In one of my recent articles where I looked in detail the damaging effect diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer's are having on our society I shared several important statistics and facts about how serious and prevalent this disease is. I had many people tell me they were shocked at how common this problem is and how it is on a steady rise, yet it is barely given a mention in the media. This made me think about how many times I come across facts and statistics that are very similar to this in other areas relating to health and fitness. Often when I am writing these long and detailed articles for this newsletter about complex or controversial topics I spend lots of time researching books, medical journals, and relevant website sites to find facts that paint a picture of what is going on. Many times I am actually trying to find information that goes against my opinion to challenge my bias and see if there is a better way. During this process I come across some very interesting things that I never knew. Some are great trivia conversations but some are very important facts that if they were common knowledge they would make many people think more seriously about the damaging lifestyle habits they choose to do. This article I share with you some of the most interesting facts I uncovered over the years. I call this the "DID YOU KNOW" series! These facts are similar to the top 10 myths debunked article I wrote last year, except these are facts as opposed to beliefs or opinions. Enjoy.

Anyone who has had a family member suffer with Dementia, Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer's disease will know all about the pain and stress that these diseases create. While we give so much attention to using exercise to improve how we look, improving the strength of our muscles and bone density, or even improving our overall cardiovascular health, we forget how important exercise is to our brain and cognitive function. I am certain many people do not realize just how important exercise is to maintaining a healthy brain and preventing the onset of debilitating diseases like dementia. Like most chronic diseases we tend to blame it on old age or genetics, and while these do play a part, it is our sedentary lifestyle and poor food choices that are mostly to blame for the rapid rise of these diseases. This means YOU have some control over this and can make a significant difference to the quality of your life as you age. In this article, I will show you how.

In part one of my articles about neck pain I discussed the various causes of neck pain and why it is so important that you DO NOT rely solely on stretching and massage to relieve your pain. In many cases these very strategies are making your problem worse, especially if you have a depressed shoulder accompanied with weakness and poor movement. This is not to say that all stretching and massage is useless, you just need to know what stretches to use, and how to combine your mobility work with strengthening exercises. If you missed part one you can go back and read it again by clicking here. While it is important to strengthen various muscles it is foolish to rush into this process for you will almost certainly make matters worse. You need a plan of trying to reduce inflammation and trigger points to weaken over-working tonic muscles stealing work from weakened phasic stabilizer muscles. This is a delicate process to do this with this area of the body as there is so many nerves and things to contend with. Even your thoughts and emotions can play a role in creating tension in muscles around the neck so this is something you need to consider. To help you out I have put together a plan that outlines the various exercises to use as assessment tools to find out where to start.