Massage Therapy

I’ve been playing Aussie football here in the US for a few weeks now, and I definitely need a massage. Last week I landed on my neck, yes my neck, and it’s still sore.

I think it’s time I went for a massage, I was just reading that a massage can speed your recovery by an extra 50%. Massage therapy is also a great mood-lifter; I think all of us can agree on that one, every time I get a massage I feel great, and I vow to return sooner rather than later.

I was just reading about other major benefits of massage. Due to the fact that a masseuse sees more of your own skin than you do, and they spend their lives working with the human body, a masseuse has the ability to discover abnormalities on and under our skin. From skin cancer, to inflammation, even a tumor, massage therapy can be used as a means of detecting serious life-threatening issues. I guess it’s not just a way to relax then.

Core Training

Chicken and Asparagus Crepes

Prep time: 20 min 

Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
2 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, dill, chives or mint)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
8 store-bought crepes (about 9 inches each)
1 shallot, sliced
1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into pieces
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Butter a large baking dish.
Combine the chicken, ricotta, 1/2 cup parmesan, 3 tablespoons herbs, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl.
Spoon about 1/4 cup filling across the lower half of each crepe; roll up to enclose the filling.
Place the crepes, seam-side down, in the baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake until the filling is hot, about 15 minutes.
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the shallot and cook until it softens, about 1 minute.
Add the asparagus and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes.
 Add the chicken broth, lemon zest and the remaining 1 tablespoon herbs and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
Divide the crepes among plates, top with the asparagus and sauce, and sprinkle with parmesan.

Nutritional Facts Per serving:

Calories 405; Fat 24 g (Saturated 14 g); Cholesterol 115 mg; Sodium 984 mg; Carbohydrate 19 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 26 g

 

 

Dive in with Brittany Cascone and the Gray Institute to learn more about the Free2Play program focused on childrens health!

Daily Motivation

Sleep Apnea

      

(HealthDay News) -- Treatment at primary care centers is as effective as at specialist sleep centers in reducing daytime sleepiness caused by obstructive sleep apnea, a new study from Australia finds. People with obstructive sleep apnea experience repeated breathing interruptions while they sleep, resulting in poor sleep and daytime drowsiness. Left untreated, sleep apnea may lead to serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, diabetes and depression.

Increasing rates of obstructive sleep apnea have led to long wait lists at specialist sleep centers. In order to improve that situation, the researchers suggested it might be a good idea for appropriately trained primary care doctors and nurses to become more involved in the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea. In their study, they compared outcomes among 81 patients treated at primary care practices and 74 patients treated at a university hospital sleep medicine center in Adelaide, South Australia. At six months follow-up, both groups of patients showed significant improvements in daytime sleepiness.



The study appears in the March 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Treatment was about 40 percent cheaper at the primary care centers than at the sleep medicine center. The average per-patient cost was $1,819 (U.S. dollars) in the primary care group and $3,068 in the specialist care group, according to a journal news release. Sleep study costs, sleep physician consultations and travel expenses appeared to be the main reasons for the higher total price for patients in the specialist group, noted study author Ching Li Chai-Coetzer, of the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health at the Repatriation General Hospital, and colleagues.



The authors said the fact that primary care centers can provide effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea could be particularly beneficial for patients in rural areas and those in developing nations, where they may not have access to sleep specialists.

Vitamin D & Pregnancy

      

(HealthDay News) -- Women's vitamin D levels during pregnancy do not affect their children's bone health later in life, a new study shows. British researchers measured vitamin D levels in nearly 4,000 women during pregnancy and assessed the bone mineral density of their children when they were about 12. Bone mineral density is a measure of bone health. A lower mineral content is associated with poorer bone health and a higher risk of diseases such as rickets.


There was no significant association between a mother's vitamin D levels during pregnancy and her child's bone mineral density, according to the study published online March 18 in The Lancet. The University of Bristol researchers also found that mothers' vitamin D levels tended to be lowest during the first trimester of pregnancy, and then increased as the pregnancy progressed. As expected, vitamin D levels tended to be lower during the winter and higher during the summer. The skin produces vitamin D in response to sunlight and there are fewer daylight hours in winter than in summer.



The study also said that nonwhite mothers and those who smoked during pregnancy tended to have lower vitamin D levels, but this did not appear to have any affect on their children's bone health. The researchers said their findings suggest that U.K. health guidelines may be overstating the importance of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy. Those guidelines recommend that all pregnant and breast-feeding women should take a 10 microgram vitamin D supplement every day.

Vitamin D helps keep bones and teeth healthy. Previous studies into the effects of pregnant women's vitamin D levels on children's bone health have been inconclusive, but this new study is more than 10 times larger than previous studies combined, according to a journal news release. "Suggesting to pregnant women that their child's future bone health depends on their pregnancy vitamin D status or that by taking supplements they will improve [their child's future bone health], ... I think our study challenges that [suggestion]," study leader Debbie Lawlor said in the news release.



In an accompanying editorial, Philip Steer, of Imperial College London, wrote: "In view of the inconsistency in results [of previous studies], it might seem unclear why vitamin D supplementation is officially recommended for all pregnant and breast-feeding women."



He added: "The safest approach is probably routinely to supplement pregnant women at greatest risk, as defined by the (U.K.) guidelines." These include women of South Asian, black African, black Caribbean or Middle Eastern origin, as well as women with little exposure to sunlight or who were obese before pregnancy, he noted. Steer added that pregnant women whose diets included few sources of vitamin D, such as oily fish, eggs, meat or fortified margarine or breakfast cereal, might also benefit from supplementation.



Other research has suggested a connection between vitamin D levels in pregnancy and infants' birth weight.

 

False Positive Mammograms

(HealthDay News) -- Women who have a false-positive mammogram result -- when breast cancer is first suspected but then dispelled with further testing -- can have lingering anxiety and distress up to three years after the misdiagnosis, a new study finds. The emotional fallout is probably so long-lasting, "because the abnormal screening result is seen as a threat to your own mortality," said study author Dr. John Brodersen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

The report is published in the March-April issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. False-positive mammograms are often cited by public health experts as a downside to mammography screening that needs to be considered when making recommendations about who should be screened, at what age and how frequently. They aren't uncommon: the risk of a false positive for every 10 rounds of screening ranges from 20 percent to 60 percent in the United States, Brodersen said.

After an abnormal mammogram, doctors typically order additional mammograms and, depending on those results, more tests such as an ultrasound or MRI, and finally a biopsy. Studies about the short-term and long-term consequences of false-positive mammogram results have produced mixed findings, which Brodersen said spurred him to conduct his study. He evaluated more than 1,300 women, including 454 who had abnormal findings on a screening mammogram and others who received normal results.

Of those 454 who first had abnormal results, 174 later found they had breast cancer. Another 272 learned the result was a false positive. (Eight others were excluded from the study due to unknown conclusions or a diagnosis of cancer other than breast cancer.) The women answered a questionnaire about their psychological state, such as their sense of calmness, being anxious or not about breast cancer and feeling optimistic or not about the future. They repeated the questionnaire at 1, 6, 18 and 36 months after the final diagnosis.

Six months after the final diagnosis, those with false positives had negative changes in inner calmness and in other measures as great as the women with breast cancer. Even at the three-year mark, women with false-positives had more negative psychological consequences compared with women with normal findings. The differences among those with normal, false-positive and breast cancer findings only began to fade at the three-year mark, the study found. Brodersen can't say if women who were more anxious about health or life in general to begin with were more likely to have long-term distress. "I have not investigated this aspect," he said.

Even without this information, the study is a good one, said Matthew Loscalzo, the Liliane Elkins Professor in Supportive Care Programs at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif. "They looked at large enough numbers, so the data they are sharing is valid and should be taken very seriously," he said. The finding that some women are still stressed three years later does not surprise him, Loscalzo said. From his experience working with patients, Loscalzo said, women who receive a false-positive result do often feel at risk, even after getting the news they are cancer-free.

Many, he said, will definitely worry: "Will the next one be a breast cancer?" In a statement released Monday, the American College of Radiology said, in part: "Anxiety regarding inconclusive test results is real and is only natural." However, the organization of radiologists also cited what it said are study flaws. For instance, the researchers did not take into account whether women with false-positive results had a family history of breast cancer, or whether some women were ordered to have more frequent mammograms, both of which would likely raise anxiety levels.

Women who get an abnormal mammogram result need support, Loscalzo said. Women who undergo additional testing after an abnormal mammogram should ask to get their results as soon as possible, he added. If they are feeling anxious, he suggests they also tell their doctor they want to talk with a counselor, he said.

More information
To learn more about mammography results, visit the American Cancer Society.
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