When the human body is sensing its movement, location and positioning, also known as proprioception, many neural systems are hard at work. Researcher Dr. Robyn Mildren has a keen appreciation for these systems and how their changes due to aging can lead to mobility issues and falls, particularly for older adults.
Staying fit is an important part of overall health, but many of us are keen to avoid the soreness and stiffness that can follow a good workout. Dr. Chris Napier demystifies some popular muscle recovery methods, and gives us the low-down on science-based approaches that could make your new exercise routine more enjoyable and effective.
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist Dr. Ben Mortenson chuckles when he says that human beings are not great at doing two things at once or switching from one task to another. He and colleague Lisa Kristalovich at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre have worked together for five years on a number of research projects looking at the dual-task of driving, particularly among individuals with neurological impairments.
Lab members put research in motion. (L-R) Alison Williams, Emily Deegan, Raza Malik, Gevorg Eginyan and Mason Chow
At the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD) research centre, members of Dr. Tania Lam’s laboratory are studying human locomotion and walking recovery in an effort to improve people’s functional health outcomes and quality of life following a spinal cord injury (SCI).
For Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist Heather McKay, it is all about scalability. McKay studies ways to improve senior’s health, mobility and social connectedness through physical activity. But it is one thing to study a small group in a controlled setting; it is quite another to scale-up those results more broadly in the real world. McKay says scalability is a crucial factor in successful research, especially when it comes to changing unhealthy behaviors into healthier ones at the population level.
For years many clinicians and researchers theorized that statins—a cholesterol lowering medication that can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by between 25-35 per cent—were toxic to tendons and could increase the risk of tendon rupture. But new findings from a pioneering study led by Dr. Alex Scott, a Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute investigator, prove otherwise.
“Our study reassures patients with high cholesterol that taking statins should not have a negative impact on their Achilles tendons.”
The pain from knee osteoarthritis can be crippling for patients—so too could be its impact on the Canadian health care system if left unchecked. Shoe-worn insoles, commonly known as orthotics, could be an effective treatment for some patients, but pinpointing which ones will benefit can be challenging. Fortunately, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) researchers may have a solution. Dr. Michael Hunt and Dr. David Wilson are using state-of-the-art technology to examine how different types of orthotics could improve patients’ biomechanics and reduce knee pain.
A recent survey found a lot of uncertainty on the topic of running and knee joint health. The cross-Canada survey of 831 health practitioners and members of the public was conducted by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist Dr. Michael Hunt and his colleague, Dr. Jean-Francois Esculier. Results of the survey found that many respondents were not sure whether running was good or bad for knee joint health.
Q: My father is much less active than he used to be. Is this normal?
A: Unfortunately, it is the norm. Only 11% of older men meet the daily requirements for exercise. But the trend starts even earlier: by age 40, men’s exercise rates decrease by about 50 per cent. That is quite dramatic and sobering. Further, across all ages, only 17 per cent of men are meeting recommended physical activity guidelines. It’s better than women’s rates of 13 per cent, but still far from adequate.
Surrey resident Trish Silvester-Lee, a former ski racer and badminton player, has always loved being active. But when she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her 30s, Silvester-Lee had to redefine herself. “It was hard to be told that I had what I thought was an old person’s disease. The person I was as an athlete was a different person than I am now. She was highly driven and competitive. It’s very different to exercise as a person with a chronic disease.”
