Entries categorized as Exercise

Researcher Finds That Exercise Counters Negative Effects Of Weight Regain

On March 8, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Obesity / No Comments

With the obesity rate rising for American adults and children, health concerns such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are a frequent reality. Although obesity itself is a major risk factor for disease, most of the threat may be associated with a cluster of risk factors called the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Losing weight can improve health and reduce these risk factors, but many people have difficulty keeping the weight off. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that exercising during weight regain can maintain improvements in metabolic health and disease risk. (read the full story)

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Increasing Neurogenesis Might Prevent Drug Addiction And Relapse

On March 2, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Neuroscience, Substance Abuse / No Comments

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center hope they have begun paving a new pathway in the fight against drug dependence. Their hypothesis – that increasing the normally occurring process of making nerve cells might prevent addiction – is based on a rodent study demonstrating that blocking new growth of specific brain nerve cells increases vulnerability for cocaine addiction and relapse. The study’s findings, available in the Journal of Neuroscience, are the first to directly link addiction with the process, called neurogenesis, in the region of the brain called the hippocampus. (read the full story)

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Regular Exercise Reduces Anxiety By 20 Percent

On February 28, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Anxiety / No Comments

The anxiety that often accompanies a chronic illness can chip away at quality of life and make patients less likely to follow their treatment plan. But regular exercise can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety, a new University of Georgia study shows. In a study appearing in the Feb. 22 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed the results of 40 randomized clinical trials involving nearly 3,000 patients with a variety of medical conditions. They found that, on average, patients who exercised regularly reported a 20 percent (20%) reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to those who did not exercise. (read the full story)

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The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines

On February 14, 2010 / By Stephen Elliott / In Public Health / No Comments

2008 Physical Activity GuidelinesIn November 2008, The U.S. Department of Health And Human Services (DHHS) issued a landmark recommendation for exercise and health titled The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Yet surprisingly, most people this correspondent communicates with do not know of it. The report makes some very strong recommendations regarding the need for exercise. Interested readers can obtain the original 2008 Physical Activities Guidelines ebook, an audio summary of these findings, and other relevant articles using links provided in this review. (continue reading)

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Most Parents Do Not Realize That Their 4 or 5 Year-Olds Are Overweight Or Obese

On February 9, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Obesity / No Comments

Half of the mothers who took part in a study thought that their obese four or five year-old was normal weight, as did 39% of the fathers, according to the February issue of Acta Paediatrica. When it came to overweight children, 75% of mothers and 77% of fathers thought that their child was normal weight. More than 800 parents of 439 children took part in the study, carried out by researchers from the University Medical Centre Groningen in The Netherlands. 5% of the children were overweight, 4% were obese, and the rest were normal weight. Check the end of this review for a link to download this article for free. (continue reading)

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Fast Food Menus With Calorie Information Lead To Lower Calorie Selections For Young Children

On February 7, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Obesity, Public Health / No Comments

In a new study, the amount of calories selected by parents for their child’s hypothetical meal at McDonald’s restaurants were reduced by an average of 102 calories when the menus clearly showed the calories for each item. This is the first study to suggest that labeled menus may lead to significantly reduced calorie intake in fast food restaurant meals purchased for children. (continue reading)

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Physical Activity Associated With Healthier Aging

On February 5, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

A series of studies in Archives of Internal Medicine detail associations between exercise and cognitive function, bone density, and overall health. Physical activity appears to be associated with a reduced risk or slower progression of several age-related conditions as well as improvements in overall health in older age, according to a commentary and four articles published in the January 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Read on for a summary of the findings from all 4 articles. (continue reading)

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Got Cognitive Activity? It Does A Mind Good

On January 29, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Cognition / No Comments

Cognitively stimulating activities are beneficial, but evidence suggests mental exercises help some more than others. If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s. Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for dementia, and it’s well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age. Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly compensate for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures. (continue reading)

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Yoga Reduces Cytokine Levels Known To Promote Inflammation

On January 28, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Meditation / No Comments

Regularly practicing yoga exercises may lower a number of compounds in the blood and reduce the level of inflammation that normally rises because of both normal aging and stress, a new study has shown. The study showed that women who routinely practiced yoga had lower amounts of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood. The women also showed smaller increases in IL-6 after stressful experiences than did women who were the same age and weight but who were not yoga practitioners. IL-6 is an important part of the body’s inflammatory response and has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and a host of other age-related debilitating diseases. the researchers suggest that reductions of inflammation may provide substantial short- and long-term health benefits. (continue reading)

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Exercise Associated With Preventing And Improving Mild Cognitive Impairment In Midlife Or Later

On January 22, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

Moderate physical activity performed in midlife or later appears to be associated with a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment, whereas a six-month high-intensity aerobic exercise program may improve cognitive function in individuals who already have the condition, according to two reports in the January issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (continue reading)

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Negative Emotions Outweigh Intent To Exercise At Health Clubs

On January 2, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

Time and time again, it has been documented that regular exercise has many health benefits including lowering risks associated with the comorbidities of obesity. With only 30% of Americans trying to lose weight meeting the National Institutes of Health exercise guidelines of 300 minutes/week, a study in the January/February 2010 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior explores the paradox that exists – an antidote for obesity and its comorbidities is exercise, but the majority of obese Americans do not exercise. Investigators explore and compare the barriers associated with regular exercise in health clubs between overweight and normal weight individuals. (more…)

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Physical Fitness May Optimize Academic Success And Influence Socioeconomic Status

On December 5, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

Eliptical_TrainersA study of young Swedish men has linked cardiovascular fitness with increased intelligence, better performance on cognitive tests, and higher educational achievement. Many earlier studies have linked physical exercise with cognition in animals and humans, but most of the human studies focused on children or older adults. The few studies of young adulthood—a time when the brain changes rapidly and many cognitive traits are established—have been inconsistent. (more…)

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