In this 10‑minute YouTube health briefing, Dr. David Koivuranta of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic reviews six recent research findings and offers practical lifestyle advice. He first notes a study in Heart Rhythm (Jan 2021) suggesting women have a higher risk of nighttime myocardial infarction, possibly linked to higher prevalence of COPD/asthma, and advises anyone with unexplained shortness of breath to discuss lung function testing with a physician. He then cites the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Jan 2021) showing only 2 % of over 13,000 U.S. high‑school students meet the recommended 2.5‑3 daily vegetable servings, urging increased fruit and vegetable intake for all ages. Next, the Annals of Vascular Surgery (Feb 2021) is highlighted, reporting that a single session of resistance training improves arterial flexibility in peripheral artery disease patients, whereas light or moderate aerobic exercise does not, prompting a recommendation to incorporate resistance work. The Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Feb 2021) is referenced, revealing that celiac disease patients have a higher risk of anxiety and depression, suggesting gastrointestinal health optimization as a mood‑support strategy. An eClinical Medicine (Dec 2020) analysis links consumption of ≥3 soft drinks per day or frequent fast‑food meals to a 50 % rise in stress‑related sleep disturbances among teens, reinforcing the importance of limiting these foods for sleep health. Finally, a Journal of Occupational Health (Jan 2021) study of 307 office workers shows poor workstation ergonomics raise elbow pain risk by 39 % and wrist pain by 80 %, leading to advice on proper ergonomic setup and habits. Dr. Koivuranta closes by encouraging viewers to pick one small health improvement each day, emphasizing incremental progress toward overall wellness.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well, enjoying your week. You made it through Monday, congratulations, it's Tuesday. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update. It's Tuesday, February 23rd, 2021. I'm gonna look at 6 areas of health and wellness today. All 6 areas are good, I'm gonna try to get through them efficiently, but lots of good information for you here today. Somewhere around this video you can read through all 6 areas, but if you'd like a copy, DM us on social, send us an email at the clinic, or or even give us a call and we'll make sure that you get that. Not gonna treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, we do promise to share with you the latest and greatest in the research and literature world that may support some of your own thoughts, decisions, actions, choices, and tuning in, tapping into being part of your own health and wellness journey, 'cause it's always time and effort well spent. So good on ya for being here. Very interestingly, it's been known that women may be more predisposed to having a myocardial infarction or heart attack at night, uh, according to the journal Heart Rhythm, January 2021. The reason may be because chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder or asthma, uh, are more common in females than males as well, and that may be part of the elevated risk at night. So potentially, if you have symptoms of shortness of breath that are non-pandemic related, or you've been noticing it's a little bit harder to breathe lately, uh, it may be something you want to mention to your family doctor and see if it's worth seeing a respirologist or someone who could measure that lung function, see how you're doing. And, uh, that may lead to further investigation or diagnosis into the quality or patency of those arteries on your heart. So some good preventive action there based on potential symptoms or things you could talk to your doctor about. Very interestingly, and not enough teens, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 2021, are eating their recommended amount of veggies. Questionnaires completed by over 13,000 high school students revealed that only 2% consumed the recommended 2.5 to 3 daily servings of vegetables. Only 2.5 to 3, that's how low that recommendation is, and only 2% in that survey of 13,000 kids was getting that amount. And, um, wow, we got— we have to do better than that. I don't know how good we are as adults either, um, but, uh, our body, uh, it just needs good fuel on the cellular level, good quality nutrients, and the majority of them come from vegetables, believe it or not. So, um, boy, that's, uh, that's pretty staggering actually, now that I think about it. We want to get that up. So all of us, not just the teens, but let's get those fruits and veggies in every day. The Annals of Vascular Surgery, February 2021 talk about resistance training being the key to reducing arterial stiffness. If you keep those blood vessels supple, blood vessels supple, you'll be better off with less likelihood to have some, uh, conditions arise. So patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease experienced improved arterial flexibility following a single session of resistance training. However, no improvements in arterial stiffness were observed after participants engaged in either light or moderate-intense aerobic access, uh, exercise. So it's resistance training that seemed to bring on better effects on the quality of health of those blood vessel walls than the light or moderate intensity aerobic exercise. So a balance of both— they each have their own inherent benefits to the body, but you do want to add that resistance training into your program. Interestingly, the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, February 2021, talks about the connection between celiac disease, gastrointestinal condition, and depression and anxiety. Having celiac disease which is where the immune system attacks and damages the lining of the small intestine, and it— as a result of consuming gluten, it's believed, a protein typically found in wheat, barley, and rye. So an analysis of data conserving— concerning over 30 million individuals revealed that celiac disease patients may have an elevated risk for anxiety and depression. So a good method there to try and improve the gastrointestinal health could improve someone's mood potentially. Based on that research and literature finding. And that's something good to talk about a naturopath with. Uh, they can draw those correlations with some specific testing and give you a strategy to try and improve that GI health. And that just might put a smile on your face. Soda and fast food are linked to sleep troubles according to the eClinical Medicine report, December 2020. Using data from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey, researchers estimate that teens who consume 3 or more soft drinks a day or fast food more than 4 days a week are 50% more likely to experience stress-related sleep disturbance. So never mind the implications on, um, body weight or potentially diabetes early on, that whole metabolic syndrome from eating those kinds of foods, but can also affect their sleep, which is also a downward spiral in terms of health and wellness. So interesting correlation there. And then finally, ergonomics, uh, with your workstation. If it's good, that's great. If it's poor, well, it could lead to elbow and wrist pain, according to the Journal of Occupational Health, January 2021. They looked at 307 office workers, and it revealed an association between poor ergonomics and a 39% and 80% increased risk for elbow and wrist pain, respectively, especially that wrist pain. The finding suggests that addressing faulty workstation design can reduce the prevalence of elbow and wrist pain in office workers. So it's good to have good design, it's good to have good equipment The hardware has to be good, but the input from the user also has to be good. So the person at the workstation has to employ the proper habits. No matter how well it's set up, if it's not engaged properly, could also lead to some problems, not only in the arms and hands, elbows and wrists, but also in the head, neck, upper back, mid-back, and so on, even the lower back. And, uh, there's a lot of opportunity there to negate the effects of what you might be doing all day long if it's computer work or any other kind of work. So it's good to seek out the advice of a qualified healthcare provider in that respect. Could save you some heartache down the road, and especially if you're already having some symptoms, aches and pains, headaches, uh, not feeling well, uh, good to seek out some help to get on top of that now before it becomes harder to correct in the future. Alright, that's your daily health update for Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed it. Lots of good information in there. Pick one area, pick one thing. If you just improve one thing every day, you'd be 365 steps closer to where you want to be, or 365 days better at supporting where you already are if it's already pretty good. By just focusing on that one thing every day, or even one thing a week, wouldn't hurt. Uh, just start taking those little steps and you'll be glad you did. All right, I'll catch up with you tomorrow with your next daily update. Uh, hope you're doing well. Share some smiles out there, take care of each other, and we'll talk soon.
