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How to optimize your brain and spine health*
The following general health recommendations by the author of this Website are provided in good faith and may help optimize your health when it comes to disease prevention, or to recovery from brain and spine disorders.
For medical information specific to your personal needs, please consult your physician, and do read the Disclaimer regarding this Site and any third party advertisements on its pages.
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This brain and spine health Page contains sections on:
Key principles
Avoid an excess of anything, minimise stress when and where you can, and maintain a positive attitude to life.
Key disease risk factors
There are certain things that predispose people to diseases. Some of these "predisposing factors" you can control (modifiable risk factors), while others you cannot (unmodifiable risk factors).
Modifiable risk factors, typically, are lifestyle choices - cigarette smoking/tobacco use, alcohol consumption, diets high in sugar and saturated fats, low levels of exercise, exposure to high-risk contact sports/activities, and a negative attitude to life.
The main unmodifiable risk factor is your genetics; this includes your gender as a subset of your genetics (as some diseases are known to have a gender-specific bias). That is, you may be "pre-wired" (predisposed) at a genetic or epigenetic level towards developing a disease. This is more often seen in patients who have family histories of certain conditions such as cancers and brain aneurysms, or a family history of an early-onset of a medical disease such as diabetes, heart attack, or neurodegenerative Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.
A key "preventative" step for a person with a family history of a particular condition
You can't do much about a genetic predisposition, except to undergo early or recommended surveillance for any particular condition running in the family. The prevention here is really early detection; i.e., preventing serious medical consequences that can arise from late detection. If you have a history of cancer in the family, there may be an increased risk that you too may develop cancer (affecting the same or another body organ). Note that undertaking screening tests, some of which are mentioned below, is recommended, even if there is no family history of the particular condition being screened for. If there is a family history, undertaking such tests sooner or more frequently may be quite prudent - consult with your doctor. For example:
- A man or woman with a history of bowel cancer in the family should make his or her physician aware of this risk factor, and undergo colonoscopy and stool blood testing at appropriate intervals as suggested by the physician.
- Men should undergo prostate screening via the PSA blood test and a physical exam.
- A woman whose mother and/or sister had breast or cervical cancer should, likewise, undergo the appropriate breast and Pap smear screening tests at the physician-recommended intervals.
- A man or woman who has two close relatives that suffered a brain haemorrhage from a ruptured brain aneurysm (brain artery blister) should undergo the recommended magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) screening, and so forth.
For all other people, key preventative steps are:
- Do not smoke. There is an exceedingly high likelihood that smoking will kill you, either via lung diseases such as emphysema and cancers, or through an early stroke or heart attack that can either kill you or render you medically debilitated (physically dependent on others). The poisons contained in cigarettes/tobacco products also accelerate degeneration of your tissues, including your spine, causing early-onset crippling arthritis, and "failed back syndrome". They also impair wound healing, as they clog up vital nutrient arteries. Based on witnessing first-hand the various end-stages of smokers' lives, the author of this Website choses not to mince his words and states without reservation: Before it kills smokers, regrettably, smoking often makes their lives (and the lives of those they will leave behind) miserable. If your partner smokes, he or she should desist immediately as you will be passively breathing at least half of what is smoked around you. Your physician can help you quit before a life-threatening diagnosis does.
- Minimise alcohol. The author recommends no more than one standard drink daily. Alcohol's effect on the brain is an irreversible damage to the neurons and support cells (as alcohol is a cytotoxin). When you're "tipsy" or frankly "drunk", your brain's cells are being damaged beyond repair. Eventually, this will catch up with you, with observable neurodegenerative and neurocognitive changes noticed first by others. If you have had a traumatic brain injury or repeat sports concussions, you need to preserve each and every brain cell you have, and the author recommends minimisation of alcohol consumption in that setting.
- Minimise activities that can lead to a traumatic brain injury or repetitive sports concussions. Wear a helmet when cycling, or when playing football.
- Do not use illicit drugs or marijuana, or be dependent upon chemical or pharmacological stimulants.
- Practice the exchange principle, whenever possible, e.g.:
- Exchange a larger portion of food for a smaller one;
- Exchange a part of your day where there was going to be no exercise for some exercise (e.g., get off a bus one or two stops before your destination, and walk); walk up a flight or few flights of stairs if you can;
- Exchange a sugar-rich drink for a sugar-free one, and so forth.
- If you can, minimise stress in your life as much as possible, including at your workplace.
- Every now and again, deep breathing and walking in fresh air and sunlight in an uncongested environment such as a park helps.
- Maintain a balanced diet. Diet may be more influential than exercise in maintaining a healthy weight, although some exercise is of obvious importance.
- See your doctor and follow the recommendations of a physiotherapist if you have a tendency towards repeated bouts of lower back or neck pain. The excercises given to you by a physiotherapist if followed and periodically monitored can slow down or may prevent further degenerative ("wear and tear") changes in your spine. Avoiding excess spinal loading (repeated, significant weight lifting or pushing) and unnatural repetitive movements of the spine are also recommended.
Mobile phones, a precautionary approach
The author of this Website has a particular interest in this field and has relevant publications in peer-reviewed journals including Surgical Neurology, Science, Medical Physics, and the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health (IJOEH).
On 31 May 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced through its International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) a notable change in its position on the health-risk classification of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from sources such as mobile phones/cell phones and their base stations: The WHO upgraded their status to "possible carcinogens" (i.e., can possibly cause cancer). Prior to this point, RF EMR was considered to be non-carcinogenic. There is increasing evidence to suggest that RF EMR from mobile phones/cell phones may contribute to the development or promotion of primary tumours of the brain and salivary glands, and have other negative health effects. At least one of the tumour types reported to be associated with RF EMR (astrocytoma/glioma) converts to an incurable cancer with time. The "incidence" of these tumours is being monitored to see if there are any trends emerging in the population-at-large.
The WHO's recommendation was made based on its Expert Panel's review of the currently available data in this area, including the long-term data that is emerging from population-based (epidemiological) studies.
If you are a person who regularly uses a mobile phone, no one is recommending that you stop using your phone. Cell phones save lives (except when using them while driving), and these devices have improved the quality of our lives. However, some precautionary recommendations of the author include:
- Use a landline, or speaker-phone mode, or a WIRED headset whenever possible.
- Avoid WIRELESS (Bluetooth) ear-mounted devices.
- Minimise or avoid holding the cell phone or cordless phone to your ear. Most phones specify a minimum distance in the fine-print of their manuals, but the author of this Website avoids a mobile/cordless phone-to-ear altogether. If unavoidable, do so for a short time, then swap ears.
- Texting is OK.
- "Air-tube" or "tubed" semi-wired headsets may be even safer than conventional wired headsets, but to the author's knowledge there is no significant safety concern with conventional wired headsets at this time.
- Children are likely more susceptible to any negative health effects of this technology based on their anatomical and physiological differences, so should avoid holding mobile or cordless phones to their ears. Texting is OK. Speaker-phone mode or a landline is strongly recommended.
- When your mobile phone has a LOW SIGNAL STRENGTH (in a basement of a building, moving vehicle, or in a remote location), it is at its HIGHEST radiation output, as it is programmed to adapt its output to maintain a signal that will allow you to have or carry on with your conversation. Don't hold it next to your head.
- Do not sleep with a mobile or cordless phone near your head (a 1m or 3ft minimum separation is recommended by the author).
If you have a history of heavy mobile phone use, the above recommendations should now be followed, at least until the long-term safety of these devices is established (noting that as time passes, the findings of population-based research and clinical and laboratory studies indicates that their long-term safety is becoming more quesionable). In the rare event that you develop unusual symptoms such as daily morning headaches, unexplained nausea or vomiting, or a seizure or other worrisome neurological symptoms, consult your doctor or local health facility.
For further information, including downloadable PDF articles, CLICK HERE (you can return to this Webpage by using your browser's back-arrow button).
Precautions regarding other wired and wireless devices:
The author recommends:
- Avoiding the use of in-bed electric blankets.
- Avoiding the use of in-slab floor heating around children (daycares, homes with toddlers).
- Avoiding resting a laptop computer on your lap, and certainly not close to your groin (put it on a desk or on a lap-mounted cushion-base tray table or the equivalent) - remember, increasing the physical distance of parts of your body from the source of the electromagnetic field is the key.
- Avoiding living opposite or close to mobile phone base stations/masts and other significant RF transmission towers.
- Avoiding standing near operating microwave ovens.
- Avoiding placement of a clock radio within 1m or 3ft of your head at night, as its EM radiation plume is constant and most intense in this range.
- Opposing deployment of high-intensity WiFi (WiFi max) in classrooms and libraries.
- That pregnant women should not carry their mobile phones on their bodies.
Vitamins and supplements:
- The author takes one multivitamin tablet daily that also contains an (additional) omega-three fish oil supplement.
- If you have had a recent skull or spinal (or other) fracture, the author recommends a daily multivitamin, and a daily standard calcium & Vitamin D supplement. Additional supplementation of your diet through daily vitamin C-containing orange juice, or calcium-containing milk and cheese may assist in your fracture's healing. Fractures take somewhere between 3-12 months to heal fully, and sometimes the healing is incomplete particularly in smokers, the elderly, and in people with chronic diseases. Remember, consult with your doctor first for recommendations specific to you in the context of your personal condition and medical history.
- Men and women alike may be at increased risk of osteoporosis (leading to easy fracturing of their bones) from Vitamin D deficiency (sometimes simply due to lack of exposure to natural sunlight - need to get outdoors more?) or another metabolic problem, and at the age of 50 should seek medical advice and basic screening regarding this possibility. Precautionary vitamin and mineral supplementation and regular sensible exercises starting well before that time may be helpful. Consult your doctor.
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