Month: March 2015

Dr Beecher’s March 2015 Monthly Chiropractic Newsletter

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“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” ~ Francis Bacon

                                                                                       

Do Computers Know You Better Than Your Friends or Spouse?

New research shows computers can judge your personality better than the humans closest to you… and it’s all about your “Likes”…

 

Also this month:

• Study shows that riding in a car with a smoker is bad for your health… even if the window is cracked!
• Is posting selfies the sign of something very bad? New study shows men who post more selfies score higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy.
• Did Ohio State eat a “magic diet” to beat Oregon for the National Championship? Find out what they did to drop weight just ten days before their big game.
• If you were diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live… what would you do? Find out what this teenager did that has changed countless lives…

Houston – Isn’t it amazing that just twenty years ago very few people had a cell phone and now most people cannot live without one?  Try this little experiment: next time you go out, leave your cell phone at home.  Chances are you will feel very uncomfortable.  Some people actually say they “freak out” when they accidentally leave their smartphone at home or misplace it.

Twenty years ago, not too many people were on the internet either.  Now it’s such an entrenched part of life that some people feel uncomfortable if they are not connected 24/7 to their email or social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Because so much time is spent on social sites like Facebook, both researchers and marketers have studied them quite a bit, and some of the information they’ve discovered is quite surprising.

For example, a new study published in the journal PNAS tested to see whether computers or people made more accurate assessments of an individual’s personality. Researchers started by asking 86,220 volunteers to complete a 100-item personality questionnaire. Then, they asked friends and family members to complete a shorter questionnaire in regards to the volunteer’s personality. Finally, they accessed the volunteers’ Facebook Like history.

The human judgments were based on the data provided by friends or family members who actually knew the volunteer and the computer’s assessments were solely based on the volunteer’s Facebook Likes.

Results?  According to Science Daily: “The results show that by mining Facebook ‘Likes’, the computer model was able to predict a person’s personality more accurately than most of their friends and family.  Given enough likes to analyze, only a person’s spouse rivaled the computer for accuracy of broad psychological traits.”

The researchers said that this is a demonstration of how computers can discover a person’s psychological traits just from analyzing data.

Lead author Dr. Wu Youyou of Cambridge University’s Psychometrics Centre adds, “In the future, computers could be able to infer our psychological traits and react accordingly, leading to the emergence of emotionally-intelligent and socially skilled machines.”

Here is something you might find pretty incredible…  In the study, a computer could more accurately predict a subject’s personality than a work colleague by analyzing just ten likes, more than a friend or a cohabitant (roommate) with 70 likes, more than a family member (parent, sibling) with 150 likes, and more than a spouse with 300 likes!

What is This Information Good For?

Study co-author Dr. David Stillwell writes,   “The ability to judge personality is an essential component of social living – from day-to-day decisions to long-term plans such as whom to marry, trust, hire, or elect as president… The results of such data analysis can be very useful in aiding people when making decisions.”

Dr. Youyou explains, “Recruiters could better match candidates with jobs based on their personality; products and services could adjust their behavior to best match their users’ characters and changing moods.”

But the research team also issued this warning:  “We hope that consumers, technology developers, and policy-makers will tackle those challenges by supporting privacy-protecting laws and technologies, and giving the users full control over their digital footprints.”

Clearly, most things that possess the power and potential to do tremendous good can also be used for harm.  Splitting the atom is the classic example. This type of data mining is another.

That’s why everyone should think twice about what digital footprint they leave on the Internet. One good piece of advice is to only post things online that you wouldn’t mind your mother or grandmother seeing (because they might). If you’re not sure, then don’t post it. But since psychological profiles can be made of you just from you clicking a “Like” button, you may be revealing more about yourself than you know.

            While we are on the topic of being careful what you post on the internet… check this out…

You probably know what a “selfie” is. A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or smartphone.  Selfies are often shared on social networking services like as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.  They are usually flattering and made to appear casual.  Most selfies are taken with a camera held at arm’s length or pointed at a mirror.

You probably knew that.  But here is something you probably do not know…

The first selfie was taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839.  Yes… 1839.  Robert was an American pioneer in photography and took what is considered the first photograph of a person: himself.  He was able to accomplish this because it took over a minute for his primitive camera to take the shot, so he was able to start the picture and then run in front of the camera while the film was exposed to light.

Now for something else you probably do not know about selfies…

Researchers from Ohio State University analyzed surveys completed by 800 men in regards to their online behavior and personality traits. They found that men who regularly posted selfies on social media sites “scored higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy, and were prone to self-objectification… Additionally, men who tended to edit their selfies before posting scored higher up the scale in narcissism and self-objectification, which measures the extent to which they prioritize their appearance.” 

The researchers said that “self-objectification” may become a bigger problem with the rising use of social media. However, they stress that posting selfies on a regular basis doesn’t make a man a narcissist or psychopath, it just means they score above-average for these particular antisocial traits.

 

Don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your questions. We’re here to help and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in providing you natural pain relief.

Inspirational Story Of The Month

(Names And Details May Have Been Changed To Protect Privacy)

 

 

If You Were Diagnosed with Cancer and Given Just Months to Live, What Would You Do?

Find Out What This Teenager Did That Changed Countless Lives…

 

Zach had plans.  Big plans.  But don’t take my word for it… let’s hear it directly from him…

            “I think every teenager out there feels invincible.  And they’ll never admit that… It’s not the kind of invincible like Superman – it’s the kind of invincible like… I’ll see you in five months.  I thought I was invincible.  I was ready for college pretty much.  I was planning out way ahead.  Then… yeah… turns out sometimes you can’t do that.

            “My name is Zach Sobiech.  I’m 17-years-old and I have osteosarcoma.  I’ve been told I have a few months to live… but I still have a lot of work to do.  I want everyone to know – you don’t have to find out you’re dying… to start living.”

That was the opening to a video called My Last Days that has gotten over 13 million views on YouTube.

One of the most important things you can ever discover about people and life is displayed in Zach’s video and story.  What is it?

It is that there are basically only two kinds of people in the world.  When times are tough – really tough – they either stand up and fight until the end… or fold up like a house of cards.  You never really know which person you are until you are faced with a REALLY tough situation.

When a 17-year-old kid is given a few months to live, it would probably be easier to pack it in and give up.  But when faced with the ultimate test, Zach proved he was a fighter until the end.

One of the things Zach did was make music.  It was his way of sharing and making others happy.  He wanted to make as much as he could and bring happiness to as many people as possible.

His song Clouds became a huge hit, and his video has over 11 million views at the time of writing.

But Zach’s message was much more important than an entertaining song.  For example, in the video about his life, Zach’s mother mentioned a guy playing basketball and how he had a really funny way of running.  Zach responded that he was really good at x, y, and z and he listed several things the man was good at.  While many people who are completely healthy and feeling great can’t find something nice to say about someone and can only point out the negative, Zach always pointed out the positive.  He always saw the beauty in the same exact world others constantly see as ugly.

How is it a grown adult with a wonderful life can only see the negative while a 17-year-old dying of cancer sees the positive, the good, and the beauty?

The answer to that is choice.  Zach simply chose to see the beauty, while others simply choose to ignore it.

There is an old saying that goes something like this, “When you change the way you see things, the things you see change.”

Zach made the decision to change the way he saw things.  Maybe he did this because he was faced with what many see as the ultimate tragedy.  Perhaps Zach saw it as the ultimate opportunity.  The opportunity for him to live as much as he could as fast as he could.  But even more important was to get the message out to as many people as he could to do the same.

Let’s face it, life is short.  No matter if you are 17 or 80, it goes by in the blink of an eye.  No matter how successful you are – or how much money you have – time is the one thing you can never get any more of.

So, don’t waste any of it.  Start changing the way you see things so the things you see change.  Make the decision to see and live the life you want to live.  Do it today, because no one is guaranteed tomorrow.

 

We love helping our patients and their friends and relatives through their tough times and

getting them feeling better! We are here to help you stay feeling better and looking younger!

Don’t be a stranger. You really can afford Chiropractic care! Don’t wait until you can no longer move!

Did You Know?…

 

3 Things That May Be Stalling Your Metabolism!

If your metabolism isn’t what it used to be, you may need to do some dietary detective work.  For example, when you eat may be as important as what you eat, so intermittent fasting may give your metabolism the boost it needs.  And, while sugary beverages and sports drinks are best avoided, organic coffee and green tea may actually help your metabolism as long as you’re not adding sugar to them.

Needless to say, exercise (and high intensity exercises in particular) cannot be overlooked if you want to rev up your metabolic engines.  If you are already fit, it’s possible that you are simply spending too much time sitting, which can be remedied by getting out of your chair to move more often.

Also, chronic low-level inflammation can stall your metabolism, which may result from food sensitivities, poor sleep, stress, and other lifestyle factors.

 

Tip Of The Month

 

Study Shows Riding in a Car with a Smoker Is Bad for Your Health… 

Everyone knows smoking is bad for your health.  Very bad.  Most people also know that secondhand smoke is harmful.  The problem is that many people think they are safe from secondhand smoke when they are not.  In other words, you are probably getting a lot more secondhand smoke than you think.  For example, one study showed secondhand smoke can actually be obtained from a smoker’s clothes.

That’s why the results of a new study published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention are not that surprising.  The study looked at 14 non-smokers who sat in an SUV with a smoker for one hour.  During that hour, the smoker smoked three cigarettes.  The front and back windows were cracked and the smoker sat in the driver’s seat while the non-smokers sat in the right rear seat.  According to the study, tests conducted on the non-smokers showed elevated levels of butadiene, acrylonitrile, benzene, methylating agents, and ethylene oxide.  According to UCSF Professor Dr. Neal L. Benowitz, the chemicals are “thought to be the most important among the thousands in tobacco smoke that cause smoking-related disease.”

Lead author Dr. Gideon St. Helen writes, “This tells us that people, especially children and adults with pre-existing health conditions such as asthma or a history of heart disease should be protected from secondhand smoke exposure in cars.” 

Here is something that should be mentioned:  The study was performed on a vehicle that was not moving.  Obviously, more research should be done with a moving vehicle to get more realistic results.  But the real question is: why expose yourself or your children to ANY level of secondhand smoke?

Did Ohio State Eat a “Magic Diet” to Lose Weight

and Beat Oregon for the National Championship?

Whether you are into football or not, you will like this information.  Why?  Because if you are like most people, you would love to know how to lose a few pounds…  and that’s exactly what Ohio State’s players did.  In fact, the coaching staff told players to lose about 5 lbs. (~2.2 kg) in the ten days before the National Championship game.  They even made them weigh in to prove they did it.  What was the “secret” to the weight loss?  According to Ohio State defensive-line coach Larry Johnson, “I told them: I don’t want you to starve.  Just eat less.  I should launch my own weight loss program.” 

One of the Ohio State players, Adolphus Washington, said it boiled down to eating less and running more.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “Washington, who weighs 295 pounds, stayed after practice between the Alabama and Oregon games for more cardiovascular exercise and swore off sweets, including Honey Buns, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Snickers’ bars Johnson keeps in his office.” 

How crazy is this?  Who would have known that eating less, cutting out junk food, and exercising more is the “secret” to losing weight?

 

Remember, we’re always here to help your body heal

and maintain the pain free body you deserve.

 

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.