Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
Following:
Navigate
COMING SOON!
Expand all | Collapse all 
Search
Click Tags under Articles
NOTE: SEARCH BY KEYWORD FUNCTIONS BELOW ARE TEMPORARILY MALFUNCTIONING. USE AT OWN RISK.
Or Display Full Article by
Posts tagged "activity"
Monday, Aug 31st, 2009 ↓Exercise beats angioplasty: heart experts →
Aug 31, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Working up a sweat may be even better than angioplasty for some heart patients, experts say.
Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties.
Angioplasty is the top treatment for people having a heart attack or hospitalized with worsening symptoms. It involves using a tiny balloon to flatten a blockage and propping the heart artery open with a mesh tube called a stent. Most angioplasties are done on a non-emergency basis, to relieve chest pain caused by clogged arteries cutting off the heart’s blood supply.
“It’s difficult to convince people to exercise instead of having an angioplasty, but it works,” said Rainer Hambrecht of Klinikum Links der Weser in Bremen, Germany.
Hambrecht published a study in 2004 that found that nearly 90 per cent of heart patients who rode bikes regularly were free of heart problems one year after they started their exercise regimen. Among patients who had an angioplasty instead, only 70 per cent were problem-free after a year.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: exercise heart attack angioplasty cardiovascular physical activity surgery artery chest pain clogged blood flow prevention
Swimming Aids Asthma Symptoms In Children, Study Finds →
Aug 27, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Research has shown that swimming aids asthma symptoms in children. The activity has been proven to be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for children and adolescents, according to a study in Respirology, published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Researchers divided children between the ages of seven to twelve into two groups. One group underwent a six-week swimming program in addition to their regular asthma treatments. All of the children in the experimental program showed significant improvement in all clinical variables including symptoms, hospitalizations, emergency room visits and school absenteeism.
Other improvements included asthma severity, mouth-breathing, snoring, chest deformity, self-confidence and general feelings of disadvantage.
“Unlike other sports, swimming is unlikely to provoke asthma attacks. In addition to improving asthma, swimming promotes normal physical and psychological development, such as increasing lung volume, developing good breathing techniques and improving general fitness,” said lead author, Wang Jeng-Shing from the Taipei Medical University.
He added, “Not only is swimming an excellent form of exercise for children with asthma, the health benefits reaped continued to be observed for at least a year after the completion of the swimming program.”
Adapted from materials provided by Wiley - Blackwell, via AlphaGalileo.
Tags: swimming children child adolescent asthma treatment improvement prevention severity breathing snoring lung physical activity fitness
Young Women Exercise Less Than Young Men →
Aug 25, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Despite mounting public health concerns about obesity, young women in their 20’s consistently exercise less than young men, according to a new study.
The disparities in health behaviors the study reveals are consistent with disparities in the prevalence of obesity, particular among women.
The study is based on data obtained every two years from more than 17,000 men and women. The researchers looked at trends in several different health behaviors. They measured how often participants reported eating breakfast, how often they exercised vigorously, how often they got at least seven hours of sleep, and how much television they watched.
Sources:
Eurekalert August 21, 2009Tags: exercise women woman prevention physical activity men man obesity behaviour breakfast consumption vigorously sleep television prevention risk
10 Reasons Why Exercise is Good for Your Weight →
Aug 20, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A recent Time magazine article, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin,” is misleading at best. Exercise is critical to losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight, especially when paired with healthy eating habits. Countless studies, numerous experts who study exercise, and the millions of people who have lost weight all attest to the fact that working out works.
1. Exercise zaps belly fat
Regular moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise has the greatest impact on reducing abdominal fat — the dangerous fat that increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
2. Exercise controls calories
You need to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. Regular exercise uses up excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
3. Exercise keeps lost pounds MIA
Ninety percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off for a year do about an hour of physical activity a day.
4. Exercise boosts metabolism
You’ll lose fat when you diet without exercising, but you’ll also lose muscle, which means you’ll burn fewer calories. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you’ll burn.
5. Exercise does more than the scale shows
If you gain 3 pounds of lean muscle and lose 4 pounds of fat, you’ve actually experienced a 7-pound improvement in your body condition, despite the scale only showing 1 pound of weight loss.
6. Exercise curbs emotional eating
Working out has been proven time and time again to help regulate mood, which has a direct effect on people who eat when they’re stressed or upset.
7. Exercise creates a healthy chain reaction
Healthy habits tend to cluster together. When people make positive changes, like getting more exercise, they tend to work on other health improvements as well, such as eating better.
8. Exercise brings on the fun
Rock-climbing is more exciting than eating a celery stick. That’s why it’s sometimes easier to be active to stay slim than to maintain a strict diet.
9. Exercise stops hunger
People who exercise and diet are actually less hungry than those who only diet, according to at least one study.
10. Exercise ups energy
Regular physical activity increases stamina by boosting your body’s production of energy-promoting neurotransmitters. That gives you even more motivation to get moving and shed pounds.
Sources:
Fitness Magazine August 19, 2009Tags: exercise energy hungry eating fun diet nutrition positive change mood emotion body condition fat muscle metabolism weight physical activity calories aerobic abdominal diabetes heart disease thin
Excessive Exercise Can Be Addicting, New Study Says →
Aug 18, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Although exercise is good for your health, extreme exercise may be physically addicting. Rats given a drug that produces withdrawal in heroin addicts went into withdrawal after running excessively in exercise wheels, according to new research. Rats that ran the hardest had the most severe withdrawal symptoms.
The scientists who conducted the study reason that if excessive exercise is addicting, then maybe, to feel good, addicts could take moderate exercise instead of drugs. The findings also shed light on the potentially fatal eating disorder called anorexia athletica, in which exercise undertaken to shed pounds becomes as compulsive as taking drugs, resulting in even greater weight loss.
“Excessive running shares similarities with drug-taking behavior,” the researchers wrote in the August issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association.
For those looking for an excuse to hit the couch, however, this study looked at excessive, not moderate, exercise. “As with food intake and other parts of life, moderation seems to be the key. Exercise, as long as it doesn’t interfere with other aspects of one’s life, is a good thing with respect to both physical and mental health,” said lead author Robin Kanarek, PhD, of Tufts University.
For fulla rticle see link above.
Tags: exercise physical activity addiction eating disorder anorexia athletica weightloss complusive running diet
Regular Yoga Practice Is Associated With Mindful Eating →
Aug 16, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The study was prompted by initial findings reported four years ago by Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H., and colleagues, who found that regular yoga practice may help prevent middle-age spread in normal-weight people and may promote weight loss in those who are overweight. At the time, the researchers suspected that the weight-loss effect had more to do with increased body awareness, specifically a sensitivity to hunger and satiety than the physical activity of yoga practice itself.
The follow-up study, published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, confirms their initial hunch.
“In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesized that mindfulness – a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga – could affect eating behavior,” said Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.
The researchers found that people who ate mindfully – those were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full – weighed less than those who ate mindlessly, who ate when not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression. The researchers also found a strong association between yoga practice and mindful eating but found no association between other types of physical activity, such as walking or running, and mindful eating.
“These findings fit with our hypothesis that yoga increases mindfulness in eating and leads to less weight gain over time, independent of the physical activity aspect of yoga practice,” said Kristal, who is also a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
For full article see link above.
Tags: yoga diet obesity prevention eating weightloss body awareness physical activity dietary pattern
Parents Can Help Stop The Obesity Epidemic, Says Psychologist; Healthy Body Image Is First Step →
Aug 15, 2009(Sciencedaily.com)—Childhood obesity has quadrupled in the last 40 years, which may mean today’s children become the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than their parents, a leading obesity expert told the American Psychological Association.
However, parents can help stave off this impending crisis if they help their children to eat better and exercise, according to Edward Abramson, PhD. Abramson, professor emeritus at California State University-Chico, teaches psychology and is author of the books “Body Intelligence” and “Emotional Eating.”
In the last decade, “we’ve seen a [tenfold] increase in Type-2 diabetes and psychological and social consequences, such as prejudice, rejection, discrimination and low self-esteem in children,” Abramson said at APA’s 117th Annual Convention. “More than 60 percent of overweight children have one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and 20 percent have two or more risk factors.”
Bad eating habits can start with “emotional eating,” or eating when one is not hungry, or from following a strict diet, Abramson said. “This can lead to a weight problem or an eating disorder,” he added. “Parents’ attitudes and behaviors also have an influence on children’s eating, and mothers more than fathers affect children’s eating habits and body image.”
Many factors contribute to mothers’ concern about their children’s risk for obesity, Abramson said. “For example, there is evidence that minority parents (e.g., African-American, Hispanic) are less concerned about their children’s weight,” he said. “Often, when a mother is struggling with her own weight, she becomes more involved in regulating her daughter’s eating. In general, mothers are more concerned than fathers about their child’s weight, especially their daughter’s, and are more likely to restrict foods.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: children lifestyle exercise physical activity exercise food eating body image prevention diabetes type 2 diet eating cardiovascular disease habit attitude behaviour
Strength of the Samba →
Aug 14, 2009 (Healthzone.ca)—Dancing the samba is like working out in a bikini and high heels.
Dancing the samba is like working out in a bikini and high heels.
The quick-stepping Brazilian dance – not to be confused with the Afro-Caribbean salsa – requires core strength and lots of stamina, since each song lasts at least five minutes, says samba teacher and performer Tatiana Almeida of Samba Brasil Entertainment.
The dance troupe will be performing at the Guvernment nightclub tomorrow night, as well as at the Dundas West Neighbourhood Day and Samba on Dundas festival, from Rusholme Dr. to Lansdowne Ave., throughout weekend.
Beginners will feel it in their legs and abs, she says, noting that the troupe works out almost daily, on top of rehearsals, to stay in shape.
The basic steps are easy to master, Almeida says. “Building up your speed, that’s the challenge,” she adds. “Real samba – with drums – is very fast.”
To dance the samba:
Stand with your legs together.
Step to the left, shifting your body weight to the left leg and popping your left hip out.
At the same time, bring your left shoulder down sideways toward your hip, and lift your right arm to the side.
Repeat once to the left, then switch sides for two steps. Alternate two steps to each side.
For a look at Samba Brasil, go to tinyurl.com/sambadance, or for a quick lesson, go to tinyurl.com/sambalesson.
Tags: samba dance workout exercise physical activity leg abs strength quick stepping
Mediterranean diet lowers Alzheimer's risk →
Aug 12, 2009 (Presstv.com)—Individuals who follow the Mediterranean diet and are physically active are reported to be at a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Unlike the typical American diet, the Mediterranean diet is very low in red meat and poultry but rich in fish, fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables, and cereals.
In addition to cardiovascular and cancer benefits, a new study finds that the Mediterranean diet can protect individuals against cognitive decline.
According to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, seniors whose eating habits resemble the Mediterranean diet are 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Engaging in regular physical activity, similarly, may tackle cognitive decline by 33 percent.
For full article see link above.
Tags: diet nutrition prevention alzheimer's disease fish fruit nut legume vegetable cereal cardiovascular cancer cognitive decline exercise physical activity dementia
Healthy Lifestyle Habits May Be Associated With Reduced Risk Of Chronic Disease →
Aug 12, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Four healthy lifestyle factors—never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and following a healthy diet—together appear to be associated with as much as an 80 percent reduction in the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes—chronic diseases that together account for most deaths—are largely preventable, according to background information in the article. “An impressive body of research has implicated modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity, diet and body weight in the causes of these diseases,” the authors write.
To further describe the reduction in risk associated with these factors, Earl S. Ford, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues assessed data from 23,513 German adults age 35 to 65. At the beginning of the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition–Potsdam (EPIC-Potsdam) study—between 1994 and 1998—participants completed an assessment of their body weight and height, a personal interview that included questions about diseases, a questionnaire on sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics and a food frequency questionnaire.
Their responses were assessed for adherence to four healthy lifestyle factors: never smoking, having a body mass index lower than 30, exercising for at least three and a half hours per week and following healthy dietary principles (for example, having a diet with high consumption of fruits and vegetables while limiting meat consumption). Follow-up questionnaires were administered every two to three years.
Most participants had one to three of these health factors, fewer than 4 percent had zero healthy factors and 9 percent had all four factors. Over an average of 7.8 years of follow-up, 2,006 participants developed new cases of diabetes (3.7 percent), heart attack (0.9 percent), stroke (0.8 percent) or cancer (3.8 percent).
After adjusting for age, sex, education level and occupation, individuals with more healthy lifestyle factors were less likely to develop chronic diseases. Participants who had all four factors at the beginning of the study had a 78 percent lower risk of developing any of the chronic diseases during the follow-up period than those who had none of the healthy factors. The four factors were associated with a 93 percent reduced risk of diabetes, 81 percent reduced risk of heart attack, 50 percent reduced risk of stroke and 36 percent reduced risk of cancer.
The largest reduction in risk was associated with having a BMI lower than 30, followed by never smoking, at least 3.5 hours of physical activity and then adhering to good dietary principles.
“Our results reinforce current public health recommendations to avoid smoking, to maintain a healthy weight, to engage in physical activity appropriately and to eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables and foods containing whole grains and to partake of red meat prudently,” the authors write. “Because the roots of these factors often originate during the formative stages of life, it is especially important to start early in teaching the important lessons concerning healthy living.”
Journal reference:
- Earl S. Ford; Manuela M. Bergmann; Janine Kroger; Anja Schienkiewitz; Cornelia Weikert; Heiner Boeing. Healthy Living Is the Best Revenge: Findings From the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam Study. Arch Intern Med., 2009; 169 (15): 1355-1362 [link]
Tags: lifestyle behaviour prevention smoking cigarette exercise activity physical vegetable fruit diet nutrition chronic disease
Exercise is Healthy for Mother and Child During Pregnancy →
Aug 8, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Physicians should recommend low to moderate levels of exercise to their pregnant patients, even if they have not exercised prior to pregnancy, according to a new report. Exercise can strengthen and improve overall musculoskeletal and physiologic health as well as pregnancy related symptoms.
Exercise such as aerobics, impact and nonimpact activities, resistance training and swimming:
- Eases back and other musculoskeletal pain
- Lowers maternal blood pressure
- Reduces swelling
- Improves post-partum mood, including sadness
Sources: Eurekalert August 3, 2009
Tags: exercise pregnant pregnancy fetus physical activity strength musculoskeletal aerobic resistance training swimming pain back blood pressure swelling sadness
Beetroot Juice Boosts Stamina, New Study Shows →
Aug 7, 2009 (sciencedaily.com)—Drinking beetroot juice boosts your stamina and could help you exercise for up to 16% longer. A University of Exeter led-study shows for the first time how the nitrate contained in beetroot juice leads to a reduction in oxygen uptake, making exercise less tiring.
The study reveals that drinking beetroot juice reduces oxygen uptake to an extent that cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.
The research team believes that the findings could be of great interest to endurance athletes. They could also be relevant to elderly people or those with cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic diseases.
The research team conducted their study with eight men aged between 19 and 38. They were given 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike. On another occasion, they were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days before completing the same cycling tests.
After drinking beetroot juice the group was able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes, which is 92 seconds longer than when they were given the placebo. This would translate into an approximate 2% reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance. The group that had consumed the beetroot juice also had lower resting blood pressure.
For full article se link bove.
Tags: beetroot juice stamina exercise physical activity tired tiring oxygenm uptake use training endurance blood pressure supplement
Health Benefits Of Physical Activity More Pronounced In Women →
July 31, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Many experimental studies have found that physical exercise can improve cholesterol levels and subsequently decrease the risks of cardiovascular disease; however, few of these studies have included enough participant diversity to provide ethnic breakdowns. Now, a long-term study of over 8,700 middle-aged men and women provides race- and gender- specific data on the cholesterol effects of physical activity, with the interesting result that women, particularly African-American women, experience greater benefits as a result of exercise than men.
The analysis of this large Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, which appears in the August issue of Journal of Lipid Research, was carried out by Keri Monda and colleagues at North Carolina and Baylor. They found that over a 12 year period, all individuals who increased their exercise by about 180 metabolic units per week (equivalent to an additional hour of mild or 30 minutes of moderate activity per week) displayed decreased levels of triglycerides and increased levels of the “good” HDL cholesterol. However, statistically significant decreases in the “bad” LDL cholesterol were only observed in women, with particularly strong effects in menopausal women and African-American women. And total cholesterol levels were only significantly decreased in African-American women.
For full article see link above.
Tags: physical activity exercise women woman benefit cholesterol cardiovascular HDL LDL
Reducing Salt Intake Can Lower Blood Pressure →
July 29, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Adults who use less salt in their diet can experience a slight reduction in their blood pressure in the medium term. However, whether in the long term this can also reduce the risk of late complications in people with sustained high blood pressure, otherwise known as essential hypertension, and whether in the long term their anti-hypertensive medication can be reduced remains unresolved. This is the conclusion of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in its final report published in the form of a rapid report on 20 July 2009. This rapid report is part of a package commissioned by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), in which the benefit of various non-drug treatment strategies for high blood pressure are to be assessed. Stress management and more physical activity are also included, as well as giving up smoking and cutting down alcohol consumption. IQWiG has already completed a report on the effect of weight reduction on blood pressure. For full article see link above.
Tags: blood pressure hypertension high cardiovasuclar prevention salt sodium reduction stress alcohol activity exercise weight
Active children sleep longer →
July 23, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Every hour a child spends sitting around adds another three minutes to how long it takes them to fall asleep, researchers say.
A team from New Zealand confirmed what many parents have long thought: tiring out a child increases the likelihood that he or she will sleep well.
In Thursday’s online issue of the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, Edwin Mitchell, a professor of child health research at the University of Auckland and his colleagues found that for sedentary children, every hour of inactivity during the day increased the time it took them to nod off by 3.1 minutes.
The researchers collected data on the sleep patterns and daytime activity levels of 591 children, who were all seven years old. Participants wore activity monitors around their waists for 24 hours. It did not seem to matter whether the sedentary time was spent watching TV or reading quietly.
The majority fell asleep within 45 minutes, and the average time it took to doze off was 26 minutes.
The study also suggested that the longer it took to fall asleep, the shorter the total sleep time was. This may be important since poor sleeping patterns in children have been linked to poorer performance in school and an increased risk of carrying extra pounds.
“These findings emphasize the importance of physical activity for children, not only for fitness, cardiovascular health and weight control, but also for promoting good sleep,” the researchers concluded.
For full article, see link above.
