Summer News

Posted in: Blog, Fitness, Health Tips, Nutrition by chirocare on May 28, 2010

Summer Time Health Tips

Water is critical for our survival. In fact, after oxygen, it is the second most necessary life-sustaining factor. Under normal circumstances, people can live for weeks without food, but we can only survive without water for a few days. The human body requires adequate water to maintain its function.

Water is vital in transporting nutrients and eliminating waste, lubricating joints, regulating temperature and facilitating digestion.  Water helps form the fluid in our joints, the mucous in our lungs, and many other bodily fluids. In addition, it is necessary when we exercise or are exposed to high temperatures—the evaporation of sweat helps cool us.  The human body strives to maintain balance between the amounts of water that we lose vs. what we take in.  When you are thirsty, drink water to restore the balance. 

It is important to drink water all year but during the hot weather months it’s even more so.  Stay healthy this summer with a few tips on HYDRATION. 

 First, What is Dehydration?

When we lose excessive amounts of water, or water and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, we get dehydrated. We feel the effects of dehydration in many ways, including weakness, abnormal heart rhythms, and fluid accumulation in the abdomen and/or the lungs. In a situation with increased water loss, such as physical exertion, dehydration can happen much quicker. In fact, dehydration can affect an athlete after less than 1 hour of exercise.

Signs of Dehydration

• Thirst

• Weakness

• Nausea

• Irritability

• Dizziness

• Confusion

• Decreased performance

• Headache

• Cramps

• Heart palpitations

Some other general information:

• In more physically active individuals, the amount of water intake necessary to maintain proper hydration varies between 2 to 16 liters per day, depending on the activity and the individual. Physically active individuals are not necessarily athletes. Farm workers, heavy laborers, and the like naturally have higher needs for water.

 • If you are planning a strenuous physical activity, drink approximately 2 to 3 cups of cold water 2 hours before activity. Drink 1 cup approximately 10-15 minutes before the activity or during your warm-up. During the activity, drink 3 to 4 cups of water every hour of activity, or 1 cup every 15 to 20 minutes. After the activity, you should rapidly replace the fluids that you lost within 2 hours. You should drink approximately 16-24 ounces of water for every pound lost during the activity.

 • Cool beverages of 50-60 degrees are the best forms of fluid for the body. If an activity lasts longer than 1 hour, a sports drink is often recommended.

 • Fluids with salt (e.g., sodium, potassium) are beneficial because they increase thirst. The salt also helps replace what’s lost through sweat. If you choose a sports drink, it should contain no more than 7% of carbohydrates per serving.

Sports Drinks:  The flavors make you want to drink more, electrolytes trigger your thirst mechanism and the carbohydrates boost energy.  Use the right type of drink for the right sport.  The more sugar the slower your body will re-hydrate

 • Avoid fruit juices, carbohydrate gels, sodas, alcohol, and high-sugar sports drinks. These may dehydrate the body further by stimulating excessive urine production and/or decreasing your overall beneficial fluid intake.

   Enjoy your summer and if you ever have questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to give us a call (314) 439-5548.  Dr. Gina, Dr. Tushaus and MollieShea are here to help you stay healthy. 

Yours in Good Health,

Chiropractic Care & Sports Rehab, Inc.

Mia visits the office

Posted in: Blog, Dr. Gina by chirocare on May 18, 2010

Mia Anne is now 5 weeks old and doing very well.  She is 8lbs. 8 oz. and likes to be held.  Dr. Gina is feeling great and loves being a Mom.  Dr. Gina and Mia came by the office for a visit this week.  Thankfully Elvira had her camera and we were able to get some pictures of the Little Princess. 

In loving memory…

Posted in: Blog by chirocare on May 6, 2010

A close friend of Dr. Gina’s recently lost her second son to a very rare blood disease called HLH or hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

We would like to raise awareness about this illness.  It is so rare it is considered an “orphan disease”, meaning it strikes too few people to generate government-supported research.  It is approximated that HLH occurs in 1 in every 1,000,000 children.  

Andrew lost his fight at age 2 and his big brother Mathew just lost his fight at age 5.  They had an abnormally regulated immune system, and specific white blood cells, called macrophages, grow abnormally and accumulate in the body’s organs, including the liver, spleen, bone marrow, central nervous system and skin.

The only way to “cure” this disease is by bone marrow transplant.  We want to spread more awareness and greater understanding of this disease as well as encourage people to donate bone marrow.  Dr. Gina and her husband are on the registry and have donated their daughter, Mia’s cord blood in hopes of saving a life.  Through the National Marrow Donor Program and Be The Match we have the unique opportunity to help a patient in need.  You could be the one to give hope.  Please visit www.marrow.org for more information. 

Here is their story in their mothers’ words…

Andrew Preston Akin was born June 5, 2007. At 10 weeks he became very sick and almost died of liver failure. We soon learned that the cause was an immune deficiency called HLH. Andrew underwent his 1st bone marrow transplant with cord cells 12/07. Sadly he did not engraft and the disease came back. Andrew underwent his 2nd bone marrow transplant with bone marrow 5/08. Andrew had severe GVHD that went untreated and misdiagnosed for months and in the meantime lost the graft, thus requiring him to have a 3rd bone marrow transplant. We transferred our care from St. Louis Children’s Hospital to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to be under the care of the HLH expert Dr. Filipovich. January 2009 Andrew was flown to Cincinnati. After getting his raging GVHD under control-Andrew received his 3rd bone marrow transplant with marrow from a new donor 3/09.
Upon transferring our care to CCHMC additional tests were done on Andrew and it was learned that his HLH comes from a very rare genetic mutation-XLP2. We had our other son (Matthew) tested and he too has the mutation but is asymptomatic. However, the Drs. tell us that it is just a matter of time before Matthew is exposed to a virus that triggers the disease. At that point, he may or may not make it to a bone marrow transplant so his best chance for survival is to have a transplant while healthy. August 27, 2009 Matthew received his life saving bone marrow transplant at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which made for our 4th bone marrow transplant in two years between our two sons. However, less than two weeks later we lost our sweet Baby Andrew to transplant complications. He earned his angel wings September 5, 2009 while his brother was still in the bone marrow unit recovering from his transplant. Currently we are trying to care for Matthew the best we can while mourning the loss of our sweet son Andrew.
It has been and will continue to be our lifelong mission to get people to join the National Marrow Donor Program. Without the marrow from these selfless donors-we would not have even had the two years and three months and Matthew would not be here today. Consider saving a life- www.marrow.org  Saving the world isn’t easy but saving a life is!