by drmccluskey
Mental Attitude: Video Games and Happiness? Older adults who play video games are more likely to be happier and have better emotional health. Those who played video games (even those who said they just played occasionally) reported a greater sense of well-being. The seniors who did not play video games reported more negative emotions and [...]
by drmccluskey
Low back pain (LBP) is a common problem associated with traveling. Last month, we covered lifting remedies, and this month we will continue this discussion… Medication Foresight: Get a prescription: If you know your prescription will run out prior to your return from traveling, either get it re-filled before you leave or get a prescription [...]
by drmccluskey
Low back pain (LBP) is a common complaint when it comes to traveling, whether it’s in a car, bus, train or airplane. Traveling is hard on our joints, muscles and nerves for many reasons. Traveling requires us to do something our bodies are not used to, such as prolonged sitting in a cramped area. [...]
by drmccluskey
Low back pain (LBP) and its relationship to balance has been the topic for the past two Health Updates, and an initial discussion regarding specific balance exercises was introduced last month. This month’s Health Update will complete the discussion about what you can do to preserve your current balance skills, or better yet, improve [...]
by drmccluskey
Attitude: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. Antidepressants. Only a third of patients respond fully to antidepressant medications and there is no consensus on what to try next. In a study of 469 patients from the United Kingdom who did not fully respond to initial treatment, 235 patients again received the usual care (antidepressants) and 234 again [...]
by drmccluskey
Statistically, most people (estimated to be about 90%) will seek care for Low Back Pain (LBP) at some point in their lifetime. Last month, we discussed the role foot orthotics play in the management of LBP by improving balance, and it seems appropriate to discuss other ways we can improve our balance, hence the [...]
by drmccluskey
Low back pain (LBP) can result from many causes, and sometimes it just occurs for reasons that are not clear, such as the accumulation of stresses that occur over time. Many causes of low back pain have been described such as bending over “wrong,” combined bending and twisting, lifting, over reaching, climbing, sitting too [...]
by drmccluskey
Mental Attitude: Reaction To Stress. How people react to stress determines how that stress will affect their health. Study volunteers were separated in two groups: 1) those who let their troubles affect their emotional state and 2) those who didn’t let stress bother them at all. At a 10-year follow up, those who let stress [...]
by drmccluskey
For the last 2 months, we’ve discussed the importance of sleep and its effect on low back pain (LBP). Last month, we offered 9 ways to improve sleep quality, and this month we will conclude this topic with 11 more. Sleep deprivation has been called, “…an epidemic” by the Centers for Disease Control and [...]
by drmccluskey
Mental Attitude: Positive Emotion. Older adults display more positive emotions and are quicker to regulate out of negative emotional states than younger adults. Older adults may be better at regulating emotion because they tend to direct their eyes away from negative material and toward positive material. Current Directions in Psychological Science, August 2012 Health Alert: Alzheimer’s [...]