April 29, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode we feature:
An interview with spine specialist Dr. Kaliq Chang.
The effects of secondhand drinking.
The sleep benefits of showering.
Eat fish for better grades.
And more ways you can improve your health today!
For more information, and to sign up for our private coaching, visit tesh.com
Our Hosts:
John Tesh: Instagram: @johntesh_ifyl facebook.com/JohnTesh
Gib Gerard: Instagram: @GibGerard facebook.com/GibGerard X: @GibGerard
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:08):
Music. Hello and welcome to another episode of
the podcast. I'm Gib Gerard. Wehave for you another special
intelligence for your healthwith Connie selika. Edition of
the podcast. Our guest today isspine specialist, Dr Kalik Chang
so you'll get all kinds ofinformation about your spine in
this episode. So here we gowithout further ado intelligence
for your health with ConnieCelica, want
(00:29):
a better immune system, be moregrateful. Research from UC
Riverside found people who spentfive minutes a day feeling
grateful for a loved one saw aspike in immunoglobulin, a an
antibody that fights offviruses. Even better, write a
letter of appreciation, theresearch shows it will boost
feelings of gratitude, even ifyou never send the letter,
(00:52):
because just putting yourthoughts on paper makes you feel
more connected to the person,more humble and more likely to
do good deeds for others.
Patience is a virtue, and it canalso save your life, because
experts say impatient people areat a much higher risk of heart
disease and hypertension thanthose who are more laid back.
Psychologists call it timeurgency, impatience or hurry
(01:15):
sickness. It's a chronic senseof time pressure, and it's
become an epidemic in NorthAmerica, like the person who
can't stop pushing the elevatorbutton to hurry it up, or who
gets exasperated when a Googlesearch takes longer than three
seconds. But we now know thattime urgency impatience puts a
huge strain on the heart.
(01:38):
Constant impatience leads toirritability and anger and the
daily rush and panic raisesblood pressure. It also makes
your brain react like everyminute is an emergency, plus all
that hurrying actually makes usless efficient and productive.
We're slower mentally becausethe stress hormones in our
bodies are pulling the bloodaway from our brains. So what's
(02:01):
the antidote to hurry sickness?
Slowing down? Try goingsomewhere silent for 10 minutes
a day, skipping a few errandsand going on a phone fast for at
least an hour a day, instead oftrying to fill up every second.
We need to focus on making ourdays more fulfilling and
meaningful. And that's how tocombat hurry sickness coming up.
We'll talk to spine specialist,Dr Kalik Chang, about a
(02:26):
condition known as tech neck. Itdevelops as a result of using
electronic devices. And Dr Changwill explain exactly what's
happening to cause pain in ournecks. But first, when you're
buying shoes, what's worsegetting a pair that's a little
too big or a little too small?
Go big because our feet swellduring the day and when we're
(02:49):
active. And rehabilitationspecialist Dr Nadia Sweden says
two tight shoes can throw offyour balance and stride because
your toes will be too cramped tohit the ground properly. So go
for the shoes that are a littletoo big, rather than a pair that
are too small. Get ready toprotect your brain from
Alzheimer's. Neuroscientist DrKenneth Cossack has studied the
(03:12):
habits that can boost ourcognitive function. So try these
tactics to protect your mind andmemory as you age. First play
games that activate your frontallobe, like cards, chess, board
games and puzzles. Dr Cossacksays the frontal lobe of our
brain is hit really hard byaging. It's the area that houses
(03:32):
our memory and reasoningability. But when you give it a
workout with games that make youstrategize and anticipate your
opponent's moves, you'll protectyour cognitive function. Another
way to protect your brain. Takean acting class. Dr Cossack says
learning lines and coordinatingthem with blocking, which is how
you're supposed to move aroundthe stage, is another powerful
(03:55):
way to activate your frontallobe, one more habit that can
protect your brain power. Dosomething artistic, whether it's
painting, sculpting or drawing.
Dr Cossack says when we createart, we have to make spatial
calculations, like how objectsrelate to each other in size and
shape. We also have to payattention to detail, and when
the Mayo Clinic had 60 and 70year olds take an art class,
(04:18):
they formed new neuralconnections. Okay, listen to
this. Make this mixture to haveon hand. The next time a
headache strikes, mix six dropsof peppermint essential oil into
one ounce of unscented lotion.
Then, when you get a headache,massage that peppermint mixture
into your temples, neck andforehead for a few minutes.
(04:42):
According to the journalPhytomedicine, it calms a
headache as effectively astaking 1000 milligrams of
acetaminophen, and it workswithin five minutes. That's
because the menthol in the mintoil stops muscle spasms and
decreases inflammation and themassage. Soothes the nerves that
send pain signals. Today, ourspecial guest is Dr Kalik Chang.
(05:07):
He's a board certified painmanagement specialist with the
Atlantic Spine Center in NewJersey, and he says something
he's been seeing on more MRIs inrecent years are people
developing bone spurs at thebase of the neck. He says the
protrusions are the result ofpeople constantly hunching over
their electronic devices, andsince the structures can become
(05:30):
very painful, I asked Dr Changhow they form.
What we're talking about aredegenerative change of the
spine, and very commonly wewould see these in older people
or people that have geneticsthat cause their spine to age
faster. But yeah, recently, inthe last five years or so,
(05:50):
seeing a lot more young peoplecoming in with these issues in
their neck. And the fun termthat we use for that is tech
neck and what, basically, whatthese horns are are bone spurs
or bone growths, the way thatthe body responds in any joint,
and this can happen in a hip, aknee or a shoulder, where
(06:11):
there's a joint where there'sbone and cartilage. The
cartilage acts as a shockabsorber and allows you know the
joint to to manage impacts, butwith wear and tear, with
repeated trauma, the cartilagewears that and the bone
(06:32):
sometimes can get inflamed, andbone spurs occur when, when
those injuries or inflammationto cartilage or the bone, and
instead of, say, growing morecartilage, the body responds by
growing more bone in the area, Iguess, to thinking that it's
going to stabilize, what thatmeans is the bone spurs
themselves don't really doanything most of the time, but
(06:56):
sometimes they grow in a waythat they can impinge upon where
the nerves come out of thespine, and that's when it
becomes a problem.
Today, we're talking to spineexpert, Dr Kalik Chang, and he
was just explaining how ourconstant hunching over
electronic devices can causetrauma in our neck joints,
triggering the growth of painfulbone spurs. But he said bone
(07:18):
spurs can grow in any joint. SoI asked Dr Chang to share
another common way peopleexperience bone spurs. One of
themost common injuries, even in
young people, is a rotator cuffinjury, most specifically the
supraspinatus tendon. So so thatis the to raise your arm from a
resting position out to the sideto 90 degrees. There is a
(07:39):
specific tendon that'sresponsible for that motion, and
that tendon glides underneathone of the bones in the shoulder
called the acromion, and usuallyit's a nice, smooth bone, but
with a repeated injury, wear andtear, inflammation, the tip of
that bone actually starts togrow a spur or a horn and and
(08:01):
then the tendon starts rubbingon that, and that's called
impingement or impingementsyndrome. And so so as as that
process worsens and causes moreinflammation, it it worsens,
it's like a cycle that keepshappening. So that's something.
That's another example of how abone spur cat can really affect
(08:24):
somebody.
If you want your kids to grow upsmart and do well in school,
serve fish more often.
University of Pennsylvaniaresearchers study 500 kids aged
nine to 12. The result, kids whoate fish twice a week had higher
IQ scores than those who atefish twice a month or less. And
the more fish a child ate, thefewer sleep problems they had.
(08:48):
The reason because the omegathree fatty acids in fish boost
sleep quality and are essentialfor overall brain health.
Today's medical term strabismus,that's the eye condition that
pommel horse guy Stevenneterosik has. If that name
doesn't sound familiar, he's theglasses wearing men's gymnast
who helped Team USA win a bronzemedal at the Paris Olympic
(09:12):
Games. Strabismus is the medicalterm for being cross eyed, or
having eyes that point indifferent directions. Typically,
the brain sorts throughinformation transmitted by each
eye to create a unified visualpicture and assess distance and
depth. But when you havestrabismus, there's misalignment
between the eyes, and you canactually see two images instead
(09:34):
of one, and that leads to sightissues like double vision,
blurry vision and lightsensitivity. Dr Dean cestari is
Director of Adult strabismuscare at Massachusetts, eye and
ear. He says, For some people,one eye is always the one to
turn in out, up or down. Inothers, the turned eye can
(09:55):
alternate, and that's the casefor Jim. Neterosic Babies can be
born with strabismus, or it candevelop later in life. Overall,
an estimated two to 5% of thepopulation has strabismus. It
can also run in families, oftena pair of prescription glasses
can straighten vision, but insome cases, people may also need
(10:16):
eye exercises, surgery,medications or patching,
literally wearing an eye patchover one eye to strengthen the
other. And that's today'smedical term, strabismus, coming
up. We'll hear more from spineexpert, Dr Kalik Chang. He'll
tell us the absolute worst sleepposition for your back and neck
(10:37):
and the best positions to sleepin but first, to boost your
attention span, engage these twosenses, your vision and hearing.
Dr Terry Matlin is apsychotherapist who says our
minds wander because we let ourvision and hearing get
distracted. So the next timeyou're in a meeting, for
example, force yourself to lookat who's speaking and take
(10:59):
detailed notes, since that willkeep your hearing engaged.
You've heard of secondhandsmoke, of course. But what about
secondhand drinking? Accordingto a new report in The Journal
of studies on alcohol and drugs,the negative effects of alcohol
impact, one in five people notfrom drinking themselves, but
from other people drinking. Thereport calls it a significant
(11:21):
public health issue. For thestudy, nearly 9000 adults were
asked whether they experiencedany of the 10 types of harm
caused by someone who had beendrinking alcohol in the past
year, and the damages includedeverything from traffic
accidents to abuse, maritalproblems, property damage and
financial issues. The two mostcommon negative effects of
(11:45):
second hand drinking are threatsor harassment when broken down
by gender. For women, the topnegative effects due to someone
else's drinking were harassment,family and marital problems or
financial problems. For menafter harassment, the most
common type of harm from secondhand drinking was related to car
accidents, followed by propertydamage and vandalism. This
(12:09):
report proves what we alreadysuspected. Drinking affects more
than just the person gettingdrunk, and that's second hand
drinking. Okay, listen to thisto radically reduce your stress,
take your work out outside,according to the journal Social
Science and medicine, walking,biking or jogging outside can
(12:29):
help you feel 50% calmer than ifyou'd exercised indoors. That's
because the changing scenery,sounds and smells are
distractions that make it easierto forget your worries back with
more health intelligence from Drkalec Chang from the Atlantic
Spine Center in New Jersey, andif you're experiencing more
(12:50):
aches and pains since you'vebeen working from home, Dr Chang
says you are not alone, becausefor many remote workers, the
home environment is not wellsuited for our back and neck.
Yeah, well, one of the maindifferences that people face
when they're at home workinginstead of in the office is at
(13:11):
least in the office, they mayhave had a chance to have a
proper desk, office chair, maybeeven have good ergonomics
monitor at a good height.
However, for people who all of asudden had to start working at
home, suddenly they're workingon a bed or a coffee table on a
couch that's very soft, allthese situations lead to
(13:31):
somebody having a very suboptimal position. And so at any
point, if you're not sitting upcompletely straight and balanced
over your hips, that is stressin the low back. So anytime
you're in a twisted position, ifyou're leaning forward a lot, if
you're sitting cross leggedIndian style, especially with
(13:55):
the number of hours people sitin that position, it's gonna
aggravate or cause backinjuries, and I was just
mentioning the back and thishappens in the neck as well,
especially if there's a monitoror a phone or a laptop that is
lower than your eye level, theneck And the head naturally dip
(14:17):
down into this stupid positionthat causes a lot of stress on
the neck, backwith more health intelligence
from spine specialist Dr KalikChang, and according to the
American Journal of managedcare, more than two thirds of us
struggle to sleep. So I asked DrChang to share the best and
(14:38):
worst sleep positions for ourbodies so we can all get better
rest.
Usually, the worst position thatsomeone could sleep in is on
their belly. Unfortunately, Iknow a lot of people do like to
sleep on their belly, and thereason is the neck is forced to
be in a non mutual position.
And. Then oftentimes it alsocauses the low back to bend
(15:01):
backwards or extend unnaturally.
The goal of optimal positioningwhen you're sleeping is to have
everything in as neutral aposition as possible, so that
typically would mean firmware orsemi firm bed, and sometimes
(15:24):
people, when they're lying onthe back, need to place a pillow
under their knees so that theirback is not extended too much.
Or if sleeping on the side,putting a pillow between the
knees so that the pelvis is nottwisted too much to one side,
and also with side sleeping ismaking sure the neck is not in a
(15:44):
non neutral position. It's veryeasy for the neck that we need
bending, rotating one way or theother if
you want your brain to workbetter. Exercise in the morning.
Researchers at the University ofWestern Australia found adults
doing moderate intensityworkouts in the morning had
sharper brains all day becausemorning exercise elevated a
(16:07):
protein for eight hours calledbrain derived neurotropic growth
factor, which helps neuronssurvive and thrive. So morning
exercisers have a betterconcentration, attention span,
decision making and short termmemory. So if you need to be at
your best mentally fit in amorning workout, more
(16:28):
intelligence for your health.
From spine specialist, Dr KalikChang, and since we're always
talking about the benefits ofwalking on this show, and since
a whopping 80% of us willexperience back pain at some
point, I asked Dr Chang why asimple walk is often the best
prescription for our spinehealth. The
main reason why walking is aminimum of the activity that we
(16:52):
should be doing, especially forspine health, is because the
discs in the spine don't havetheir own blood supply. There's
no arteries or veins that go inand out of the disc. It's what
we call an a vascular a vascularobject. So the way that it
actually gets nutrients is fromabsorbing through the bone. So
(17:14):
it's a sponge, and it doesn'tabsorb or get rid of waste
products just by sitting there,what you need is that gentle
motion of walking, bending,flexing, relaxing, gentle
pressure on the disc, and thenrelaxation of pressure from the
disc. And it's this squeezingand UN squeezing that allows the
waste products to come out andfor the nutrients to come in.
(17:38):
The Center for sleep medicine atCornell University makes a good
case for showering at night. Itcan help you sleep better if you
time it just right. The maintrick is to not start too late,
because, as you know, bodytemperature plays a big role in
regulating our body clock andthe release of sleep hormones in
(17:58):
the morning, our bodytemperature rises to wake us up
and keeps rising until lateafternoon to help us stay alert.
Then right around your 3pmslump, body temperature starts
to fall, and that cooling downtriggers the release of
melatonin, which builds untilbedtime. But you can accelerate
the cooling process by showeringat night, because after a hot
(18:22):
shower, the body will cool morerapidly. So when is the ideal
time for a shower before bed?
The experts at Cornell say it'san hour and a half before you
want to hit the sack. That way,by the time you lie down, your
body will be cooled and ready tosleep. Here's an email I
received at Connie atintelligence for your
health.com. It comes from CAMImaster Cola, who writes, do we
(18:45):
eat less in summer? Does heatkill our appetite? Cami, it is
actually a myth that we eat lessin hot weather. That's according
to registered dietitian JoyBauer. She says it's true that
in hot weather, you're lesslikely to crave heavy, fatty
comfort foods like mac andcheese, for example. The problem
is that we generally replace onetype of fatty food with others
(19:10):
in the summer, so instead of macand cheese, we eat more burgers,
barbecue, ribs and ice cream. Inother words, don't expect to
lose weight just because it'shotter outside and you're
sweating more because yourcaloric intake generally stays
even from season to season.
Thank you for your email. Cami.
I hope this helps. Okay, listento this. If you tend to wake up
(19:33):
stuffy and headachy, it could bethe bookcase in your bedroom,
books, knick knacks and framephotos do collect dust, but
books can also contribute toindoor mold, especially in humid
climates. The fix put thebookshelf in another room so
you're not inhaling allergensall night, and clean your floors
and bookshelves weekly with aHEPA filter vacuum that will
(19:56):
keep the allergens from. Spewingright back out of the machine
into your living space.
Sunglasses were invented toprotect our eyes, but according
to the journal cognition andemotion, sunglasses can also
protect our mood. In a study,participants were surveyed
before and after they took awalk on a bright, sunny day,
(20:17):
generally speaking, thosewearing sunglasses reported the
happiest moods overall, whilethose who did not wear
sunglasses were the most likelyto report feeling irritated or
angry after their walk. Andsurprisingly, that was true even
if the participants withoutsunglasses started their walk in
a positive mood. Researchers sayit boils down to a concept we've
(20:41):
talked about before calledembodied cognition, that refers
to how our body movements andexpressions can dictate our mood
and mindset. In this case,researchers say that if you
don't wear sunglasses, you'remore likely to squint in bright
sun, and as far as your brain isconcerned, squinting activates
(21:02):
the same facial muscles asmaking an angry or irritated
expression, and the longer youmake a negative facial
expression, the more likely yourbrain will be tricked into
thinking you're unhappy, untilyou actually become unhappy, or
You could just slip on a pair ofsunglasses and turn your mood
(21:23):
around back with more healthintelligence from spine
specialist, Dr Kalik Chang. Ifyou'd like to know more about
him or any of the latest spinetreatments, check out Atlantic
spine center.com and I asked DrChang something I've always
wondered about spine health,what causes so many of us to
shrink, I have and develop ahunch as we get older.
(21:46):
So one of the main reasons whypeople lose height as they grow
older is the degeneration of thediscs within the spine. So part
of that process is you lose theheight of that disc. So that's
one of the reasons, just thespace between the vertebrae of
the spine themselves are gettingnarrower with the wearing away
(22:07):
of that disc cartilage. And thenon top of that, if there are
problems with bone densityosteoporosis, bones can start to
compress in the and then theycompress in a wedge shape. And
that's kind of where you startto get that hunchback look. If
left unchecked, it can, it couldcontinue that way. And so you
(22:29):
have the combination of thedisc, the cartilage in between
the vertebrae wearing down, andthen the vertebrae themselves,
the bones, starting to crunchforward. That's
it for our show today, ourspecial intelligence for your
health with Connie Selig,edition of the podcast, I'm Gib
Gerard. Don't forget to ratecomment and subscribe on Apple
podcast. Spotify, wherever youget your podcast, it helps us
out a lot. And also you canreach out to us on social media.
(22:51):
All of our links are listed downin the show notes. We try to
respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
Music. Hello and welcome to another episode of
the podcast. I'm Gib Gerard. Wehave for you another special
intelligence for your healthwith Connie selika. Edition of
the podcast. Our guest today isspine specialist, Dr Kalik Chang
so you'll get all kinds ofinformation about your spine in
this episode. So here we gowithout further ado intelligence
for your health with ConnieCelica, want
(00:29):
a better immune system, be moregrateful. Research from UC
Riverside found people who spentfive minutes a day feeling
grateful for a loved one saw aspike in immunoglobulin, a an
antibody that fights offviruses. Even better, write a
letter of appreciation, theresearch shows it will boost
feelings of gratitude, even ifyou never send the letter,
(00:52):
because just putting yourthoughts on paper makes you feel
more connected to the person,more humble and more likely to
do good deeds for others.
Patience is a virtue, and it canalso save your life, because
experts say impatient people areat a much higher risk of heart
disease and hypertension thanthose who are more laid back.
Psychologists call it timeurgency, impatience or hurry
(01:15):
sickness. It's a chronic senseof time pressure, and it's
become an epidemic in NorthAmerica, like the person who
can't stop pushing the elevatorbutton to hurry it up, or who
gets exasperated when a Googlesearch takes longer than three
seconds. But we now know thattime urgency impatience puts a
huge strain on the heart.
(01:38):
Constant impatience leads toirritability and anger and the
daily rush and panic raisesblood pressure. It also makes
your brain react like everyminute is an emergency, plus all
that hurrying actually makes usless efficient and productive.
We're slower mentally becausethe stress hormones in our
bodies are pulling the bloodaway from our brains. So what's
(02:01):
the antidote to hurry sickness?
Slowing down? Try goingsomewhere silent for 10 minutes
a day, skipping a few errandsand going on a phone fast for at
least an hour a day, instead oftrying to fill up every second.
We need to focus on making ourdays more fulfilling and
meaningful. And that's how tocombat hurry sickness coming up.
We'll talk to spine specialist,Dr Kalik Chang, about a
(02:26):
condition known as tech neck. Itdevelops as a result of using
electronic devices. And Dr Changwill explain exactly what's
happening to cause pain in ournecks. But first, when you're
buying shoes, what's worsegetting a pair that's a little
too big or a little too small?
Go big because our feet swellduring the day and when we're
(02:49):
active. And rehabilitationspecialist Dr Nadia Sweden says
two tight shoes can throw offyour balance and stride because
your toes will be too cramped tohit the ground properly. So go
for the shoes that are a littletoo big, rather than a pair that
are too small. Get ready toprotect your brain from
Alzheimer's. Neuroscientist DrKenneth Cossack has studied the
(03:12):
habits that can boost ourcognitive function. So try these
tactics to protect your mind andmemory as you age. First play
games that activate your frontallobe, like cards, chess, board
games and puzzles. Dr Cossacksays the frontal lobe of our
brain is hit really hard byaging. It's the area that houses
(03:32):
our memory and reasoningability. But when you give it a
workout with games that make youstrategize and anticipate your
opponent's moves, you'll protectyour cognitive function. Another
way to protect your brain. Takean acting class. Dr Cossack says
learning lines and coordinatingthem with blocking, which is how
you're supposed to move aroundthe stage, is another powerful
(03:55):
way to activate your frontallobe, one more habit that can
protect your brain power. Dosomething artistic, whether it's
painting, sculpting or drawing.
Dr Cossack says when we createart, we have to make spatial
calculations, like how objectsrelate to each other in size and
shape. We also have to payattention to detail, and when
the Mayo Clinic had 60 and 70year olds take an art class,
(04:18):
they formed new neuralconnections. Okay, listen to
this. Make this mixture to haveon hand. The next time a
headache strikes, mix six dropsof peppermint essential oil into
one ounce of unscented lotion.
Then, when you get a headache,massage that peppermint mixture
into your temples, neck andforehead for a few minutes.
(04:42):
According to the journalPhytomedicine, it calms a
headache as effectively astaking 1000 milligrams of
acetaminophen, and it workswithin five minutes. That's
because the menthol in the mintoil stops muscle spasms and
decreases inflammation and themassage. Soothes the nerves that
send pain signals. Today, ourspecial guest is Dr Kalik Chang.
(05:07):
He's a board certified painmanagement specialist with the
Atlantic Spine Center in NewJersey, and he says something
he's been seeing on more MRIs inrecent years are people
developing bone spurs at thebase of the neck. He says the
protrusions are the result ofpeople constantly hunching over
their electronic devices, andsince the structures can become
(05:30):
very painful, I asked Dr Changhow they form.
What we're talking about aredegenerative change of the
spine, and very commonly wewould see these in older people
or people that have geneticsthat cause their spine to age
faster. But yeah, recently, inthe last five years or so,
(05:50):
seeing a lot more young peoplecoming in with these issues in
their neck. And the fun termthat we use for that is tech
neck and what, basically, whatthese horns are are bone spurs
or bone growths, the way thatthe body responds in any joint,
and this can happen in a hip, aknee or a shoulder, where
(06:11):
there's a joint where there'sbone and cartilage. The
cartilage acts as a shockabsorber and allows you know the
joint to to manage impacts, butwith wear and tear, with
repeated trauma, the cartilagewears that and the bone
(06:32):
sometimes can get inflamed, andbone spurs occur when, when
those injuries or inflammationto cartilage or the bone, and
instead of, say, growing morecartilage, the body responds by
growing more bone in the area, Iguess, to thinking that it's
going to stabilize, what thatmeans is the bone spurs
themselves don't really doanything most of the time, but
(06:56):
sometimes they grow in a waythat they can impinge upon where
the nerves come out of thespine, and that's when it
becomes a problem.
Today, we're talking to spineexpert, Dr Kalik Chang, and he
was just explaining how ourconstant hunching over
electronic devices can causetrauma in our neck joints,
triggering the growth of painfulbone spurs. But he said bone
(07:18):
spurs can grow in any joint. SoI asked Dr Chang to share
another common way peopleexperience bone spurs. One of
themost common injuries, even in
young people, is a rotator cuffinjury, most specifically the
supraspinatus tendon. So so thatis the to raise your arm from a
resting position out to the sideto 90 degrees. There is a
(07:39):
specific tendon that'sresponsible for that motion, and
that tendon glides underneathone of the bones in the shoulder
called the acromion, and usuallyit's a nice, smooth bone, but
with a repeated injury, wear andtear, inflammation, the tip of
that bone actually starts togrow a spur or a horn and and
(08:01):
then the tendon starts rubbingon that, and that's called
impingement or impingementsyndrome. And so so as as that
process worsens and causes moreinflammation, it it worsens,
it's like a cycle that keepshappening. So that's something.
That's another example of how abone spur cat can really affect
(08:24):
somebody.
If you want your kids to grow upsmart and do well in school,
serve fish more often.
University of Pennsylvaniaresearchers study 500 kids aged
nine to 12. The result, kids whoate fish twice a week had higher
IQ scores than those who atefish twice a month or less. And
the more fish a child ate, thefewer sleep problems they had.
(08:48):
The reason because the omegathree fatty acids in fish boost
sleep quality and are essentialfor overall brain health.
Today's medical term strabismus,that's the eye condition that
pommel horse guy Stevenneterosik has. If that name
doesn't sound familiar, he's theglasses wearing men's gymnast
who helped Team USA win a bronzemedal at the Paris Olympic
(09:12):
Games. Strabismus is the medicalterm for being cross eyed, or
having eyes that point indifferent directions. Typically,
the brain sorts throughinformation transmitted by each
eye to create a unified visualpicture and assess distance and
depth. But when you havestrabismus, there's misalignment
between the eyes, and you canactually see two images instead
(09:34):
of one, and that leads to sightissues like double vision,
blurry vision and lightsensitivity. Dr Dean cestari is
Director of Adult strabismuscare at Massachusetts, eye and
ear. He says, For some people,one eye is always the one to
turn in out, up or down. Inothers, the turned eye can
(09:55):
alternate, and that's the casefor Jim. Neterosic Babies can be
born with strabismus, or it candevelop later in life. Overall,
an estimated two to 5% of thepopulation has strabismus. It
can also run in families, oftena pair of prescription glasses
can straighten vision, but insome cases, people may also need
(10:16):
eye exercises, surgery,medications or patching,
literally wearing an eye patchover one eye to strengthen the
other. And that's today'smedical term, strabismus, coming
up. We'll hear more from spineexpert, Dr Kalik Chang. He'll
tell us the absolute worst sleepposition for your back and neck
(10:37):
and the best positions to sleepin but first, to boost your
attention span, engage these twosenses, your vision and hearing.
Dr Terry Matlin is apsychotherapist who says our
minds wander because we let ourvision and hearing get
distracted. So the next timeyou're in a meeting, for
example, force yourself to lookat who's speaking and take
(10:59):
detailed notes, since that willkeep your hearing engaged.
You've heard of secondhandsmoke, of course. But what about
secondhand drinking? Accordingto a new report in The Journal
of studies on alcohol and drugs,the negative effects of alcohol
impact, one in five people notfrom drinking themselves, but
from other people drinking. Thereport calls it a significant
(11:21):
public health issue. For thestudy, nearly 9000 adults were
asked whether they experiencedany of the 10 types of harm
caused by someone who had beendrinking alcohol in the past
year, and the damages includedeverything from traffic
accidents to abuse, maritalproblems, property damage and
financial issues. The two mostcommon negative effects of
(11:45):
second hand drinking are threatsor harassment when broken down
by gender. For women, the topnegative effects due to someone
else's drinking were harassment,family and marital problems or
financial problems. For menafter harassment, the most
common type of harm from secondhand drinking was related to car
accidents, followed by propertydamage and vandalism. This
(12:09):
report proves what we alreadysuspected. Drinking affects more
than just the person gettingdrunk, and that's second hand
drinking. Okay, listen to thisto radically reduce your stress,
take your work out outside,according to the journal Social
Science and medicine, walking,biking or jogging outside can
(12:29):
help you feel 50% calmer than ifyou'd exercised indoors. That's
because the changing scenery,sounds and smells are
distractions that make it easierto forget your worries back with
more health intelligence from Drkalec Chang from the Atlantic
Spine Center in New Jersey, andif you're experiencing more
(12:50):
aches and pains since you'vebeen working from home, Dr Chang
says you are not alone, becausefor many remote workers, the
home environment is not wellsuited for our back and neck.
Yeah, well, one of the maindifferences that people face
when they're at home workinginstead of in the office is at
(13:11):
least in the office, they mayhave had a chance to have a
proper desk, office chair, maybeeven have good ergonomics
monitor at a good height.
However, for people who all of asudden had to start working at
home, suddenly they're workingon a bed or a coffee table on a
couch that's very soft, allthese situations lead to
(13:31):
somebody having a very suboptimal position. And so at any
point, if you're not sitting upcompletely straight and balanced
over your hips, that is stressin the low back. So anytime
you're in a twisted position, ifyou're leaning forward a lot, if
you're sitting cross leggedIndian style, especially with
(13:55):
the number of hours people sitin that position, it's gonna
aggravate or cause backinjuries, and I was just
mentioning the back and thishappens in the neck as well,
especially if there's a monitoror a phone or a laptop that is
lower than your eye level, theneck And the head naturally dip
(14:17):
down into this stupid positionthat causes a lot of stress on
the neck, backwith more health intelligence
from spine specialist Dr KalikChang, and according to the
American Journal of managedcare, more than two thirds of us
struggle to sleep. So I asked DrChang to share the best and
(14:38):
worst sleep positions for ourbodies so we can all get better
rest.
Usually, the worst position thatsomeone could sleep in is on
their belly. Unfortunately, Iknow a lot of people do like to
sleep on their belly, and thereason is the neck is forced to
be in a non mutual position.
And. Then oftentimes it alsocauses the low back to bend
(15:01):
backwards or extend unnaturally.
The goal of optimal positioningwhen you're sleeping is to have
everything in as neutral aposition as possible, so that
typically would mean firmware orsemi firm bed, and sometimes
(15:24):
people, when they're lying onthe back, need to place a pillow
under their knees so that theirback is not extended too much.
Or if sleeping on the side,putting a pillow between the
knees so that the pelvis is nottwisted too much to one side,
and also with side sleeping ismaking sure the neck is not in a
(15:44):
non neutral position. It's veryeasy for the neck that we need
bending, rotating one way or theother if
you want your brain to workbetter. Exercise in the morning.
Researchers at the University ofWestern Australia found adults
doing moderate intensityworkouts in the morning had
sharper brains all day becausemorning exercise elevated a
(16:07):
protein for eight hours calledbrain derived neurotropic growth
factor, which helps neuronssurvive and thrive. So morning
exercisers have a betterconcentration, attention span,
decision making and short termmemory. So if you need to be at
your best mentally fit in amorning workout, more
(16:28):
intelligence for your health.
From spine specialist, Dr KalikChang, and since we're always
talking about the benefits ofwalking on this show, and since
a whopping 80% of us willexperience back pain at some
point, I asked Dr Chang why asimple walk is often the best
prescription for our spinehealth. The
main reason why walking is aminimum of the activity that we
(16:52):
should be doing, especially forspine health, is because the
discs in the spine don't havetheir own blood supply. There's
no arteries or veins that go inand out of the disc. It's what
we call an a vascular a vascularobject. So the way that it
actually gets nutrients is fromabsorbing through the bone. So
(17:14):
it's a sponge, and it doesn'tabsorb or get rid of waste
products just by sitting there,what you need is that gentle
motion of walking, bending,flexing, relaxing, gentle
pressure on the disc, and thenrelaxation of pressure from the
disc. And it's this squeezingand UN squeezing that allows the
waste products to come out andfor the nutrients to come in.
(17:38):
The Center for sleep medicine atCornell University makes a good
case for showering at night. Itcan help you sleep better if you
time it just right. The maintrick is to not start too late,
because, as you know, bodytemperature plays a big role in
regulating our body clock andthe release of sleep hormones in
(17:58):
the morning, our bodytemperature rises to wake us up
and keeps rising until lateafternoon to help us stay alert.
Then right around your 3pmslump, body temperature starts
to fall, and that cooling downtriggers the release of
melatonin, which builds untilbedtime. But you can accelerate
the cooling process by showeringat night, because after a hot
(18:22):
shower, the body will cool morerapidly. So when is the ideal
time for a shower before bed?
The experts at Cornell say it'san hour and a half before you
want to hit the sack. That way,by the time you lie down, your
body will be cooled and ready tosleep. Here's an email I
received at Connie atintelligence for your
health.com. It comes from CAMImaster Cola, who writes, do we
(18:45):
eat less in summer? Does heatkill our appetite? Cami, it is
actually a myth that we eat lessin hot weather. That's according
to registered dietitian JoyBauer. She says it's true that
in hot weather, you're lesslikely to crave heavy, fatty
comfort foods like mac andcheese, for example. The problem
is that we generally replace onetype of fatty food with others
(19:10):
in the summer, so instead of macand cheese, we eat more burgers,
barbecue, ribs and ice cream. Inother words, don't expect to
lose weight just because it'shotter outside and you're
sweating more because yourcaloric intake generally stays
even from season to season.
Thank you for your email. Cami.
I hope this helps. Okay, listento this. If you tend to wake up
(19:33):
stuffy and headachy, it could bethe bookcase in your bedroom,
books, knick knacks and framephotos do collect dust, but
books can also contribute toindoor mold, especially in humid
climates. The fix put thebookshelf in another room so
you're not inhaling allergensall night, and clean your floors
and bookshelves weekly with aHEPA filter vacuum that will
(19:56):
keep the allergens from. Spewingright back out of the machine
into your living space.
Sunglasses were invented toprotect our eyes, but according
to the journal cognition andemotion, sunglasses can also
protect our mood. In a study,participants were surveyed
before and after they took awalk on a bright, sunny day,
(20:17):
generally speaking, thosewearing sunglasses reported the
happiest moods overall, whilethose who did not wear
sunglasses were the most likelyto report feeling irritated or
angry after their walk. Andsurprisingly, that was true even
if the participants withoutsunglasses started their walk in
a positive mood. Researchers sayit boils down to a concept we've
(20:41):
talked about before calledembodied cognition, that refers
to how our body movements andexpressions can dictate our mood
and mindset. In this case,researchers say that if you
don't wear sunglasses, you'remore likely to squint in bright
sun, and as far as your brain isconcerned, squinting activates
(21:02):
the same facial muscles asmaking an angry or irritated
expression, and the longer youmake a negative facial
expression, the more likely yourbrain will be tricked into
thinking you're unhappy, untilyou actually become unhappy, or
You could just slip on a pair ofsunglasses and turn your mood
(21:23):
around back with more healthintelligence from spine
specialist, Dr Kalik Chang. Ifyou'd like to know more about
him or any of the latest spinetreatments, check out Atlantic
spine center.com and I asked DrChang something I've always
wondered about spine health,what causes so many of us to
shrink, I have and develop ahunch as we get older.
(21:46):
So one of the main reasons whypeople lose height as they grow
older is the degeneration of thediscs within the spine. So part
of that process is you lose theheight of that disc. So that's
one of the reasons, just thespace between the vertebrae of
the spine themselves are gettingnarrower with the wearing away
(22:07):
of that disc cartilage. And thenon top of that, if there are
problems with bone densityosteoporosis, bones can start to
compress in the and then theycompress in a wedge shape. And
that's kind of where you startto get that hunchback look. If
left unchecked, it can, it couldcontinue that way. And so you
(22:29):
have the combination of thedisc, the cartilage in between
the vertebrae wearing down, andthen the vertebrae themselves,
the bones, starting to crunchforward. That's
it for our show today, ourspecial intelligence for your
health with Connie Selig,edition of the podcast, I'm Gib
Gerard. Don't forget to ratecomment and subscribe on Apple
podcast. Spotify, wherever youget your podcast, it helps us
out a lot. And also you canreach out to us on social media.
(22:51):
All of our links are listed downin the show notes. We try to
respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
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