Blog

Nov 14

When setting out to write this blog each week, I typically try to find a unifying theme worth relaying to clients, customers, staff, and friends. It starts with a headline that is interesting enough to dive into a little deeper and often sends me down the rabbit hole of review in hopes of determining whether the case is as strong as the headline claims. This week, however, things were a bit different. Instead of one generalizable headline, there were 3 that were interesting enough to share but perhaps applicable to a narrower few. Here they are in no particular order:

Coffee for Conduction - because it is a fan favorite (and because I love a good cup of coffee), we are always on the lookout for research that helps us answer whether coffee is "good for us". As we've mentioned plenty of times before, the general consensus leans "yes" when the dosage falls in a reasonable range and at a time of day unlikely to impact sleep. However, for some groups, such as those with heart rhythm disorders like atrial fibrillation (a-fib), things aren't quite as simple. Even though for at least 10 years observational studies have suggested a slight decrease in the risk of developing the condition for coffee drinkers, not everyone is convinced. This week, the case got even stronger as a randomized controlled trial showed that in a study of individuals who were treated for a-fib, those who consumed 1 cup per day had a 39% decreased risk of recurrence.

Rest for Runners - the second headline worth knowing about seemed intuitive, maybe to the point of obvious at first. Simply put, a research team showed that runners who trained on inadequate or low-quality sleep had a significantly higher risk of injury when compared to well-rested peers. OK, no surprise there. However, where things get interesting is the degree to which the risk was increased. Poorer sleepers - which was defined as low quality, low quantity, or trouble falling (and/or staying) asleep - had a whopping 78% increased risk of sustaining an injury in the 12-month assessment period as compared to peers who were steadier sleepers. Now, to be fair, this was not a super rigorous study, so we can't draw firm conclusions - but it lends support to the idea that recovery definitely matters, especially in those who are pushing themselves physically at work or at play.

More on Movement for Knee Pain - in something of an addendum to our October 24th blog on managing knee pain, a new study out this week added Tai Chi to the list. In a randomized controlled trial, individuals who participated in an unsupervised Tai Chi protocol had significantly greater relief of pain and increased function than participants who received education alone and not by a small margin. Compared to those who got an education alone, 55% more individuals in the movement-based intervention achieved clinically significant pain relief, and 38% more achieved clinically significant functional improvement

So there you have it - MOVE more, RECOVER well, and if you like the stuff, enjoy that cup of coffee...it's probably good for you, even your heart.

Have a great weekend,
Mike E.