Healthy Life Newsletter, July 2022
Pain Pills Don’t Go Away After Back Surgery
We can debate the necessity of spine surgery until the proverbial cows come home, but a few concerning realities are becoming apparent: it’s performed far too frequently and it doesn’t mean your pain will go away. In terms of the latter point, a recent study in the peer-reviewed journal Pain found that patients who took prescription opioid pain meds before undergoing lumbar (lower back) fusion surgery were overwhelmingly likely to continue opioid use long term following surgery.
Among nearly 2,500 adult patients who underwent fusion surgery, almost half used opioids long term (at least four prescriptions filled in seven months) prior to surgery. Among those presurgical users, a whopping 77 percent continued use long term following surgery, while 14 percent continued use on a periodic basis. Only 9 percent discontinued opioid use or used them postsurgically for only a short period of time. Of the 77 percent who continued long-term use, 45 percent actually had their dosage increased following surgery. And to top it all off, 13 percent of patients who did not use opioids before surgery became long-term users after the procedure.
So, is spine surgery failing to take away the pain, or is opioid use a hard habit to break? Both probably deserve equal blame. That’s why nondrug, nonsurgical options – such as chiropractic care – for back pain are landing front and center in the health care conversation. If you’re experiencing back pain, schedule a visit with a doctor of chiropractic as your first provider choice. Why? Because research suggests back pain patients who see a chiropractor first are far less likely to undergo spine surgery compared to patients whose first contact is with a spine surgeon. Less chance of surgery, less chance of addictive pain medication; now that’s a win-win for your health.
Mediterranean Diet Reduces Depression in Young Men, Study Says
“No reason” why findings can’t be extrapolated to older men, according to researcher.
by Elizabeth Hlavinka
One of the essential characteristics of the world’s five Blue Zones — the regions with the highest concentrations of centenarians — is a healthy diet. The longevity of residents in Ikaria, Greece, for example, has specifically been traced to eating legumes, wild greens, fruit, and small amounts of fish. This diet, otherwise known as the Mediterranean diet, has long-since been linked to healthy hearts and bones. But a new study shows it can also help mental health — turning the blues into Blue Zone material.
For the study, researchers assigned 72 men between 18- and 25-years-old with moderate to severe depression to either maintain their diet or switch to a Mediterranean diet. The diet, which originated from Greece and Spain, replaced high quantities of eggs, chicken, red meat, and fast foods with vegetables, legumes, fish, olive oil, and raw nuts.
After 12 weeks, depression symptoms decreased in all men on the Mediterranean diet, with 36% of the group reporting low or minimal depression at the study’s end. In comparison, none of the participants in the control group reported low or minimal depression after the 12-week study period.
Read the rest of this article at fatherly.com
10-Second Balance Test May Predict How Long You’ll Live
Researchers found that people who couldn’t stand on one foot were nearly twice as likely to die in the next 10 years.
By Linda Carroll
For older adults, being able to balance briefly on one foot may predict how long they’ll live.
People who failed a 10-second balance test of standing on one foot were nearly twice as likely to die in the next 10 years, according to a report published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Unlike aerobic fitness, flexibility and muscle strength, balance tends to be preserved until the sixth decade of life, after which it wanes precipitously, the Brazilian researchers noted.
Exactly why a loss of balance can predict risk of death is not yet known, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Claudio Gil Soares de Araújo, a sports and exercise physician and director of research and education at the Exercise Medicine Clinic-CLINIMEX in Rio de Janeiro.
But poor balance and musculoskeletal fitness can be linked with frailty in older adults, Araújo wrote in an email.
“Aged people falling are in very high risk of major fractures and other related complications,” Araújo wrote. “This may play a role in the higher risk of mortality.”
Checking balance on one foot, even for those few seconds, can be valuable way to determine someone’s risk of falling. A 2019 report found that the number of deaths from falls for people ages 75 or older was on the rise in the U.S.
“Remember that we regularly need to stay in a one-legged posture, to move out of a car, to climb or descend a step or stair and so on,” Araújo said.
After accounting for factors such as age, sex, BMI, history of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, the researchers found that the risk of death within 10 years was 1.84-fold higher in participants who failed the balance test.
The good news, Araújo said, is “it is never too late to improve balance by specific training. A couple of minutes a day — at home or in a gym could help a lot.”
Read the rest of this article: nbcnews.com
Vitamin D Supports Overall Musculoskeletal Health
Vitamin D is involved in rebuilding skeletal muscle tissue, maintaining bone health, and reducing inflammation after high impact exercise; unfortunately, vitamin D deficiency is common among athletes. Therefore, athletes may benefit from supplementing with vitamin D to raise their vitamin D levels to both help prevent deficiency and promote quicker recovery from exercise.
Studies have shown that maintaining a vitamin D level of at least 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) resulted in a decreased risk of bone fracture and stress fracture. Fast-twitch muscle fibers have been shown to be especially sensitive to vitamin D levels, which are important for burst activities and fall avoidance. Overall, cumulative research has shown that peak musculoskeletal performance may occur with a vitamin D level of at least 50 ng/ml.
Exercise Is Good for the Heart but Twice as Good for Anxiety and Depression
We know exercise is good for the heart – but new research suggests it’s even more beneficial for people suffering from anxiety or depression. How much better? How about double the benefit.
That’s significant because anxiety / depression isn’t going away; in fact, evidence suggests it’s increased dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers analyzed health records of 50,000-plus patients, some of whom had suffered a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or blocked artery. Among patients who exercised at least 500 MET (metabolic equivalent) minutes per week – a measure of how much energy you expend during exercise, their risk of suffering an adverse cardiovascular event was significantly (17 percent) lower.
But for people with a diagnosis of anxiety or depression, the story gets even better. Patients with anxiety or depression who achieved 500 MET minutes per week had more than double the reduced cardiovascular risk compared to people without anxiety or depression who also achieved 500 MET minutes weekly. Study findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session in April 2022.
500 MET minutes equals about 100 minutes of brisk walking or 50 minutes of running per week.
The Anti-Cancer Combo
The dreaded “C” word strikes fear into even the hardiest of souls, and for good reason. Cancer is one of a ever-declining group of health scares that resists a cure. Sure, early detection strategies are improving and rates of remission continue to climb with many types of cancer, but it’s still one of the few diagnoses no one ever wants to hear. Fortunately, simple strategies continue to be revealed that can reduce your cancer risk.
Take lifestyle. Experts suggest nearly nine in 10 cancers are caused, directly or indirectly, by lifestyle factors. We’re talking about your diet, how much you exercise, whether you smoke and/or drink, how stressful your life is, and even the quality of your sleep. All of these factors and more can influence cancer risk – but what’s the best combination to help prevent cancer? Researchers may have the answer, and it’s a three-part combination that’s straightforward and easy to achieve: omega-3s, vitamin D and strength training.
The three-year study evaluated more than 2,000 adults (ages 70 and older) and generally healthy at the start of the investigation. Over the course of three years, a few of the subjects did develop cancer, but those who took 2,000 IU of vitamin D or 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids daily, or did consistent at-home strength-training exercises, had a significantly reduced risk: 24 percent lower for those who took vitamin D, 26 percent lower for those exercised and 30 percent lower for those who took omega-3s.
Seniors who pursued two of the three experienced even greater risk reductions; however, those who took vitamin D and omega-3s, and performed strength training, had the greatest risk reduction by far: a whopping 61 percent lower risk of developing cancer. Study findings appear in the research journal Frontiers in Aging.
Climate Change: A Public Health Crisis
Note from Dr. Mha Atma: A healthy diet, a healthy exercise regimen and a healthy spine are all crucial for a healthy life. Sometimes the busy-ness and the stresses and challenges of life make it difficult for us to manage these healthy lifestyle requirements. And on top of this we are supposed to do something about climate change?
Well, yes, because it threatens the health and well-being of every person on this planet, of people not born yet, and also on the creatures and plants that we share this planet with and on which we depend for sustenance and companionship. So not only do we need to prioritize the time it takes to feed ourselves well, to exercise well, and to see our chiropractor, but we also need to set aside some time to regularly demand of our elected representatives, corporate leaders, media leaders and others to get serious about addressing this issue which is rapidly becoming a present, real life threat to the health of ourselves and our loved ones.
For the first time, the American Medical Association adopted a policy declaring climate change a public health crisis.
The nation’s largest physician trade group voted yesterday to put its lobbying heft behind policies aimed at limiting global warming and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The AMA will also create a strategy detailing what physician practices and the health-care sector can do to combat climate change.
This comes amid a growing sense that global warming is a threat to the health of people across the globe. And there’s a burgeoning sentiment that the health industry needs to be part of the response.
The new efforts are coming from the nation’s health department — which recently established an Office of Climate Change and Health Equity, though Congress is yet to fund its work — on down to medical professionals who traveled to Scotland for this year’s United Nations climate summit.
“Taking action now won’t reverse all of the harm done, but it will help prevent further damage to our planet and our patients’ health and well-being,” Ilse R. Levin, an AMA board member, said in a statement.
Here’s why advocates say climate change is a public health threat: Increasing temperatures have led to heat-related illness. Climate change has become a persistent danger to food security. El Niño weather patterns cause about 6 million children to go hungry — and could increase as the planet warms.
Over the years, there’s been a notable shift among the health profession in recognizing how rising global temperatures endanger the health of millions of people.
The National Academy of Medicine launched a public-private partnership to address the health industry’s environmental impact. As of April, more than 110 organizations have joined the effort.
Last year’s U.N. climate change conference framed the issue as a critical public health problem, our Climate 202 pal Maxine Joselow reported.
The World Health Organization referred to climate change as “the single biggest health threat facing humanity” in an October special report.
Health groups — including the AMA, America’s Physician Groups and the American Academy of Nursing — signed onto a 2019 climate change agenda calling the issue “a true public health emergency.”