During my athletic career, I was impressed by the knowledge and understanding of the physical therapists that helped me.  Unfortunately, I almost always had to be injured before I would benefit from their expertise.  It made no sense to me to wait until I was hurt before addressing my physical weaknesses ; I wanted something more pro-active.  Prehabilitation (prehab) is the act of applying rehab principles to healthy individuals in order to prevent injury and enhance physical performance.

Rehabilitative principles are applied in a step-by-step fashion, to ensure that the body is not forced to do anything that it is not ready for.  I will outline some of these steps, and give you examples of why each could be important to you:

Reduce Pain and Inflammation

Pain or inflammation in a joint causes key muscles to be deactivated, as well leads to patterns of avoidance.  Running with a sore back for instance can train key stabilizing muscles not to work, leading to instability of the back long term, and can cause you to adopt habits that could make you a slower runner in the long term.

Ensure Proper Joint Motion and Stability

Tight ankles, especially one sided, can cause rotation through the entire body, cause unequal wear and tear of joints, overuse of other joints, and poor balance.  Weak hamstring muscles can increase your likelihood of tearing ligaments in your knee.

Efficient Movement and Posture

Your technique when you exercise determines which muscles get strong, which ones stay long and supple, which joints get stressed, and how tired you get.  Anti-inflammatory herbs or medications may help for your knee pain, but if the cause of the knee pain is the way you walk or run, then your pain will always recur.

Notice that none of the above steps have much to do with general fitness; someone can be very strong or fit, and still fail some of these steps.  Every day, people are exercising or performing simple daily tasks with limitations in the above categories, and those seemingly healthy activities can be making them unhealthy.  Don’t wait until you are unsatisfied with your physical health; learn about your physical limitations and what you can do about them right now.

Exercise and sleep can help to prevent cancer

A study in Maryland found that people who had less sleep had a greater chance of getting breast cancer.  The CDC recognizes sleep deprivation as a serious health problem with fewer and fewer people getting the sleep that they need to be healthy.  Lack of sleep is associated with many chronic ailments, including obesity, depression, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.  Where are the studies that demonstrate effective techniques to get people sleeping and exercising more?

Another reason to sleep longer – short sleepers and cardiovascular disease

In most people, blood pressure decreases while they sleep – a phenomenon that is thought to decrease the strain on the heart and blood vessels during the night.  Japanese researchers showed that individuals who had less sleep also had higher sleeping blood pressure, and consequently had more cardiovascular disease.

Vit B3 prevents the progression of alzheimers in mice

Nicotinamide (Vit B3) has long been used by Naturopathic Physicians as a treatment for neurological problems, and to enhance cognition.  This recent study suggests it may limit the progression of alzheimers disease in mice, but it is too soon to recommend it in humans because Vit B3 is toxic if taken in too high a dose.  Which begs the question…should I stop drinking water because it could kill me if taken in too high a dose?  B3 is very safe when taken in the right form and the right dose – consult your physician before using it.

You mean there is more to heart disease than blood pressure and cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a good measure of cardiovascular disease risk, but it is definitely not the only story behind heart disease.  With the widespread use of statin medications, cholesterol is becoming better controlled, but other risk factors like body weight and blood triglycerides are still increasing – evidence that we need to start treating the causes of heart disease instead of trying to mask its symptoms with costly medications that come with side effects.

Watch what you eat – for your children’s sake

A recent pediatric study proves that children will mirror the eating habits of their parents, underlining the importance of learning healthy eating habits not just for your own health, but for the health of your children as well.

British study associates coffee drinking with low birth weight babies

In light of a recent study, Britain has decreased its guidelines for caffeine intake to a maximum of 200mg/ day.  This is probably the equivalent of 2 small cups of coffee.  This same article from the BBC also mentions that the FSA may actually relax its guideline for alcohol consumption during pregnancy, as alcohol consumption is currently not recommended.

Another possible role for the hormone seratonin – controlling bone density?

A recent paper published in the journal Cell, discusses how Seratonin that is formed in the gut actually promotes the breakdown of bone in genetically modified mice.  Commonly referenced for its relationship to positive moods, seratonin is actually most plentiful in the human digestive tract, and the full scope of its effects have yet to be discovered.

Waist measurement – a simple and very effective risk analysis

Researchers in Europe are doing a good job at discrediting the old body mass index (BMI) model for cardiac risk analysis, in favor of a simpler and more effective waist to hip ratio.  It is the size of your waist (the area around your belly button) and your body shape that really matters when it comes to predicting your risk of dying from heart disease.

Probiotics – Good for your gut…and your curtains…?

Simply applying ‘good bacteria’ to curtains and other surfaces in hospitals has shown to cut down on infection rates, and the effects are comparable to that of antibiotic solutions.