Healthy Life Newsletter, December 2020
Reduced Death and Disease Severity with Vitamin D Supplementation Prior to COVID-19 Diagnosis
With COVID-19, several risk factors exist for disease severity and outcome, including older age and those with low levels of vitamin D. A recently published study focused on frail elderly patients hospitalized for COVID-19 to see what effect, if any, previous vitamin D supplementation over the past year and supplementation after diagnosis had on survival and severity of the disease.
What Were the Details of the Study?
This study, by Annweiler et al., included data from 77 patients, age 78 to 100 years, consecutively hospitalized into a geriatric unit for COVID-19. The patients were assigned to one of three groups; Group 1 had regularly supplemented with bolus doses of vitamin D over the past year (either 50,000 IU per month or 80,000 or 100,000 IU every 2-3 months) and did not receive additional vitamin D after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Group 2 was given 80,000 IU vitamin D within a few hours after being diagnosed with COVID-19, and Group 3 did not have any vitamin D supplementation prior to or after diagnosis. There were no significant differences between the groups at baseline except for sex, and all patients received similar standard treatments for COVID-19. Survival rate after 14 days was measured as was the severity of the disease symptoms at its worst, using the 9-point ordinal scale for clinical improvement (OSCI) for COVID-19.
Those Taking Regular Vitamin D Prior to Diagnosis Had the Best Outcomes
In total, by day 14, 17 patients had experienced severe COVID-19 and 15 patients died.
Those in Group 1, who had received vitamin D supplementation prior to COVID-19 diagnosis, experienced less severe symptoms and had a higher chance of survival by day 14 compared to those in Groups 2 and 3 (which had no statistical difference in outcomes). In fact, the 14-day mortality was 31.3% among those in Group 3 compared to only 6.9% among those in Group 1, equating roughly to a 4.5 times greater mortality risk among those in Group 3 (p=0.02). A similar association was seen for COVID-19 disease severity, with three times those in Group 3 (31.3%) experiencing severe symptoms compared to Group 1 (10.3%, p=0.047).
What Is the Take-Home Message?
Correcting a vitamin D deficiency prior to getting sick may decrease disease severity and improve outcomes! Test your vitamin D level today, learn what steps to take to improve your level, and take action to achieve and maintain a vitamin D level of 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L).
More on Vitamin D: For Fibromyalgia
In a 2014 study, fibromyalgia patients were given up to 2400 units of vitamin D a day for 20 weeks and their D levels rose up to about 50. Then, once they stopped the vitamin D, their levels came back down to match the placebo. That was reflected in their pain scores: a significant drop in pain severity while they were on the D and then back to baseline when they came off of it. The researchers concluded “that this economical [in fact, over-the-counter] therapy with a low side effect profile may well be considered in patients with FMS [fibromyalgia syndrome].”
Two for One With Chiropractic
Can’t seem to shake that back pain? Continually plagued by headaches? You’re not alone. Chronic back and headache pain are among the most prevalent and disabling disorders worldwide. Even more troubling, experiencing one of these conditions may raise your likelihood of experiencing both. But here’s the good news: the potential reason why these two disorders may be connected points to a single solution: chiropractic care.
According to research published in the Journal of Headache and Pain, people who suffer persistent back pain or headaches are approximately twice as likely to suffer from both. Their findings are based on a review of studies involving more than 450,000 total participants suffering from back pain and headaches. Overall, the researchers found 14 studies that reported an association between “primary headache disorders and persistent low back pain.”
While the study authors do not spell out the cause of the connection between these two common, debilitating conditions, abundant previous evidence suggests musculoskeletal dysfunction, particularly involving the spine and spinal nerves, is a potential factor with both headaches and back pain.
That makes chiropractic care a great option when you’re experiencing either condition – or both. In fact, since a chiropractor can help both back pain and headaches, there’s a good chance that if you’re only suffering from one, chiropractic care may prevent the other from occurring at all. Now that’s a two-for-one win with chiropractic!
Influencing What Kids Eat
Online influencers appear to be just as bad as television commercials when it comes to promoting unhealthy food; and with such influencers increasingly attracting the attention of children, even at a young age, that’s a major problem. New research reveals the extent of the challenge parents now face when it comes to teaching their kids healthy eating habits.
After analyzing more than 400 YouTube videos posted last year by the five most-watched kid influencers, they discovered nearly half featured food or drinks, 90 percent of which promoted unhealthy branded food items, such as fast food. Influencers ranged from ages 3 to 14, and their videos were viewed collectively more than 1 billion – yes, that’s billion – times. Study findings appear in Pediatrics, the primary research journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
junk food - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register MarkKeep in mind that in the vast majority of cases, these influencers don’t just “happen” to be eating certain foods or drinking certain beverages. They’re eating and drinking specific products in return for money from the companies that produce them. It’s just the latest way to attract and keep customers, all under the guise of your child’s “online friends,” who tend to inspire great trust and loyalty among their viewers. If the influencer does it, your child will do it. If the influencer supports it, your child will support it. And if the influencer eats and drinks it…
The Problem with Daily Aspirin
Daily low-dose aspirin is increasingly recommended as a way to reduce heart attack and stroke risk, even in healthy people - but it comes with a risk of its own: gastrointestinal bleeding. Participants in the Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial who took daily aspirin had a significantly higher risk of GI bleeding, without improvements in disability-free survival compared to nonusers. In other words, taking aspirin didn’t make them any less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke, but did make them more likely to experience GI bleeding.
The study, published in the research journal Gut, involved nearly 20,000 elderly adults (ages 70 and older) who took 100 mg of aspirin daily or a placebo for comparison. Aspirin use increased serious GI bleeding (particularly upper-GI bleeding) by 60 percent compared to nonuse, with several fatalities as a result. In fact, GI bleeding – and lack of preventive benefit from taking aspirin – was so significant that researchers stopped the trial early.
Before you take aspirin daily or intermittently for pain relief, heart health or any other reason, talk to your doctor about nondrug ways to maximize your health and wellness. Proper diet, consistent physical activity, stress management and other variables all have research support when it comes to keeping your heart healthy - without the risk of GI bleeding.
5 Common Causes of Neck Pain (and How Chiropractic Can Help)
Neck pain can be acute (short term) or chronic (recurring or persisting for months and even years), but regardless, when you’re in pain, relief is the first thing on your mind. Just as important as relief, of course, is finding the cause and ensuring you avoid the behavior / action that brought the pain on in the first place.
Here are five common causes of neck pain – and why doctors of chiropractic are well-suited to relieve the pain and determine the underlying cause.
\1. Poor Posture: Leaning over a desk all day or slouching in your office chair? You’re bound to develop neck pain eventually, if you haven’t already. Do this quick test: In an upright or seated position, round your shoulders and back (poor posture). Does it impact your neck as well? Exactly!
\2. Monitor Madness: Staring at the computer screen for hours at a time? That’s not good for your health (or sanity), but from a neck pain perspective, it’s madness, particularly if the screen height forces you to crane your neck up (too high) or extend it down (too low).
\3. Sleep Issues: Ideally, we spend a third of our day sleeping, so your sleep habits – for better or worse – can have a dramatic effect on your health. With regard to neck pain, anytime you sleep in an uncomfortable position, particularly one that stresses your neck musculature (think about side-sleeping while grabbing your pillow tightly, sleeping on your stomach with your arms out in front of you, or even sleeping on your back, but with a pillow that doesn’t adequately support your neck), you risk neck pain.
\4. Technology Overload: We may spend a third of our day sleeping, but we increasingly spend the other 16 hours typing, texting, tapping and otherwise interacting with our smartphones, tablets, etc. Bottom line: bad for your neck. One doctor has even coined the phrase, “text neck,” to describe the neck pain that can result from this constant technology interaction.
\5. The Wrong Movement: Twisting, turning, stretching and stressing your neck is an easy way to cause neck pain. While the muscles in the neck are strong, they can be strained, sprained and even torn, just like any other muscle.
It’s important to note that beyond these common causes, various other health issues can also contribute to or directly cause neck pain, including fibromyalgia, cervical arthritis or spondylosis (essentially spinal arthritis), spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), infection of the spine, and even cancer. The good news is that a doctor of chiropractic can help identify which of these or the above causes is to blame.
When neck pain strikes, most people turn to a temporary solution first: pain-relieving medication. But that’s not a permanent solution, of course, and it doesn’t address the cause of the pain at all, which could be something relatively minor – or more serious. What’s more, research suggests chiropractic spinal manipulation is actually more effective than over-the-counter and prescription medication for relieving both acute and subacute neck pain.
Suffering from neck pain? Then give your doctor of chiropractic a call. They’ll help you relieve your pain and determine the cause so it doesn’t return.