American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity - Infographic

The American Heart Association released an infographic on its recommendations for adult physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

With today's more sedentary lifestyle at home and at work, it is a challenge for most adults to be physically active. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Aside from that, it also reduces other risk factors such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, excess body weight and diabetes.

Any regular physical activity from climbing stairs, walking the dog, or just stretching can have have a positive effect on the body.

Dr. Russell Pate, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Exercise at the University of South Carolina notes that one of the great public health challenges of this century is building back physical activity back into a person's daily life. “Our bodies were designed to be physically active, and they don’t do well with long-term exposure to sedentary living. Lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease”, he adds.

The infographic gives a general outline on the AHA's recommendations for regular physical activity that would help bring about a healthy adult lifestyle.

Running Improves Memory and Learning

Did you know that running can make you smarter? It’s true. It can also improve your memory and your test scores. That’s the latest news from assistant professor of psychology from the University of Illinois Justin Rhodes writing for Scientific American. “A growing body of evidence suggests we think and learn better when we walk or do another form of exercise,” writes Rhodes while citing a recent study that found “students who exercise perform better on tests than their less athletic peers.”

Rather than worry about the legendary “freshman 15” trend whereby new college students typically gain 15 pounds in their first year, many students are lacing up their running shoes and signing up for a local 5K (3.1 mile) run. And that’s where adopting a 5K training schedule comes in. The only way to experience the physical and mental benefits of exercise is to do it on a regular basis.

Stroke Victims Can Improve Cognitive Ability By 50% Through Physical Exercise In Six Months

Stroke is when the blood circulation to the brain is cut off and deprives it of oxygen. Stroke is a very serious disease and affects around 133,000 people each year in the United States alone. It is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States.'

It is said that a a person suffers from a stroke every 40 seconds.

There are two types of strokes; Ischemic stroke and hemrrhagic stroke. Ischemic stroke is the most popular type with around 87% of all strokes being Ischemic in nature. This occurs when blood clots form in the arteries which blocks or restricts bllod flow to the brain.

Hemorrhagic strokes occur when a blood vessel bursts in the brain. Although this is similar to a brain aneurysm, some aneurysm are caused by weak blood vessels that may be caused by factors similar to a hemorrhagic stroke. Although 13% of strokes are hemorrhagic, 30% of stroke fatalities come from this type of stroke.

When the oxygen supply to the brain is cut off, the brain cells immediately starts to deteriorate and dry. About two million brain cells die every minute that oxygen is cut off. The damage from a stroke can be a debiltating.

People who suffered a stroke may experience physical disability, depression, loss of motor skills, mood swings, and loss of cognitive abilities (slow thinking, logic, familiarization).

Exercise improves memory, thinking after stroke, study finds

Just six months of exercise can improve memory, language, thinking and judgment problems by almost 50 per cent, says a study presented today at the Canadian Stroke Congress.

Toronto researchers found that the proportion of stroke patients with at least mild cognitive impairment dropped from 66 per cent to 37 per cent during a research study on the impact of exercise on the brain.

New Physiotherapy Guidelines For Treating Elderly People Released

Physiotherapy is better known as physical therapy in the United States. It is a segment of the health care profession that deals with the physical movement of the human body. Physiotherapy addresses the physical impairments and disabilities of the body and maximizes movement potential through health promotion, preventive healthcare, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of the patient.

Physiotherapists (or physical therapists) are professionally trained to assess and treat movement impairing conditions. Medical subjects that touch on physiotherapy such as physiology, anatomy, and neuroscience aid the physiotherapist understand more and develop the skills needed to carry out the profession. These therapists are also known simply as PTs.

Some methods in physiotherapy include:

• Physical movement and exercise
• Manual therapy Techniques
• Water (Aquatic) Therapy
• Acupuncture

New physio guidelines for the elderly at risk of falls

Taking a fall in older life can not only result in injury, but also a potentially debilitating loss of confidence. But new guidelines for physiotherapists, co-compiled by a leading academic in the field from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), University of Exeter, aim to refresh out-dated guidelines and introduce better direction for physiotherapists who work with elderly people at risk of falling.

As we get older our risk of falling increases, regardless of environment and social background – King Juan Carlos of Spain is a high profile example. As well as the physical and psychological impact of falls on the individual, they also have impact on a pressed NHS – according to Age UK some 3.5m people aged 65 and over take a fall each year, at an estimated cost to the NHS of £4.6m a day.

The new guidelines have been developed with the help of academics by Agile, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy's professional network for those working with older people. Physiotherapists play a key role in the care of older people at risk of or who have had a fall, both in hospitals and in primary care and community health environments.

The last guidelines were published in 1998 and since then there have been significant advances in policy, practice and technology.

New Scientific Analysis Concludes Coconut Water Is An Excellent Sports Drink For Light Exercise

Coconut water is the liquid inside young, green coconuts. It is a clear liquid and has a high potassium and mineral content.

In the last two years, coconut water has become a popular sports drink endorsed by athletes and celebrities. They highlight benefits such as hydrating the body and helping with a whole host of conditions, from hangovers to cancer and kidney stones.

Coconut water has a a sweet, nutty taste. It contains easily digested carbohydrate in the form of sugar and electrolytes. Compared to a sports drink, coconut water has has fewer calories, less sodium, and more potassium.

Coconut water contains 5.45 calories, 1.3 grams sugar, 61 milligrams (mg) of potassium, and 5.45 mg of sodium compared to Gatorade, which has 6.25 calories, 1.75 grams of sugar, 3.75 mg of potassium, and 13.75 mg of sodium.

Coconut water is an excellent sports drink -- for light exercise

Coconut water really does deserve its popular reputation as Mother Nature's own sports drink, a new scientific analysis of the much-hyped natural beverage concluded here today at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

However, people who engage in strenuous exercise that involves a lot of sweat might want to take it all with a grain of salt ― literally ― or stick with a more traditional sports drink like Gatorade, said Chhandashri Bhattacharya, Ph.D. She presented a report on an analysis of coconut water to the ACS, the world's largest scientific society, which is meeting here this week.

"Coconut water is a natural drink that has everything your average sports drink has and more," said Bhattacharya. "It has five times more potassium than Gatorade or Powerade. Whenever you get cramps in your muscles, potassium will help you to get rid of the cramps. It's a healthy drink that replenishes the nutrients that your body has lost during a moderate workout."

Bhattacharya said that the potassium in coconut water also may benefit other people who do not exercise. The typical American diet is low in potassium and high in sodium, which is found in table salt. Other research has shown that such an imbalance is unhealthy. In one study, people who ate foods low in potassium and high in sodium had twice the risk of death from heart disease and a 50 percent higher risk of death from all causes. Other analyses indicate that a 12-ounce serving of coconut water has more potassium than a banana.

Life Expectancy Can Be Extended More Than 3 Years By Adjusting Sedentary Behavior

According to the the journal, Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, Sedentary behavior is defined as "any waking activity characterized by an energy expenditure ≤ 1.5 metabolic equivalents and a sitting or reclining posture..."

This generally means that sedentary behavior involves any activity that the person does sitting or lying down. This includes watching television, playing video games, computer use, driving, and reading.

A study indicates that life expectancy in the USA would be 2 years higher if adults cut their sitting time to 3 hours a day and 1.38 years higher if television viewing time is cut to less than 2 hours a day.

This analysis is detailed in an article to be published in the online BMJ Open, Peter T Katzmarzyk of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System and I-Min Lee of the Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School,

Several previous studies have linked extended periods spent sitting down and/or watching TV to poor health, such as diabetes and death from heart disease/stroke.

The researchers used data collected for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 2005/6 and 2009/10, to calculate the amount of time US adults spent watching TV and sitting down on a daily basis.

NHANES regularly surveys a large representative sample of the US population on various aspects of their health and lifestyle.

They trawled the research database MEDLINE, looking for published studies on sitting time and deaths from all causes, and pooled the different relative risk data from the five relevant studies, involving almost 167,000 adults. The database was then reanalysed, taking account of age and sex.

Daily Exercise And Physical Activity May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. Alzheimer's disease (AD), is one type of dementia that gradually gets worse over time. It affects memory, thinking, cognition, and behavior.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive brain disease that destroys memory and cognitive skills by damaging the normal and healthy functions of the brain.

AD is caused when protein fragments called plaques and tangles stick together to form the Alzheimer's protein. This protein then starts to kill brain cells starting at the hippocampus and ultimately destroying the whole brain (See video).

Get moving: Daily exercise may reduce Alzheimer's disease risk at any age

Daily physical exercise may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, even in people over the age of 80, according to a study published in the online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"The study showed that not only exercise but also activities such as cooking, washing the dishes and cleaning are associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease," said study author Aron S. Buchman, MD, with Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "These results provide support for efforts to encourage physical activity in even very old people who might not be able to participate in formal exercise but can still benefit from a more active lifestyle."

For the study, a group of 716 people with an average age of 82 wore an actigraph, a device that monitors activity, on their non-dominant wrist continuously for 10 days. All exercise and non-exercise was recorded. They also were given annual tests during the four-year study that measured memory and thinking abilities. During the study, 71 people developed Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise and Eating Less Fat More Likely To Result In Weight Loss Than Popular Diets

Obesity is a condition where a person has too much body fat. This is not to be confused with being overweight. Being overweight, which is also unhealthy for anyone, does not necessarily mean that the person has too much fat. An overweight person may be so because of extra muscles, heavier bones, or extra water in his system.

Obesity occurs when the body takes in more calories than it burns. The unused calories is stored as fat.

Obesity is not a psychological problem as many think. People do not consciously choose to be obese. Changes in the environment where food is readily available and physical activities are diminished contribute to the prevalence of obesity.

Some factors that can contribute to obesity are:

• Historical eating and dietary behavior since childhood
• Easy accessibility to food combined with minimal physical activity
• Unhealthy or unplanned diet
• Less physical jobs at work
• Lack of time to exercise

There are eating disorders that when coupled with an unhealthy diet can also lead to obesity.

Strategies identified for successful weight loss among Americans who are obese

Contrary to popular perception, a large proportion of obese Americans can and do lose weight, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. What's more, they say, the old tried and true methods of eating less fat and exercising are some of the most effective paths to weight loss success.

The research results appear in the April 10 online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"This is great news because studies have shown that even a 5 percent reduction in weight can lead to improved health," says lead author Jacinda M. Nicklas, MD, MPH, MA, a clinical research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "With more than a third of Americans now obese and fifty to seventy percent of them trying to lose weight, this is important because the health risks associated with carrying that extra weight are substantial."

Intermittent Hypoxic Training May Be Beneficial To Patients with Diabetes

Some athletes undergo Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) to enhance their performance in sports settings. It is non-invasive and drug free. IHT is a type of therapy where the person trains in low oxygen conditions. This can be acheived thru the use of a mask-based hypoxicator system. The mask based hypoxicator keeps the barometric pressure the same while the oxygen content is reduced which also reduces the partial pressure of oxygen.

Aside from using masks, a natural and common practice for IHT is exercising and training in high altitude areas since these areas have decreased levels of oxygen compared to low level areas. There are also artificial chambers that simulate these conditions.

Now, a new study finds that exercising in low oxygen environment may result in improved insulin sensitivity.

Intermittent exercise with and without low oxygen concentrations (or hypoxia) can improve insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics, however exercise while under hypoxic conditions provides greater improvements in glycemic control than intermittent exercise alone, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, is where the fat, liver, and muscle cells do not react correctly to insulin (insulin resistance). As a result of this, blood sugar does not get into these cells to be stored for energy.

Exercise improves glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have focused on continuous aerobic exercise with more recent work assessing resistance exercise. There are few studies that assess the effects of intermittent exercise on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes.