Hoffman et al., from Marquette University in Wisconsin, have recently studied the effects of artificial sweeteners on rat physiology. They found that the consumption of aspartame (E951) or acesulfame potassium (E950) can lead to vascular impairment and changes in fat metabolism “that may be important during the onset and progression of diabetes and obesity”.
Research by Sen et al. presented at the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society has shown that the low-calorie sweetener sucralose (E955) can have adverse health effects. Sucralose was found to promote more fat deposits within cells. It may cause this by increasing the transport of glucose into cells and overexpressing fat-producing genes. Another…
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” Marcus Aurelius
A few months ago Terenteva et al. published their research findings on the effect of acupuncture in a group of middle-aged individuals with hypertension. Forty five adults with hypertension were randomly assigned to either an acupuncture group or a control group. The acupuncture group received 3 sessions of acupuncture per week for 8 weeks. The…
Intermittent fasting (IF) is proven to have beneficial effects on aging, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. However, it isn’t known whether the benefits of IF are due to caloric restriction (CR), as with fasting, or whether they’re due to changes in eating pattern. Recent studies have discovered that the browning of white fat can…
Earlier this year Ural et al, from Yildirim Beyazit University Medical School in Ankara, studied the effects of acupuncture on patients with lateral epicondylitis/epicondylopathy (LE). Lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow, as it’s more commonly known, is an overuse injury that leads to pain on the lateral aspect of the elbow and/or forearm. It usually affects people…
Helene Langevin is a professor at Harvard Medical School and at The University of Vermont College of Medicine. She is also the director for the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Her lab has conducted a lot of interesting research on connective tissue. I’ve summarised some of the findings that relate to the effects of stretching…
A few months ago Ural et al, from Yildirim Beyazit University Medical School in Ankara, published an interesting paper looking into the effects of acupuncture on carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Their work was published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. CTS affects more women than men and has a prevalence of 1-5%. Causes include overuse…
“Having never had a serious injury that prevented much movement ( a serious knee dislocation ) OR physio before, I was hopeful and apprehensive in equal measure. Gauthier was immediately supportive, efficient, practical and personalised in his approach. As much as the physical nature of the injury, Gauthier enabled me to work on the mental…
Last month Groessl et al., from the San Diego School of Medicine, published the results of their study examining the benefits of yoga on military veterans with chronic low back pain. Of the 150 participants in the study, 35% were unemployed or disabled and the mean back pain duration was 15 years. The mean age…