In this solo daily health update, Dr. David Koivuranta (Dr. Dave) of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic presents six evidence‑based health and wellness points drawn from recent research (June 2020). He first explains that dietary changes—specifically cutting saturated fat and added sugar while adding probiotics and fiber—can lower neuroinflammation and aid chronic musculoskeletal pain. He then cites a Lancet Global Health analysis showing that regular exercise prevents roughly 3.9 million premature deaths worldwide each year, underscoring fitness as a mortality‑reducing habit. Next, he highlights a Helion journal finding that depression drives unhealthy behaviors (over‑eating, smoking, inactivity) which raise risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and musculoskeletal disorders, urging mental‑health support. He proceeds to list lifestyle factors linked to shorter lifespan (smoking, divorce, alcohol abuse, financial stress, unemployment, low life satisfaction, never marrying) from a PNAS study, recommending improvement of these domains. The fifth point discusses conservative, non‑invasive therapies: a study of 152 knee/back‑pain patients on a surgical waitlist showed more than half cancelled surgery after receiving chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, and exercise‑based care, suggesting such modalities can reduce the need for invasive procedures. Finally, Dr. Dave encourages viewers to stay plugged into health information, follow the clinic on social media, and make daily healthy choices, emphasizing assessment, informed options, and consistent self‑care.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're having a wonderful start to the week. It's Tuesday, July 21st today, 2020. Coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with your daily health update. Typically we post or send out 6 areas of health and wellness information based on the research and literature, because if you stay plugged in to some health information, you are just more likely to keep making good decisions for your health each each and every day, and that's also based on the research and literature. So we're happy to provide that for you today. Chuck full of information, all 6 areas, very relevant and useful. Um, the first one is that dietary changes are a big part of helping people with chronic pain. And basically, the expert opinion on therapeutic targets in June 2020 said that cutting saturated fat and added sugar from your diet and including more gut microbiota beneficial foods like probiotics and dietary fiber can help people with chronic pain by getting down the neuroinflammation in the body. And of course, inflammation is usually a big part of musculoskeletal or neuromusculoskeletal pain, neck pain, back pain, and other joint aches and pains. So doing those dietary restrictions along with treatment to improve function in the body, uh, should increase the likelihood of some positive results. Exercise, uh, if you didn't know, prevents millions of deaths yearly. The Lancet Global Health Journal in June 2020 said that data from 168 different countries estimates that about 3.9 million early deaths each year are prevented, um, including heart attack, stroke, and cancer, by doing fitness or exercise. So keep that fitness or exercise in your routine, uh, it could stave off an early death, which is probably not on your favorite things to happen list. So Exercise is good. Depression, um, can increase the risk for chronic disease. They're more likely to— people with depression are more likely to eat excessive calories, smoke, and not do the exercise that we just talked about. That according to the journal Helion, June 2020. So this puts them at greater risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and even musculoskeletal disorders— neck pain, back pain, and other joint aches and pains. So Talk to someone, see somebody, and along with your nutrition and your fitness, it's good to help with those stress levels and talk to somebody about any depressive episodes in your life. A very important part of treatment is also your mental health and wellness. Finally, behaviors that shorten life. There's a whole bunch of them. According to this study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2020, Things like smoking, a history of divorce, history of alcohol abuse, recent financial difficulties, history of unemployment, past smoking, low life satisfaction, and never being married can negatively affect somebody's lifespan. So improving these areas of your lifestyle will help make sure that you live as long as you're supposed to. It's just that there are always these challenges in life and they're not always easy. We will face them. But the healthier you can be when facing these challenges, the less likely there is to have an impact on your quality and quantity of life. Probably goes without saying, but now again, the science supports it. There are, um, on the chiropractic side of things, it's always interesting. The International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in May 2020 says that sometimes surgery and invasive procedures are necessary when there's a condition. And some treatment guidelines call for that, and there is a need for that surgery and seeing a surgeon. However, in 152 knee pain and/or back pain patients that were on a surgical waiting list, more than half of them canceled their procedure following a course of conservative care that included different bodywork therapies, some of which included chiropractic care. But that also includes massage therapy, acupuncture, exercise fitness with either an exercise therapist, kinesiologist, physiotherapist. So all of these, and sometimes in combination, is just likely to stack the deck in your favor. That even though you may be in need of or could benefit from an invasive therapy, there may be some ability to actually improve without doing it by trying some of these conservative therapies first. So typically in healthcare, we want to leave those invasive procedures as a last resort if possible. But everybody's situation is different. That's why you want a good assessment. You want to get some quality options that you can choose from as a healthcare consumer. And make sure you take the steps that support you the best. That's your daily health update today for your Tuesday. I hope you enjoy those tidbits. They're of course down below this video. You can read over them and keep making those healthy decisions every day. We'll be back on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic again tomorrow. Hopefully we're going to try and plug you into all this health information as often as possible. If the video is not there, we will always post parts of or the whole daily health update for you somewhere on social media. So find us, follow us, like us, stay in touch watch, we'll keep you plugged in. You'll keep making those great decisions for your health, and that means you'll have a wonderful day just like today. I'll catch you next time.
