Is back pain related to heart health?
It might be.
Back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, over 800 million people will experience it. Back pain is often caused by weak and inflexible core muscles, decreased fitness, weight gain, and being sedentary. These are the perfect recipe for back pain. While there are other causes, including injuries, cholesterol is another factor to consider.
Can high cholesterol levels cause back pain?
90% of low back pain has no known cause. Could dietary cholesterol be a contributing factor?
Apparently, yes it can.
A study that observed dietary patterns and low back pain showed increased pain with higher cholesterol intake. Researchers suggest that inflammation due to higher levels of cholesterol may be a contributing factor.
Another habit that has a link to lower back pain is smoking due to the link with disc degeneration. Lifestyle habits are a common cause of back pain. You can view a nice visual of the reduction in the artery space in your lower back with a poor diet in the video.
What can you do?
There are a few easy ways to strengthen your lower back. One Finnish study showed that more walking and less sitting reduced back pain. During the study, participants reduced sitting time by 40 minutes daily over six months.
“Our participants were quite normal middle-aged adults, who sat a great deal, exercised little, and had gained some extra weight. These factors not only increase the risk for cardiovascular disease but also for back pain.”
Doctoral Researcher and Physiotherapist Jooa Norha from the University of Turku in Finland.
Another study by Macquarie University’s Spinal Pain Research Group followed 701 adults who had recently recovered from back pain, they were randomly assigned to a walking program with 6 education sessions or to a control group with no exercise intervention for six months. With a simple and cost-effective solution, walking, the exercise group experienced less pain and longer times between back pain episodes, on average 208 pain-free days compared to the control group at 112 days.
Walking is a low-cost, widely accessible and simple exercise that almost anyone can engage in, regardless of geographic location, age or socio-economic status.
We don’t know exactly why walking is so good for preventing back pain, but it is likely to include the combination of the gentle oscillatory movements, loading and strengthening the spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of ‘feel-good’ endorphins.
Senior author, Macquarie University Professor of Physiotherapy, Mark Hancock
Easy ways to prevent and manage lower back pain include moving more, sitting less, walking and eating a healthy diet.
If you want three exercises to strengthen your core and prevent back pain, join Stronger Core, Healthier Back today.
Change your mind, change your health,
Shayla
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