In this 10‑minute daily health update, Dr. Dave (Dr. David Koivuranta) presents six evidence‑based health topics for the general public. He begins by warning that even casual (non‑daily) smoking raises 15‑year mortality risk by 50% and cites new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lung‑cancer screening guidelines that lower the age to 50 and the pack‑year threshold to 20, nearly doubling eligibility. He then recommends eating at least two servings of oily fish per week, referencing a JAMA Internal Medicine study showing reduced cardiovascular events in patients with prior heart disease. Next, he highlights a European Journal of Preventive Cardiology finding that 150 minutes of moderate‑intensity exercise weekly cuts early death, end‑stage renal disease, and cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease patients. He alerts viewers to post‑stroke depression, noting a 50% higher risk than after myocardial infarction, especially in women with anxiety histories. Finally, he discusses a Clinical Biomechanics report linking reduced deep neck flexor endurance to migraine attacks, suggesting manual therapy combined with targeted neck‑flexor strengthening to lessen migraine frequency and intensity. Throughout, Dr. Dave encourages viewers to stay informed, seek screening, adopt healthier habits, and reach out to those recovering from stroke or migraine.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well. You had a wonderful start to your week. You're looking forward to your Tuesday. I hope you have a great day. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update. It is Tuesday, April 6th, 2021. Gonna look at 6 areas of health and wellness today. Somewhere around this video you can read through all 6 areas. If you would like a copy, DM us on social, give us a call here at the clinic, or send us an email and we'll be sure you get that. I'm not gonna treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, you just never know what your body is capable of when you feed it well, and that's not just nutrition, but also information, motivation, or inspiration. So staying tapped in, tuned in, and turned on to some good health information every day can propel you in the right direction with sustaining your health and even improving it if need be. So good on ya for being here. Keep up the good work. Smoking is a topic today in the daily health update, and even casual smoking, according to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, um, it can be dangerous. That was in April 2021, just this month. They used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and they found that non-daily smokers were 50% more likely to die over the following 15 years than non-smokers. So even some casual, um, smoking can create some problems, especially cancer and cardiovascular disease, still a side effect of that casual smoking. So, um, along those lines, the Journal of the American Medical Association in March 2021 said more people need to get cancer screening and the guidelines should be changed, and they have been. So there are some new guidelines in— based on the United States Preventive Services Task Force. So those people between the ages of 50 and 80 who don't have symptoms of lung cancer but have a greater risk of disease due to smoking should get an annual screening to detect early signs of the disease. They found that screening— lowering the screening age from 55 to 50 and lowering smoking, smoking history eligibility from 30 pack years to 20 pack years— one pack year is the number of cigarettes smoked if one smokes one pack a day for a year— will nearly double the number of Americans who are eligible for lung cancer screening and will likely save more lives. Smoking is one of the biggest modifiable risk factors that is a contributing factor to our chronic illnesses in North America. So good to be aware of that. Get screened and decrease or eliminate the habit if you can. You may be glad you did at some point in the future based on the research and literature. Don't shoot the messenger. I know some of these things are not easy to change, but maybe instead of a smoke you can grab a fish because fish consumption is good for the heart according to the Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine, March 2021. They followed the dietary habits of 52,000 adults with a history of heart disease, and it revealed that those who ate at least 2 servings of oily fish a week had a lower risk for a future cardiovascular event. The preponderance of global evidence to date suggests that people who eat more fish generally have better health outcomes. Or put more simply, include some fish in your diet each week and your heart will thank you. There's a solid message, and preponderance is not my word. That's a big one. Um, I had to, uh, figure that one out ahead of time, I think. The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, March 2021, looked at the exercise benefits for those with kidney disease. Of course, fitness has a role in our lifestyle factors and things that we do to keep ourselves well. But for patients with chronic kidney disease, the new research suggests that exercising at moderate intensity for 150 minutes a week can reduce the risk for early death by 38%. End-stage renal disease by 17%, and adverse cardiovascular events by 37%. Um, their findings— the results suggest that physical activity should be integrated into the clinical care of patients with kidney disease. In fact, fitness probably has a role in the recovery of many illnesses and conditions. Uh, 150 minutes a week is currently, uh, the United States, maybe the North American recommendation per week of physical activity. It's probably a bit low. In my books, we could probably almost double that, and we would probably see a huge impact in the quality of life of the society. So, get that exercise in there, get your sleep, get your good nutrition going, and you can reap the rewards of those habits. The American Stroke Association, March 2021, mentions that people who have had a stroke may have post-stroke depression, and it's something that you should watch out for. Depression following a stroke, they say, is 50% more likely than after a heart attack, and the risk is higher for women, especially those who have a history of anxiety. So if you know someone who has had a stroke, then perhaps it's a good idea to stay in touch with them and make sure that they're well, like we should with anybody, even when they are well. It's good to stay in touch with people and make sure they're doing okay. Finally, the Clinical Biomechanics Report, January 2021, looked at neck muscle endurance that's affected by migraines. In this study, researchers observed that migraine patients exhibit significantly reduced neck flexor, or downward bending, muscle endurance when compared to individuals without a history of headache. When the neck muscles of the migraine patients became fatigued, these individuals were significantly more likely to experience a pain in the head. The findings suggest that addressing that weakness, the neck bending weakness, could play a role in the management of migraines. Many patients have reported improvements in migraine frequency and intensity following a course of manual therapy to address the dysfunction in the neck and the related tissues, including those weakened muscles. So again, the science shows that when it's a musculoskeletal problem, including pain, discomfort in the neck, and cervicogenic headaches— headaches that come from the neck, including some migraines— that manual therapy is beneficial, but when manual therapy is combined with self-care that includes exercises, and in this case especially strengthening those deep neck flexors, uh, in the ones that cause down bending, usually because of a change in the posture, they become weak. So by getting therapy and locking and releasing that neck and creating better function in the neck, including function through the nervous system, but then strengthening and training those muscles, you can get some really good results with not only neck pain but headaches as well. So that's the scoop on the neck and the head for your Tuesday in April. Hope you have a great day, enjoy yourselves, and we'll be back tomorrow, Wednesday, middle of the week as always with your daily health update. Until then, go out, take care of yourself, do something special for yourself today. I bet something special is even gonna happen in your life today, but you need to keep an eye out for it in order to see it. So watch out for it and you'll enjoy it when it happens, I'm sure. Alright, take care. I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Bye now.
