Overcoming Chronic Inflammation I

Inflammation is something everybody has experienced. It is a result of the immune system's response to an injury of some sort, and it plays an important role in your body. It protects you when you are injured, so it's not something you can do without. Strangely, though, it can also cause serious problems if it gets out of control. We refer to out-of-control inflammation as chronic inflammation, and as you will see, it is something you definitely don't want. It occurs when the inflammation response is triggered again and again, and you end up with  inflammation that is never cleared away properly -- in other words, too much inflammation.

Chronic inflammation has attracted a lot of attention recently because scientists have shown that it plays a role in relation of the initiation of  both heart disease and cancer, and several other diseases. The role that it plays in relation to heart disease has been well-documented. It's well known that in many cases it is responsible for the coronary blockage that causes a heart attack. Things are not quite as clear in the case of cancer, but it has been shown that various cells and chemicals involved in inflammation can create mutations within DNA that can eventually lead to cancer. Inflammation also plays a role in several other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, MS, lupus and emphysema. Indeed, any disease that ends with "itis" is an inflammation disease. Examples are: bursitis, tendinitis, arthritis, hepatitis, colitis, and myocarditis.

One of the most serious problems in relation to inflammation is that it is a whole body disease. This means that it is not always located in only one area of the body; if you have it in one place, there's a good chance you'll find it elsewhere. An example is gum disease and atherosclerosis. If you have serious periodontal disease (inflamed gums), there's a good chance that you also have inflammation in your arteries, where it can be deadly. Inflammation can, in fact, spread through your body, and one place where it develops relatively easily is in your teeth. So it's a good idea to take care of your teeth; floss and brush them daily, and use a good mouthwash.

It's important to point out that chronic inflammation can occur at any age, but it is more common in older people. Let's begin, then, by looking at what causes chronic inflammation. It is, as I mentioned earlier, the immune system's response to any injury that results from bacteria, chemicals, heat, physical injury and several other things. With this in mind, we can easily make up a list of several of the major causes. It is as follows:,

1)  Our genes
2)  Polluted air and water
3)  Smoking
4)  High cholesterol
5)  The food we eat
6)  Lack of exercise and proper sleep

We can't do much about our genes, but we can so something about the other things on the list. I'll talk about what you can do in detail in a second article, but for now I'll give a brief list. You can, of course, avoid polluted water and air, stop smoking (if you smoke), keep your cholesterol in check, and eat the proper food. One of the best anti-inflammation agents, in fact, is omega-3, and one of the best sources of it is fish -- particularly, salmon and sardines. Aside from fish, make sure you eat as many vegetables and fruit as possible, and eat whole grains and nuts. Finally, exercise, maintain your proper weight and get sufficient sleep.

Barry Parker, Ph. D. is a professor emeritus at ISU. His most recent book is "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow," and his website is Barryparkerbooks.com/

Biorhythms: Are They Real?

There's  no doubt that our bodies go through several cycles. There is, in fact, a branch of biology called chronobiology that is devoted to the study of rhythms, or cycles, in living beings, and there's no question about its validity. The first indication that there might be body rhythms came in 1890 when the Berlin physician Wilhelm Fliess began researching the occurance of fevers, illnesses and deaths amongst his patients. He came to the conclusion that our bodies undergo two rhythms, or cycles: a 23 day cycle and a 33 day cycle. The 23 day cycle was a physical cycle that affected our well-being, strength and coordination; the 33 day cycle was an emotional cycle that affected our mood, awareness, creativity and perception. This was taken a step further in the 1920's when the Austrian engineer. Alfred Teltscher, added a third cycle that he referred to an an intellectual cycle; he claimed it had a period of 33 days

     According to Fliess and Teltscher, these three cycles were biological rhythms or biorhythms that effected our life, and they were particularly important in relation to our everyday tasks. They were controlled by the bioelectricity in our body. Each cycle went through a positive and negative phase. In general, when you were in the positive part of the cycle, you were better able to interact with the world in  all three areas. The days when the cycle passed through the first day of the cycle were critical days -- days you were suppose to watch. You might, for example, be more accident-prone on these days.

     Not everyone believes in bioyhthms, however,  Most scientists will admit that there our physical, emotional, and intellectual states are continually changing, and they may go through some sort of cycle, but not necessarily the ones put forward by Fliess and Teltscher. What do you think?

Barry Parker,  author of "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow."  Webpage: Barryparkerbooks.com

Sleep: Relax Before You Go to Bed

If you want a good night's sleep it's important to relax before you go to bed. It's also important to feel sleepy; if you're still wide awake, try staying up until you are sleepy. A few things that are helpful in preparing for sleep are as follows:
1. Avoid thinking about any of your problems.
2. Listen to relaxing music.
3. Read a book. Reading late in the evening makes many people sleepy.
4. Watch TV, but make sure it isn't violent TV.
5. A warm bath just before bedtime always helps.
6. Don't exercise just before you go to bed, but exercise earlier in the day is good.
7. Sit down and relax. Don't do housework or other chores right up to the time you go to bed.
8. As you sit and relax, visualize something pleasant. Think about something pleasant
9. Don't have a large meal just before you go to bed.
10.Don't drink coffee within four hours of going to bed.
11.If you are worried about what you have to do the next day -- make a list, write everything down, then forget about them. Put them out of your mind.
12.Try to keep a regular schedule. Go to bed at approximately the same time every night.

Also see the chapter on sleep in my book "Feel Great Feel Alive: Seven Steps to
Super Health and Fitness. Barry Parker. Website:Barryparkerbooks.com

Waking up at 3:00 A.M.

Everyone hates waking up in the night and glancing over at the clock to see that it is 3:00 A. M. And I'll admit that it happens to me once in a while. Before I was about 50 it didn't seem that I ever woke up in the night (I'm sure I probably did, though). But now it happens ever so often and, like everyone else I hate it. So what's the best thing to do if it happens to you? One of the major things that stops us from sleeping is a "cluttered" mind. So if you want to get back to sleep as quickly as possible make sure that you don't start thinking about all the things you have to get done the next day. And don't start worrying about the bills, or thinking about the argument you just had with the neighbor. In fact, don't think about anything; the best way to get back to sleep quickly is to keep your mind blank. Or at least think about mindless things; the old idea of counting sheep isn't really so bad. A good alternative is to think of yourself as walking down an endless staircase. Count your steps as you go.
And of course you go to sleep best if you're completely relaxed, so try to relax. Start with your toes and feet -- relax them. Then come up to your legs -- relax them, and so on all the way up through your body.
If all of this doesn't work, get out of bed and go to another room. (But let this be a last resort; don't do it unless you absolutely have to.) And on the way don't expose yourself to any bright lights; they will tell your body that it's time to get up and that is something you don't want. Read something relaxing under a relatively dim light until you are sleepy, then return to your bed. Be careful about turning on the TV; most things on TV will tend to wake you up even more.
I hope this helps. For more on the subject see the chapter on sleep in my book "Feel great Feel Alive. My website is Barryparkerbooks.com

Why Staying Flexible is Important

As we age most of us lose muscle, but at the same time we also lose flexibility. I'm sure this isn't news to anyone. Everyone past a certain age knows that they aren't as flexible as they once were. Sometimes the loss is not serious, but in many cases it is, and it is something we can prevent.
Flexibility is associated with our joints and it is caused primarily by the the muscles and tissue around them. When we lose flexibility these muscles do not allow us to move as we once did. In other words, we don't have the range of motion we had when we were younger. In practise, several things restrict this motion, including tendons and ligaments, but it is the muscles themselves that are usually the major culprits.
We are quite flexible up through our twenties, but for most people it's all downhill after that. Some people, in fact, lose a lot of their flexiblity by the time they are 50 or 60, and this is not only detrimental to their health but it can also have a serious affect on their posture. And as I mentioned, it is preventable.
What is the best way to stop it (and to regain what you once had)? The best thing you can do, of course, is use your muscles more -- in particular, stretch them. And this means doing stretching exercises. They may seem like a lot of work, but in the long run they will pay off.
Any exercise that stretches your muscles beyond their normal length will be helpful, but the best ones are those that stretch your muscles by about ten percent. How do you know when you're at this point? You will feel some discomfort, but no pain. It's importnat, in fact, to avoid stretching to the point where you feel pain.
Almost all parts of your body (at least, all joints) should be stretched in this way. Some of the major ones are your:
buttocks
lower back
thighs
calves
neck
upper body
I'm not going to try to describe exercises for each of these regions, but I do have a set of exercises in my book "Feel Great Feel Alive" that would be particularly helpful. See my webpage BarryParkerbooks.com

Tenonitis: Tennis Elbow

Tendonitis can occur in many places in the body and two of the most common places are at the elbow and at the shoulder; they are called "Tennis elbow" and "Frozen shoulder." I've suffered from both forms several times (in this report I'll talk mostly about tennis elbow). Tennis elbow involves inflammation in the tendons of the forearm muscles where they attach to the bony prominence on the outside of the elbow. A similar problem called "golfers elbow" occurs on the inside of the elbow.

Tennis elbow can be caused by playing tennis, but in most cases it is caused by other things. In virtually all cases, however, it is caused by overuse of the muscles that are attached to the elbow bone. This overuse causes inflammation, and although inflammation is important in healing, it can cause a lot of trouble if it doesn't go away fast enough. The kind you don't want is "chronic inflammation" and that's the kind that comes with tennis elbow. Your problem, therefore, is to get rid of this inflammation, and sometimes this isn't easy.

When it occurs, your first thought should be RICE, which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (exercise). The first two things you should do are rest it and apply ice. Applying ice as quickly as possible is critical because it stops the swelling, and the sooner you get it stopped, the better. This swelling is caused by inflammation, and the less you end up with, the quicker you will get rid of it.

Apply the ice for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, several times a day using an ice-pack. Eventually, as the area begins to heal, you can also apply heat, but at first it is best to alternate heat and ice.

The C in RICE stands for compression; it can be applied using an elastic bandage. It should also be applied as soon as possible, as it helps in reducing the swelling.

The E stands for elevation; in other words, you should keep the joint elevated as much as possible at first. But I also like to think of the E as exercise. You won't want to do this for a while, but as soon as the joint has begun to heal you should think about it. I'll suggest some exercises in a later post.

Inflammation is also reduced by medications such as aspirin, but you should talk to your doctor about them.

See my website at BarryParkerbooks.com and my book on health "Feel Great Feel Alive". It gives more information on injuries such as the above.