“There is some good news here for older women in the population, in that they respond much like younger women do to training,” said study leader and exercise physiologist George Brooks, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology. “The results are very encouraging for exercise without weight loss as an effective means for increasing vigor and controlling risk factors for chronic diseases in older women.”

Although the endurance training involved cycling on an exercise bike for an hour, five days a week, at 65 percent of maximum lung capacity, the researchers noted that even less strenuous aerobic exercise would likely produce some benefit.

This is definitely good news for women in this age group who generally experience decreased estrogen, lean body mass, and aerobic capacity. “Despite changes in hormones and changes in body composition, postmenopausal women can make significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on extreme diets,” said Zinta Zarins, a newly minted UC Berkeley Ph.D. who conducted the experiments and is now a post-doctoral fellow at UC San Francisco.

By the end of the study, the participants’ blood pressure during exercise had dropped by 8 millimeters of mercury, while their heart rates were 19 beats per minute less when performing at the same intensity as early in the study. In addition, the women decreased their carbohydrate burning during exercise and increased their fat burning by about 10 percent. The women maintained their body weight as a way to balance energy input and expenditures.

These are very exciting results for postmenopausal women. Much more on this fascinating study can be found at sciencedaily.com.

Technorati Tags: blood pressure, exercise, health benefits, older women, postmenopausal women

First off, I suggested to to Jeff that telling Susan that her PMS was a “mental problem,” was not only just plain risky, it was also just plain incorrect! I went on to explain that, in most cases, there are physiological causes of PMS including one that he might find surprising — spinal misalignment. He seemed shocked that Susan’s back could actually be the culprit. But, I explained to both him and Susan that spinal subluxations, particularly in the lower back, can commonly produce a diverse variety of female health conditions in addition to Premenstrual Syndrome, such as pelvic pain, sexual dysfunction, incontinence, and even infertility.

Then I told them how chiropractic can help to relieve the symptoms of PMS because chiropractic treatments get rid of nerve impingement in the body. The fact is that the nervous system controls and regulates every cell, fiber, tissue, organ, and system in the body. Susan’s reproductive system is included in this master regulation. If her reproductive system isn’t functioning optimally due to nerve impedance, it can produce a variety of symptoms such as those analogous with PMS like agitation, pain, heavy bleeding, or severe cramping if her reproductive system were overactive. Missed periods or infertility can be caused by an under-activity reproductive system.

I concluded by telling them that on the positive side, if nerve disturbance was generating Susan’s PMS symptoms, then I could help because chiropractic adjustments restore harmony and balance to the nervous system and, hence, help it to function more normally.

I’ve known for years that along with improved overall health, many women experience recovered reproductive health, as well, while under chiropractic care. Chiropractic care offers an all natural solution for PMS that could help you to avoid periodic misery, without medication, and keep you pain-free and active all month long.

So, we went to my chiropractic clinic and I adjusted Susan. Needless to say, the rest of the visit went more smoothly for all three of us!

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