Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8hOyKg_vd/

Lead-in by Gary LaPierre

Dr. Smith reviews studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of bladder training and pelvic floor exercises for women’s incontinence problems.

#incontinence #bladder #pelvicfloor #kegel #bladderexercises #wbznewsradio

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8gUeUgITo/

Meditation is designed to relax you, but a new study from University College London finds that one in every four persons who regularly meditates experiences a decidedly unpleasant experience on a regular basis. The investigators surveyed more than 1200 persons who had regularly meditated for at least 2 months.

The unpleasant experiences included anxiety, fear, distorted emotions or thoughts, and an altered sense of self or the world.  Those most likely to have negative meditation experiences were those subjects who had been at a meditation retreat, those practicing deconstructive meditation, and those without deep religious beliefs.  Bad meditation trips were slightly more likely for men than women.

Meditation can have very positive effects.  Just be aware, though, that it may trigger negative sensations so buyer beware!

Marco Schlosser, Terje Sparby, Sebastjan Vörös, Rebecca Jones, Natalie L. Marchant. Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations. PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (5): e0216643 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216643

#meditation #relaxation #anxiety #retreats

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8fg6Dg0AS/

The myth that falling asleep to the TV is good for children is now dispelled by a study from the University of ‘Massachusetts-Amherst.  Developmental specialists and neuroscientists there studied some 470 preschoolers and their parents using electronic sleep monitoring and questionnaires for behavioral assessment.

Thirty-four percent of the kids had TVs in their bedrooms, and those children slept 17 fewer minutes per 24 hours than those without bedroom TVs.  They tended to require longer daytime naps and spent an average of 12 minutes more asleep during the day.

TV viewing during the day also had effects on sleep patterns.  The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend limiting TV viewing for 2 to 4 year olds to one hour of high quality, educational programming a day, and the viewing should occur with a parent if possible.  

The study showed that only 46% of kids had viewing habits that met these guidelines. Those children whose daily TV screen time did meet guidelines and amounted to less than one hour a day were found to clock 22 more minutes of nighttime sleep.

Like any other children’s activity, screen time should be thoughtfully planned and carefully monitored.  As always, moderation is the best policy.

Abigail F. Helm, Rebecca M.C. Spencer. Television use and its effects on sleep in early childhood. Sleep Health, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2019.02.009

#TVtime #sleep #screentime #parenting

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8dw9Ygjaj/

First we had tennis elbow, more recently football CTE dementia, and now we have golfer’s wrenched back.  The latest study in the Joural of Neurosurgery:Spine sounds an alarm for golfers to ease up on their swings a bit.

Over the past 40 years, competitive pressure has driven the golf swing to become more and more powerful.  Golfers now seek strength training to turbocharge their swings, but they should also be seeking defensive coaching to prevent their swings from crippling them.

During a powerful downswing, dangerous compressive forces target the spinal discs and verterbal joints.  Since a golfer swings those clubs more than 300 times during an average round, repeated micro trauma to spine structures leads to repetitive traumatic discopathy or RTD, likely the injury suffered by Tiger Woods.

If you golf, do seek a professional analysis of your swing.  With proper training, you can play low handicap golf without breaking your back by developing RTD.

Walker CT, Uribe JS, Porter RW. Golf: a contact sport. Repetitive traumatic discopathy may be the driver of early lumbar degeneration in modern-era golfers. J Neurosurg Spine, 2019

#golf #discopathy #spinaldisc #ruptureddisc #twistinjury #healthnews #healthtips

Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8crYzgz37/

Looking for a little warmth this winter.  Finnish and British scientists urge you to spend some time in the sauna and not only warm up but enjoy substantial health benefits.

Their report in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings demonstrates that regular sauna use reduces your blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, improves lung function, energizes your immune system, helps control skin problems and arthritis, reduces headache, relaxes you, and improves your overall quality of life.

During these dark days of winter, seek out a nice cozy sauna, and visit it often.  A surprisingly large number of health clubs have them.

Jari A. Laukkanen, Tanjaniina Laukkanen, Setor K. Kunutsor. Cardiovascular and Other Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing: A Review of the Evidence. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2018; 93 (8): 1111 DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.04.008

#sauna #warmth #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #immunity #lungfunction #arthritis #headache #relaxation #healthnews #healthtips

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8bgX5gerM/

Ninety percent of video gamers are not addicted to the sport.  This conclusion stems from a Brigham Young University study of 385 teens over a 6 year period.

Those who were obsessed with gaming, pursing the sport to the detriment of healthy functioning, had a definite profile.  The vidicts I’ll call them tended to be male with higher than average levels of depression, aggression, and shyness.  Their obsessive behavior spilled over into cell phone use.

Is there light at the end of adolescence?  Yes!  Once in their twenties, almost all he pathological video gamers tended to be self-supporting and not living in their parents’ basements.

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fdev0000939

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200513143803.htm

#videogaming #addiction #adolescence

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8adkhAJwQ/

Does tapping, humming, slurping, and loud chewing drive you nuts?  You may have misophonia that is a real disorder with real differences in your brain wiring.

For years, many professionals doubted  the existence of this problem.   Then, after study by groups in Australia and the UK over the past decade, the annoyance by repetitive sounds has been found to be associated with changes in heart rate, skin conductivity, and neuronal activity in the brain’s frontal lobe and anterior insular cortex.  A few with this problem even develop heightened anger and a propensity for violence.

There is no cure, but knowledge is power.  Mindfulness and self-hypnosis may help.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31530-5

#misophonia #repetitivenoise #tapping #humming #chewing

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq7YOoiruyt/

Cornell neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Mosconi has identified brain and body differences between the two genders.  Parade magazine encapsulated her findings this past weekend.

Women:

Men:

Know your risks and improve your chances.

https://parade.com/1121927/paulaspencer/how-mens-womens-brains-different/

#health #men #women

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq7XWqlL6PJ/

Brain tissue exposed to explosive shockwaves suffer a 60-80% decline in proteins necessary to maintain working connections and information flow between brain cells.  Neuroscientists at the University of North Carolina collaborated with colleagues at the US Army Research Laboratory to test the effects of select battle shockwave trauma on hippocampal brain tissues kept alive in tissue culture.

The investigators propose that these types of combat blast exposures not only interrupt vital information flow within the brain, but they also lead to degenerative changes characteristic of pre-dementia including pre-Alzheimer’s.  These finding correlate with clinical findings in blast-exposed soldiers who demonstrate confusion, cognitive deficits, and memory loss.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bpa.12936

#explosion #military #ptsd #dementia #alzheimers

Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq7WeOvvKLG/

Consuming foods rich in the monosaturated fat oleic acid could prevent the autoimmune attack on your central nervous system that triggers MS.  This the conclusion of a Yale University study.

The immunobiologists found that fat tissues of MS patients were deficient in oleic acid.  When they added it back to the fat in the test tube, they found it triggered an increase in regulatory T cells.  These cells are necessary to prevent the type of damaging autoimmune reactions that are characteristic of MS.

We don’t have proof that consuming oleic acid will prevent MS.  Just know that this fatty acid is found in beef, chicken, pork, cheese, nuts, eggs, milk, pasta, olives, and avocados.

https://www.jci.org/articles/view/138519

#ms #multiplesclerosis #oleicacid #autoimmunity