UK Government Statistics – The Back Pain Epidemic
- 40% of 40-year-olds have at least one degenerated disc
- 90% of 60-year-olds have signs of disc degeneration
- 31,000,000 lost working days per annum
World Health Organisation Statistics
Low Back Pain
- affects 619 million people worldwide
- expected to increase to 843 million by 2050
- the single biggest cause of disability in the world
Incidence Of Low Back Pain
- Age 18 to 29 28.4%
- Age 30 to 44 35.2%
- Age 45 to 64 44.3%
- over 65 45.6%
The Bedrest Falicy Debunked
According to the Harvard School of Medicine the old remedy of 6 to 12 weeks bedrest for low back pain and sciatica that was regularly prescribed until recently had little or no physical benefit and had a negative effect on mental health.
Why? Discs need to metabolise to heal up and to metabolise they need to absorb nutrients when in a non-weight bearing position (lying down) and to squeeze out waste metabolites in a weight bearing position.
8 Hours Sleep?
Research by historian Roger Ekrich of Virginia Teck suggests that 2 blocks of 4 hours sleep used to be the norm and that this only evolved into an 8-hour block in the 1920’s. Two blocks of 4 hours sleep with a weight bearing period in the middle would have helped disc health by allowing 2 metabolic cycles in 24 hours rather than the 1 that is now the norm.