Strength training for longterm health

Find out how strength training can improve flexibility and to help relieve chronic back pain.

http://www.spine-health.com/blog/weight-training-effectively-relieves-back-pain

Back To School: Maybe Lighten those Backpacks!

Carrying too much weight can lead to back pain and spasms, shoulder and neck pain and posture issues for children.

http://www.spine-health.com/blog/practical-tips-lighten-school-backpacks?source=3tab

Exercise and Chiro

Exercise and chiropractic care go hand in hand as part of a comprehensive treatment plan to back or neck recovery.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/exercise-and-chiropractic-therapy

Milk and Calcium for Bone Health

If you want to get more calcium in your diet, there are many foods besides milk and dairy that will help keep your bones strong.

http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/nutrition-diet-weight-loss/sources-calcium-food

Video: Dr. Jardon Explains Ligament Sprains

 

 Learn more about Ligament Sprains on Dr. Jardon's page. Click here.

Mind Your Posture!

Are You Mindful of Your Posture? We often hear that good posture is essential for good health, but very few people have a real grasp of the importance and necessity of good posture, or the position in which we hold our bodies while standing, sitting or lying down. Good posture is the correct alignment of body parts supported by the right amount of muscle tension against gravity. Follow this advice for standing, sitting and lying properly: When sitting, keep your feet flat on the floor with a   small gap between the back of your knees and the front of your seat. Your knees should be at or below the level of your hips. When standing, bear your weight primarily on the balls of your feet and keep your knees slightly bent. Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart and your earlobes should be in line with your shoulders to keep your head from jutting forward, backward or to the side. Avoid sitting or standing in the same position for long periods of time. Sleep with a pillow and avoid lying on your stomach. If you sleep on your side, place a pillow between your legs. If you sleep on your back, keep a pillow under your knees.

Chiropractic News - Link Between Obesity and Cancer in Women

Study links obesity to higher lifetime cancer risk in women
A Cancer Research UK study found a 40% greater risk of developing at least one weight-related cancer type among obese women compared with slimmer counterparts. For every 1,000 obese U.K. women, 274 are likely to get one of the cancers, compared with 194 among women of a healthy weight, the study says. HealthDay News (3/17)

Chiropractic News - Overweight Boys Higher Rsk of Knee Pain as Adults

Overweight boys may have higher risk of knee pain as adults
Excessive weight during childhood was linked to knee pain, stiffness and dysfunction among adult men, according to an Australian study in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. However, researchers found that overall childhood overweight measures were not significantly associated with knee problems. MedPage Today (free registration) (3/19)

Dr. Jardon - Have You Experienced Sciatica?

Dr. Rick Jardon on Sciatica

A Healthy Weight for a Healthy Back

Experts agree that the best way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight level is through a balanced diet and exercise. For people with many types of back problems, regular exercise and, when necessary, weight loss, can help ease existing back problems and prevent future ones.

Obesity and Extra Weight Can Cause Low Back Pain

Along with other health issues that arise from having an unhealthy weight level, obese and overweight patients have an increased risk for back pain, joint pain and muscle strain¹. In particular, overweight patients are more likely to experience problems in their low back than patients at a healthy weight level.

This is especially true for people with extra weight around their midsection as the extra weight pulls the pelvis forward, strains the low back and creates low back pain.

In addition to muscle strain, spinal structures such as the discs can be negatively impacted by obesity. Patients with significant excess weight also may experience sciatica and low back pain from a herniated disc or from a pinched nerve if the discs have been damaged from compensating for the extra weight.²

Weight Loss Can Lower Risk for Other Back Problems

Managing weight through nutrition, diet and exercise not only reduces existing back pain, but can also help prevent certain types of back problems in the future.
For example, overweight and obese patients have an increased risk for osteoarthritis. The additional strain on the joints from the excess weight can cause arthritis in patients whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is too high. For patients who already have osteoarthritis, weight loss is one of the recommended treatments³.

• Read more in the Arthritis Health Center
  In addition, successful recovery from back surgery may also be affected by a patient’s weight because obese patients run a higher risk of complications and infections from surgery³. As a result, overweight or obese patients may consider weight loss before major surgery in order to improve their outcome as well as to avoid contributing to further back problems.
  
  For more information about how obesity affects back health and tips for weight loss, please see Weight Loss for Back Pain Relief.

  Exercise Helps With Weight Loss and Back Pain

  Maintaining a healthy weight usually helps patients to be more consistent with exercise. This is because overweight patients often have fatigue, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath as they exercise, which may cause them to avoid regular physical activity³.
  
  • See Exercise and Back Pain.
    
  As a general rule, many patients with back problems believe that they should avoid all exercise in an effort to protect their back from further injury or back pain. However, in reality, inactivity and lack of exercise can actually contribute to future pain and worsen existing problems.
  
  Patients are often unaware that movement through gentle exercise stimulates healing and a flow of nutrients within the spine. This is especially important for the discs in the spine. Physical activity causes the discs to swell with water and then squeeze it out, which exchanges nutrients between the discs and other spinal structures. When the patient does not engage in enough physical activity, the spinal discs are deprived of the nutrients they need to stay healthy and functional.
  
  • For further reading: Exercise and Fitness to Help Your Back.

  Developing a Safe Weight Loss, Diet and Exercise Program

  The key to a healthy diet and good nutrition is balance. Patients should consume adequate amounts of vitamins and nutrients but should avoid exceeding the daily intake recommendations for some.
  
  Consuming a balanced amount of recommended vitamins and nutrients is also important because certain nutrients and vitamins work in concert while others work against each other. A balanced diet should include a range of healthy foods and, if appropriate, nutritional supplements.
  
  
  Back Exercise
  Videos
  
  Because of the complexities of developing a healthy diet, exercise and weight loss program, patients should always consult a health professional before starting an exercise routine, changing their diet or taking nutritional supplements.
  
  The health professional should help the patient determine any potential limitations and guidelines to follow specific to his or her back problem. With attention to the nutritional content and quantities of food consumed, combined with gentle exercise to control weight, patients will enjoy better back health as well as improved overall health.
  
  References:
  
  1. American Obesity Association. “Health effects of obesity.” AOA Fact Sheets. 2002. http://www.obesity.org.
  2. Fishman L., Ardman C. Back Pain: How to Relieve Low Back Pain and Sciatica. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997:248.
  3. American Obesity Association. “What is obesity?” AOA Fact Sheets. 2002. http://www.obesity.org.

Weight training wards off age-related abdominal fat better than aerobic activity

Weight training for 20 minutes per day helped healthy men stave off age-related abdominal fat gain better than engaging in aerobic activities for the same amount of time, according to research published in Obesity.

 

Although aerobic exercise alone was associated with less weight gain than weight training overall, a combination of the two optimized waist circumference results, Harvard School of Public Health researchers and colleagues found.

“To combat sarcopenia that is inevitable with aging, older adults are recommended to engage in physical activities that achieve the most favorable changes in their body composition, such as loss of fat mass while preserving lean body mass,” Rania Mekary, PhD, of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard, told Endocrine Today. 

“Because long-term weight training leads to this concomitant fat loss and muscle gain, this has been shown to prevent and treat many chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis,” she said.

Mekary, with Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD, and colleagues, prospectively examined the effects of weight training, moderate to vigorous aerobic activity and replacement between the two on waist circumference and body weight in 10,500 healthy men (mean age 58±7) from the ongoing Health Professionals Follow-up Study over 12 years.

All participants were followed through mailed biennial questionnaires regarding medical history, lifestyle and health-related behaviors, including physical activity. Multiple linear regression models (partition/substitution) were used to assess associations; diet components known to predict weight gain, smoking status, antidepressant use, sleep duration and baseline age were considered.

With adjustments for potential confounders, an inverse dose-response relationship was seen between weight training and waist circumference change (P-trend <.001). Less age-associated waist circumference increase was seen when activity was increased 20 minutes per day; the benefit was stronger for weight training (–0.67 cm; 95% CI, –0.93 to –0.41) than for moderate to vigorous aerobic activity (–0.33 cm; 95% CI, –0.40 to –0.27), other activities (–0.16 cm; 95% CI, –0.28 to –0.03) or television watching (0.08 cm; 95% CI, 0.05–0.12). 

The strongest inverse association with waist circumference change was seen when weight training for 20 minutes per day was substituted for any other discretionary activity. Moderate to vigorous aerobic activity showed the strongest inverse association with body weight change (–0.23 kg; 95% CI, –0.29 to –0.17).

“Incorporating weight training with aerobic exercise is crucial to maintain a healthy waistline,” Mekary said. “Further studies are needed among women, older men, and other ethnic groups to compare the frequency and volume of weight training on waist circumference change.” — by Allegra Tiver

For more information: Rania A. Mekary can be reached at Harvard School of Public Health

Nutrition Department, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115; email: rania.mekary@mcphs.edu.

Disclosure: The research was supported by NIH grants.

Pilot study suggests wearable devices can help alleviate back pain

http://news.yahoo.com/pilot-study-suggests-wearable-devices-142202857.html

A major missing element, according to healthcare analytics startup Vivametrica, is context for the data generated and presented by these devices: what's needed is a comparison of an individual's activity pattern with the relevant sector of the general population, an assessment of the relative risks of different diseases based on these patterns, and personalised interventions designed to reduce those risks.

Vivametrica has been researching lower back pain caused by lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), which, according to cofounder and chief operating officer Dr Christy Lane, "is the top reason for orthopaedic surgery in North America; it's a huge, costly problem, and what's happening is that people are getting thrown into surgery, which is often very successful, but there also are a lot of people who could avoid surgery through something like this".

Vivametrica's pilot study, released today, finds that body mass index is the best predictor of daily function in people with LSS, suggesting that weight loss and increased physical activity may improve the condition. The study also finds that objective activity measures from wearable devices eliminate the guesswork inherent in patient feedback such as questionnaires, allowing more targeted treatment. The use of wearable devices also empowers LSS patients to be more involved in their own health and encourages them to change their behaviour.