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Laberge Study Shows Benefits Of Exercise
Laberge had modest expectations when she embarked on her research. "The Comite de gestion de la taxe scolaire de l'île de Montreal wanted to know if exercise would boost academic results," she reports. "But since there are thousands of factors affecting success, most importantly socio-economic status, family life, age and life experience, we didn't believe that forty-five minutes of daily exercise would outweigh these overwhelming influences".
Laberge and Paula Bush, whose work on the project constituted her master's research, set up an eighteen-week program of activities, including aerobic dance, martial arts, weight training, team sports and Playstation, for volunteer Secondary Two students at ecole Saint-Germain in Saint-Laurent.
The study found a pronounced positive connection between involvement in the program and the students' ability to pay attention and concentrate. But closer analysis of the findings revealed that the difference was observable only in male students because, Laberge believes, growing teenaged boys need an outlet for their high levels of energy.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
What Is Standing In My Way?
Can you use any of these ideas to become more physically active?
Personal Barriers
Barrier: Between work, family, and other demands, I am too busy to exercise.
Solutions:
Make physical activity a priority
Carve out some time each week to be active and put it on your calendar. Try waking up a half-hour earlier to walk, scheduling lunchtime workouts, or taking an evening fitness class.
Build physical activity into your routine chores
Rake the yard, wash the car, or do energetic housework. That way you do what needs to get done and move around too.
Make family time physically active
Plan a weekend hike through a park, family softball game, or an evening walk around the block.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
AIDS Drugs Have Saved 3 Million Years of Life
Rochelle Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., Kenneth Freedberg, M.D., M.Sc., and their colleagues calculated that advances in HIV care have yielded a total survival benefit of 2.8 million years in the United States. The scientists also estimate that drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV have averted 2,900 infant infections, saving an additional 137,000 years of life. The model projected that a person initiating HIV treatment in 2003 could expect to live more than 13 years longer than if he or she had been diagnosed in 1988.
The paper by Drs. Walensky and Freedberg, of Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School Center for AIDS Research, and their coauthors has been posted online by The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
"Since the early part of 1980s, soon after the first reports of what we now know as AIDS, NIH has devoted $30 billion to HIV/AIDS research," says NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "This study clearly shows the dramatic impact that sustained investment in biomedical research can have in improving the lives of Americans."........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Pine Bark Extract Relieves Muscle Cramp And Pain
Image courtesy of vitalifecenter.com
"With the millions of athletes worldwide, this truly is a profound breakthrough and extremely significant for all individuals interested in muscle cramp and pain relief with a natural approach. These findings indicate that Pycnogenol can play an important role in sports by improving blood flow to the muscles and hastening post-exercise recovery," said Dr. Peter Rohdewald, a lead researcher of the study.
Researchers at L'Aquila University in Italy and at the University of Würzburg in Germany studied the effects of Pycnogenol on venous disorders and cramping in two separate studies.
The first study consisted of 66 participants who had experienced normal cramping at some point, had venous insufficiency, or were athletes who suffer from exercise-induced cramping. The first two weeks of the study was an observation period and participants did not supplement with Pycnogenol. Symptoms related to venous disorders, and the number of cramping episodes each participant experienced over the two observation weeks was recorded.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Acupuncture Relief For Fibromyalgia
Typically typically fibromyalgia is a disorder considered disabling by many, and is characterized by chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain and symptoms such as fatigue, joint stiffness and sleep disturbance. No cure is known and available treatments are only partially effective.
Mayo's study involved 50 fibromyalgia patients enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial to determine if acupuncture improved their symptoms. Symptoms of patients who received acupuncture significantly improved compared with the control group, according to the study published in the recent issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
"The results of the study convince me there is something more than the placebo effect to acupuncture," says David Martin, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the acupuncture article and a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist. "It affirms a lot of clinical impressions that this complementary medical technique is helpful for patients".
Increasingly, patients are interested in pursuing complementary medicine techniques in conjunction with their mainstream medical care, Dr. Martin says. But often, such techniques lack scientific evidence to justify a patient's expense and time.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Flat Feet On The Rise Among Women
Dr. Mark Myerson, Director, Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction
According to Dr. Mark Myerson, Director of the Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction at Mercy, said the problem has become a common one, often related to obesity and increased pressure on the tendon.
"Suddenly, something changes, the arch starts to change, there's pain behind the ankle and the foot starts to sag, stretching further (and) it ruptures," he said. In severe cases, the patient "can hardly walk. A tendon transfer may be performed to strengthen the arch," he added.
But surgery is the last resort as doctors always try other options first, including orthotics and braces, unless the tendon is severed. At that point, surgery becomes necessary to prevent the foot from becoming deformed.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Flaxseeds For Health
Flax seeds are slightly larger than sesame seeds and have a hard shell that is smooth and shiny. Their color ranges from deep amber to reddish brown depending upon whether the flax is of the golden or brown variety. While whole flaxseeds feature a soft crunch, the nutrients in ground seeds are more easily absorbed.
Health Benefits
Flaxseed oil is rich in alpha linolenic acid, an omega-3 fat that is a precursor to the form of omega-3 found in fish oils called eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA. Alpha linolenic acid or ALA, in addition to providing several beneficial effects of its own, can be converted in the body to EPA, thus providing EPA's beneficial effects. For this conversion to readily take place, however, depends on the presence and activity of an enzyme called delta-6-destaurase, which, in some individuals, is less available or less active than in others. In addition, delta-6-desaturase function is inhibited in diabetes and by the consumption of saturated fat and alcohol. For these reasons, higher amounts of ALA-rich flaxseed oil must be consumed to provide the same benefits as the omega-3 fats found in the oil of cold-water fish. ........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Practical Strategies For Preventing And Treating Obesity
The conference takes on particular significance in light of the recent IRS ruling making physician-prescribed plans to treat obesity tax deductible.
"This will have a profound effect in legitimizing obesity as a public health issue," said Conference Director Duane Eichler, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and pediatric endocrinology at USF.
Dr. Eichler said he expects insurance companies and Medicare to eventually follow suit by offering coverage for obesity, which has become an epidemic in the United States. "The new ruling will give new meaning to preventive medicine, which, by history, insurance companies have refused to pay for.
"It may take some time, but the pedulum is now swinging in the direction of giving the consumer added clout in forcing coverage for the therapy of obesity...... The bottom line is that paying for preventive therapies will likely be less expensive than long-term coverage of the chronic diseases secondary to obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease."........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Obesity epidemic
"There has been a perception that poor people are more likely to be fat," said presenter Nidhi Maheshwari, M.B.B.S., a graduate research assistant in epidemiology in the University of Iowa College of Public Health at Iowa City. "However, obesity is growing at a much faster rate in those with the highest incomes."
The researchers compared data collected in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys in 1971-74 and 2001-02. It included data from Americans ages 20 years and older in five surveys, and defined obesity as a body mass index, derived from a formula that accounts for height and weight, of 30 or above. Researchers used a mobile van to reach the neighborhoods to measure individuals' heights and weights. Family income was adjusted to 2000 U.S. dollars and was divided into income quartiles of below $25,000, $25,000-$39,999, $40,000 to $60,000 and above $60,000. The same income categories were used for both surveys.
They found that the highest income category, above $60,000, had the greatest increase (276 percent) in obesity prevalence from 9.7 percent in 1971-1974 to 26.8 percent in 2001-2002. Obesity prevalence in those making less than $25,000 was 22.5 percent in 1971-1974 and was 32.5 percent in 2001-2002, an increase of 144 percent. For those earning $25,000-$39,999, the prevalence was 16.1 in 1971-1974 and 31.3 in 2001-2002, a 194 percent increase. For those earning $40,000-$60,000, the increase was about 209 percent.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
Where You Live Affect Weight
Where people live may influence their food choices as much or more than where they themselves shop, said study lead author Sanae Inagami, M.D., a researcher with the Rand Corporation in Los Angeles.
"My feeling is that your neighbors do influence your health," Inagami said. "Who you know and where you go shopping is correlation to your level of obesity".
Inagami and her colleagues examined census figures from 2000 and linked them to 2,144 Los Angeles County residents who were surveyed about their eating and health habits from 2000 to 2002. The scientists report their findings in the recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
As per the study, residents who lived in poor neighborhoods and shopped in even poorer neighborhoods were more overweight than those who shopped in grocery stores in wealthier areas.
The shopping habits of neighbors were also an important factor. A 5-foot-5-inch person who lived in a poor neighborhood whose neighbors shopped in a wealthier area would weigh an average 9.2 pounds less than if he or she lived in a poor neighborhood whose residents shopped in a poorer area.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
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