Exercise

Sitting linked to increased risk for disability, study shows

Here’s another reason desk jockeys need to get up and move. Researchers are finding that sedentary behaviors like sitting even just an hour extra per day can up your risk for disabilities in later life — even if you are a moderately active gym rat.

The study published Wednesday in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health is the first to show that sedentary behavior alone may be an independent risk factor for disability, separate from lack of moderate physical activity, its authors say.

To be clear, exercise is important, but it is only the beginning of a healthy lifestyle, said lead author Dorothy Dunlop, Ph.D., professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“The message is that we can work on what the government recommends in terms of moderate physical activity, but we need to reduce sitting time by replacing it with some light activity,” Dunlop said. That doesn’t mean sweat and spandex, but rather simple activities like pushing a grocery cart, strolling through a museum, and even getting up once an hour to walk around.

The researchers strapped devices to the waists of some 2,200 adults aged 60 and older to monitor their activity and found that every additional hour a day spent sitting was strongly linked to a doubling of the risk of disability. So, if one 60-something year old person is sedentary for 12 hours a day, and another is sedentary for 13 hours a day, the second individual is 50 percent more likely to be disabled, according to the study.

“I’m not surprised that 30 minutes of activity several times a week doesn’t compensate for nine hours a day sitting around,” said family medicine specialist Dr. Robert Truax of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. The good news, he said, is that it’s never too late to get up off our butts and get healthier.

Source: NBC news

Tips for tackling asthma during pregnancy

Expecting a child is the most exciting and happy phase in a woman’s life, but suffering from an asthma attack is the worst nightmare a pregnant lady can face.

As per National Asthma Education Group for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asthma is one of the most common diseases that can complicate a pregnancy.

It is advisable for pregnant women to identify the early asthma symptoms as the disease’s effects on pregnant women are appalling, Parents India magazine reported.

If asthma becomes uncontrolled, it can bring about a risk for the mother’s as well as for the baby’s health. This situation can even lead to further complications like oxygen deprivation for the baby, morning sickness, vaginal bleeding, high blood pressure and protein in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy (preeclampsia), restricted fetal growth, complicated labor, need for a C-section, premature birth, low birth weight and in extreme cases, the baby’s life might be in jeopardy.

Since the fetus gets its oxygen from the mother’s blood, this condition leads to decreased oxygen in the fetal blood.

Swimming is known to be a particularly good exercise for women suffering from asthma. Using an inhaled bronchodilator ten minutes before you exercise may help you better tolerate your recommended exercise during pregnancy.

It is also advisable for the pregnant women who have asthma to get their condition monitored on a regular basis. A check-up once in three weeks is recommended by expert doctors worldwide.

Source: DNA India

A man dies of prostate cancer every 17 minutes!

If you are a man and are least interested in going to the doctor for those little ailments you have, its time you took notice. According to experts areas like cancer, heart disease and other lifestyle related diseases affect men two times more than women. This disparity is also seen in the national health programmes that focus mostly on communicable diseases and on children and women. ‘Men’s Health remains neglected and is not a focus of any national programme as most of them focus on mostly on communicable diseases, child and woman health’, say doctors. ‘The average life span of man is five years shorter than that of a woman in India,’ said Dr Rajeev Sood, head of department of Urology in RML Hospital,

He said cancer, stone disease (like kidney stones etc.) as well as those of heart and life style grip men 2-4 times more than women. To address the issue and discuss health programmes that can be framed for them on a national scale, the Urological Society of India is all set to host the 47th annual conference here from tomorrow.

‘Studies have shown that the incidences of prostate cancer are growing by one per cent every year. A new case occurs every 2.5 minutes and a man dies from prostate cancer every 17 minutes. ‘It has become the second most frequently diagnosed cancer after lung cancer. Of the 7.6 million deaths due to cancer worldwide, one-sixth are caused by prostate cancer,’ said Sood who is organising secretary of USICON 2014. Could you be at risk of suffering from the disease?

The conference aims at enhancing the skills of urologists in the performance of advanced urologic endoscopic surgery. The five-day conference will be attended by over 3000 urologists across India, SAARC countries, US, Europe (UK, France, Germany, Spain) and Australia.

India has a population of over 1.3 billion, but only a handful of Urologists to cater to urological problems. It will also address numerous important issues of national concern like organ donation and urinary genital cancers among others.

The conference will begin with the pre-conference live workshop which will feature robotic and laparoscopic surgeries in 3D. The focus will be the technological advances like Fusion Biopsy and Photodynamic therapy for focal ablation of prostate cancer and pharmacological advances in terms of newer molecules that can be disease altering. Recently scientists also discovered a way to assess the risk of prostate cancer recurring.

Here are some facts about the disease:

One new case of prostate cancer occurs every 2.5 minutes, and a man dies from prostate cancer every 17 minutes.

A non-smoking man is more likely to get prostate cancer than lung, bronchus, colon, rectal, bladder, lymphoma, melanoma, oral and kidney cancers combined.
Because prostate cancer is a relatively slow-growing cancer, the 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer survivours – at all stages – is 98%. The relative 10-year survival rate is 84% and the 15-year survival rate is 56%.

In the West, where a number of celebrities and high profile people have spoken publicly about the disease, awareness has steadily risen. Hollywood stalwarts Robert De Niro andMichael Douglas have undergone treatment for prostate cancer, so have South Africa’s iconic former President Nelson Mandela and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Age, genetic predispositions and diet all seem to have a direct correlation with the risk of prostate cancer. Some studies have also indicated that men with sexually transmitted diseases too, have a higher chance of getting afflicted with prostate cancer.

Of the 7.6 million deaths due to cancer worldwide, one-sixth are caused by prostate cancer which is also today the second most frequently diagnosed cancer type after lung cancer.

In India the awareness about the disease still remains low.
Wondering how you can prevent it? Here are some essential dos and don’ts to help you keep prostate cancer at bay:

Do’s

Exercise: Regular exercise and a constant weight go a long way in fighting diseases, especially prostate cancer. All you need is a brisk walk every day, find out how.
Eat healthy: Include cereals, fish, green leafy vegetables, and green tea into your diet. They help fight the ill effects of anti oxidants and prevent the onset of the disease.

Don’ts

Ignore the symptoms: The signs of prostate cancer are very easy to overlook. Don’t ignore the symptoms. Get then checked as soon as you notice anything amiss. An early diagnosis is the best way to successful treatment.

Eat fatty foods: Avoid red meat (as it contains a lot of fat that can lead to prostate cancer) and sugary and starch rich foods (both these components lead to inflammation and can speed up the process of formation of the cancer). Read about the top 5 ways to prevent the onset of prostate cancer.

Source: health India

Even Light Exercise Has Health Benefits

Light-intensity activities that get you off the couch may be beneficial to your health, even if you don’t work up a sweat, a new study suggests.

People in the study who spent more time moving around than sitting during the day generally had favorable insulin and triglyceride (blood fat) levels, even if they did not do the amount of exercise that national guidelines recommend.

“These findings demonstrate the importance of minimizing sedentary activities, and replacing some of them with light-intensity activities, such as pacing back and forth when on the phone, standing at your desk periodically instead of sitting and having walking meetings instead of sit-down meetings,” study researcher Paul Loprinzi, an assistant professor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., said in a statement.

Other light activities that can reduce sedentary time include leisurely biking, playing Wii Fit, sitting on a balance ball, playing a musical instrument and gardening.

Although these light exercises may not be as beneficial to your health as vigorous activities are, they are still “much better than lying on the couch, watching TV,” said study researcher Bradley Cardinal, co-director of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Program at Oregon State University.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (such as brisk walking) per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity such as running or swimming laps.

In the study, the researchers analyzed information from more than 5,500 U.S. adults who wore accelerometers to record their movements.

About half of participants engaged in less than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, and spent more time sitting than performing light-intensity activities.

Other recent studies have found that too much time sitting is linked with an increased risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as breast and colon cancers.

The new study was published online Dec. 25 in the journal Preventive Medicine.

Source: livescience

Your 4- step guide to Detoxification

Sleep — Probably the most important step in getting the clean–up campaign right. One thing which works like a dream is ‘restful sleep’. During sleep, our body works at detoxifying our system and sweeps it clean of all the damage done during the day. Most importantly, it works at restoring our hormonal balance and spikes up the immune system to cope with the next day’s work. Good sleep is linked to good appetite control which means it ensures that you don’t binge the next day and works backwards at reducing our guilt associated with binge eating.

Food — Eating every two hours is not half as difficult as it seems and works wonderfully at reducing our chances of overeating. Having fruits, nuts or wholesome homemade breakfast within 15 minutes of rising helps nourish the system and a well–nourished system is less likely to drown itself in tea,coffee or ‘social drinking’. It is also more likely to feel hungry often in the day.

Staying in touch with your body’s hunger signals and feeding it according to its needs is the crucial aspect of preventing the unhealthy ‘fasting and feasting’ eating pattern, now well established as the classic pattern of creeping obesity (10 kilos in five years syndrome).

Exercise — We owe our body some movement. It’s not designed for a sedentary lifestyle. Be it a Marc or a cycle, both ought to be used at their optimum working levels. Exercise improves blood and nutrient flow to the cells and removes (and recycles) toxins.

It’s an effective way of nourishing and cleaning our system. Hence, people who workout regularly have a clearer stomach, ruling out the panic mode which often compels people to opt for enemas. We must be able to naturally and efficiently let go off the waste products.

A forced expulsion via pills/ powders/ steam/ sauna may not only make us run to the loo multiple times a day but also wash off the important Vitamin B and intestinal flora and fauna. Lost flora and fauna leads to more toxicity because of impaired digestion – the exact opposite of what you expected.

A regular workout stimulates what is called the ‘larger than life kidney’ or the ‘third kidney’ of the body – the skin. The process of sweating as a result of exercise is the best detox for your body.

State of Mind -– An obsession with weight or trying to squeeze into a particular size of clothes speaks volumes of the mind’s imbalance. When the attitude is that of mindless compliance to a fitness or fashion trend, the damage is done even before you subject yourself to a fad diet.
Detoxification begins when the mind accepts the body exactly the way it is and nourishes it out of a sense of responsibility and joy instead of depriving it out a sense of shame and punishment.

Source: Daily Inspirations for Healthy Living

Tips to CONTROL your DIABETES naturally

10 ways that will help you in taking care of your blood sugar levels in a natural way

1. Fibre rich natural foods

Diabetics should load up on fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains as they provide extraordinary support to your digestive system plus your liver. These foods add up the fibre content that helps in clearing toxins from your body as fibre binds to wastes and moves them out

2. Daily exercise

Exercise done daily helps stimulate your respiratory system that includes heart, lungs and breathing that are all natural detoxifiers. Even as you lose weight, you shed the fat that stores toxins.

3. Avoid fad diets

Any kind of diet, even a detox or a cleansing diet or any fasting, dramatically disturbs metabolism and may even do long-term damage especially for people with diabetes.

Diabetics need a steady source of nutrients to support blood sugar, not fasting that overstresses your body’s metabolism.

4. Grapefruit healthy for diabetics

Grapefruit is rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, anti-oxidants that help protect against heart disease by lowering cholesterol and fighting free radicals.

Pectin in Grapefruit helps control blood sugar spikes.
4. Grapefruit healthy for diabetics

Grapefruit is rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, anti-oxidants that help protect against heart disease by lowering cholesterol and fighting free radicals.

Pectin in Grapefruit helps control blood sugar spikes.

5. Nuts are healthy for diabetics

Nuts are rich in fibre and magnesium, both of which may help regulate your blood sugar; nuts are good food sources of vitamin E, an anti-oxidant that helps prevent nerve and eye damage.

Nuts go a long way in providing seniors with healthy monounsaturated fats that is good for the diabetic heart. Nuts are high in calories so a small handful each day is enough.

6. Spices healthy for diabetics

Polyphenols found in spices and herbs are powerful anti-oxidants and have an anti-inflammatory effect. Phytonutrients in Cinnamon help improve the ability to respond to insulin, thus helping normalising blood sugar levels.

Add cloves, cinnamon, oregano, marjoram, and sage to your meal.

7. Whole grains vital and healthy for diabetics

Whole grains are packed with anti-oxidants and soluble and insoluble fibre, helping reduce blood sugar spikes, overcome insulin resistance, metabolise fats and also keep the digestive track healthy.

People who eat whole grains regularly have lower blood cholesterol and the grain also keeps blood sugar levels stable.

8. Lean meat healthy for diabetics

Lean meats, fish, beans, soy products and low fat dairy products are great sources of protein.

Ensure that the protein food you choose is low in calories and saturated fat.

9. Protein choices for diabetics

The best choices of protein foods are lower in saturated fat and calories like dried beans, legumes, peas and lentils as they are packed with protein, fibre and complex carbs.

Fish and seafood like cod, halibut herring, salmon, trout, tuna, are excellent protein foods for diabetics; try poultry, without skin with lean cuts of chicken, and turkey.

10. Omega 3 rich foods for diabetics

Salmon or tuna is rich in protein and good fats that help stabilize blood sugar.

You may also include cod, halibut herring, trout, or tuna in your diabetic diet.

Source: rediff

Brisk walk can help beat prostate cancer

Exercise may improve the prognosis of prostate cancer patients by affecting blood vessels in their tumours, a study suggests.

Researchers found that men who walked at a fast pace before being diagnosed with the disease had tumours containing larger and more regularly shaped blood vessels.

Better formed tumour blood vessels may in turn inhibit cancer aggressiveness and promote better responses to treatments, the scientists believe.

Physically active men with prostate cancer have a lower risk of recurrence and death from the disease than those living sedentary lives, but until now the reason has remained a mystery.

The new study looked at 572 prostate cancer patients taking part in a US lifestyle and health investigation called the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Men with the fastest walking pace – between 3.3 and five miles per hour – prior to diagnosis had 8 per cent more regularly shaped tumour blood vessels than the slowest walkers who ambled at 1.5 to 2.5 mph.

“Prior research has shown that men with prostate tumours containing more regularly shaped blood vessels have a more favourable prognosis compared with men with prostate tumours containing mostly irregularly shaped blood vessels,” said lead scientist Dr Erin Van Blarigan, from the University of California at San Francisco.

“In this study, we found that men who reported walking at a brisk pace had more regularly shaped blood vessels in their prostate tumors compared with men who reported walking at a less brisk pace.

“Our findings suggest a possible mechanism by which exercise may improve outcomes in men with prostate cancer. Although data from randomised, controlled trials are needed before we can conclude that exercise causes a change in vessel regularity or clinical outcomes in men with prostate cancer, our study supports the growing evidence of the benefits of exercise, such as brisk walking, for men with prostate cancer.”

Dr Matthew Hobbs, deputy director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Although this research provides a plausible explanation of how exercise might improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer, much more research is needed to confirm the impact of lifestyle factors on men’s recovery.

“We hope that further research in this area may one day give us a way to improve the prognosis for the 40,000 men in the UK who are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.”

Meanwhile a separate study suggest a good night’s sleep may also held the condition. Scientists have linked higher levels of the night-time hormone melatonin with a 75 per cent reduced risk of advanced disease.

Melatonin is produced in the dark at night. It plays a key role in regulating the body’s sleeping cycle and influences many other functions associated with the body’s 24-hour clock, or circadian rhythm.

Low levels of the hormone are typically associated with disrupted sleep.

Scientists studied 928 Icelandic men who were questioned about their sleep patterns.

Source: the Scotsman

walking more is better for your health

People who walk enough to meet or exceed physical activity recommendations may be less likely to die early than those who only walk a little, new research shows.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends adults be physically active for at least two and a half hours per week. Previous research has shown exercising more than that may bring extra benefits.

“An important question left to be answered is how much walking is beneficial,” study author Paul Williams, from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, said.

He analyzed data from 42,000 mostly middle-aged people who enrolled in the National Walkers’ Health Study between 1998 and 2001. They had all subscribed to a walking magazine or attended walking events before the study.

Walkers filled out questionnaires about their health and lifestyle, including exercise and eating habits. Williams then used death records to track who in the study was still alive at the end of 2008.

Based on their questionnaire responses, 23 percent of participants didn’t walk enough to meet physical activity guidelines. Another 16 percent met the guidelines, and the rest exceeded them.

Over an average of nine and a half years, 2,448 people died – almost 6 percent.

Compared to people who didn’t meet the guidelines, those who walked more than the basic recommendation had a one-third lower chance of dying during the study period. Those who met but didn’t exceed the recommendation had an 11 percent lower chance.

That was after taking into account other differences between people who walked various amounts, like diet and education levels.

Participants who walked more had a reduced risk of dying from a stroke, diabetes and heart disease, in particular.

Walking provides plenty of health benefits. But it’s important to note that people who walk more may do so because they are healthier and therefore more able to be active, Williams said. So the new study doesn’t prove walking will extend a person’s life.

“There is always the question of the chicken and the egg – whether people who are healthier are able to walk farther or, conversely, whether the longer distance they walk may translate into better health benefits,” Williams told Reuters Health.

Based on the results, he suggested changing current guidelines by bumping up the minimum amount of physical activity to five hours per week and developing a two-tiered recommendation system that encourages people to exercise more than they do currently.

One tier would aim to get people active, and the other to add to the activity people are already doing, Williams said. That would underscore the point that for couch potatoes, starting to exercise is a healthy move – but the benefits don’t stop there.

“Achieving the weekly exercise guidelines is good,” Williams said, “but exceeding them is even better.”

“When it comes to walking, more is obviously better,” María Simón agreed. She is a fitness trainer and national spokesperson for the AHA and was not involved in the new research.

But, Simón said, the current physical activity guidelines are appropriate.

“The AHA has been very clear in specifying that the recommended guidelines are ‘minimum’ requirements to reduce the risk of heart-related diseases and death and has even provided guidelines for increased activity,” she wrote in an emailed comment.

“Nevertheless, I believe the take-home of this and similar studies is a positive one: ‘Move . . . Just get up and move,'” Simón said.

Source:  Zee news

Exercise helps prevent diseases in kids

New studies have shown that when children increase their level of physical activity, they experience positive health benefits, which include less body fat, increased muscular strength and reduced risk factors for major diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic and lifestyle-related disorders, quickly.

The studies were conducted in a lab led by David Nieman,Dr.P.H., FACSM, a professor of health and exercise science in Appalachian’s College of Health Sciences.

In the study, 200 obese Chinese children were split into two groups. One group took part in a summer camp where they exercised three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon doing a number of activities that included swimming, running, cycling and ping pong.

The second group continued with their normal lives. Both groups maintained a caloric intake of 1,600 to 2,000 calories a day. The average child in the summer camp lost six to eight kilograms or 13 to 17 pounds.

“All of that exercise and weight loss combined to bring most of their risk factors down,” Nieman said. “Their blood pressure went down and insulin sensitivity improved. They were able to handle their glucose better. They had a reduction in total cholesterol. So the overall metabolic health of these children improved in just six weeks.”

In another study conducted as part of the BioMoto STEM Initiative, Nieman’s laboratory tested seventh and eighth graders from the greater Charlotte area using a sophisticated battery of physical fitness tests. They found a key concern for these youth is their body fat levels.

The study is published in journal of Sport and Health Science.

Source: deccan chronicle

 

Want to live longer? Follow these tips

Physical activity and exercise, which is the key to healthy living, prevents the building up of visceral adipose tissue (the dangerous tummy fat that causes arterial inflammation and hypertension). Research has shown that exercising for just 20 minutes a day can add around two years to your life.

Water: Remember our bodies are 80% of water. So drink plenty of water – the elixir of life. It also helps remove toxins and wastes from your body. Drink at least 2 – 3 litres of water if you want to live longer.

Make good friends: People who have good friends and have strong relationships with their families are believed to be healthier mentally as well as physically than those who cut themselves off from people and are reclusive.

Laugh out: Researchers at the University of Maryland reported that watching 15 minutes of a funny video can improve blood flow to your heart by 50%, which may reduce blood-clot formation, cholesterol deposition and inflammation. Our ancestors were not wrong when they said that laughter is a great medicine. People that tend to laugh 20 minutes a day are less prone to diseases and depressions.

A glass of wine: Research has shown that taking alcohol in moderation is good for your health. It is believed consuming one alcoholic drink per day can add +0.9 years to your life. Moderate intake of alcohol can be beneficial to reducing or even preventing some diseases and health problems.

Source: Wat’s up