“Life is about movement - everything that is alive moves.”
(1)
What a great thing to realize!
No matter your age, you have
to move. As you age, you have to move more (than
you may want)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really putting out
some amazing information on this topic that will motivate
us all (and our cherished family members!) to keep
active so that we can all grow old and grow old(er)
gracefully. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. and our Auburn chiropractic patients will all grow old better working together, exercising, moving, and meeting at the office for gentle Cox® treatment!
BED REST AND MOBILITY
Bed rest isn’t always best! It may be less
scary than moving and be even a bit
comforting. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. will give you that! When hospitalized, there
is lots of bed rest, maybe even a bit too much for a patient’s
liking! A study of patients in an
acute care hospital ward found that inpatient
mobility was low despite their individual capacities to
move and desires to move. (1) It’s vital to keep acute patients - and those with new bouts of back pain and/or neck pain, too - moving so that
they can heal! Beneficially, acutely hospitalized older
patients improved their muscle strength and power while they
were in the hospital using a personalized
multicomponent exercise program that integrated power
training in just 3 days! (2) In a review of the good that exercise offers for frail older adults,
researchers emphasized the value of preserving
functional abilities for those who want to grow old gracefully.
They further emphasized that exercise and physical activity are good
for the prevention of falls, hospital stays, improved
cognition, etc. Exercises from power training (yes – power training for older
folks!) to resistance training, balance exercises, aerobic training, walking,
etc. (3) Mobility is part of keeping frailty away, and
Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. encourages it!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more prone to frailty, amplifying our risk of several undesirable health issues, both cognitive
and physical. The hope we all have is that frailty is reversible.
Researchers have studied this issue by examining
published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Luckily,
56.7% of the papers proposed that it is reversible (getting
a person who is frail/severely frail to a state of being ‘pre-frail’ or just
mildly so). (4) Those are positive
outcomes! One study shared that frail and even “pre” frail older
patients showed better physical performance and function after
a brief (6 week) facility-based exercise program that
included a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% upped
their frailty rating. Particularly, muscle power went up
by 47%, muscle strength rose 34%, and aerobic capacity rose
19%. (5) And other additional benefits with physical
activity in general: energy and a better emotional state! Frailty and aging are
more apt to lower energy levels and increase
fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been reported
to contend with those feelings in older women as well as increase
life expectancy and lower some negative effects of a
sedentary lifestyle. (6) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. thinks you’ll
agree that these are beneficial!
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Tom Menendez on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
shares the effectiveness of the gentle
protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the elderly.
Schedule your Auburn chiropractic
appointment today. You’re alive. What a wonderful fact!
Celebrate that with some movement.