This is an interesting article in The Economist (18th January 2020) about the cost and medicalisation of back pain in Western society. It explains that only about 5 - 15% of people suffering with back pain have a definitive cause for their back pain (eg fracture, infection, tumour) and the rest are labelled as [...]
Increases your stamina and energy levels Reduces anxiety and depression Reduces blood pressure and cholesterol Improves your intellectual capacity and concentration Helps control your weight Makes you happy Improves self-esteem Improves muscle power If there was a medicine that did all this, without side-effects, I think most people would take it, don’t [...]
I recently read an article in The Independent newspaper about the best ways to keep active with back pain and the associated benefits. As we know back pain is very common with 80% of people in the UK having back pain at some time in their life. Long term back pain accounts for about [...]
This is the second Brussels International Spine Symposium I have attended and both times the meetings have been of excellent quality, very interesting and relevant. This years meeting was tilted "Lumbar Spine Stenosis: Controversies in ethiopathogenesis, management and costs". The meeting consisted of a series of lectures with both a European and American Faculty and [...]
At the meeting I attended in Japan, there was an exciting talk about exoskeletons and how research is enabling paralysed patients to control exoskeleton bodysuits with their mind. Exoskeleton, by definition, is a “skeleton outside of the body”. Human exoskeletons are motorised external frames or ‘bodysuits’ that can be worn to support a person [...]
I recently attended the First Biennial International Sports and Spine Congress held in Tokyo, Japan. Organised by the Seattle Science Foundation, leading members of the international spinal surgical community discussed and debated controversies in the management of spinal conditions and injuries in sportsmen and women. Topics ranged from traumatic brain and spine sporting injuries [...]
There has been a lot of news recently about ‘Mindfulness’ and its benefits so I thought I would write a little about its history and and an overview of how it works. Mindfulness does not suit or work for everyone but I think it is important to understand the scientific basis of Mindfulness and that [...]
Research has shown that interactively encouraging patients to perform exercise after lumbar surgery has beneficial effects compared giving them simple written advice and less regular follow-up. The report which was presented at EUROSPINE 2019 suggested that “psychosocial behavioural intervention administered in the spine care setting was successful in increasing physical activity after recuperation from [...]
Scientists from the University of Manchester have been looking at how and if the weather affects peoples pain levels. The study was funded by the charity ‘Versus Arthritis’ and looked at data collected from 2,658 people, who provided daily information on pain levels for six months. The group had a range of different health issues, predominantly [...]
A life-sized model has been unveiled today showing what desk-bound office workers will look like in the future unless the work environment and people’s behaviours change. The life-sized doll named Emma has: a permanently hunched back from leaning over desk varicose veins from poor blood circulation due to sitting down too long red eyes [...]
