Category: Research (Page 18 of 93)

Fitness In 20 Minutes

May 9, 2012 / Staff

Fitness writer, Gretchen Reynolds’ latest book, “The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer”, Hudson Street Press, offers insight into the science of fitness.

Reynolds explains that for those who are primarily sedentary, the first 20 minutes of moving offers the greatest benefit to health.

“Humans are born to stroll”, she writes.

The message is that moving is better than not moving.

While the subtitle alone makes bold promises about the potential of exercise to protect the human body, the most surprising message from Ms. Reynolds is not that we all need to exercise more — or at least not the way exercise is typically defined by the American public. Ms. Reynolds makes a clear distinction between the amount of exercise we do to improve sports performance and the amount of exercise that leads to better health. To achieve the latter, she explains, we don’t need to run marathons, sweat it out on exercise bikes or measure our peak oxygen uptake. We just need to do something.

This is a great book for the immoveable masses who feel that only a gym membership or daily marathons can get them into shape.

Knowing that simply moving for a relatively short period of time, a highly achievable goal, can put them on the road to health and longevity.

Research, Resources

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Over 40 Percent Of Americans Predicted To Be Over Weight By 2030

May 9, 2012 / Staff

It is estimated in a recent study that 42 percent of Americans are predicted to over weight or obese by 2030.

The CDC’s Weight of the Nation conference released it’s findings and will be highlighted in a four-part HBO documentary airing next week.

Cheap and easily available calorie dense food and sedentary lifestyles are largely to blame.

The stress on the health care system could be 550 billion dollars in additional medical expenditures.

Finkelstein and co-authors estimate that 11% of the population will be severely obese by 2030. Severe obesity is defined as a body mass index over 40 or being roughly 100 pounds overweight. Obese people have shorter life expectancies and greater lifetime medical costs, “suggesting that future healthcare costs may continue to increase even if obesity prevalence levels off,” wrote the authors.
“Those individuals have much greater risk of early mortality, diabetes, heart disease,” said Finkelstein. “They’re much, much more expensive and they’re on the rise, partly because 50 years ago, it was really, really hard to weigh that much. You’d have to eat all the time.”

Nutrition, Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

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Coffee Stains Teeth Even More Than Tobacco

May 6, 2012 / Staff

Coffee has been found to be more pervasive in discoloring teeth than even tobacco.

Teeth which were bleached to remove coffee stains are also more susceptible to being re-stained.

Tobacco doesn’t seem to be quite as insidious and those types of stains are more easily removed.

The best way to avoid stains is to stop using whatever agent is causing the discoloration.

Quality Control, Research, Wellness

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Uk Doctor’s Survey Suggests A Change Of Thought

May 5, 2012 / Staff

The profession which claims, “first do no harm”, has weighed in on controversial issues surrounding health care.

A survey of British physicians has revealed a paradigm shift in how medicine views patient responsibility.

“Lifestyle rationing” has become a way of qualifying patient care.

Health care budgets hit by rising costs and a huge increase in preventable chronic illness is reaching it’s limit.

The survey by doctors.net.uk, which claims nearly 192,000 members, found that 593, or 54 percent, of the 1,096 doctors who participated answered yes to this question: “Should the NHS be allowed to refuse non-emergency treatments to patients unless they lose weight or stop smoking?”
Doctors who approved gave a few examples, The Observer said:
Denying in-vitro fertilization to childless women who smoke was justified because the procedure was only half as successful for them as for non-smokers.
Obese or alcoholic patients should be expected to change their behaviors before undergoing liver transplant surgery.

Doctors, Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Quality Control, Research, Wellness

diabetes Health Care patient care UK doctor survey universal health care

Jogging Can Add Years To Your Life

May 4, 2012 / Staff

Jogging, once thought to be too strenuous for middle aged people is considered to be not only healthy but beneficial enough to add years to your life.

Researcher Peter Schnohr told delegates that the study’s most recent analysis, which has yet to be published, shows that between one and two-and-a-half hours of jogging per week at a “slow or average” pace delivers optimum benefits for longevity.
“The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health,” said Schnohr, who is chief cardiologist of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. “We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don’t actually need to do that much to reap the benefits.”

Always consult your physician when beginning a new exercise.

Research, Wellness

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