This week I’m going to venture off track from my usual posts and write briefly about the fact that lung cancer is increasingly being diagnosed in an unlikely group of people- those who have never smoked and have no obvious risk factors.
Smoking remains the single biggest risk for lung cancer, with about 88% of new lung cancer diagnoses each year conclusively linked to a person’s smoking history. There’s nothing good that will come to you from smoking. Still, that leaves 12% of these new cancer diagnoses in those who have never smoked.
Identifying very early screening tools for lung cancer is an emerging field. In the near future we will have “liquid biopsies”, meaning blood tests to pick up very early stages of various cancers. Until then, there’s much we still need to learn.
I’ve been concerned about underactivity amongst all age groups during Covid-19restrictions and have written about this. Today, let’s look at a related question: is there a best time of day to exercise?
The short answer is: whenever you can.
The more nuanced answer is: probably between 3pm and 6pm, if you’re an adult looking for fat loss and metabolic control.
I’ve written previously about inactivity and underuse in teenagers during Covid restrictions, and additional evidence is emerging that inactivity has increased amongst all age groups.
That’s not particularly surprising given the rise in virtual learning, work-from-home, and stay-at-home health mandates in some municipalities. But preliminary studies in adults shows the extent of the activity decline is worse than expected.
There’s now evidence across all age groups that people are becoming far less active, and with that inactivity comes a wide range of negative effects on health. Each of us needs to make efforts to get up and move to promote health during Covid restrictions. The good news: even tiny amounts of added movement can have positive effects on your health.
There’s been quite a bit of interest in cryotherapy (various forms of using cold temperatures for recovery and health benefits), and in today’s post I’ll briefly describe the types of cryotherapy available.
We’ll also touch on an interesting emerging concept: is applying ice immediately after an injury really the best thing to do for healing and recovery?
We’ve turned the clock forward to 2021 and there is hope that some time this year we’ll return to what we remember as “normal”. While I’m optimistic we’ll eventually achieve that, I also suspect that the process will take longer than many people think.
So we’re going to have to keep plowing ahead in spite of the restrictions in front of us. Many psychologists say that having a compelling personal reason for “why” you want to achieve something is a powerful motivator to stay on course toward your goal.
I’d like to finish 2020’s blog posts with a simple message: if the goal is to get back to “normal” keep that goal in sight and please stay with the safety precautions you’ve taken up to this point.
In this post I’m going to discuss a particular type of broken bone seen in snowboarding often referred to as “the snowboarder’s fracture.” This particular fracture occurs in one of the ankle bones called “the talus”. A fracture in the lateral process of the talus is called the snowboarder’s fracture.
Unfortunately, this injury is often missed, because regular X-rays don’t always show the fracture very well.
Most athletes are able to get back to normal physical activity within 4 to 6 months. However, significant problems can result if this fracture is missed and appropriate treatment is delayed.
As we work through the current Covid-19 surge, with hopes for a vaccine in the near future, it’s instructive to dig deeper into how individuals become infected with the coronavirus and how to decrease risk. In the world of sports we’ve seen multiple NFL players infected, and even in F1 three drivers have tested positive. We can be certain that Lewis Hamilton didn’t get the virus by driving himself in his vehicle.
So what’s going on? While it’s impossible to be 100% certain of the risk factors a common thread is emerging. The virus appears to be spread through aerosol particles in the breath, and inhaled by someone else. The higher risk is not on an outdoor field of play, it’s indoors at a team meeting in a small room or at a meal with others. The meal, the car ride, the shared hotel room, and the whiteboard session are likely risker than the game itself.
I’m a big believer in “active recovery”, typically involving movement, flexibility, and some form of massage. After a workout, especially if you’re doing something new, the active recovery can help ward off delayed onset muscle soreness. You’ll feel better faster.
Today I’ll offer some thoughts on two types of massage therapy called “vibration therapy”. The general principle is that a motorized device in the form of a vibrating roller, or handheld percussive device will deliver a stimulus to the muscle, tendon, and bone to reportedly improve blood flow and facilitate recovery. While there is only a small amount of published scientific literature about effectiveness, there is a huge amount of personal experience and testimonials to support their use. I recommend these devices to my patients and I believe all active individuals will benefit from their use.
The global Covid-19 pandemic seems to have put a halt to the overuse injuries in adolescent and high school athletes that used to be so prevalent. Fewer overuse injuries is a good thing. The problem is that the pendulum of activity has gone the other way, towards far less activity than in the pre-Covid days.
It’s still too early to have definitive data, but limited survey based data from parents report that kids were less physically active during April and May compared to February. Also importantly, older kids tended to be affected by the Covid-19 restrictions more than the younger kids, with steep declines in physical activity.
