Something as accessible and simple as walking has been shown effective in mitigating the genetic tendency toward obesity.
To explore the interaction between behavior and genes, Harvard researchers analyzed data on more than 12,000 men and women participating in two large studies of health professionals.
The researchers measured the participants’ genetic risk by identifying how many of the 32 known variants of the so-called obesity geneeach person had. (The gene is officially known as the fat mass and obesity associated, or FTO, gene.)
Roughly half of the general population has some genetic risk for obesity, says lead author Qibin Qi, Ph.D., a research fellow in nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston
It is amazing to think that we can actually change our genes by doing something as simple as walking more and sitting less.
The hips and knees receive continuous stress from walking, running, sporting activities, or injury and are more commonly affected by the wearing of cartilage (degenerative arthritis) than the hand joints.
However, the joints of the hand do experience stress in everyday use, and because the hand joints are smaller, these stresses are concentrated over a smaller surface area.
The high ratio of stress to surface area can cause the smooth joint cartilage to wear over the years.
As the cartilage degenerates, the underlying bone becomes exposed.
When the deteriorated joint moves, bone rubs upon bone causing pain, swelling, limiting motion, and frequently causing a grinding or popping sensation.
Since performing one of the nation’s first total hip replacements 42 years ago, Rothman has replaced more than 25,000 hips and knees. The physically taxing procedure, which swaps the boney joint for a prosthetic usually made of titanium and hard plastic, revolutionized the treatment of arthritis.
“Prior to that, if you have a bad hip or bad knee there were no good options,” he said. “You got crutches or a wheelchair.”
Joint replacement surgery is on the rise and is expected to keep rising as the population ages. Between 1996 and 2006, the number of total hip and knee replacements increased by 30 percent and 70 percent respectively, according to a CDC report.
Seemingly little things like getting up early in the morning and daily schedules make a big impact in helping to insure the success of your health goals.
Healthy habits create an environment for achieving your healthy lifestyle.
Make a commitment. Write it down, and tell your friends and family and make it public. Ask them to keep you accountable, support your goals, and join you as you build better habits.
Schedule it. Don’t expect exercise time to appear by magic. You have to make time for it, just like you would a dentist appointment, pedicure, or business meeting. Program it into your day planner. Schedule a couple weeks worth of exercise slots in advance so you can plan for it.
Do it first thing in the morning. If fitness is part of your morning routine, you’ll have it over and done with and won’t let anything else that comes up get in the way.
Do it at work. Give up your lunch-hour fast food run and hit the gym, bike trai,l or local track instead. Ask coworkers to tag along. Or, add “fitness” to the end of your workday and exercise on your way home.
Make no excuses. Even if you’re exhausted, bored or feeling lazy, honor your exercise commitment to yourself. You don’t have to do a full-court press every time. If your energy level is low, do something easy like a walk instead of a run. If you’re bored, do something different like a bike ride instead of running on treadmill. Any exercise you do counts as part of your new habit.
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This blog is for consumers of health care and medical services. Basically, it’s for everyone. For health issues you should always see a doctor or qualified medical professional - we are not dispensing medical advice. You should, however, be an educated consumer, so we offer information to help you start the process to become educated and to ask important questions. There are many excellent resources on the web, along with all sorts of conflicting opinions and advice. The key is to use a wide variety of resources to learn and access information, so you can ask the important questions when you are with your doctor or health professional.
