Vonnies Health Spot

EXERCISE IS AS GOOD AS ANTIDEPRESSANTS

Scientists are beginning to understand the connection between brain atrophy, neurogenesis, and depression. What happens within the brain when a person is depressed? Our concept of that is rapidly shifting, thanks to work in brain imaging and molecular medicine. In the late 1990s, several lines of research began turning our concept of mood disorders upside down.

NEW BRAIN CELL GROWTH CONTINUES THROUGHOUT LIFE
Taken chronologically, the first step was research showing that neurogenesis — the birth of new brain cells — can continue throughout life. Most of us remember being told that we’re born with all the brain cells we’ll ever have. Not true. We now know that the process of neurogenesis is an ongoing one, with new brain cells being born even as old brain cells die off.

DAMAGE TO BRAIN CAUSED BY DEPRESSION
The second was evidence that depression is associated with loss of volume in parts of the brain. Researchers have also found that depression appears to inhibit this birth of new brain cells. And that may help explain the second line of research — why people who’ve had depression are likelier to have a smaller hippocampus (a part of the brain that plays a role in emotion and is associated with memory and learning). The more severe and long-lasting the depression, the greater the loss of brain volume.

This process of brain atrophy also affects the frontal lobes, which are involved in managing emotional reactions. The good news is that most of the change seems to be related to cell shrinkage, rather than outright cell death, and thus can potentially be reversed. Genetic studies have also found a subgroup of people more susceptible to this process of brain atrophy.

WHAT ABOUT NEUROTRANSMITTERS?
Where does this leave familiar neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine? They are still understood to play a significant role in mood disorders — but with a new twist. Most people are familiar with the research that underlies the use of fluoxetine (Prozac) and similar antidepressants. These drugs block the reuptake of certain neurotransmitters at receptor sites in the brain, thus increasing the concentrations of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the synapses (gaps) between cells in the brain. This increase is believed to be responsible for the elevation of mood.

ACTIONS WITHIN THE CELLS
The twist? More recently, instead of focusing on tinkering with the level of neurotransmitters between cells, researchers have looked at what happens when the neurotransmitter binds to the cell membrane. The reactions that then go on inside the cell are now thought to be more important to the cell’s functioning than the binding of the neurotransmitter to the outside. For instance, researchers have found that antidepressants increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps nourish neurons, aiding them in becoming more active and make more connections to other cells. Researchers also have found that antidepressants are involved in neurogenesis — at least in rats — increasing the production of new neurons in the rat hippocampus.

THE ROLE OF EXERCISE VERSUS STRESS
In animal studies, stress puts a halt to the process of neurogenesis. Under stress, existing cells shrink and the total number of cells decreases. Exercise and “environmental enrichment,” on the other hand, have a beneficial effect.

In humans, there are hints that exercise may help reverse brain atrophy. Treatment with antidepressants also has been found to be effective, although the extent of the response varies among individuals and may be moderated by how severe a person’s depression has been, and how often it has recurred. And psychotherapy still has a role to play because how we interpret a stressful event can have a significant impact on our emotional response and ability to recover.

HOW MUCH EXERCISE?
According to John Ratey, MD, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain www.amazon.com a simple equation can help you get on target for the right amount of activity. “An exercise regimen can work as well as an antidepressant,” says Dr. Ratey. The equation is to multiply your body weight by 8 to find the number of calories you need to burn each week. Once you come up with that total, go online to a calorie-burning site, such as www.calorieking.com or www.my-calorie-counter.com to find the amount of time per activity you will need to expend to reach your goal. As an example, the list below shows a few activities and the number of minutes it takes for a 135-pound woman to burn 200 calories:
Walking (4 mph, brisk) — 37 minutes
Aerobics — 29 minutes
Dance (general) — 29 minutes
Elliptical Trainer — 29 minutes
Spinning (moderate) — 27 minutes
Jogging (5 mph) — 24 minutes
Swimming — 19 minutes
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

LOSE WEIGHT AND GAIN FITNESS WITH "SOFT" EXERCISES

All my life, I’ve known the benefits of exercise. I learned them at my mother’s knee because she was a dedicated exerciser. Mom and I have done it all, from athletics to weight training to dancing. For both of us dancing seemed to be the ideal exercise. We discovered this separately, she when I was away at college, me after my own kids were grown. But hardwired preferences sometimes do run in families and in this case that proved to be true. I lost 40 pounds during the couple of years that I was a competitive ballroom dancer and I made gains in general fitness as well. And it all seemed so easy because I was having fun!

Now from Johns Hopkins Health Alerts comes information that exercise doesn't have to be a chore to offer health advantages. The latest studies suggest that "soft" exercises, such as yoga, dog walking and gardening, can help you manage your weight.

Most of these soft exercise activities are not extra-large calorie burners. But they do get you up and moving and away from the TV and fridge. Here are few exercises you might try to lose weight and enjoy yourself.

YOGA
Yoga is a great way to relax and reduce stress, and new research shows that it may also help control weight. In a recent study of more than 15,000 middle-aged people, those who did yoga for at least half an hour a week for four or more years were better able to fight off weight gain.
    Although a vigorous yoga session can burn up to 250 calories, the energy expenditures related to yoga itself were probably not responsible for the lack of weight gain seen in the study. Rather, it's more likely that taking up yoga makes you more mindful of what you’re eating and of your body and health in general. In addition, yoga can improve breathing, strength, and flexibility, making you more apt to perform other types of physical activity and lose weight.

WALKING THE DOG
Dogs are more than delightful companions — they can help with weight control. In a 2005 study, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that disabled people who started off walking a dog for 10 minutes three times a week, and worked up to 20 minutes five times a week, lost an average of 14 pounds over the course of a year — without purposefully changing their diets. Most weight-loss programs can’t boast of those kinds of results.
    Another study, conducted at Northwestern University, found that people who went on a weight-loss and fitness plan together with their dog lost 11 pounds over the course of a year. Diet and exercise with your dog? That’s right. Like humans, many dogs are overweight, so involving your pooch in your weight-loss efforts can be beneficial for both you and your dog.

OTHER SOFT EXERCISES
Light gardening and yard work can be surprisingly taxing: Performed at a moderate pace, a 154-lb person can burn 330 calories per hour digging up weeds and raking. A similar case can be made for dancing and golfing (when you walk and carry your clubs). Biking at a moderate pace (less than 10 miles per hour) can burn 290 calories an hour, while walking at 3.5 miles per hour can burn 280 calories an hour. Swimming slow freestyle laps can burn a whopping 510 calories per hour.

If you're exercise averse, look for activities that you enjoy or that allow you to socialize, such as doubles tennis or fly fishing with a friend. Consider joining a walking club or taking a class (gentle yoga, tae kwon do, tai chi or chi gong perhaps). In short, look for the fun in moving more as you strive to make activity a part of your everyday life.

If you found this Health Alert interesting and want to learn more about exercise, weight loss, nutrition, dietary fats, fiber, antioxidants and related topics, Johns Hopkins recently published a 2008 Nutrition and Weight Control White Paper.

Written by a team of top doctors and nutritionists from Johns Hopkins, this fascinating 88-page report is filled with important information to help you understand your body's nutritional needs, the factors that affect body weight, and the health consequences of being overweight. Available for just $19.95 US [$19.95 CDN], the 2008 Nutrition and Weight Control White Paper can be ordered as an instant PDF download or in a handsome print edition. Just click on www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com
and search "soft exercises."

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

EXERCISE: WHAT WORKS FOR ONE DOES NOT WORK FOR ALL

Isn’t it frustrating when you know you’re exercising and limiting your food intake and you still can’t drop the caboose as fast as your skinny-minnie friend? You and she may be exercise partners and you just know the both of you are expending the same number of calories. So how is it that she can get into that size-nothing dress and you’re still jiggling away on the elliptical?

Dr. Neil King, Queensland University of Technology behavioral scientist and lead author of a study conducted in collaboration with the University of Leeds in Britain says he has the answer. “When it comes to losing weight, a lot of people assume if you lose less than the predicted weight, then you aren’t exercising enough, and that is why you aren’t getting the desired results. This study is the first evidence-based study that shows despite people doing the same amount of supervised exercise, people lose different amounts of weight.”

The investigation focused on 35 overweight and obese people from the UK. The goal of the study was to identify and characterize the variability in exercise-induced weight loss. The participants undertook a 12-week supervised exercise program that was individually tailored to expend 500 calories per session. During this time their weight loss and behavioral outcomes were monitored. The results of the study show that the role of exercise alone could be undermined by “compensatory responses” such as a person’s increased hunger and food intake as a result of increased energy expenditure.

Dr. King says the investigation shows that some individuals were predisposed to compensatory responses (the study refers to them as “compensators”), rendering them resistant to the theoretical weight-loss benefits of exercise. “For some people, this might be in response to an automatic biological drive, whereas for others it might be a deliberate reward-based increase.”

“The individual variability here demonstrates the need to treat people as individuals,” Dr. King says. “It also highlights the importance of determining the mechanisms that may explain this variability, such as how to treat the more resistant compensatory person to improve their weight management outcomes.”

Dr. King said the novelty, and therefore the strength of this study, was that the exercise was supervised. “… unlike unsupervised exercise interventions, any variability in weight loss cannot be explained by differences in exercise compliance.” The study was recently published in the International Journal of Obesity.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION
So you may ask, how does this apply to me? Personally, I find the above information to be “old news.” My appetite has always increased when I exercise, which, I guess, makes me one of those hardcore compensators. And when I cut back on my food intake I become too weak and lethargic to push myself into an exercise mode. So there you have it … a catch-22 situation. Increased exercise = increased eating. Decreased eating = decreased exercise. So what’s a person to do?

A couple of tricks I have developed may help you.

1.    Don’t go longer than three hours without food. Snack between meals on healthy foods, but keep the calorie content low. Try fruit, low-fat string cheese, a handful of nuts or a low-cal protein drink. The goal here is to keep your blood sugar stable.
2.    Drink a lot of water. It helps to add some flavor to it. You might try Sassy Water; 2 liters of water (about 8 1/2 cups), 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger,1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced, 1 medium lemon, thinly sliced, 12 small spearmint leaves. Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight. Drink the entire pitcher by the end of each day www.flatbellydiet.com.
3.    Eat lots of high fiber foods with each meal. They can be cooked, that’s better for people who suffer from sensitive digestive systems. Fill at least two-thirds of your plate with things like green beans, carrots, spinach, mustard greens, kale.
4.    Try to keep each meal or snack below the 400-calorie range.
5.    Eat a small amount of monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat with each meal and snack.
6.    Do continue to work out. Even if your girth exceeds what you would like it to be, exercise is important for general good health. It increases many feel-good hormones, sharpens the thinking process, helps digestion, helps to strengthen your cardiovascular system, helps to keep your skeletal muscles strong for functional strength, and helps your proprioception (balance), so even if you never again enjoy the figure or the physique you had in college, you’re maintaining health.

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

TWO MORE REASONS TO KEEP EXERCISING

EXERCISE MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE!
The following comes from the Mayo Clinic www.mayoclinic.com: Exercise is one of the best ways to combat treatment-related fatigue if you have cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy, and may even increase the body’s ability to recover from the effects of chemotherapy.

Several groundbreaking studies suggest that exercise doesn’t just help combat treatment-related fatigue, it may help fight against cancer. And obsessive exercise isn’t needed to see a benefit. Depending on the intensity of the activity, you may need to exercise only a few hours a week.

Researchers measured how much energy exercisers expended in metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours. One MET hour is the equivalent of the energy expended by the body during one hour of rest. You can accumulate several MET hours of exercise during one “real-time” hour. For example, one hour of moderate walking is the equivalent of three MET hours and one hour of doubles tennis or slow jogging is the equivalent of five MET hours.

> The first study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed 2,987 women with breast cancer. Women who exercised more than three MET hours a week after diagnosis were less likely to die of their cancer.
> In another study of 573 women with colon cancer, women who exercised more than 18 MET hours a week after diagnosis were 61 percent less likely to die of cancer-specific causes than women who exercised less than three MET hours a week. And exercise was protective no matter the patient’s age, stage of cancer, or weight. Furthermore, patients benefited even if they hadn’t been physically active before their diagnosis.
> A third study, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found similar results after examining the effects of exercise on 832 men and women with stage III colon cancer.

How does exercise help fight cancer? Investigation is ongoing in that area, but researchers theorize that exercise can regulate production of certain hormones that, unregulated, may spur tumor growth.

IRREGULAR EXERCISE PATTERNS

MAY ADD POUNDS
The key to staying trim is to remain active year-round, year after year, and to avoid seasonal and irregular exercise patterns. Weight gained during an exercise hiatus can be tough to shed when physical activity is resumed at a later date. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory www.healthresearch.lbl.gov believe that quitting or having irregular exercise habits may be a contributing factor in the nation’s obesity epidemic.

“The price to pay for quitting exercise is higher than expected, and this price may be an important factor in the obesity epidemic affecting Americans,” says Paul Williams of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division. The study compared 17,280 men and 5,970 women who decreased their running distance with 4,632 men and 1,953 women who increased their running distance over a 7.7-year period. He found that runners who decreased their distance from five to zero miles per week gained four times as much weight as those who decreased their distance from 25 to 20 miles per week. He also found that people who started running after an exercise layoff didn’t lose weight until their mileage exceeded 20 miles per week in men and 10 miles per week in women.

“We are getting fat because we don’t exercise sufficiently and consistently. The real solution to the obesity epidemic is getting people to exercise before they think they need it and to stick with it. The ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure,” says Williams. “Many scientists attribute the obesity epidemic to excess calories rather than exercise, because dieting has been shown to produce more weight loss than exercise. My findings suggest that calorie intake and body weight may be self-regulating in active individuals.”

The bottom line? If you're already exercising regularly ... don't quit! If you're not, get started and be consistent.

For more information go to: www.mayoclinic.com or www.healthresearch.lbl.gov.

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Photo credits: bald mannequin-Marc Dietrich; running couple-MG Mooij; sunset joggers-Kristy Pargeter

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

MARATHONS AND SUDDEN DEATH

Almost every weekend throughout the year, somewhere in the United States, a marathon is taking place, and I suspect that'€™s the case throughout many other parts of the world as well. One might think that organized marathons would cause a lot of traffic tie-ups and car crashes because of road closures, but it seems just the opposite is true. In fact, marathons lower the risk of fatal motor vehicle crashes that might otherwise have taken place if the roads had not been closed.

In the Christmas 2007 issue, BMJ-British Medical Journal released the results of a study of 26 established, randomly selected marathons examined over a 30-year period. Each marathon had at least 1,000 participants and took place on US roadways from 1975 to 2004. Sudden cardiac deaths following each marathon were recorded and compared to motor vehicle deaths during the same hours one week before and one week after each marathon. The same comparisons were then replicated for state counties that were outside the marathon route to check for spillover in traffic flow.

SURPRISING RESULTS
During the period of time studied, there were 26 sudden cardiac deaths, equivalent to a rate of 0.8 per 100,000 participants or about two deaths per million hours of exercise. But because of road closure, 46 motor vehicle fatalities were prevented that otherwise would have occurred, equivalent to almost two lives saved. The reduced risk couldn't be explained by re-routing traffic to other regions or days and was consistent across different parts of the country, decade of the century, seasons of the year, days of the week, and race characteristics.

MEDIA SENSATIONALISM
Millions of people take part in organized sporting events on a regular basis, and the outcome for a few participants is sudden death. These deaths attract widespread media attention, such as the high publicity given to deaths that occur in marathon runners. In contrast, sudden deaths from motor vehicle crashes occur more than a hundred times each day in the US alone and tend to be under-reported in the media.

THE REAL RISK
The data show that the final 1.6 km (about 1 mile) of the marathon accounts for almost half of the sudden cardiac deaths, so the authors of the study suggest the last half of the length of the marathon (and especially the last 1.6 km in particular) should contain the highest number of paramedic staffing and ambulance preparedness. The researchers concluded that the real risk, which is more dangerous than generally realized, was the final sprint followed by suddenly stopping.

For more information, go to www.marathonrookie.com/2008-marathon-calendar.html or www.britishmedicaljournal.com.

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

REVERSE BRAIN ATROPHY WITH EXERCISE?

Science told us in the past that we’re born with all the brain cells we will ever have (the moral of the story being “take care of what you’ve got, because you ain’t gonna get no more”). Well, surprise, surprise! New research shows that the old tale is not true.

In the late 1990s, several lines of research began turning investigators’ concepts of mood disorders upside down.

BRAIN CELL REGENERATION
Research showing that neurogenesis—the birth of new brain cells—can continue throughout life. They have found that the process of neurogenesis is an ongoing one, with new brain cells being born even as old brain cells die off. Researchers have also found that depression appears to inhibit this birth of new brain cells. In animal studies, stress puts a halt to the process of neurogenesis. Under stress, existing cells shrink and the total number of cells decreases. Exercise and “environmental enrichment,” on the other hand, have a beneficial effect. In humans, there are hints that exercise may help reverse brain atrophy.

THE ROLE OF DEPRESSION
People who’ve had depression are likelier to have a smaller hippocampus (a part of the brain that plays a role in emotion and is associated with memory and learning). The more severe and long-lasting the depression, the greater the loss of brain volume. This process of brain atrophy also affects the frontal lobes, which are involved in managing emotional reactions. The good news is that most of the change seems to be related to cell shrinkage, rather than outright cell death, and thus can potentially be reversed.

HOW DO ANTIDEPRESSANTS HELP?
What about the familiar neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine? They are still understood to play a significant role in mood disorders—but with a new twist. Most people are familiar with the research that underlies the use of fluoxetine (Prozac) and similar antidepressants. These drugs block the reuptake of certain neurotransmitters at receptor sites in the brain, thus increasing the concentrations of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the synapses (gaps) between cells in the brain. This increase is believed to be responsible for the elevation of mood.

PROMISING DISCOVERIES
The twist? More recently, instead of focusing on tinkering with the level of neurotransmitters between cells, researchers have looked at what happens when the neurotransmitter binds to the cell membrane. The reactions that then go on inside the cell are now thought to be more important to the cell’s functioning than the binding of the neurotransmitter to the outside. For instance, researchers have found that antidepressants increase levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps nourish neurons, helping them become more active and make more connections to other cells. Researchers also have found that antidepressants are involved in neurogenesis—at least in rats, increasing the production of new neurons in the rat hippocampus.

THE CAVEAT
The extent of the response varies among individuals and may be moderated by how severe a person’s depression has been, and how often it has recurred. And psychotherapy still has a role to play because how we interpret a stressful event can have a significant impact on our emotional response and ability to recover.

The above was excerpted from The Anatomy of Mood -- Biology and the Brain, published by Johns Hopkins Medical Research Hospital. For more information, go to www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com.

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In a recent comment, Tim Wang asked about whether I plan to publish a collection of the posts I have authored in the past and the answer is yes! Watch for the first volume of Vonnies Health Spot to appear by the end of January 2008! Soon there will also be CDs available and in the future we hope to produce DVDs of health lectures and exercises.

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

DANCING YOUR WAY TO HEALTH

A few years ago I was acting in commercials and one day my agent asked me if I knew how to ballroom dance. Off the cuff, I said “sure.” Driving home, I gave it a little more thought and decided, yes, I know how to dance a few steps and I have always been pretty good at following, but do I really know the patterns? The answer was no. So rather than call my agent and 'fess up, I called the nearest Arthur Murray dance studio. My reasoning was that I could take a few quickie lessons and get the moves I needed, then next time I was sent on an audition that involved dancing, I would nail the part.

I started my lessons, commuting 50 miles twice a week. First I started group classes, then I decided that wasn’t fast enough for me, so I took up private sessions. Long story short … I got hooked and started competing. I lost the 40 pounds I needed to shed, got the most toned I ever been in my life (except once about 10 years previously when I had been studying tae kwan do). I felt like an athlete. But those were the days ... not too long ago ... when people outside the dance subculture would snicker when I told them I was a competitive ballroom dancer. People on the inside knew what great workouts we were getting, but those outside looked upon ballroom dancing as kind of cheesy. Now …  finally … the rest of the world is figuring it out. My, how times have changed!

Thanks to the International Olympic Committee for giving ballroom dancing provisional recognition and to the television production of Dancing with the Stars, partner (ballroom) dancing is finally getting the mainstream attention that it deserves.

Writer Nancy Christie says in the fall issue of HealthSmart Today, “Long before ABC’s Dancing with the Stars became a blockbuster success, passionate souls—hidden away in small studios across the nation—have been waltzing their way to lean legs, tight glutes and sleek waistlines for years. Although the exhilaration of the music, the intricate moves and the closely held partner is what inspires most ballroom dancers to take to the floor, ballroom dancing is now being heralded as a great form of cardiovascular exercise.”

A recent study completed by Dr. Hermes Ilarraza of the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico, which he subsequently presented at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain, showed that partner dancing can give as good an aerobic workout as more conventional forms of exercise. And let’s face it … it’s a lot more fun than running on a treadmill.

The study was small … a group of 40 heart disease patients, all of whom committed to doing half an hour of exercise a day, five days a week, for five weeks. Twenty of the study’s participants got their exercise from a dance routine choreographed by a professional dancer, while the others worked out on stationary bicycles. Ilarraza found that the dance group’s exercise capacity increased by 28 percent, just 3 percent shy of the cycling group who came in at 31 percent.

In addition to cardio health, burning calories is important too. The chart below gives some typical calorie burns for the average-size person. Of course, the calorie-burn total can be higher or lower, depending on your age, weight and muscular development (even at rest, muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue).

Calories Burned
Per Hour            Activity       
    207            Ballroom (slow)
    306            Swing
    306            General
    326            Twist
    378            Ballroom (fast)
    394            Disco
    465            Hip Hop

According to Christie, “ … In addition to toning your leg muscles, dancing contributes to good posture and body alignment, it works your core and upper body, encourages gentle stretching, increases your flexibility and stamina, is weight-bearing so it builds healthy bones, and all that whirling and twirling helps you develop your balance like nothing else.” Also, for those of you who struggle with that ol’ demon depression, dancing pumps massive amounts of feel-good hormones into your system.

So if joining a gym seems worse than a trip to the dentist for you, try going to a dance studio instead. You will probably be pleasantly surprised.

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

JANUARY IS GYM MONTH, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE YEAR?

A well-known phenomenon in the fitness industry (and probably in the general population as well) is that in January there is a huge increase in gym membership sign-ups. People have come through the holidays just fine, but may have put on a little more girth around the middle than they’re happy about. With January being the month of fresh beginnings, they decide that this is the time to get into shape and take care of the jelly belly sitting on their belt line.

They start off fired with a host of good intentions, but by the end of February, the zeal has waned and the vision of that fancied svelte figure no longer remains a strong enough motivation to hie themselves off to the gym on a regular basis. That extra 3 to 5 pounds gained throughout last year begins to look normal, so while the fat cells settle in for a long stay, folks let out their clothing, stop buttoning the top button on their jeans, or buy new outfits in a larger size. And so it goes.

The catch is to realize that lean fitness is a lifelong endeavor. It doesn’t happen through harelike fits and spurts of obsessive dieting and exercise, only to be followed by the siren song of ennui, cycled over and over again throughout a lifetime. Instead, it requires the steadfast plodding of the tortoise, moving persistently toward the goal, maintaining a consistency of endeavor.

ONE GUIDELINE ABOVE ALL ELSE
Recently, the experts have settled on one measure that is the most important for maintaining your health. More important than the figures on your scale, more important than body-mass index, more important than your clothing size … it is your waist to hip ratio.

You can find out if you have dangerous fat deposits in your body by calculating this ratio. Excess fat usually concentrates in two different regions—your upper body (at the waistline or above) and your lower body (at hips and thighs). To determine your risk level, measure your waist at the smallest point between your rib cage and navel. Take your hip measurement at the widest point, around the buttocks. Then divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. If you’re female and have a ratio of over .80 or a man with a ration of more than .95, you’re likely to have increased health risks, such as cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, or arthritic joint problems for starters.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
You don’t have to go on a stringent diet, or work yourself into an exhausted heap on the floor. What you do have to realize is that this is a long-haul endeavor. But it’s as easy as walking for 30 minutes a day at a brisk pace, and cutting down on your food portions. Limit your fat and alcohol intake. It also is a good idea to build some muscle tissue, which is metabolically more active than fat. You can do that in the comfort of your own home. For the upper body, push-ups are always a good old standard as are squats for the lower body. Anything else you do for activity is gravy (pardon the pun).

So enjoy your piece of chocolate once in awhile, indulge in that glass of red wine. Just don’t go hog wild.

Then get on with the rest of your life.
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

FIBROMYALGIA: WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP YOURSELF?

Although fibromyalgia syndrome is not curable and has no blood tests to detect it, there are a variety of non-pharmacological treatments that can help relieve symptoms. Joan M. Bathon, MD, director of Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center writes an acclaimed quarterly report that focuses on late-breaking developments for treating arthritis-related conditions.

“Much of the success of fibromyalgia treatment lies with the patient, and many people report feeling better simply because a diagnosis has been made. It is reassuring for people to know that the disorder is not deforming or life threatening, and that they will be able to take steps to help better control their symptoms," says Dr. Bathon.

Dr. Bathon continues, “It’s very important for people with fibromyalgia to take a majority stake in their [own] improvement. They have to understand that, in most cases, they’re not going to be able to take a pill* that’s going to give them tremendous relief. Rather, it’s up to them to stretch, to exercise, to walk, to try to reduce stress in their lives … A willingness to be proactive and to learn ways to take better control over their symptoms is a critical factor in managing fibromyalgia.

There are two major goals in the treatment of fibromyalgia: (1) Lessen pain and fatigue; (2) Improve sleep.

WHAT ROLE DOES PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PLAY IN FIBROMYALGIA TREATMENT?
Getting up and moving is the key to improving fibromyalgia. A lack of physical activity worsens fibromyalgia symptoms because unconditioned muscles are more sensitive to pain. Although activity and exercise may be the last thing people with fibromyalgia want to do when they feel achy and tired, studies have shown that fibromyalgia symptoms improve after six to eight weeks of moderate aerobic exercise. It’s thought that aerobic activities such as walking, swimming, and bicycling raise the pain threshold and increase pain tolerance, along with physical stamina.

Dr. Bathon adds, “At Johns Hopkins, we encourage our fibromyalgia patients to explore different ways to become active and find what works best for them. It is important not to overdo activity, however. Start slowly, with perhaps 5 to 10 minutes of brisk walking a day, for example. As you begin to feel better, gradually increase the time of the exercise session until you are up to 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic activity at least three times a week. People whose pain is exacerbated by the jarring movements of weight-bearing exercise (such as walking or jogging) may try swimming or riding a stationary bicycle instead.”

For more information click on: www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com.

My note: The fibromyalgia exercise Rx above is also great for other ailments, such as metabolic syndrome, type-2 diabetes, etc., and for cardiovascular health!

*There are a lot of sites out there that have pills for sale, but it’s better to let your rheumatologist (arthritis specialist) prescribe for you and be in charge of your care rather than just buying pills willy-nilly.
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

HOLIDAY WEIGHT GAIN HAS HIDDEN CAUSES

’Tis the season to be jolly … and fat, and as the research into causes of obesity rumbles on investigators are uncovering some very interesting statistics. I found the following on the www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com site. 

“Weight control is far more complex than simply balancing calories consumed with energy expended. Here are 10 top (alternative) reasons why Americans are overweight—and some may surprise you.

“Rates of obesity are higher than ever in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than six in 10 American adults are overweight or obese—and most adults are about 25 pounds heavier than people were in the 1960s. To make matters worse, more than half of all overweight people actually think they’re at a healthy weight, according to a recent Associated Press poll.

In theory, weight control is a simple matter of balancing energy intake (the calories supplied by food) with energy output (the calories expended by physical activity, the digestion of food, and the functioning of your body). To lose weight, you need to expend more energy than you take in. In practice, however, the task is not that simple. While the basic principle of energy balance remains true, several mechanisms—genetic, metabolic and environmental—can affect how much you eat and how your body uses and stores energy.

IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE BALANCE OF CALORIES IN AND CALORIES OUT
“A revealing study published in the International Journal of Obesity (online edition, June 27, 2006) highlighted 10 reasons why Americans are fat. The study explained that too much food and a lack of exercise are not the only factors contributing to obesity. They identified 10 other possibilities:

    * Weight gain factor 1. Less sleep. We’ve gone from an average of nine to seven hours of sleep a night; sleep deprivation is linked to a more robust appetite.
    * Weight gain factor 2. Pesticides and other chemicals in foods. These substances can change hormonal activity, which can boost body fat.
    * Weight gain factor 3. Air conditioning and heating. We don’t sweat and shiver as much as our ancestors, so we don’t burn as many calories.
    * Weight gain factor 4. Fewer smokers. Nicotine is an appetite suppressant.
    * Weight gain factor 5. Greater use of medications, such as antidepressants and diabetes drugs, which have weight gain as a potential side effect.
    * Weight gain factor 6. Population changes. There are now more older people as well as more Hispanics in the United States, and these groups have higher rates of obesity.
    * Weight gain factor 7. Older birth mothers, whose children are more prone to excess weight gain than the offspring of younger mothers.
    * Weight gain factor 8. Genetics. Obese moms may pass the trait onto their children in utero.
    * Weight gain factor 9. Higher body weight = greater fertility. Heavy people produce more offspring than thinner people.
    * Weight gain factor 10. Assortative mating. Heavy people tend to mate with each other and produce heavy children.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF STRENGTH TRAINING
Then from Harvard Medical School, I received this bit of information that I will pass on to you. The following is an excerpt from the report Strength and Power Training, edited by Jonathan Bean, MD, MS, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department Of Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School Medical Director, Spaulding Cambridge Outpatient Center and Walter Frontera, MD, PhD, Dean, Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Professor of Physiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School.

“… strength training can improve your well-being. Chief among its health benefits is its ability to protect against frailty and make everyday tasks more manageable. Over the years, muscle tissue, bone denity, and strength all dwindle. So, too, does muscle power. These changes can make carrying a bag of groceries of climbing a flight of stairs much more difficult. The also open the door to falls and debilitating fractures—further compromising your ability to lead an active, independent life. Strength training is the most effective way to slow and possibly reverse much of this decline.

“Some muscle loss stems from the physiological effects of aging, but disuse plays a bigger role than many people suspect. Studies of older adults assigned to strength training consistently prove that a good deal of the decline in strength can be recouped.

“Likewise, power can be regained. With age and disuse, the nerve signaling system that recruits muscle fibers for tasks deteriorates. Fast-twitch fibers, which provide bursts of power, are lost at a greater rate than slow-twitch fibers. You might think of a nerve pathway as a set of paving stones leading to a destination. As the years pass, the path may become overgrown and disappear in spots rather than remain well traveled and clearly marked. Preliminary power training studies suggest that movements designed to restore neural pathways can reverse this effect.

“Having smaller, weaker muscles doesn’t just change the way people look or move. Muscle loss affects the body in many ways. Strong muscles pluck oxygen and nutrients from the blood much more efficiently than weak ones. That means any activity requires less cardiac effort and puts less strain on your heart. Strong muscles are better at sopping up sugar in the blood and helping the body stay sensitive to insulin (which helps cells remove sugar from the blood). In these ways, strong muscles can help keep blood sugar levels in check—which in turn helps prevent or control type 2 diabetes. Strong muscles enhance weight control too.”

The report continues on from there. You can probably get your hands on a copy by getting in touch with Harvard Health Publications, PO Box 9306, Big Sandy, TX 75755-9306. Subscribers to Harvard Health Newsletters can have it for $16, with no shipping and handling costs, otherwise the report costs $24. To sign up for the newsletter, go to www.health.harvard.edu/subinfo. Also click on www.over40-fitness.com

_______________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

FATHER OF AEROBICS SPEAKS OUT ABOUT FITNESS

A couple of years ago, Kenneth Cooper, M.D., MPH, and the founder and head of Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas and CooperLife, a residential healthy-living community in McKinney, Texas, broke his leg in a skiing accident. He was 74 years old. Up until that moment in time he had followed a regular, scheduled regimen of exercise. During the recovery period he says, “I became depressed, I gained weight, I felt my quality of life had gone downhill.” But as he slowly returned to his normal level of activity, he started feeling better and better. “I’ve had to substitute fast walking for running, but that doesn’t really make any difference,” he says. “Once I was moving again, my heart rate went down … I returned to my normal weight … my depression lifted. I felt great again.”

He says this proves “Even seniors like me can modify their exercise programs to compensate for injuries and other health problems and continue to stay active. I’m still working 50 to 60 hours a week and exercising at least an hour a day. You can get healthier as your get older. What’s more, to a great extent, you control whether this happens—not your doctor, not your insurance company, not the government.”

“We know from many studies that fitness is the single most important predictor of health and quality of life at any age. In general, people with the highest levels of fitness have the highest quality of life,” avers Cooper.

BENEFITS
Listed below are some of the benefits of fitness:
*Healing—If you’re an older adult who exercises regularly, skin wounds heal faster. It might also help you recover from other ailments.
*Cancer protection—Exercise lowers your risk for every cancer.
*Strong bones—Weight-bearing exercise, such as walking or running, lowers your risk of excessive bone loss after age 50.
*Longevity—Being fit can add three years to your life and you are 65 percent less likely to die prematurely than someone who is unfit.
*Mental health—Up your exercise quotient and you’ll improve your mental health.
*Physical function—You can delay by several years the age at which you develop even minimal disability by establishing good health habits today.

MOTIVATION
Dr. Cooper says, “In my many years of medical practice, I’ve heard, over and over again, the same six reason for not exercising, to the point where I’ve developed an acronym for them—TEMMPF. No time, no energy, no motivation, no money, no place, no fun.
*No time—Build exercise into your daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, pace while you’re talking on the phone, exercise while watching TV, etc.
*No energy—Just take the first few steps. It will energize you to take the next steps and to keep on going.
*No motivation—A sincere decision to keep your quality of life high is a big motivator. Think about the things you love to do. Getting fit and staying that way means you’re more likely to be able to continue doing them.
*No money—All you have to do is get out and go for a 30-minute walk three times a week. A gym membership or an expensive trainer is not necessary.
*No place—You can walk anywhere, in a mall, in your house or back yard, march in place while watching TV.
*No fun—Saying you’re bored by your fitness program is just an excuse. Find a walking group, listen to music while you walk, dance in your living room.

Cooper says, “Fitness is a journey, not a destination. If you keep it up for the rest of your life, you’ll find that you can build muscle mass and improve your overall fitness at any age, even if you’ve never exercised before.”

*Start your fitness program at any age.
*Continue your program as you age.
*Adjust your program to meet your changing needs and interests.

Dr. Cooper’s latest book, written with his son, Tyler C. Cooper, M.D. MPH, is Start Strong, Finish Strong (Avery, Sept. 6, 2007).

For more information, take a look at www.cooperaerobics.com or click on the amazon.com icon on this page to find out more about his latest book.
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.