As you saw in my previous article , breathing can help improve the tone of the Vagus Nerve. This has been linked to reduced stress and anxiety levels, reduced heart rate, reduced blood pressure, and even reduced risk of dying from cancer.
A 2016 article talked more about the link between stress and cancer, saying that stress acts as a ‘fertiliser’ by increasing the number of lymphatic vessels draining from the tumour, but increase flow in existing vessels. “So not only do you get new freeways out of the tumour but …

Apparently not! Even I thought it was but the results of a new study (to read it click here) have found that “not only does running not cause osteoarthritis in the knee, it may even help to keep the problem at bay”.
The study followed 2863 people and found that “runners, regardless of the age they were when they ran, had less knee pain and osteoarthritis.”
This supported another previous study of 74,00 people from 2013 which “found that running significantly reduced the risk of both osteoarthritis and knee replacement.”
Some other choice quotes …

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of people with injuries related to the sudden desire to quickly get in shape. Their exercise regime drifted a little over the winter months but with Summer approaching they need to get their bikini body back. Bravo I say! But, we need to temper that enthusiasm/desperation with a little common sense. If you’re trying to fit 6 months worth of training into the next 6 weeks read on.
I think the most common times people get injured is when they start a new activity, or …

New research has suggested that if you have a torn meniscus you might not need surgery after all. The study compared the progress of half a million people who either had an operation or had rehab. They found the surgery led to a quicker improvement, but that over time the results with rehab were great – 70% of people who did their exercises did not end up needing surgery.
A couple of quotes from the article:
1. The researchers found that physical therapy cost far less and carried far fewer risks from …

In a recent article I read on theconversation.edu.au, it was reported that “In 2010, the promotion of the Nurofen range of products “targeting” migraine, back pain, tension headache and period pain was awarded a CHOICE shonky award.”
The take home message of their review was that the different flavours of Nurofen claim to ‘target’ specific sites all contain the exact same active ingredient (Ibuprofen) in the exact same dosage. And there has been no research to prove that Ibuprofen specifically acts at one point rather than another.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in …

I just read an interesting article published in the New York Times on September 4 2011 about whether there is enough “good” evidence to support common procedures currently being used by sports medicine doctors. These include steroid injections, platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections, taping, and surgery. It’s an interesting article and it mirrors what I hear people tell me after undergoing these procedures – sure, it works for some, but for others it doesn’t help at all, and for some it has made their injuries worse. One woman I treated …

Following on from my last article on the risks associated with the use of common over the counter anti-inflammatory medications, I wanted to see what the other options were and more importantly, how effective they are. I found an article which compared the results of 47 different studies on the effectiveness of different forms of ‘non tablet’ anti-inflammatories, ie gels, sprays, and creams. The attraction of these options is that there are none of the associated systemic adverse events.
The results of 47 studies were included. In these studies, the gels/creams/sprays …

A couple of articles have surfaced recently which raise more questions on the usefulness of medical scans. Now, don’t get me wrong, they are useful. What we’re talking about here is whether they are used too often (knowing the radiation risk), and whether the findings on scans are as important as they’re made out to be.
I’ve written on this before when I talked about
A couple of articles have surfaced recently which raise more questions on the usefulness of medical scans. Now, don’t get me wrong, they are useful. What we’re …

I’ve been wanting to write something on Platelet Rich Plasma Injections for Tendon Injuries for a while now. I first heard about it when a lady I treat came in after having had it done for a Tennis Elbow. She said it certainly increased her pain, quite dramatically. In her words, it was the worst thing she had ever done. She certainly would not recommend it to anyone, but I didn’t really have any other information on it and so I started to look and ask around.
These injections are relatively …

In this study the investigators tried to assess which characteristics are related to the risk of being hospitalised in “older adults”. It has been established that as people get older they lose strength, but it is unclear whether having less muscle tissue necessarily means you are weaker per se, and it has also previously been unclear whether there are better ways to assess whether someone is at risk of being hospitalised. This study has answered those questions.
The goal of this study was to look at the link between “strength, function, …