Choline is an essential nutrient that humans must get through their diet, the most common food sources are meat, poultry, fish, dairy product and eggs. Non-meat sources include wheatgerm and brussels sprouts. It is needed to produce acetylcholine an important neurotransmitter for among other things:
Interventions during labour and childbirth are on the rise but a large proportion of pregnant women would like a natural birth but are concerned about pain relief. Against this back drop, a recent randomised control trial looked at the effectiveness of a two day birth preparation course in supporting natural birth. The birth preparation course attended by both the pregnant women and their birthing partners, covered the standard medical advice and self-administered complementary therapies including
We all know that we aim to have a good nights sleep to wake up full of energy. But as I have said before, sleep is only one way to boost your energy. Think of yourself as having an energy account, and energy raising activities e.g. sleep, credit your energy account and energy draining activities e.g. frustration, debit your energy account. You may find it helpful to work out the balance on your energy account. Use the table below to identify what in your life drains your energy and what raises your energy.
| Energy Debits - Energy Draining Activites | Energy Credits - Energy Raising Activities |
| Unhealthy eating with heavy, rich, fatty, sugary good | Health diet with give excellent nutrition supported by vitamin and mineral supplements |
| Alcohol Cigarettes Drug abuse Over-stimulation (including over work) | Natural highs from nature, dance, relaxation, music, physical achievement, humour and creativity. |
| Sedentary lifestyle | Exercise |
| Fear Worries Anxiety Stress Frustration Depression Feeling things are out of control | Security Peace of mind Rest Joy Happiness |
| Isolation and loneliness Lack of love or support Being dominated Being stuck in the past | Close personal relationships Sense of belonging Healthy boundaries Ability to forgive including yourself |
| No self-expression Boredom Underachievement | Creative self-expression Excitement Achieving |
| Lack of purpose and meaning | Clarity about your true values, purpose and meaning |
| Difficult relationships | Good relationships |
| Lack of spiritual nourishment No sources of uplift | Good sources of spiritual uplift |
There is plenty of evidence to show that lifestyle can have an impact on fertility. Here are some tips to boost fertility based on scientific evidence: 1.Cut the caffine In one study, women who consumed a cup of coffee or more a day were half as likely to become pregnant, per menstrual cycle, as women who drank less than that. 2. Stop smoking 3. Avoid Alchol. Even moderate drinking (five or fewer drinks per week) has been linked to infertility. 4. Maintain a healthy weight. Being either excessively overweight or underweight can contribute to infertility in women. 5. Manage stress As infertile couples tend to be more stressed than fertile couples, relaxation techniques like meditation and yoga may help. References Wilcox A, Weinberg C, Baird D 1988 Caffeinated beverages and decreated fertility. Lancet. Dec 24-31;22(8626-8627):1453-6 Augood C, Duckitt K, Templeton AA, 1998 Smoking and female infertility: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Reproduction Jun; 13(6):1532-9 Coelho C, Julio C, Silva G, Neves A 2009 Tabacco and male infertility: a retrospective study in infertile couples Acta Med Portuguese Nov-Dec; 22(6):753-8
Last week I discussed Plantar Fasciitis one of the major causes of heel pain, this week I am going to discuss a grumbling achilles tendon, or to be technically correct, non-insertional Achilles tendinopathy, he other major cause of heel pain. Although a rupture of the Achilles is well known, it is actually more common to have what is known as a grumbling Achilles. The pain is felt at the back of the heel above where the Achilles tendon joins the bone. It feels stiff and swollen, particularly in the morning and can prevent the sufferer from taking part in sport. Sometimes the pain is lower down where the tendon joins the bone. How can I tell if my heel pain is a grumbling achilles tendon? You may have swelling over or either side of your achilles tendon which runs from your heel to your calf muscles. The skin over the achilles tendon may be red and/or hot. If you sit down with your feet on the floor and raise your foot, as you use your achilles tendon you may hear a crackling sensation. What causes a grumbling achilles tendon?
There seems to be a trend at the moment of researchers discovering that chronic disease starts in the gut. A theory was proposed in 2003 that was that Parkinson’s which is seen as a brain disease originates in the gut. Now researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark have confirmed that Parkinson’s migrates from the gut. Another important discovery is that the hearts of people with Parkinson’s can also be affected. In fact, the protein alpha-synuclein starts in the gut, then damages the heart before moving on to the brain. They also discovered that it’s in the heart where the damage to the nervous system begins. Researchers now say that a build-up of the protein alpha-synuclein in the gut can be detected up to 20 years before the disease manifests. Researcher Per Broghammer says that understanding where Parkinson’s originates is the first step towards preventing the disease and developing an effective treatment. Reference https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00401-019-02040-w
Parkinson's disease affects 1 in 350 people in the UK (Parkinson's UK, 2018). A ransomised controlled trail allocated 30 patients with Parkinson's and muscle weakness to receive either six Thai massage treatments in three weeks alongside standard medical care or standard medical care alone. Patients in the Thai masage group showed significant improvements in their peak flexion torque, peak extension torque and time to maximal flexion speed. In conclusion the Thai massage study suggested Thai massage could help improve arm muscle strenght in people with Parkinsons. References https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934701/
Last week I explained what myofascia is and how it can become restricted from, for example, poor posture. How to identify Myofascial Restrictions? It is important to acknowledge that it is difficult to diagnose myofascial restrictions as they do not show up on standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography etc). Massage therapists utilise their palpation skills to find myofascial restrictions. For example fascial drag, this is a very light press & slow technique to allow the therapist to feel the restrictions in the fascia. Who treats Myofascial Restrictions?
I know lots of people love travelling, but travelling to a new time zone can result in jet lag. Personally I did so much business travelling in my late 20's and then in my 30's I travelled for pleasure, that more recently I have been happy to stay put in England and simply pop over to Europe when I wanted some sun. This year I am planing to go on a training course in Canada so when I saw some recent research on avoiding jet lag it caught my eye. Jet lag occurs when your circadian rhythms are slow to adjust to the new time zone and remain on their original biological schedule for several days. This results in your body telling you it is time to sleep, when it's actually the middle of the afternoon, or it makes you want to stay awake when it is late at night. Here are some tips for minimizing the occurrence of jet lag:
A "Hello, World!" program is a computer program that outputs or displays "Hello, World!" to a user.
