shown that many patients find relief in complementary and alternative modalities such as massage, acupressure, ultrasound, hot packs, "spray and stretch" treatments, and aerobic conditioning.



- posted by Jen's Journal @ 2:39 PM

 
Chronic back pain can shrink the gray matter in your brain by as much as 11 percent in one year, the same amount of brain density that's lost in 10 to 20 years of normal aging, according to a Northwestern University study, published in the Nov. 23, 2004 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience .The researchers found that every year of chronic pain results in a loss of 1.3 cubic centimeters of gray matter, the part of your brain that processes memory and information.
Researchers used MRIs and other analytic methods to compare brain images of 26 people with chronic back pain and 26 healthy people. All of the people with back pain had suffered unrelenting pain for more than a year. "Given that, by definition, chronic pain is a state of continuous persistent perception with associated negative affect and stress, one mechanistic explanation for the decreased gray matter is overuse atrophy caused by excitotoxic and inflammatory mechanisms," lead researcher A. Vania Apkarian, an associate professor of physiology, said in a prepared statement.

He and his colleagues said it's possible that some of the gray matter shrinkage in people with chronic back pain occurs without substantial loss of neurons. That suggest that proper treatment could reverse at least some of the gray matter loss. It's estimated that approximately 25 percent of Americans experience back pain, and a quarter of those people suffer chronic and unrelenting back pain.

- posted by Jen's Journal @ 9:01 AM

 

The piriformis is one of the small muscles deep under the gluteal muscles that rotates the leg outwards. It runs from the sacrum or base of the spine and attaches to the outside of thigh bone or femur in the hip socket. The sciatic nerve usually drapes over this muscle, but in approximately 30% of the population it runs through the piriformis muscle. If the piriformis muscle becomes tight or has a trigger point, it can put pressure on the sciatic nerve and cause sciatica, or pain, which radiates down the back of the leg.

A common cause of piriformis syndrome is having tight adductor muscles. These are the muscles on the inside of the thigh that "add" or move the leg back to the midline of the body. Adductor muscles are the antagonistic muscles to the gluteus medius muscle. The gluteus medius muscle is one of the gluteal muscles and the primary muscle responsible for hip abduction or pulling the leg away from the body's midline. The hip adductor muscles are the antagonists to the gluteus medius. The synergist muscles of the gluteus medius, or muscles that help, are the psoas, piriformis, TLF, quadratus lumborum and rectus femoris. When adductor muscles are tight or contain trigger points, the gluteus medius and the other muscles that help abduct the leg, including the piriformis, cannot move through their full range of motion and length. The reverse is also true....tight abductor muscles can make for adductor problems.

- posted by Jen's Journal @ 3:09 PM