Spinal Health Week
Spinal Health Week 2017
As part of Spinal Health Week 2017, Dr Hooper wants to raise awareness of chronic back pain and encouraging sufferers to seek help.
Chronic back pain is a national issue. One in six Australians suffer from the physical and psychological effects of chronic back problems – that’s an estimated 3.7 million people suffering. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines chronic back pain as a health condition that lasts for three months or longer.
Spinal Health Week
It is Spinal Health Week.
An intiative of the Chiropractic Association of Australia, this is a great way to raise public awareness of the importance of the spine in your overall health.
Ok, so what’s so great about Spinal Health Week?
Your spine is of course central to the health of the body. It is indeed the primary control mechanism of the body.
A recent community based cohort study of older adults in Japan showed a strong correlation between spinal posture and future dependence in activities of daily living.
According to the authors:
Accumulated evidence shows how important spinal posture is for aged populations in maintaining independence in everyday life.
However, the cross-sectional designs of most previous studies prevent elucidation of the relationship between spinal posture and future dependence in activities of daily living (ADL).
We tried to clarify the association by measuring spinal posture noninvasively in a community-based prospective cohort study of older adults, paying particular attention to thoracic curvature, lumbar curvature, sacral hip angle, and inclination to determine which parameter is most strongly associated with dependence in ADL.
Basically the study concluded that the more spinal decay, the more hunched over you are – a kyphosis – particularly in the thoracic spine (mid back) the greater the level of incapacity.
