Editor's Note: Easy-to-digest research not only help 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. Let's take a look at some of the exciting health and wellness research published recently.
High-Risk Prescribing
Opioids are among the high-risk medications in the news for the past several years, but despite public awareness and national guidelines, their use has yet to be sufficiently curtailed. That's particularly concerning when we consider the pediatric population. According to new research, a whopping 50 percent of opioid prescriptions administered to children and young adults (ages 21 and younger) are considered high risk, meaning they exceed the recommended dose / supply, or include a drug or drug combination not recommended for children in the first place.
Are primary care physicians to blame? Let's not exonerate them completely, but according to the study, the two main culprits are surgeons and dentists. High-risk prescriptions written by these practitioners were often for acute pain (following a procedure) and exceed 3-7 days. (Per the CDC, pain prescriptions are rarely needed for more than three days; neither are prescriptions in general for more than seven days.)
Reference
- Chua K-P, et al. Opioid prescribing to US children and young adults in 2019. Pediatrics, 2021;148(3):e2021051539.
Beat the Alzheimer's Gene
At least when it comes to reducing your risk of cognitive decline. That's the exciting conclusion from a new study that evaluated 60-77-year-olds with risk factors for memory disorders including Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
Researchers found that lifestyle counseling on nutrition, exercise, cognitive exercises, and other methods known to improve brain health reduced the risk of cognitive decline even in seniors with the APOE4 gene.
This gene is the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, present in an estimated 25 percent of people diagnosed with the disease.
The two-year study also found that carriers of the gene may benefit more from lifestyle counseling / intervention than those without it, although both groups (carriers and noncarriers) benefited according to the study, which measured cognitive decline over time via a battery of neuropsychological tests.
Reference
- Solomon A, et al. Effect of the Apolipoprotein E genotype on cognitive change during a multidomain lifestyle intervention: a subgroup analysis of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Neurol, 2018;75(4):462-470.
Losing or Gaining Life Minutes?
We assume most people don't think about food in terms of whether it's healthy or not (although that's starting to change), but focus instead on whether it tastes good. Unfortunately, fast-food restaurants and food manufacturers have capitalized on this by giving consumers foods that appeal to the senses (and their bottom lines), but generally not to our health and wellness.
What if we could quantify how the food we eat impacts not just our health, but more specifically, how long we'll live? In other words, which foods add time to your life, and which foods take time away? That very question appears to have been answered via a new study.
The study evaluated nearly 6,000 foods, ranking them on how they impact human health (and the environment). Overall, replacing only 10 percent of your caloric intake from beef and processed meats with fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and certain seafood (high in omega-3 fatty acids) lengthened average lifespan by a whopping 48 minutes – per day; not to mention a 33 percent reduction in dietary carbon footprint.
Reference
- Stylianou KS, et al. Small targeted dietary changes can yield substantial gains for human health and the environment. Nature Food, 2021;2:616-27.
Strength Training or Aerobic Exercise: Which Is Better for Cancer Prevention?
Consistent physical activity is an established method of reducing your risk for certain types of cancer (and of course, improving your health on multiple other levels). Up to this point, the vast majority of research has focused on the overall impact of exercise in general, but a new research review pinpoints the specific exercises that may hold the most benefit when it comes to cancer prevention.
The study evaluated previous research related to physical activity and cancer, reviewing data from more than a million study participants. Researchers determined that according to the body of evidence, strength training is more valuable than aerobic exercise for reducing cancer risk; but that when the two types of activity were combined, the protective effect was maximized.
The study found that workouts involving "squats, rowing, planks and weight training" reduced the risk of dying from cancer by 14 percent; but that when such strength activities were combined with aerobic activities such as walking, jogging, swimming or cycling, the risk of cancer death dropped by double: 28 percent. The review also linked physical activity with reduced cancer risk for specific cancers: breast, stomach, endometrial, kidney, and bladder.
Reference
- Nascimento W, et al. Muscle-strengthening activities and cancer incidence and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Activ, 2021;18(69).
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.
Dynamic Chiropractic editorial staff members research, investigate and write articles for the publication on an ongoing basis. To contact the Editorial Department or submit an article of your own for consideration, email
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