In this July 21, 2021 Daily Health Update, Dr. David Koivuranta of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic reviews six recent research findings and offers practical take‑aways. He explains that modern concussion guidelines now favor progressive moderate aerobic activity within the first week rather than strict rest, and advises seeking a concussion clinic if needed. He summarizes a 3‑week calorie‑restriction study showing that a consistent 25 % daily calorie reduction is more effective for body‑fat loss than alternate‑day fasting with overeating. He highlights evidence that resistance training improves blood‑sugar control, lowers body‑fat, and improves lipid profiles, thereby reducing type‑2 diabetes risk. He reports a meta‑analysis linking less sedentary behavior and any level of physical activity to better cognitive function in older adults. He notes a trial where 6,800 IU/day vitamin D accelerated healing of diabetic foot ulcers. Finally, he cites a review indicating that combining manual therapy with supervised exercise improves pain and walking capacity in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Throughout, he adds brief encouragement, contact information, and standard medical disclaimer.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well, enjoying the middle of your week, looking forward to another weekend coming soon. Coming at you today on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update. It's Wednesday, July 21st, 2021. Gonna look at 6 areas of health and wellness news and information. Somewhere around this video you can read through all 6 areas. If you would like a copy, you have any questions, or would like to get a hold of us otherwise, you can DM us on social, send us an email, give us a call here at the clinic. We would be happy to help help you out. As always, not going to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, when you take good care of yourself, you never know what your body is capable of getting better from and/or what you can help prevent it from getting not so good in the future. So keep up the good work, take care of yourself, those around you, and you can continue to do so by plugging into some good information, which we try to give you here Monday through Friday on the Daily Health Update. The British Journal of Sports Medicine, June 2021, looked at, uh, what you should do if you've had a concussion, specifically with the historical recommendation of rest. And maybe strict rest is not the best idea anymore. According to a statement from the Team Physician Consensus Conference, progressive moderate aerobic exercise within the first week of a sport-related concussion can aid in the recovery, and most athletes don't require medications for acute concussive symptoms. The statement adds that most adult athletes will fully recover from a concussion within 2 weeks, and most children will recover within a month. And I'm sure that embracing and trying to follow the best, best strategies with that will help ensure that that recovery time frame is as close to the truth as possible for someone who has a concussion. And depending on your area and where you're at, there are many concussion clinics who are up to date on the latest protocols to help someone through that concussion recovery, and it's always good to tap into their services should you or you know have a concussion. So go get some professional help for sure. You want to make sure you recover properly and fully from any concussion. Science Translational Medicine, June 2021, looks at counting calories versus fasting for weight loss. In a 3-week experiment involving 36 lean participants, researchers found that reducing calories by 25% a day was more effective for reducing participants' body fat than fasting for 1 day and eating either 150% or 200% of their normal caloric intake intake the following day. The study author notes that when it comes to weight loss, modest reduction of calories is what counts, regardless of how you achieve that. In other words, reduce portion sizes by about 25% and limit overeating. Getting caught up in the complicated rules and regimens around eating may not be worth it. So there's an interesting, uh, perspective on the classic calories in, calories out ratio. All right, but the quality of those calories, I'm sure, still makes a big difference. And, uh, if you are in that category where you're trying to improve your body weight to something that potentially is healthier for you, a good idea again always to work with a qualified health practitioner who puts together a program for you that you think is effective for you, is gonna help you achieve what you're looking to achieve, but then very importantly, something you can maintain into the future as your normal. Um, so that you can stay nice and healthy, uh, in many other ways, because nutrition is important not just for weight but otherwise. Okay, resistance training can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes according to the Sports Medicine Report, June 2021, published in their journal, the Sports Medicine Report. It says that resistance training helps control blood sugar, lower body fat, and improve blood lipid levels, which are all risk factors for type 2 diabetes. So a good benefit again to getting out and being active. You throw in the proper nutrition, get enough sleep, and hopefully, as long as the challenges aren't too great and you can, uh, keep a positive focus, life will be good. Mechanisms of Aging and Development looked at sitting less and moving more in June 2021. Of course, we know that that's good for our physical body, our nervous system, and many of the systems in our body. We need that motion in our life. Here they looked at data from 45 published studies, and they found that less sedentary behavior and more physical activity of any intensity is associated with better cognitive function in older adults. So if you keep some level of movement about your life, uh, through your life, then later on in life, uh, your cognitive function, that good old computer of yours in your skull, will hopefully be working as best as it can. The International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds, July 2021, very specific journal there in case you're into lower extremity wounds. Notice that, um, vitamin D could be helpful to diabetics that have foot ulcers. Uh, no wonder it's so specific. It's very helpful. Chronic foot ulcers affect about 1 in 4 type 2 diabetics, and in a recent experiment, researchers observed that a daily dose of 6,800 IUs of vitamin D is effective for promoting healing in diabetics with foot ulcers. Of course, very good to work with your healthcare provider in this respect, should this concern you or someone you know. Um, but it is something to take to them and see if it's a viable or potentially beneficial approach for that situation. All right, finally, the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, April 2021, looked at something called lumbar spinal stenosis. For patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis, a recent literature review found that the combination of manual therapy and supervised exercise is effective for improving pain and walking capacity. Of course, many manual therapists often include manual therapies, and if you throw in some specific exercises when managing spinal stenosis and other musculoskeletal conditions, you could see some good results. Spinal stenosis occurs when portions of the spine that house your nervous system, uh, start to narrow and can potentially impede or change the quality or the flow of the information or energy through either the spinal cord or the nerves that are exiting from it, and that has an impact on whatever those nerves control. And of course, from the lower back, which is the lumbar spine, it could very well affect the legs and walking capacity. Sometimes if you provide manual therapy, the spine becomes more supple, provides a little bit more room or opportunity for those signals to not be impeded or irritated in any way, and therefore could create a positive outcome in whatever those nerves are controlling. Again, like leg function and somebody's gate. So it makes sense that there's some good correlation there, and now the research is there to support it. Okay, so that's your daily health update for Wednesday, middle of the week. Congratulations! I hope your Thursday and Friday go well and you enjoy another summer weekend coming up. Make the most of it. Look forward to chatting with you tomorrow, Thursday, with your next daily health update by video. And until then, be well, keep smiling, enjoy. We'll talk soon.
