Alas! Spinal Health Week has arrived

Posted May 5, 2011 By Dr. Robert Rodine

EMC Lifestyle - With the arrival of fresh spring weather (...well, sort of), May also greets us with Spinal Health Week. Promoted by Health Canada and supported by the chiropractic profession, this yearly event creates a timely opportunity for us to learn more about the importance of spinal health.

To promote awareness, I thought I would tell you about the World Spine Care program. I recently learned of this non-profit, charitable and multi-national program that is aimed at improving health conditions related to the spine in under-serviced areas around the world. The program applies high quality, evidence backed and culturally integrated care, with the aim to improve more than just the spinal health of individuals, but also their quality of life.

The developing world has many needs, of which expanded health care ranks highly. In fact, traumatic spinal injury leading to severe disability, such as paralysis, is common within the developing world. Traumatic injuries which do not result in paralysis still lead to high levels of chronic neck and back pain. Other spinal disorders such as inflammatory arthritis and spinal tuberculosis (an infection of the bone) also have a higher presence, because of other health conditions in these regions that lower immunity.

In Canada, 30 per cent of the population at any one time is experiencing some form of back pain. By comparison, this number rises to 59 per cent in Africa. This not only translates into a higher burden on society, but also on the economy. Due to lack of health care resources, many do not receive adequate or prompt treatment, which can have devastating consequences. Severe illness such as an infection or traumatic injury can have major implications to mortality. In less life-threatening cases, the burden is still high given that individuals may no longer be able to work and provide for their family. This can be catastrophic in an impoverished nation, especially in economies dependant on manual labour.

As a result, the goal for World Spine Care is to raise funds, raise awareness and increase available resources to developing countries and to reduce the burden that musculoskeletal injuries has on individuals, families and future generations.

This program is sponsored by several agencies and educational institutions. These include the World Health Organization, the World Federation of Chiropractic, the North American Spine Society and the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College to name only a few. These sponsors work heavily to promote and fund research for the global improvement of spinal health care.

The president of World Spine Care is Dr. Scott Haldeman, a man with roots and experience embedded deeply in spine care. Dr. Haldeman is a chiropractor, medical doctor and also has a PhD in neurology. (In fact, Dr. Haldeman's grandmother, Almeda Haldeman, was Canada's first chiropractor, practicing in Herbert, Saskatchewan.) Dr. Haldeman is a world renowned clinician-scientist and has spent his entire career promoting evidence-based practice for spinal injuries and disease. Having an expert such as Dr. Haldeman behind the program certainly brings a great deal of respect and credibility to its efforts and helps to promote the awareness of spinal health.

Now comes the real question. How does this knowledge impact you? To start, you should now have a greater understanding of the impact spinal disorders can have when resources are lacking. In the developed world, we have greater access to a broad range of health care services, insurance boards to support workers injured on the job, and have higher safety standards aimed at injury prevention. Most importantly, we live in an area more concerned with a problem of excess (obesity for example) rather than the state of basic human needs. This enables each of us to focus our efforts more heavily on prevention.

With that in mind, get out and move this weekend. After all, the first week of May is all about celebrating your spinal health!

For more information on the World Spine Care program or information on donating to their cause, visit their website at www.worldspinecare.com.

'Our Health' is a monthly column directed towards health, wellness and lifestyle. Dr. Robert Rodine is a chiropractor at Restorative Health in Smiths Falls.