Editor's Note: Easy-to-digest research not only helps keep you, the practicing DC, abreast of the latest findings supporting your comprehensive care, but also serves as an invaluable patient-education tool / conversation starter. In this second installment of our ongoing series, let's take a look at some of the latest health and wellness research.
The Drug-Free Pain Reliever Seniors Need
Seniors with osteoarthritis and/or back pain should avoid NSAIDs according to new research. The study evaluated the safety risks associated with NSAID use by elderly patients (≥65 years) compared with younger patients (<65 years) suffering from osteoarthritis and/or chronic low back pain.
The risk of suffering a gastrointestinal (GI), renal or acute myocardial infarction (AMI) event – all three of which are "well-known events associated with NSAID use," according to the study authors – in seniors taking NSAIDs was higher than in younger patients; the increased risk was particularly high in patients ages 70 and older – and "remarkable" in patients over the age of 80: twice the risk, seven times the risk and 10 times the risk of experiencing a GI, AMI or renal event, respectively.
To reduce these risks, "NSAIDs should be prescribed at the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration possible." Unfortunately, what they don't suggest is the no-brainer: why not avoid NSAIDs entirely and eliminate the risk of a NSAID-related health complication? Considering chiropractors routinely manage patients with chronic back pain and osteoarthritis, it's the safer, sensible choice for seniors – and adults – instead of turning to the medicine cabinet.
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A Better Brain in Only 10 Minutes? It's Possible
Researchers evaluated the impact of jogging on mood via a mood scale, completed before and after 10 minutes of moderate-intensity jogging on a treadmill. They also assessed how jogging impacted the brain's ability to process information; specifically how it mitigated the "Stroop interference effect "– interference that occurs when attempting to process multiple sets of information simultaneously while also filtering out extraneous information.
Ten minutes of jogging not only improved mood ("significant enhanced arousal and pleasure levels" compared to a control group that did not jog;) but also reduced the Stroop interference effect. Study participants, after jogging for 10 minutes, were able to complete higher-level information processing (for example, recognizing the correct color even if the word is written in another color) with minimal delay compared to less challenging processing tasks (for example, identifying color swatches: red swatch = red, and so on).
The researchers arrived at two important real-world conclusions in light of their findings: 1) "Running may be considered an exercise mode that benefits mood, which is an important factor for exercise adherence"; and "These finding are valuable in supporting [the] moderate running effect on mental health, since running is an easily accessible form of exercise requiring minimal equipment and sport structure."
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Keep It Under Control
Keeping your blood sugar levels stable is critical for reducing your type 2 diabetes risk. For obese individuals who've already been diagnosed with diabetes, it's even more important to keep blood glucose under control; more so than weight loss, suggests recent research.
Controlling blood sugar if you're obese and suffering from diabetes reduces your cancer risk. Obesity also elevates the risk of developing several types of cancer, but keeping blood glucose in line can help mitigate that risk, even with the extra weight.
That's because among obese patients with type 2 diabetes, those who lost weight via bariatric surgery reduced their cancer risk significantly – but those who regulated their blood sugar / eliminated their diabetic state (regardless of whether they had weight-loss surgery or lost weight) reduced cancer risk even more significantly.
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Getting Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies
It isn't piling more fruits and veggies onto the child's plate. In this case, more isn't necessarily more effective when it comes to getting them to eat more of the "good stuff." That's the first scenario researchers played with; the second scenario involved substituting more fruits and vegetables for an equivalent weight of other foods. As they added more fruits and veggies, the researchers took away some of the other items on the plate – in the study, this meant less mac-and-cheese.
Both scenarios proved effective, but scenario #2 was the most effective. Adding more fruit and vegetables to kids' meals as side dishes increased veggie consumption by 24 percent and fruit consumption by 33 percent; whereas substituting fruits and veggies in place of other foods on the plate increased veggie consumption by 41 percent and fruit consumption by 38 percent. I think we can all agree that getting our kids to eat 40 percent more fruits and veggies than they currently do would be a significant victory!
The study involved children ages 3-5 – some of the pickiest eaters – subjected to the meal changes over five days.
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Editor's Note: These research summaries are excerpted from To Your Health, our biweekly patient / consumer e-mail newsletter, which also serves as support for Go Chiro TV, our digital waiting-room patient-education service. If you're not already sending TYH to your patients, click here to learn more. For more information about Go Chiro TV, click here.
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
