In this YouTube health briefing, Dr. David Koivuranta of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic delivers a concise overview of six recent research findings relevant to public health and wellness. He begins with a disclaimer that the video is informational, not a medical diagnosis, and invites viewers to contact the clinic for further assistance. The six topics covered are: (1) a May 2021 American Thoracic Society study linking in‑uterine exposure to secondhand smoke with infant breathing problems; (2) a May 2021 Alcoholism journal article reporting that most individuals with alcohol use disorders do not receive treatment; (3) a Cell Reports Medicine paper showing that adding cowpea (pea) flour to the diet of malnourished children accelerates weight gain and improves gut microbiota, suggesting broader nutritional benefits; (4) a British Journal of Sports Medicine study indicating that reducing sitting time and incorporating light physical activity can confer many of the health benefits of meeting the 150‑minute moderate‑intensity exercise guideline; (5) Healthline’s 2021 gut‑health recommendations—stress management, sleep, fiber‑rich diet, hydration, pre‑/pro‑biotics, and avoiding irritants—to support immunity, mood, and overall health; and (6) an April 2021 Spine journal review of Medicare data demonstrating that seniors who receive spinal manipulation as the initial therapy for chronic low back pain are dramatically less likely to experience adverse drug events compared with those who start on opioids. Dr. Koivuranta wraps up by encouraging viewers to stay active, maintain gut health, and consider spinal manipulation as a first‑line option for back pain, while reminding them to reach out to the clinic for personalized care.
Chapters
Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hope you're all doing well, you enjoyed a good summer weekend. Looking forward to your week starting with your Monday today. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update for Monday, July 26th, 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 have any questions or you'd like a copy, you can DM us on social, send us an email here at the clinic, or even give us a call. We would be happy to help you out. Not going to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, to start your week, we'll give you some information based on the research and literature to think about, to hopefully stimulate and remind you that this week your health is something that you can continue to take good care of for yourself and those around you, and in doing so, help create those better experiences, great experiences that you're looking to have every day. There's an article here from the American Thoracic Society, May 2021, about in in utero secondhand smoke and how that can lead to breathing problems. You may wanna read through that and see what the latest research in that respect is. And there's also an article here from Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, May 2021, that talks about unfortunately most people with alcohol problems not or don't get treatment. So if that's of interest to you, you can check that out. Cell Reports Medicine, May 2021, looked at pea flower and how it offers benefits to malnourished children. New research suggests that adding cowpea flour to food as a supplement to standard hospital care to address malnourishment in children can accelerate weight gain while also improving the health of the gut microbiota, which can bolster the immune system. And it's interesting that many, uh, protein supplements, protein powders in North America are from a vegan or vegetable source like pea flour. And it has, just like it does here clinically, just for your own lifestyle, even preventively or as a nutritional component, had some positive benefits. So if you're interested in that, you could read some more. British Journal of Sports Medicine, May 2021, talks about staying active and sitting less, a lesson for many of us. According to a new study, reducing sitting time and filling the day with several hours of light physical activity can help an individual achieve many of the same benefits associated with meeting physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. So moving, even though it's not exercise or fitness per se, can still contribute to your movement time and help alleviate or negate the effects of that sedentary repetitive work that you might be doing. What you can do to improve your gut health along with that pea flower, something they mention in Healthline, June 2021. Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have identified an association between gut health and the immune system. Mood, mental health, autoimmune diseases, endocrine function, and my screen just went blank. I'll pop up in here in a moment. I can tell you some more. Skin conditions and some cancers. To improve one gut— to improve one's gut health, experts recommend the following: manage your stress, get plenty of quality sleep, eat a healthy diet featuring, featuring plenty of fruits, vegetables, and dietary fiber, reduce intake of processed foods, stay hydrated, take a prebiotic or probiotic, and avoid foods that upset the stomach. Stomach. Some good advice there to take care of our gastrointestinal system, our good old digestive tract. Finally, from the journal Spine, April 2021, they talked about an initial core— an initial course of spinal manipulation for back pain and how that can help reduce adverse drug effects, uh, events. A review of Medicare claims revealed that seniors who sought treatment for chronic low back pain in 2013 were 42 times more likely to experience an adverse drug event in the following 5 years if they initially chose opioid analgesic therapy versus spinal manipulation therapy. The findings support the use of manipulative therapy as an effective first form of treatment for chronic low back pain, similar to chiropractic. So we're excited when we get to meet people and parts of their spine maybe aren't sitting or moving properly. We never like to see or feel that. However, getting them sitting and moving properly usually brings some benefit in terms of relief. And if we can keep people away from more invasive or potentially other treatments that have negative of side effects, then that's a win for sure. Sometimes those interventions, even though they might be more invasive or have some other considerations with them, are definitely necessary. But even once some relief is obtained, it's still very important to get that spine sitting and moving properly so those problems don't come back, there isn't a relapse, and/or you're trying to recover the cause or source of that problem, which is the function that we want to keep in there. All right. So your little tidbit for back pain today. Hope you enjoy your Monday if you haven't already, depending on when you see and hear this, and I hope you have a great start to your week. We'll look forward to sharing some more health information with you this week, so keep an eye out for it. We'll chat with you then. Take care, be well, and enjoy.
