Bone & Joint Health

Joint pain and inflammation caused by arthritis can cause people to fear exercise.  However, lack of movement can lead to greater pain and long-term immobility.  Maintaining an active lifestyle, especially when you have arthritis, is very important for joint health.  One of the well-known benefits of exercise is that it helps individuals maintain a healthy weight.  Carrying extra weight increases the stress on joints and can lead to further deterioration of the tissue.  Exercise also strengthens the muscles around joints, which reduces the load or impact on the joint.  Further, it helps to maintain bone health and promote balance.  Below

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive and disabling autoimmune disease affecting six million Canadians, their caregivers, their families and their friends.[i] It occurs when a person’s immune system mistakes the body’s healthy tissues for foreign invaders. As the immune system responds, inflammation occurs in the target tissue or organ such as the joints, lungs, eyes and heart. RA is also a systemic disease, which means it can affect the whole body. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common long-term health condition in the country, affecting Canadians of all ages, interfering with both physical and mental health and diminishing quality of

What is Arthritis? Arthritis is a term that refers to an inflammation of the joint spaces. The type and cause of arthritis will determine which joints are affected, how they are affected and how the symptoms are likely to progress. You likely have heard of the most common types of arthritis: osteo and rheumatoid arthritis.  Osteoarthritis is one of the most common degenerative joint disorders and arises from trauma to the joint space from over/misuse, injury or even infection. It is a chronic condition characterized by joint pain of specific affected joints, reduced functionality of the joint, reduced mobility and

I was so determined to keep the momentum going – literally. I got home, had a shower and a quick snack and within 30 minutes of walking through my door I had signed up for my first Calgary marathon – go big or go home I thought. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I had only five weeks to prepare myself, which I would later find out is not a lot of time to prepare yourself physically and mentally. I continued with my endurance program that I had made up in my head, the more the better

The journey to becoming an Ironman is more than just crossing a finish line at the end of a race, it’s a lifelong adventure of being the best you can be and improving yourself. Every person’s story is unique and everyone has a different reason for wanting to complete the challenge which is known for being one of the most mentally and physically demanding endurance races in the world. Ultimately, I chose to do it for me, follow through with the commitment to myself, and to prove that the body is much more capable than what we realize. Anything is

When it comes to joint health the conversation often centers around structural support – reinforcing, lubricating, and soothing the joint space. Healthy joints are protected and cushioned by layers of connective tissue called cartilage that allows them to move freely without any grinding or contact between the bone surfaces themselves.  A special fluid in the joint capsule, called synovial fluid, is also extremely important for joint function. It acts as a natural lubricant and cushions joint movement. In conditions such as osteoarthritis, injury, and even in aging, there is a reduction in synovial fluid and a loss of cartilage that

What does “bone health” make us think of? Maybe we think of osteoporosis or the prevention thereof; trying to prevent hip fractures as we age. But most commonly, we associate bone health with the need to consume more calcium, as if this will solve all of our aging bone-related issues, and this is a huge flaw in our health education. Conventional calcium alone doesn’t prevent bone loss, nor is it the only mineral supplement that bones need. Supplements like calcium gluconate, calcium citrate, and calcium carbonate, slow but do not halt or reverse menopausal bone loss, whether taken alone or

A Five Step Guide to Bulletproofing Your Body at Your Workstation So you’ve been working on an intense project at the office and you haven’t moved since you started plugging away at it 8:00am this morning. It’s now 11:15am and you’re about to get up to hurry to the restroom so you could get right back to work. As you start to stand up out of your chair, out of nowhere (bang), your lower back goes into spasm and all of a sudden you can’t stand up as the pain is unbearable. We have all experienced an episode of pain,

Most of us have had the unpleasant opportunity to experience a fractured bone at some point in our lives. As children, we’re constantly running, falling and bumping into one another on the playground. Adulthood tends to bring less activity but many other factors that increase the risk of fracture, mainly lower bone mineral density. Being handicapped by a broken bone can lead to missed days of school or work, depressed mood, missed social events and overall poorer quality of life. This is why it’s so important to speed up the recovery process! There are many factors that contribute to the

Most people know that adequate calcium intake is essential for healthy bone formation. Since calcium is the primary mineral found in bones, it has been added to many foods in order to ensure our population does not have a deficiency. For decades marketing campaigns by dairy farmers and family doctors have been advocating high levels of calcium in order to build bones and prevent osteoporosis. In 2011, the benefits of calcium were called into question when a research study found that calcium supplementation was linked to a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes (1). This news sent shock-waves through

Calcium is an important mineral for maintenance of bone health and for preventing the more serious condition called osteoporosis and the associated risk of vertebral, spine and wrist fractures especially in postmenopausal women. Recently, calcium has once again come under some negative light. Various studies published in reputable journals like JAMA and Heart have found that “excessive” supplemental calcium could lead to higher risk of heart disease. The latest research from Sweden shows that a large group of women, over sixty thousand, who consume high amounts of calcium from both their diet as well as taking supplements were likely to