But, the finding surprised many experts, as previous genetic evidence suggested that Neanderthals made little or no contribution to our inheritance, and though the contribution still appears to be small (in some places, but perhaps larger in your area), the study did confirm that living humans today can overwhelmingly trace their ancestry to a small population of Neanderthals who left the African continent to populate the rest of the world between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago.

Professor Svante Paabo, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, put it this way: “They are not totally extinct. In some of us they live on, a little bit.” And, he should know. Professor Paabo and fellow biologists have sequenced the whole Neanderthal genome.

So, the next time you’re tempted to gesture at that driver who cut you off on the freeway, or cuss out that customer service representative on the phone, or throw a shoe at the TV,  just remember:  Somewhere in an ancestry far, far, away, that Neanderthal you’ve encountered just might be a member of your family.

Much more “pertinent” information can be found in Thursday’s issue of Science

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The data has been compared to a 50-year record (1950s through 1994) of when plants bloom and leaves bud in the Chicago area. The information is contained in the book,”Plants of the Chicago Region” and according to Kayri Havens of the Chicago Botanic Garden, data from 15 species of plants have been cross-checked between Project BudBurst and the book. Pictures and descriptions of the plants can be found at the Project BudBurst website. And, you can participate in the research. All the instructions are available on the project website . Head to the website today, Earth Day, and sign up to help identify the “too-early springers.” The more we know, the more participate, the more we can do to help Planet Earth.

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The study, conducted by Drs. Robert Erikson and Jenny Torssander of the Swedish Institute for Social Research in Stockholm, revealed (in part) that men who hadn’t reached high school were 1.1 times more likely to die during follow-up than men who’d finished college. But the education of a man’s partner had a stronger effect than his own schooling; men living with a woman without any high school education were 1.25 times more likely to die than men living with a college graduate.

“We can assume that more highly educated women have better possibilities to find the important health messages that are around,” Erikson said, “There are lots of health messages in the media and I think some of them are important and some are just misleading.”

The full article contains more about the study and includes sources: reuters.com

Technorati Tags: education and longevity, mens health

Though gas and the resulting flatulence is normal on occasion, there are ways that we can avoid it in excess. Though beans are the list topper of gas creators in most people’s mind, beans will not, as a rule, create as much gas if you eat beans prepared from dry rather than beans from a can. You’ll need to soak the dry beans overnight in water, and then in the morning remove any beans that are left floating on top. These are the culprits that contain the most air and, therefore, create the most gas. Swallowing air is a major cause of gas and it can happen in several ways that can easily be avoided: drinking through a straw, chewing gum, smoking, and eating too quickly are a few of the ways. You can also reduce gas buildup by doing mild exercise after meals, which helps to move air through the body and also aids in digestion.

If, however, you still find that you have gas buildup and feel bloated or have gas pains, there are several home remedies to may ease the problem. You can drink: tea containing peppermint, fennel, chamomile or anise; a teaspoon of lime juice mixed with a teaspoon of ground ginger; water in which you’ve blanched lemon verbena leaves or parsley; or just drink plenty of water. Also, lying on your back and pulling your legs up to your chest will help relieve pressure.

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“It’s a menace, environmental groups say — and a dark-comedy example of American excess.” I would have to agree with that assessment. While some of us, myself included, may purchase recycled paper goods, like most Europeans do, there is apparently a “demand” in the U.S. for not just plush toilet paper, but three-ply “ultra plush.” And, plush toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that may be decades or even a century old.

Let’s face it, anatomically, we humans are all alike head to toe and all parts in between. In order to help save the trees, we may not need to go as far as sharing one towel among many users, but certainly single-ply, recycled paper is good enough for any of us when it comes to the environmental bottom line.

Full article and sources at washingtonpost.com

Technorati Tags: cutting trees, environment, environmental issues, plush toilet paper

Surely there are answers to be found that will bring our health care system into the twentieth century. Yes, I know that it is currently the twenty-first century, but compared to the health care provided to the citizens of other industrialized countries, the United States has a long way to go.  Hopefully, the debaters won’t “eat each other up” before a thoughtful, compassionate health care bill is passed into law.

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I started out with statistics because they are usually more difficult to argue with, so I said that at one time or another, Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) impacts and estimated 90% of women and nearly 20% of those women afflicted undergo severe to debilitating symptoms.  Then I turned to my brother and told him that his telling Debi that her PMS was a ” mental problem” was not only just plain dangerous, it was also just plain non-factual because in almost all instances, there are physiological reasons for PMS, including one that I suggested might surprise both of them — spinal misalignment. I was right, they were both surprised. My brother responded by saying, “You mean Debi’s back could actually be the culprit?”

I explained that spinal misalignment, expressly in the lower back, can commonly cause a diverse variety of female health problems in addition to Premenstrual Syndrome, such as pelvic pain, sexual dysfunction, incontinence, and even infertility. Chiropractic treatment helps to relieve the symptoms of PMS because it helps to get rid of nerve impedance in the body. I told Debi that every cell, fiber, tissue, organ, and system in her body is instructed and regulated by her nervous system. This included her reproductive system. If her reproductive system isn’t operating properly because of nerve impedance, it can generate an array of symptoms such as those connected with PMS. In fact, she would most likely experience agitation, pain, heavy bleeding, or severe cramping if her reproductive system was overactive, but that missed periods or infertility can often be caused by an under-activity reproductive system.

Fortunately, if nerve impedance was generating Debi’s PMS symptoms, then chiropractic treatment would be able assist because spinal manipulations restore unimpeded activity to the nervous system and, as a result, help it to function more normally. In my practice I have noticed that many women find an improvement in their reproductive health, combined with improved general health, while under chiropractic care.

I suggested to Debi that we go to my clinic where I could give her a proper adjustment.  She was very excited that chiropractic management might be the all natural solution for her PMS that she’d been looking for. I told her that I felt confident that regular chiropractic adjustments could not only help her to escape periodic misery, without medication, but could keep her pain-free and active all month long.

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, cramping, heavy bleeding, PMS

Scientists are finally figuring out how pungent plants and their essential oils, used by people for centuries to protect their foods, might be harnessed by modern man for pest control. “There was some magic in how nature has gone about doing this,” said Isman, speaking yesterday at a meeting, held in Washington, D.C., of the American Chemical Society. “Our research is trying to figure out which essential oils work best for which applications.”

The strong odors from spice plants consist, chemically, of small molecules that evaporate easily. Their chemical structure allows spice extracts to easily penetrate cell membranes in places like the brains of bugs. People, pets and other animals don’t have the same messenger molecules in their brains, making extracts that harm insects safe for us.  In addition, over time insects are less likely to develop resistance to spice extracts than conventional chemicals, Isman said.

Hopefully, the research will continue on this  “natural” path and not detour (as usual) down that all-too-familiar road toward the artificial synthesis of these organic potentialities. As Isman pointed out, “There is some internal magic to that mixture of compounds that defies trying to tease them apart. There is some benefit to using the natural mixtures as they come out of the plant.”

So, for we organically-minded folks, the future of pest control is not only looking more natural, but it’s smelling a whole lot sweeter, too!

Full article at: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/08/17/killer-spices-02.html

Technorati Tags: chiropractor, environment, pesticides, spices

So, when the government’s “cash for clunkers” program started, I can’t begin to tell you how happy I was. Ed and Millie, three houses down on the right, two kids and a Golden Retriever, were the first to cash in their car, a 1998 Chevy Impala, for a Sierra Hybrid. I actually brought them some of the chocolate cupcakes I’d made for my youngest son’s summer school picnic.

Before long, over half (of the half of the neighbors) who drove the gas guzzlers had traded them in a smaller, more fuel efficient car. The whole neighborhood was ready to celebrate by then, and since the smaller cars left so much more room on the street, we celebrated with a block party!

Hey, thanks you, Congress, for extending the “cash for clunkers” funding. Their are a lot of neighborhoods out there who could use a reason to celebrate!

Technorati Tags: cash for clunkers, government

It does seem, doesn’t it, that no matter where we turn these days, there are news stories and advertisements, alike, promoting the stunning research on a plethora of exotic supplements, not to mention the cutting-edge health proclamations of coffee and red wine that, in one way or another, guarantee to decrease or eliminate all causes of mortality? It would almost seem, in fact, that a quest for immortality has replaced our search for longevity!

To start with, let me make it unquestionably clear that I solidly believe that certain~particular things that we ingest can be beneficial to our health. So, I’m definitely not against taking supplements. Not only do I advocate them for my patients, but I listen to my own advice and take them as well. Secondly, if confession is good for the soul, and red wine is good for the heart, then I’d like to take this opportunity to help both by stating for the record that I enjoy drinking a glass of red wine. The notion that it might have heart-healthy properties, well, that’s like icing on the cake, so to speak. And, lastly, as far as caffeine’s ability to actually reverse or prevent Alzheimer’s disease goes, I believe that if that were commonly true, life would be far less frightening and far more enjoyable for many people and their families.

However, before taking ill-considered action, and indiscriminately adding another cup of coffee to your morning habit, another glass of red wine to your evening ritual, or an extra expenditure of your hard-earned cash on exotic herbs that promise to make you live forever, let’s rationally consider a couple of things.

For example, let us consider the human condition. We are dynamic, biological beings, free to vigorously participate in life. We have not been cooped up in a cage all our life, and we have not been bred to “unnaturally” incur the age-related afflictions that lab animals do, disease and debilitation that is then “eliminated” by resveratrol, caffeine, or some “amazing” supplement.

Moreover, our being dynamic and biological is another way of saying that we, humans, are not ” mechanistic automatons.” In other words, we aren’t all precisely alike. Due to the fact that our central integrative states are not exactly the same, internal provocation factors and external irritation influences affect us in different ways. For example, though smoking cigarettes is commonly harmful to most people, there are a few individuals who can smoke cigarettes and still achieve longevity without any related ill effects.

The outcomes upon which scientific research and testing are based upon the isolation of a particular variable. That is the method that gives scientific study its legitimacy. However, because tests related to human health issues occur through this very method, and are most often done on lab animals, when it comes to human beings, the effects are very likely to be quite different. In fact, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, what might benefit some of the people all of the time, most likely won’t work for all of the people all of the time (and sometimes won’t work at all!).

You make choices each day, some that are intentional and others that may be indifferent, that will affect your physical health, now and in the future. You decide what (and how much) you’ll eat and drink, and the amount of physical activity and rest you’ll get. Even though you can “sense” what is healthy for you, by the way your body responds, sometimes, perhaps too often, you may override the feedback. Clearly, when you don’t consciously make healthy choices, you jeopardize your health and longevity.

Then, a study comes along that hails the discovery of THE THING that has the efficacy to reverse all of the immoderate and unhealthy things you may have been doing to your body through unhealthy choices, and you, like many others, may be ready to take double and triples doses of whatever it is! This kind of “hope” is, unfortunately, a subtle illusion.

Your human body is an elegantly complex, homeostatic system. In other words, every operation is interdependent and sensitively balanced. When you choose an unhealthy lifestyle, your fastidiously-responsive system gets “off balance.” Sooner or later, the imbalances created by choosing unhealthily, result in diseases and a shortened lifespan.

As a chiropractor who supplements daily, I suggest that you supplement, too, if they help you to feel vigorously healthy. I agree, as well, that if it feels like the thing to do, an extra cup of coffee might actually be personally beneficial for you. And, if it truly feels healthy, have a little more red wine. Just keep in mind, however, that the only authentic way that you can prevent or reverse age-related health problems is by changing an unhealthy lifestyle. You won’t become healthier or live longer by waiting for the discovery of a “magic potion.”

Dr. Jamie Phillips, is a consultant for Bloczone Marketing, a chiropractic marketing company specializing in chiropractic websites that attract new patients. She also teaches chiropractors in Chicago and across the country how to market their chiropractic practices online. She can be reached at (805) 985-9502

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