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| The above was the conclusion of a study published in the December 6, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA). The report in JAMA started off by noting that usage of these devices is becoming more common. "Despite scientific uncertainties about effectiveness, wearing back belts in the hopes of preventing costly and disabling low back injury in employees is becoming common in the workplace." The study interviewed 9377 employees from 160 stores. Of those stores in the study, 89 required back-belt use and 71 had voluntary belt use. The study would then track the incidence rate of material-handling back injury workers compensation claims as well as a 6-month incidence rate of self-reported low back pain among the workers. The conclusion of the study was clear. As explained by the JAMA article, "In the largest prospective cohort study of back belt use, adjusted for multiple individual risk factors, neither frequent back belt use nor a store policy that required belt use was associated with reduced incidence of back injury claims or low back pain." In simpler terms, these belts do not work to prevent the problems for which they were designed. |
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| More groups are warning about children carrying backpacks. In two February 2001 stories by the Associated Press and PRNewswire, health groups are coming out about the dangers of overweight backpacks being carried by children. Some of the groups who have issued warnings include, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Physical Therapy Association, the American Chiropractic Association and the International Chiropractors Association. Some school districts have even begun to address this problem. The Wayland, Mass., public school system has distributed extra copies of some textbooks to middle school students so they don't have to carry as many books between school and home. A recent study conducted in Italy found that the average child carries a backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39-pound burden for a 176-pound man, or a 29- pound load for a 132-pound woman. Additionally, preliminary results of studies being conducted in France show that the longer a child wears a backpack, the longer it takes for a curvature or deformity of the spine to correct itself. |
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| Bed rest may not be helpful In an Associated Press story of October 8, 1999, comes a report of research conducted at the University of Queensland Medical School in Australia, that shows that the time honored practice of bed rest for illness may not be helpful. The researchers examined all previous studies on the effectiveness of bed rest compared to patients who were up and moving around more quickly. The studies involved a total of 5,777 patients with a variety of 15 different health problems. The results showed that with many health conditions, as well as after several medical procedures such as heart catheterization, getting up quicker was more beneficial than bed rest. Some of the health problems that benefited from moving around over bed rest included acute lower back pain, and increased blood pressure in pregnant women. Bed rest may not be answer to many ailments In the first week of October 1999 issue of the Lancet a British medical journal comes a story that may change what most people have believed is good home care for many ailments. The article suggests that prolonged bed rest may not help and may even be harmful for may ailments. The article was based on researched done in the University of Queensland Medical School, Australia. In this research 5,777 patients with 15 different ailments were studied. Their comments were, “Overall, there was no evidence that bed rest has any significant effect beneficial effect when used as a treatment or when used after surgery. It may actually delay recovery and even harm the patient.” The study concluded that bed rest should no longer be used for ailments such as acute low back pain, hepatitis, or for recovery after a heart attack. The study also suggested that women are better off walking around during the early stages of labor as compared to hours of lying on their back. |
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