Dr. Glenn Hyman’s Denver Chiropractic Center’s 1-Page Health News
Once again the 1-Page Health News is chock full of good stuff, like how marijuana affects the brain, germs on cutting boards, food poisoning in restaurants, and more!
Even Casual Marijuana Use Changes the Brain.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of young adults who use marijuana at least once a week show alterations in the areas of the brain involved in motivation and emotion. Compared with non-users, marijuana users also appear to have a larger nucleus accumbens, the brain region involved in reward processing. Investigator Dr. Hans Breiter reports that their findings raise “a strong challenge to the idea that casual marijuana use isn’t associated with bad consequences.”
Journal of Neuroscience, April 2014
Health Alert: Drug-Resistant Germs Found on Cutting Boards!
Swiss scientists analyzed cutting boards from hospital cafeterias and private home kitchens after they were used to cut poultry but before the boards were washed. They found that 6.5% of hospital cutting boards and 3.5% of household cutting boards were contaminated with drug-resistant E. coli bacteria. This could pose a major health risk if the cutting boards are reused before being properly disinfected or if any food exposed to the cutting boards is not cooked at high enough temperatures to kill any bacterial contamination.
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, April 2014
Diet: Risk of Food Poisoning Higher in Restaurants.
Over the course of a decade in the United States (US), more people contracted food poisoning as a result of eating at a restaurant than eating at home. During this time, more than 1,600 restaurant-related food poisoning outbreaks sickened over 28,000 people while nine hundred food poisoning outbreaks were linked to homes, which affected over 13,000 individuals. Fortunately, the study found that food borne illness has decreased by 42% from 2002 to 2011.
Center for Science in the Public Interest, April 2014
Exercise: Does Specializing in One Sport Ensure Future Success?
Contrary to what some parents and coaches believe, researchers have found no evidence that athletes were more successful at earning a college scholarship or in starting a professional career if they only played one sport starting at a very young age. It appears that most of today’s successful athletes enjoyed multiple sports as children and waited until their teens to focus on only one sport.
American Society of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, April 2014
Chiropractic: Recommended for Back Pain.
Available evidence shows that spinal manipulation is more cost-effective and clinically effective than other accepted treatments for low back pain, including medical care.
Ontario Ministry of Health
Cover Your Mouth!
Using high-speed photography, researchers at MIT have discovered that individual droplets from coughing and sneezing are surrounded by an invisible cloud of gas that helps them travel up to 200 times farther than previously thought, even through building ventilation systems! Their findings reveal the importance of covering your mouth and nose with a tissue while sneezing or coughing to prevent the spread of germs.
Journal of Fluid Mechanics, March 2014