In this brief daily health update, Dr. David Koivuranta of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic shares six recent research findings across diverse health topics. He first notes a study linking poor oral health (tooth loss and gum disease) with increased liver cancer risk. He then highlights a Cancer journal report that the Mediterranean diet may inhibit prostate cancer metastasis in a cohort of 410 patients. Next, he cites Diabetes Care showing that exercising during the first trimester lowers gestational diabetes risk, encouraging safe activity for pregnant women. He follows with a Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology article suggesting vitamin D may protect liver function, urging adequate vitamin D status. He then discusses a PNAS/Dunedin Study finding that childhood self‑control predicts better brain health, social skills, and financial/health outcomes in mid‑life, positioning self‑control as a key longevity factor. Finally, he references a Central European Journal of Public Health paper identifying non‑occupational risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome—obesity, hypertension, age, smoking, and alcohol—while reminding viewers to seek professional care for symptoms. Throughout, Dr. Koivuranta emphasizes that these insights are informational, not diagnostic, and encourages viewers to obtain written summaries and maintain daily health focus for long‑term benefits.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well, you had a nice start to the week, looking forward to your Tuesday. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update, Tuesday, February 9th, 2021. Let's make it a good one. I'm gonna share with you 6 areas of health and wellness today. We're gonna touch on a couple of them, the rest of them you can read somewhere around this video. You should find the written format, and if you'd like a copy of that written format, get a hold of us at the clinic. You can DM us on social, send us an email, give us a call, we'd be happy to get that to you. Not going to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, we will share with you a little bit of the latest and greatest in the research and literature when it comes to health and wellness. Some things that might make you go, hmm, and some other things that might say, aha, I should try that or do that or share that with somebody. And either way, just for tuning in, tapping in, plugging in, and creating some momentum with a daily focus, even for a brief period, on your health and wellness, uh, will allow you to probably curb some of decisions, choices, and actions you make each day with your own health and wellness. And over time, when rinsed and repeated, that will set you up for some good health outcomes. At least that is the hope. So today you can read through the Critical Reviews in Oncology and Hematology report from January 2021. It talks about the connection between poor oral health and liver cancer, an interesting correlation there, uh, based on the degree of loss of teeth and/or gum disease. So read through that if you're interested. The Mediterranean diet we talk about quite often on the Daily Health Update, one of the most researched and recommended diets in the world. This time in the journal Cancer, January 2021, they talk about that Mediterranean diet being able to help stop prostate cancer from spreading. So a very specific benefit to that type of diet where they looked at 410 cancer patients with prostate cancer. So you can read through that. If you're expecting or are going to be expanding your family sometime soon, the journal Diabetes Care, December 2020, talked about the impor— importance of exercising during your first trimester and how that reduces gestational diabetes risk. Of course, if you've already been exercising prior to conception, then you can continue to do so. It's always a very good idea. And if you haven't been but you introduce it, then you want to start off easy, but it is okay to start even exercise once you've conceived or become pregnant. You just want to do it in a healthy way. And there are some benefits not only to gestational diabetes but in the whole process of bringing this wonderful creation into the world. According to the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, January 2021, vitamin D may be protective in nature with your liver. So you want that vitamin D status for many, many reasons, just to be in what they figure is a scientific normal range. And in some cases, depending on who you talk to— a medical provider, nutritionist, naturopath— they may want those levels even a bit higher if you're dealing with certain health problems, and that's something you'd want to talk to your healthcare provider about. But good to know where those levels are at and/or what level of supplementation and what foods or diet or health approach you should be taking to sustain that, because there are health benefits to making sure some of our nutrient levels are within normal limits. According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2021— you'll like this one— that self-control may be the key to longer life. They tracked over 1,000 people from birth to age 45, and they found that individuals Individuals who had greater self-control when they were children exhibited fewer indications of brain aging by middle age, had more developed social skills, and were better informed about health and finances. So self-control, a very good factor. In fact, there was a large study done in New Zealand called the Dunedin Study, which is a very interesting thing to look into in research. They also followed people over their lifespan from childhood to adulthood, and they detected that self-control is actually a very large, if not the biggest determinant to living what one might define as a successful life. And that success came not only in terms of career and finances, but also relationships, longevity, health, multiple different aspects of their life. So look that one up if you want. It's the Dunedin study, D-U-N-E-D-I-N, I believe, in New Zealand. And finally, the Central European Journal of Public Health, December 2020, talked about the risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome. While work-related factors are often associated with carpal tunnel syndrome, such as repetitive movements, awkward posture, especially wrist position, excessive vibration exposure, they've identified the following non-occupational risk factors for the condition. So if you're overweight or obese, you may be more likely to having carpal tunnel syndrome. Arterial hypertension, older age, history of smoking, and excessive alcohol intake may also contribute to the likelihood of you getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Of course, there are some good therapies out there and some treatments and recommendations for carpal tunnel syndrome. So if you or someone you know is getting numbness, tingling in the wrist, hands, or fingers, uh, hands feel sore, painful, don't feel coordinated, or they're getting weak, there is hope for improvement. So make sure you see a qualified healthcare provider for that. All right, so some good tidbits of information to share there for your Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed it. Get out there, make it a have a great day and take care of each other. Share some smiles, stay warm, do all that good stuff. And the challenges will come, they always do. The world is kind of in a global challenge right now. In North America, a few specific challenges going along with that global challenge, but we can handle it, we can do it, and we can make things better. And you know what? It all starts with you and your health, because when you're healthy, you're better able to take on any challenge, and you're also more likely to create those great experiences you want to have every day. So keep plugging into some good health and wellness information every day, and we're happy to share that with you here on the Daily Health Update. So we'll be back tomorrow on Wednesday doing the same thing. We hope to see you then. Take care.
