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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #103 - Recorded June 29, 2007

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of HealthBeat, Chiropractic OnLine Today’s Health, News and informational Podcast.

In this week’s news:  We’ll Look At –

• Diagnosis and Treatment of Sciatica

• Interventions to Promote Walking

• FCER Call for Papers

• Treatment Outcome with NASS Lumbar Spine Instrument

• Back Muscle Response to Sudden Trunk Loading

For HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

Welcome to HealthBeat Podcast #103, recorded June 29, 2007.  HealthBeat is Chiropractic OnLine Today’s radio program, providing current news and commentary about Chiropractic and Health.

This week’s Episode is sponsored by DaVinci Laboratories.  Please surf to our web site at www.ChiropracticRadio.com and click on the DaVinci link for your Health and Nutritional needs.

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And Now for some news ….

Diagnosis and treatment of sciatica

Low back pain and/or leg pain that usually travels down the large sciatic nerve, from the lower back down the back of each leg, is generally referred to as sciatica and is fairly common. This pain can be caused when a nerve root in the lower spine that helps form the sciatic nerve is irritated.

Sciatica occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Often a particular event or injury does not cause sciatica, but rather it may develop as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine.

Sciatica affects many people. The most important symptoms are radiating leg pain and related disabilities.

Many synonyms for sciatica appear in the literature, such as lumbosacral radicular syndrome, ischias, nerve root pain, and nerve root entrapment.

A study in the June 23, 2007 edition of the British Medical Journal found the following points:

• Most patients with acute sciatica have a favorable prognosis but about 20%-30% have persisting problems after one or two years

• The diagnosis is based on history taking and physical examination

• Imaging is indicated only in patients with "red flag" conditions or in whom disc surgery is considered

• Passive (bed rest) treatments have been replaced with more active treatments

• Consensus is that initial treatment is conservative for about 6-8 weeks

• Disc surgery may provide quicker relief of leg pain than conservative care but no clear differences have been found after one or two years

Surf to our Show Notes for a link to this study - http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/334/7607/1313?etoc

Interventions to Promote Walking

A study in the June 2, 2007 edition of the British Medical Journal presented a systematic review to assess the effects of interventions to promote walking in individuals and populations.

Systematic search for and appraisal of controlled before and after studies of the effects of any type of intervention on how much people walk, the distribution of effects on walking between social groups, and any associated effects on overall physical activity, fitness, risk factors for disease, health, and wellbeing.

The study concluded that the most successful interventions could increase walking among targeted participants by up to 30-60 minutes a week on average, at least in the short term. From a perspective of improving population health, much of the research currently provides evidence of efficacy rather than effectiveness. Nevertheless, interventions to promote walking could contribute substantially towards increasing the activity levels of the most sedentary.

BMJ also presented an Editorial that suggests we lack knowledge about how to increase physical activity in individuals and populations.

Surf to our Show Notes for more information about this study and a link to the related Editorial - http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/334/7605/1204

Editorial about Study - http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/334/7605/1173

FCER Call for Papers

The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, the FCER, is currently requesting Papers for the upcoming Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational Conference, March 14-15, 2008.

The categories for the conference include:

• Basic Science

• Clinical

• Educational

All submissions will be evaluated for completeness, strength of contribution to the profession and relevance to the ACC conference.

If you are interested, surf to www.fcer.org for more information.

Treatment Outcome with NASS Lumbar Spine Instrument

A study in the June 1, 2007 issue of the journal Spine investigated health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following either lumbar discectomy or nonoperative care for lumbar disc protrusion causing radiculopathy.

Of interest in the study was the discussion of the NASS Lumbar Spine Instrument as an Outcome Assessment tool.

The study concluded that health-related quality of life after lumbar disc protrusion causing radiculopathy, as measured in this study by NASS neurogenic symptoms score, demonstrated similar improvement in both groups and was not meaningfully associated with the treatment received, within the timeframe of this study.

At follow-up, all outcome measures remained lower than population normative scores, suggesting that, irrespective of treatment, an element of disability remained.

Surf to our Show Notes for more about this study - http://www.spinejournal.com/pt/re/spine/abstract.00007632-200706010-00009.htm;jsessionid=G2LQ1m9hsSJHv2KCLdJDjH54cQvbxLhvSXpXLLGq6h12hyBfyDYJ!-1804036389!-949856145!8091!-1

http://iospress.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,3,9;journal,11,21;linkingpublicationresults,1:103166,1

Back Muscle Response to Sudden Trunk Loading

An experimental study of the effect of physical training on the reaction to sudden back loading was published in the June 1, 2007 issue of the journal Spine.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect and sustainability of "on the job training" on the reaction to sudden back loading among employees at a geriatric ward.

Available data suggest that a delayed muscle reflex response to sudden trunk loading may increase the risk of low back injuries. The authors have previously shown that training may alter the response to sudden trunk loading in healthy subjects and decrease the time elapsed until stopping of the forward movement of the trunk (stopping time).

Data on the possibilities of a training-induced improvement in the reflex response among workers exposed to sudden trunk loading on the job are, however, nonexistent, and there is no evidence of long-term benefits, i.e., the sustainability of a positive training effect.

The results of the study demonstrated a training-induced improvement of the response to sudden trunk loading that may be beneficial in workers, such as nurses, who are exposed to sudden trunk disturbances of motion during patient handling.

Surf to our Show Notes for more information - http://www.spinejournal.com/pt/re/spine/abstract.00007632-200706010-00016.htm;jsessionid=G2MXFzfD5BQ4Tn4z1S8P5vwLGy7BhTs1gG7PHp1kcQR51GP2zzH2!-1804036389!-949856145!8091!-1

As always, please surf to our Podcast Show Notes at ChiropractiRadio.com for a full listing of web references mentioned in today’s show.

And remember - COT’s Healthbeat always recommends discussing any nutritional or exercise lifestyle modifications with a qualified healthcare professional.

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"Inventor: A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers, and springs, and believes it civilization."
– Ambrose Bierce

For Chiropractic OnLine Today’s HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

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