In this 10‑minute video Dr. David Koivuranta of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic delivers a daily health update covering six distinct wellness topics. He begins with a disclaimer that the segment is educational, not diagnostic, and invites viewers to request a written copy. The first topic highlights road safety, citing a Governor’s Highway Safety Association review that 43 % of teen drivers in fatal crashes were speeding, urging adherence to traffic laws. The second topic reviews a British Medical Journal (BMJ) analysis of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, which linked high refined‑grain consumption (≥350 g/day) to a 33 % higher risk of major cardiovascular events and a 27 % higher risk of early death, while whole‑grain or rice intake showed no such association; Dr. Koivuranta defines whole versus refined grains and recommends choosing whole grains and vegetables for carbohydrates. The third segment promotes resistance training, noting that weight‑lifting can improve muscle strength, cardiovascular function, walking ability, and balance in individuals with early‑onset Parkinson’s disease. The fourth topic advises women entering menopause that hot flashes and palpitations may mask hypertension; he cites the European Heart Journal, emphasizing that untreated high blood pressure raises risks of atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and stroke. The fifth segment discusses nursing burnout, referencing a JAMA Network Open study that 31.5 % of nurses who left the profession in 2017 cited burnout, and suggests reduced shift hours and better staffing as mitigations. The final topic presents a January 2021 scientific report on 409 older adults showing that strong back, hip, and leg muscles are essential for maintaining proper sagittal posture, preventing back pain, gait disturbances, fatigue, and gastrointestinal symptoms; he recommends manual therapy and targeted exercises from qualified practitioners (osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors, etc.). Throughout, Dr. Koivuranta emphasizes personal responsibility, preventive health, and the value of making informed, healthy choices.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well. You had a wonderful start to your month of March and you're looking forward to a good healthy week. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update for Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021. I'm going to share with you 6 areas of health and wellness today. Somewhere around this video you can read through all 6 areas and if you'd like a copy we can get that to you. Just DM us on social, send us an email at the clinic, or give us a call. We'd be happy to make sure you get that because it is a wonderful thing to read and/or listen to every day, and that's why we're here. However, we will not treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together. It's simply designed to educate, empower you, maybe entertain you a little bit, and inform you and help guide some of those decisions, actions, choices that you're making for your own health and wellness and the health and wellness of those around you every single day. It's all about the healthy momentum. But when you're driving, you don't want too much momentum. According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, January 2021, they did a review of data concerning motor vehicle collisions between 2015 and 2019 and revealed that 43% of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the incident. So good to obey your traffic safety rules, regulations, and laws, the Highway Traffic Act in your area, and be safe out there. Good choices, right? There's other ways to stay healthy and well as well. British Medical Journal today, February 2021, reported on the implications of refined grains in your diet. They use data from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study, had over 137,000 adults in it from 21 countries. And they, the researchers estimate that compared with individuals who regularly consume less than 50 grams, of refined grains a day, those with a refined grain intake of 350 grams a day or more have a 33% higher risk for serious cardiovascular event and a 27% increased risk for early death in the following decade. They did not notice an association with whole grain or rice intake. The findings suggest that replacing your refined grains with whole grains or rice in the diet could reduce the risk for heart disease and early death. So Sometimes it's a bit confusing, so here is the best definition I could find just so you understand the difference between those whole grains and refined grains. Whole grains, things that are okay to have in moderation in your diet, are brown rice, oatmeal, popcorn, muesli, whole wheat bread, whole wheat bread, and wild rice. But even the more whole those grains, the more natural those grains and unrefined those grains in your whole wheat bread, the better. You'll notice that a lot of whole wheat bread actually has white flour in it, which is a very refined grain, and we want to stay away from that potentially based on the research and literature. So refined grains are things that have been processed even further. They have a long shelf life, and, um, they're things like noodles, crackers, macaroni, spaghetti, cornflakes, white bread, and white rice. So that's just one example, um, but, uh, regardless, try to eat everything in moderation. And when it comes to those grains as sources of carbohydrates, try to have them in the more natural state, as natural as possible, but try to get most of your carbohydrates from fruits and especially vegetables if you can. For your fitness note of the day, lifting weights is good for you. And if you know someone or you yourself have early onset Parkinson's disease, resistance training may result in improved muscle strength, cardiovascular function, walking ability, and balance. So it's beneficial for those in the early stages of Parkinson's as well. Good side effect from fitness at that stage. Um, for, uh, women, uh, who are entering the menopausal period of their life, there has often been an association with hot flashes and palpitations. However, in women over the age of 60, these could also be signs of hypertension or high blood pressure. So it's good to have your healthcare provider look at both those possible sources because that high blood pressure can actually be a risk for atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and stroke, and should not be simply dismissed as side effects of, um, being menopausal. So that's a good little health tidbit from the European Heart Journal, January 2021. The Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, February 2021, looked at the nursing profession, and they found that, um, 418,760 nurses changed their careers in 2017, and 31.5% of them cited burnout as their primary reason for leaving the profession. It's a tough gig, it's a hard job, um, but so worthwhile because it's so helpful, can help so many people, and people I'm sure are very appreciative of what nurses do for us. The researchers note that reducing the number of hours worked per shift and increased staffing could help reduce the stressful work environment that is driving so many nurses from the field. And hopefully the systems out there that drive our healthcare delivery, especially in crisis intervention, which is what a big portion of our healthcare delivery in North America is, unfortunately, is supportive of the people who are delivering it. The systems need to be improved. I think the money is there. I think we have some great technology, great innovations, and we have a lot of understanding about healthcare problems. The systems and the infrastructure that support the delivery of that crisis care could always be improved. And of course, it would be great if we spent a little more investment and education into prevention and actually supporting health and wellness instead of so much time and money, incredible amounts of time and money into treatment in the later stages of illness and disease. But that's a whole other story now, isn't it? Finally, on the scientific reports side of things, January 2021, they examined 409 older adults and they found that strong back, hip, and leg muscles are important for maintaining a healthy posture when viewed from the side. The researchers note that, that side posture malalignment leads to back pain, gait disturbances, fatigue, and even gastrointestinal symptoms. So of course, uh, getting some manual therapy and learning specific exercises that you can do to address that reduced muscle strength that comes with poor posture would be good for you. And of course, there are different practitioners who can provide that. Among them would be perhaps osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors, some massage therapists, and athletic therapists, trainers along those lines. Just find someone that you're comfortable with and you can work on improving that posture, strengthening yourself so that you're nice and stable and able to stay functional every day for as long as possible. All right, that's your daily health update. A little bit of a tangent today, but the bottom line is, uh, no one's going to take care of ourselves as much as we are. And and we have the right to make responsible choices, and it's up to us whether or not we decide to do so. There's lots of information to engage in and can support you in living a healthy life, and it's just a matter of tapping in, tuning in, turning on some of those good decisions and actions every day, and before you know it, you'll be as healthy as you wanna be and looking forward to staying that way. And I wish that, of course, for all of you. So reach out if you have any questions. Happy to be here for you in that respect, always happy to help. Otherwise, enjoy your Tuesday. Have a wonderful week. We'll be back tomorrow. Daily health update for you on Wednesday. Look forward to chatting with you then. Take care.
