In this 10‑minute YouTube health briefing, Dr. David Koivuranta of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic shares six concise, research‑backed health insights. He begins with a friendly greeting and a disclaimer that he is not diagnosing or treating anyone. The first segment highlights a global decline in fertility rates, linking air‑pollution and environmental stressors to reduced conception and noting a rise in twin births due to assisted reproductive technologies. The second segment cites a Gut journal study suggesting that a “green Mediterranean” diet can improve outcomes for patients with non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease. The third segment introduces a newer, affordable fecal immunochemical test (FIT) for early colorectal‑cancer detection, urging at‑risk individuals to discuss it with their physicians. The fourth segment reports a Frontiers in Public Health finding that children aged 6‑9 are 50 % less active during summer break, prompting a call for families to schedule mixed solo and group physical activities. The fifth segment references a JAMA Pediatrics study showing that high touchscreen exposure in toddlers (1.5‑3.5 years) reduces their ability to resist distraction, suggesting parents limit screen time. The final segment draws on a Korean Journal of Pain article linking heavy smartphone use and “smartphone addiction” to neck, upper‑back, hand, and wrist pain, emphasizing posture, moderation, and seeking help if pain interferes with daily life. Dr. Koivuranta wraps up by previewing upcoming daily updates and encouraging viewers to stay healthy, balanced, and mindful of technology’s impact on body and mind.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well, you enjoyed a nice weekend both for yourself and/or with those around you, and you're looking forward to a wonderful and of course healthy week. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update. It's Monday, March 15th, 2021, halfway through the month today. Congratulations, the rest of the month will be good for you, I'm sure. Gonna share with you 6 areas of health and wellness today. Somewhere around this video you can read through all 6 areas if you you would like a copy, you can DM us on social, call the clinic, and/or send us an email. We'll be sure to get that to you. Not going to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, we always do try to, and will in fact almost promise to, try to educate you, inform you, and empower you, maybe even entertain you a little bit with some good health and wellness information to keep that momentum going in your life with those great experiences you want to create through a healthy, happy body. All right, so around the world there's a challenge, um, with fertility rates and they are decreasing. According to the Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine report, February 2021, air pollution may affect fertility and environmental factors are thought to be one of the leading causes with infertility rates. And recently in the news I heard that the rates of twins are higher now than they've ever been, even in families where there's no history, as people are trying to pregnant in different ways with assisted pregnancies, and those are more likely to develop multiple gestations or births and having twins. But it's all to combat the lower fertility rate. So an interesting trend that's happening, and you can read about that on the Daily Health Update. People with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to the journal Gut, January 2021, may benefit from the green Mediterranean diet. So you can read about that as well. There's a new test test according to the British Journal of Cancer, January 2021, called the fecal immunochemical test, FIT, F-I-T, a different form of FIT. And it's simple and affordable, and it's to detect colorectal cancer. And by using this with some early intervention, early detection, they may curb or alter those colorectal cancer deaths. So if you are predisposed because of family history and/or you're getting on in years, you may want to ask your doctor about having that test done if it's available in our area. But interesting to learn about, interesting to read about as we try to improve the likelihood of getting through life with less complications when it comes to our health and wellness. These kinds of early detection, early intervention strategies are very valuable. Young boys and girls become less active during the summer. Interestingly, it would seem quite the opposite, wouldn't, wouldn't it? According to Frontiers in Public Health, January 2021. While we often associate summer break as a time for kids to go outside and play, a recent study found that 6 to 9-year-old children spend about 50% fewer minutes each day engaged in either moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity during this time. So knowing this trend, we want to ensure that perhaps our children and our families in general alter that trend and keep ourselves active, especially in the summer when we can take advantage of everything there is to do outdoors. So there's lots of, uh, self activities that you can have somebody do and lots of also group, two people, etc., activities. So it's good to have a mix of those to be able to do something with someone and other children or friends and family members and/or things to do on your own when you want to stay active and maybe stay off those devices which we are so attached to at all ages currently in society. Those touchscreens may contribute to distraction in toddlers as well according to the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, January 2021. They looked at 40 children. They conducted at 1.5 years and 3.5 years of age some assessments, and those who spent the most time using touchscreens each day were less likely to resist distraction than kids who used electronic devices less. So of course, there's probably some research in both directions with this. There's some benefits and detractors to this technology, and of course, as a parent, it's always up to you to navigate and make the best choices for your family. Maybe no right or wrong, just doing our best. But according to this research, it may be a good idea to curb that amount, and our children may be less distracted as the years go by. And finally, those gadgets as well, not just for our cognitive function, our mental health and wellness, but also our physical health and wellness. According to the Korean Journal of Pain, January 2021, smartphone use can contribute to musculoskeletal pain, some aches and pains from using those gadgets. 294 university students filled in questionnaires, and it revealed that heavy smartphone users were more likely to experience pain in the neck, upper back, hands, and wrists, especially those who met the criteria for smartphone addiction. The findings underscore the importance of good posture when using electronic devices and seeking help if smartphone use interferes with one's ability to carry out their daily responsibilities. So that can be some significant interference. I read an article recently that talked about the debate as to whether or not smartphone use could actually be a clinical addiction by definition. And it was an interesting comparison to other addictions, especially chemical addictions. But certainly most people were in agreement that the habit can be very habit-forming and can be a very strong one. And if it interferes with somebody's ability to carry out what they need and want to do every day, that there could be a clinical problem there, not necessarily an addiction, but —certainly an issue. So this pain problem can also be a side effect of that overuse or misuse, perhaps, of that technology, if you will. You want to stay healthy and well—body, mind, and soul—and the technology is good for the soul, keeps us in touch, keeps us entertained, but we just want to make sure that it's not exceeding the benefit and causing some health problems. And we're going to hear plenty of that going forward, I imagine, as that technology becomes more and more a part of our lives. But maybe eventually We won't have to hold anything, we'll just be looking at things and probably with better posture too because we won't rely on those gadgets. We'll have some technology that will separate us from having to hold it even. That's Dr. David Koivuranta's prediction for the future, but we'll see. Alright, so that's your daily health update for Monday this week. We'll be back Tuesday through Thursday with the video format. We'll end the week with another written format. That's what you have to look forward to this week. Hope you enjoy it. Stay healthy and well, have a super week, and I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Take care.
