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HEALTH NEWS
---------Exercise is safe for joints, reports Harvard Men’s Health Watch
It's easy to come up with excuses not to exercise. One of these—that exercise is hard on the joints and may cause arthritis—has been hard to dispel. Recent studies show that exercise can be safe for joints, both in older, overweight folks and in athletes, reports the September 2009 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
Between 1993 and 2005, the famed Framingham study found no link between exercise and arthritis of the knee. The most active people in this cohort had the same risk of arthritis as the least active. Although the Framingham study did not confirm that exercise is good for the joints, an Australian study did just that in 2004. It showed that people who performed the most vigorous weight-bearing exercise had the thickest, healthiest knee cartilage. In 2008, another study, which compared runners to nonrunners, found little evidence that exercise causes arthritis.
Not only is exercise safe for healthy joints, it is also safe for arthritic joints. Still, exercise can have side effects. If you don't already exercise and want to start, start gradually. If your general health is good, you don't need to see your doctor before starting. But older people and those with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or other significant problems should get medical clearance first. Above all, listen to your body as you exercise.
Warming up and cooling down will help protect your heart and joints, Harvard Men’s Health Watch notes. Stretching exercises, good shoes, and good technique will also reduce the chances you will injure a muscle or bone. With these simple precautions and a dose of common sense, exercise will be safe for your joints.
Read the full-length article at www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mens_Health_Watch/2009/September/exercise-plus more on Peripheral artery disease, Annual check-up numbers, and the link between gum disease and heart disease. A subscription to this magazine if $28 per year and is available by calling 877-649-9457.
----------Exercise can help the heart and mind, reports the Harvard Heart Letter
Mind and body are really two halves of the same whole. Each profoundly influences the other. Depression and heart disease are a good example of this duality. People who are depressed are more likely to develop heart disease than people who aren’t depressed, and those who have heart disease are more likely to fall into depression. But it is possible to exploit this two-way street and simultaneously heal the mind and the heart, reports the February 2009 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.
Depression isn’t just in the mind. It causes a host of physical changes that can lead to heart trouble. It increases inflammation, which is involved in artery-clogging atherosclerosis and the rupture of plaque. It boosts the production of stress hormones, which dull the response of the heart and arteries. It activates blood platelets, making them more likely to form clots in the bloodstream.
Behavioral changes wrought by depression may be even more important. People who are depressed find it hard to exercise, to pay attention to what they are eating, and to take medicines needed to protect the heart.
Depression isn’t a passing phase. Trying to “get through” depression by slogging onward is like trying to “get over” diabetes. Fortunately, a variety of treatments—especially exercise—can fight depression. The Harvard Heart Letter notes that a regular exercise program can improve mood even as it strengthens the heart by releasing mood-altering chemicals in the brain, improving the supply of energy and oxygen to the brain, spurring the growth of new nerve cells in the brain, and reinforcing connections between existing nerves.
The Harvard Heart Letter is available from Harvard Health Publications, the publishing division of Harvard Medical School, for $29 per year. Subscribe at <http://www.health.harvard.edu/heart>www.health.harvard.edu/heart or by calling 877-649-9457 (toll-free).
----------Fitness and Lifestyle: Exercise Alternatives to help keep those New Years' Resolutions
A new year calls for new fitness resolutions—or SOLUTIONS—that help overcome workout problems of this past year. No matter what the workout style, there are fun fitness alternatives that will help your readership stay motivated in 2009.
Although the best exercises depend on certain needs such as fat burning, fitness or muscle toning, one thing certain: the complicated component is staying motivated.
Below are fresh ideas for every personality type—fitness substitutions to help you obtain the same great workout benefits, with a new twist: (All statistics are from the American Council on Exercise, ACE.)
For the competition-seeker: Forget your tennis lessons— one hour of Wii Boxing burns over 400 calories. www.apple.com
For the independent: Yoga not only calms nerves and burns 173 calories per hour, but it also increases strength and endurance, improving balance, and of course, flexibility. www.yoga.com
For couples: Walking the dog together doesn’t cut it—Join a dance class! Arthur Murray is now offering Core Rhythms classes that fuse Latin ballroom dance and fitness while shedding 582 calories per hour. www.corerhythms.com
For the whole family: Setting a healthy example for children is required now more than ever—start a family routine by inline skating together, which burns 720 calories per hour! Free 3D lessons are offered on www.rollerblade.com
---------HALLOWEEN - PLAYING IT SAFE
From the candy to the costumes, Halloween is a fun-filled time for kids and parents alike. But it’s also a holiday that can pose dangers to young revelers. “Halloween is so much fun because it’s not like any other night. With the chance to dress up in costume and stock up on sweets, it’s the highlight of the year for many kids,” says Kate Cronan, MD, medical editor for KidsHealth® and an emergency room pediatrician at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE. “However, accidents do occur and parents need to take precautions to ensure their kids stay safe.”
KidsHealth.org, the most-visited website for children’s health information, offers these safety tips to help make this year’s festivity a trick-free treat:
Choose Costumes Wisely
• bull; Choose a light-colored costume – it helps kids be seen more easily.
• bull; Masks make it difficult for kids to see and breathe, so use nontoxic face paint or makeup instead.
• bull; Make sure that costume props, such as wands or swords, are flexible, in case kids fall.
• bull; Put a nametag — with your phone number — on your children’s costumes.
Trouble-Free Trick-or-Treating
• bull; Accompany young children under the age of 10 on their rounds and try to go early before it gets too dark.
• bull; For older kids going out on their own, be sure they carry a cell phone, if possible, go in a group and stay together, only go to houses with porch lights on,
and carry a flashlight with new batteries.
• bull; If kids want to visit neighborhoods other than your own, be sure to stress the rules about strangers.
• bull; Check all treats to make sure there are no signs of tampering and throw out loose candy, spoiled items, and any homemade treats.
• bull; Make sure your home is safe by removing anything that might obstruct your walkway, providing a well-lit entrance, and keeping pets away from trick-
or-treaters, even if they seem harmless to you.
Pumpkin-Carving Precautions
• bull; Children should never handle knives. Instead, let them draw their designs on the pumpkin and then you do the carving.
• bull; If your kids beg to remove the guts of the pumpkin — as many do — let them get messy by scooping out the flesh with their hands or an ice cream scoop
instead of a knife.
• bull; A burning candle in a pumpkin may become a blazing fire if left unattended. Use a glow stick (available in many colors) to safely illuminate your jack-o’-
lantern.
“One of the challenges of being a parent is to teach your kids to be cautious without filling them with fear or anxiety,” says Dr. Cronan. “Although some dangers do exist, you lessen your kids’ risk by teaching them safety rules early on.”
For more information about helping your little ghosts and goblins have a hauntingly happy and safe Halloween, visit www.kidshealth.org.
For a fun way to teach kids about eating too much candy, have them play the www.kidshealth.org/kid/closet/games/candy_game.###
About KidsHealth®
KidsHealth creates engaging online, print, and video media about a wide range of health and family issues. KidsHealth has a physician-directed, professional editorial staff – and is the largest resource of online children’s health, behavioral, and developmental information written for three distinct audiences: parents, kids, and teens. KidsHealth content is also available in Spanish. Each year, over 140 million families turn to KidsHealth.org for expert answers, making it the Web’s most-accessed site on children’s health. Recent accolades include a 2008 Parents’ Choice Gold Award for Best Website for Kids, the 2008 Webby Award for Best Family/Parenting Website and the Webby’s 2008 People’s Voice Award for the same. KidsHealth was previously honored as the Webby’s Best Family/Parenting Website and Best Health Website, and was selected as one of the 30 Best Websites by U.S. News & World Report and one of the 50 Coolest Websites by TIME magazine. KidsHealth also creates KidsHealth in the Classroom, a free website for educators featuring standards-based health curricula, activities, handouts, and more. KidsHealth comes from The Nemours Foundation, one of the largest nonprofit organizations devoted to children’s health. For more information about KidsHealth, visit www.kidshealth.org.
-----------Vitamin D Levels May Affect Chronic Pain in Women
Low levels of vitamin D may contribute to chronic pain in women, suggests a study that looked at 7,000 women and men in England, Scotland and Wales. Higher rates of chronic pain were reported by smokers, non-drinkers, and overweight and underweight people. Among women, vitamin D levels also seemed to be a major factor, BBC News reported.
Women with vitamin D levels between 75 and 99 mmol/liter -- a range believed necessary for good bone health -- had the lowest rates of chronic pain (8 percent), while women with vitamin D levels less than 25 mmol/liter had the highest rates of chronic pain (14.4 percent). No link between vitamin D and chronic pain was seen in men, which suggests female hormones may be a factor, said the researchers from the Institute of Child Health in London. They said further research is needed to determine if vitamin D supplements can protect women against chronic pain, BBC News reported.
The study was published in the journal Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
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