The United States witnessed a significant increase in life expectancy over the 20th century with much of the improvement attributed to improved sanitation, vaccinations, medications, and access to healthcare. In addition, significant improvements in lifestyle factors were also noted including nutrition, smoking cessation, and exercise. Exercise plays a unique role in aging due to its’...
Knee arthritis will affect many older adults limiting their ability to participate in their daily, occupational, and recreational activities. Lost independence and function is one of the most common concerns among patients with knee arthritis who are treated in our Boulder Physical Therapy practice. In addition to manual therapy to the involved joints, exercise remains...
Heart disease remains the number one killer of both women and men in our country. Although the causes of heart disease are multifactorial in nature a significant percentage of known risk factors are modifiable. Abstaining from smoking, weight loss, nutrition, and exercise remain some of the most powerful ways to reduce your individual risk for...
Studies reported the United States lost 1/3 of all manufacturing positions between 1999 and 2010. Many of these individuals have not returned to their prior manufacturing jobs and may have started more sedentary occupations. While prior U.S. generations relied upon their work to provide daily activity, more recent generations must actively pursue aerobic and strength...
Aerobic exercise has long been known to reduce an active individuals risk of chronic mental, emotional, and physical diseases. The majority of the publicity regarding the benefits of aerobic exercise has been related to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and premature death due to these diagnoses. Government and professional medical organizations recommend 120-150 minutes of...
Exercise remains one of the most powerful interventions to improve your mental, emotional, and physical health. Specifically, aerobic exercise, when performed consistent with medical experts prescriptions, has been shown to effectively treat 26 chronic conditions and diagnoses. Despite the clinically and cost effective benefits of aerobic exercise 80% of Americans to not reach the CDC’s...
Inherent risks, such as infection and blood clots, are associated with orthopedic surgeries and should be considered in decision making between surgical and conservative treatments for musculoskeletal diagnoses. In addition to these inherent risks, patients should also consider other hidden or less common risks after surgery including increased healthcare costs (office visits, additional surgeries, hospitalization)...
Osteoarthritis is estimated to affect 250 million people worldwide leading to high rates of global pain and disability. These rates are expected to raise as our population of baby boomers continues to age into their golden years. Unfortunately, many with osteoarthritis will become less active or sedentary because of their symptoms and in turn are...
We have written about running benefits on our mental, emotional, and physical health in previous blog posts. Consistent physical activity through the life span has been shown to have significant beneficial effects on our health including decreased risk of disease and improved health and well being. A new article highlights the impact running can have...
Colorado remains one of the fittest states in the Colorado with low rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases associated with low activity levels. Specifically, our home town of Boulder remains of the fittest cities in the country due to its’ high percentage of citizens who meet or exceed the U.S. Surgeon General’s...