Daily Health Update for May 17 2021 by Toronto Chiropractor Dr. David Koivuranta in Davisville.

Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well, you enjoyed your May weekend, and you're looking forward to a nice week this week. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update. It's Monday, May 17th, 2021. Gonna look at 6 areas of health and wellness news and information today. Somewhere around this video you can read through all 6 areas, and if you'd like a copy or you have any questions, you can DM us on social, send us an email, or give us a call here at the clinic, and we'll be sure to get that to you and and/or help you out. Not gonna treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure any illness or disease with our time together today. However, by tapping in, turning into, tuning into some of the latest in the research and literature, it may just support some of your thoughts, decisions, and actions today when it comes to your own health and wellness or those around you. And that is always a positive side effect, and you won't go wrong spending that time or effort in trying to sustain or improve your health and wellness. So the Tobacco-Induced Diseases Report from April 2021 talked about e-cigarettes and they are being linked to an increased risk for lung disease. An analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System revealed that e-cigarette usage is associated with a 26% increased risk for asthma and a 44% elevated risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. So although may be touted as a good alternative for traditional cigarette smoking, there may be some drawbacks they're finding now catching up to the research and literature in the use of those e-cigarettes. So be cautious of that. Good to be informed when making those decisions about your habits throughout the day. The Mayo Clinic News Network, March 2021, says that nuts are good for your heart. Experts from the Mayo Clinic note that regularly eating nuts can improve low-density lipoproteins, the bad cholesterol levels, making arteries healthier, reducing the risk for blood clots, and lowering levels of inflammatory markers in the blood that are associated with heart disease. So good to get some of those healthy nuts into your systems— almonds, walnuts, cashews, anything else that you might enjoy. Yeah, good to have a handful of those every day. Exercise is good for the brain. According to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, uh, reduced blood flow to the brain and stiffer blood vessels in the neck are often seen in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. In a recent experiment that included 70 older men and women with mild cognitive impairment, researchers observed that participants who engaged in a brisk walk exercise program experienced improved blood flow to the brain as well as increased blood vessel flexibility in the neck. This study is part of a growing body of evidence linking exercise with brain health, and they've shown for the first time in a randomized trial in these older adults that exercise gets more blood flowing to your brain. So some of the things we do in life, uh, there are far-reaching implications that may not be seen in the moment. There may be no immediate gratification, in fact, but when done consistently over time, uh, can help, uh, with your journey in the long run. And many things in health and wellness are like that, and some of the fundamentals are like that when it comes to your nutrition, your sleep, and your fitness or activity levels. But even things like back pain and neck pain and other things, other joint pains that might be limiting your functionality and you're not able to do some of the things you'd like to do, especially a rigorous or more intense kind of walk, that can have some spiraling effects now on the rest of your health and wellness over time. So it's good to get those things treated and recover as much function as you can so you can stay as active and mobile as you can because based on the research and literature— it is a fundamental, and it will help support your overall health and wellness. So don't sell yourself short. Pursue improvement if you need it, and pursue sustaining your level of health if you already have it. Again, time and effort well spent. Vitamin B7 may be important for mental health. According to the Journal of Affective Disorders, March 2021, they looked at over 7,000 assessments done by adults, and it revealed a high intake of biotin, also known as vitamin B7, is associated with a lower risk for depression, anxiety, and stress. Dietary, dietary sources of biotin or B7 include eggs, legumes, nuts and seeds, liver, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, bananas, broccoli, and avocados. So good to get that variety of foods into your diet so that you can have access to the different nutrients your body can benefit from. The Journal of Parkinson's Disease, March 2021, has some results that echoes some of the things we've already talked about today. The current research suggests that regular exercise and a nutrient-rich diet are two lifestyle choices that may reduce an individual's risk for Parkinson's disease. So even though there may be some concern with a familial component or some genetics, sometimes those only play out as a certain percentage of our health outcome. So the rest is environmental, and the choices we make when it comes to our lifestyle can actually influence also the expression of those genes. So they may be involved, but maybe we can deter them by supporting our body's overall health and wellness., which is what we're trying to encourage through our daily health update. And finally, the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, February 2021, looked at acute back pain and it can be— how it can become chronic back pain. A review of records involving over 5,000 patients who sought treatment for acute low back pain revealed that 32% went on to develop chronic low back pain. Further analysis suggests the following are associated with an increased risk with progression to chronic low back pain: obesity, smoking, severe disability, depression and/or anxiety, and a prescription of opioids within the first 21 days. So good to seek out some non-invasive, uh, non-surgical, uh, ways of treating the neck and low back pain, and low back pain specifically in this case. And when it's acute, you want to ensure that you have some variables in place to get your treatment, and you want an accurate diagnosis. You want to understand what has been damaged or what is causing the discomfort you're having. And then match that cause or source with an appropriate treatment that will not only make it feel better, which we all want, nobody likes to be in pain or be sore, but to ensure that it's feeling better because your body's actually healing and recovering from whatever dysfunction or issue may be causing that pain. And the long-term benefit of that is better than just simply going for relief, which can in 30% of the cases end up in chronic pain. And that's a form of pain that we don't want to live with each day for the rest of our lives. So proper diagnosis and sufficient and adequate and appropriate treatment can help you avoid that, not only with back pain, but in many of your other health concerns as well. All right, so that's your daily health update for Monday. Hope you have a super week. We'll be back tomorrow, of course, with your next daily health update. So keep joining us, we'll keep supporting you, and together with some teamwork, we'll get through it with some good health and a smile on our face. All right, enjoy your day, take care, we'll talk soon.