Gut Biome Linked with Alzheimer's: What do PTs Need to Know?

Jul 20, 2022

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CNPT, CSCS, Cert-DN

Alzheimer's Disease

Physical therapists (PTs) play a crucial role in helping patients and caregivers in the management of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that slowly destroys a person's memory, personality, and physical functioning. Currently there is no none cure, so often PTs are left with help patients try to maintain as much physical and cognitive functioning as they can. The costs associated with managing patients with AD are projected to be over $2 Trillion dollars by 2030 -- yes, trillions!

Promising News

While there's much doom and gloom there is also hope: diet and the gut biome. A major, and first of its kind, study out of Edith Cowan University has established a genetic link between AD and several gut-related disorders. In the Nature Communications Biology Paper, the authors analysed large sets of genetic data from AD and several gut-disorder...

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Best Nutrition Guide for PTs

Apr 08, 2022

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, CNPT, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

Physical therapists (PTs) are direct care providers who help people across many settings and with various pathologies and functional losses. From cardiac issues, metabolic dysfunction, cancer, neurological deficits, and musculoskeletal disorders, PTs can help a variety of patients get stronger, move with more confidence, and feel better. One key tool that can help with PT's treatments is nutrition.

Nutrition is in the scope of practice of Doctors of PT (DPTs), according to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Nutrition is linked with inflammation, recovery, pain, psychological well being, and quality of life. Plus, most of our clients are taking supplements or simply want to get better, faster with any approach possible -- as such, PTs need more quality dietary info.

One of the best evidenced-based resources for nutrition is Examine.com. Examine offers copious research, great summaries, and...

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Healthy Living Medicine and PT

Mar 09, 2022

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, CNPT, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

I was excited to see a recent publication in our APTA’s PTJ titled Precision Medicine and Physical Therapy: A Health Living Medicine Approach for the Next Century. I have been following the primary author, Rich Severin, on Twitter for some time now and enjoy his perspectives. Overall the article dives into much of what my team and I practice – I earnestly hope it is something other PTs  (physical therapists) begin to practice too. In this light, I’d like to discuss some of the important topics in this article.

First, it goes without saying that general health has an impact on physical therapy, functioning, and quality of life. Chronic health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes makes healing difficult and are linked with other disease states that cause physical damage to other tissues (e.g. high blood pressure damages the kidneys). Functionally clients struggle...

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Changing Diet Extends Lifespan

Feb 16, 2022

Changing Diet Extends Lifespan

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, CNPT, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

One of the biggest topics of last year in the dietary world was intermittent fasting, most commonly seen as time restricted feeding by many. A lot of research has poured into this area with a big focus on longevity. I myself have published a couple trials using intermittent fasting, so I'm very familiar with the process and some of the mechanisms. But what if the explanations would focus on what our clients eat instead of how much or when? This is much of what Dr Katz has been analyzing with the True Health Initiative. Let's take a look at some of the most recent data and see what happens to people's lifespan when they change their diet.

It's well understood that the Western diet, particularly a diet high in saturated fat, salt, and sugar, has been shown to promote disease and reduce lifespan. Copious studies and systematic reviews have shown that reducing highly processed food...

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Our Top Blog Posts From 2021

Feb 02, 2022

Our Top Blog Posts From 2021

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, CNPT, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

Our team has gathered copious research and written many blog posts in 2021. From gut biome studies to intermittent fasting, we have perused the literature to bring you the best in regards to nutrition specific for physical therapy practice. Much confusion and controversy still exists within nutrition science, but you, our fellow nutritional PT loyalist, have shown us the content you love the most. As such, we wanted to offer you a nice summary of what you liked the most from 2021.

Intermittent Fasting

Having such robust data on hoppers and mice is great, but what about human studies and the impact on physical therapy practice? A well-done systematic review outlines some of the following benefits for humans who undertake IM:

  1. Improved stress response
  2. Lowered cholesterol
  3. Lowered blood pressure
  4. Improved insulin response

Understanbly such benefits could help many patients in cardiac...

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Autism and the Gut Biome: What Pediatric PTs Need to Know

Nov 15, 2021

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN

Autism is a condition that affects nearly 1 in 50 children. Covering a wide spectrum of symptoms, autism is often associated with delayed milestones, difficulty socializing, and/or sensitivity to sensory stimuli. The main cause of autism still remains to be seen; however, there is compelling evidence that individuals with autism have a markedly different gut microbiome compared to normally developed children. Such thinking has lead to alternative therapies and treatments, which many parents may pursue to help their child improve their autism symptoms. Fortunately, data from a recent study in Cell sheds light on the gut biome differences and how some alternative therapies may not ideal.

Chloe Yap from Mater Research and The University of Queensland said the team examined genetic material from the stool samples of 247 children, which included 99 children diagnosed with autism. After examining the diet and stool...

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Calorie Restriction and Physical Therapy

Oct 20, 2021

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN

Diet crazes come and go in the hopes to correct health issues and for weight loss. Many diets are merely fads, not backed by evidence, and/or offer only short-term solutions. One dietary pattern that stands out from the pack is calorie restriction (CR), especially in regards to data on longevity. I have 2 peer-review publications in the area of CR and intermittent fasting, so I can share both the data and experiences of this diet. Let's take a quick look at calorie restriction and what physical therapists (PTs) need to know!

Calorie restriction is a dietary regimen where a person consumes typically 25-40% less calories than usual. In order to accomplish this calorie deficit a person must know their total daily caloric needs over several days. Calculating 25-40% of this total calorie needs a client can then reduce their calorie content of each meal in order to hit their calorie deficit. Usually there is not...

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Should PTs Use a New Model for Weight Loss?

Sep 16, 2021

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN

For decades the predominant model that dictated weight gain, loss, or maintenance was the energy balance model (EBM). The EBM is rooted in one of the basic laws of thermodynamics. It goes without saying that food contains energy and it is typically measured in a unit known as calories (kilocalories in the dietary world). As a person consumes food it provides energy to do work such as exercise, activities of daily living (ADL), physical therapy, basic living functions, or even sport. Energy can come from recently consumed food or stored energy (e.g. fat, glycogen, or protein) from previously eaten food. 

Clinicians often explain weight loss to patients as “calories-in versus calories-out” or CICO, which directly relates to the EBM. In brief, CICO helps rehab professionals to explain to clients the balance between the energy coming into their body versus the energy they expend: too much food...

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Top 3 Tips for Geriatric Rehab and Nutrition

Aug 27, 2021

By Dr. Sean M Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC, CSCS, CNPT, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

Exercise is certainly medicine but what if we could do more for our older adult clients? As physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), or personal trainers we strive to push our clients with the best exercise selection and most evidenced-based techniques to improve our clients’ strength, balance, and function. But what if all we are doing is for not because of a client’s poor diet? 

I have seen this time and time again in my clinical practice: a client enters my practice, I examine them and find weakness and balance deficits; we begin a program of resistance training, balance and neuromuscular work, and notably see little change in their function. As I dive deeper into their lifestyle factors (e.g. sleep, stress management, and nutrition) I find they don’t eat enough, drink too much alcohol, and consume overly processed foods devoid of essential nutrients.  Could these...

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Take It To Heart: Low Fat Versus Plant Based Diet

Jul 19, 2021

By Dr. Sean M Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC, CSCS, CNPT, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

Since the 1980s many dietary guidelines promoted the notion of a low-fat diet in order to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Over the next 30 to 40 years healthcare providers and nutrition researchers found that simply lowering dietary fat alone is not the only answer to reducing heart disease. This is likely because those consuming a low-fat diet may still include junk foods, meat, and smoking -- which have all be directly correlated with higher risk of heart disease, comorbidities, and mortality. Data show that most plant-based oils and fats from sources like nuts, seeds, and some oils can actually be beneficial in lowering heart disease risk. Could a plant-based diet, which includes fats from plant-sources, be better than a low-fat diet? A recent publication provides physical therapists and other providers just the answer.

The new research, coined Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults...

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