Tag Archives: Exercise Benefits

May 29, 2023 · 11:40 pm

Physical activities like a daily, 20-minute walk may help reduce disparities in heart health – AHA

Hearts are kept strong with regular physical activity, and daily activity such as a daily, 20-minute, brisk walk is key; however, some groups may have additional barriers that affect whether or not a daily walk is feasible. Increasing physical activity levels, particularly among people at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, has known heart health benefits and may help reduce cardiovascular health disparities, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal Circulation. An American Heart Association scientific statement is an expert analysis of current research and may inform future guidelines.

The new statement, “Increasing Equity of Physical Activity Promotion for Optimal Cardiovascular Health in Adults,” examines physical activity levels among different groups of adults, reviews strategies for increasing physical activity in groups that are under-resourced or at-risk for poor cardiovascular health, and offers suggestions for how to promote physical activity to reduce cardiovascular risk equitably through physical activity.

“Helping everybody improve their heart health is important,” said Gerald J. Jerome, Ph.D., FAHA, volunteer chair of the writing committee for the scientific statement and a professor in the department of kinesiology at Towson University in Towson, Maryland. “We found that many groups who had poor heart health also had low levels of physical activity. We know regular physical activity is a key component of optimal heart health. These findings provide an opportunity to focus our efforts on physical activity programs in places where people need them the most.”

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May 26, 2023 · 11:15 pm

Can exercise lower the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease?

Getting regular exercise such as cycling, walking, gardening, cleaning and participating in sports may decrease the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to new research published in the May 17, 2023, online issue of Neurology^®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found female participants who exercised the most had a 25% lower rate of Parkinson’s disease when compared to those who exercised the least. The study does not prove that exercise lowers the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. It only shows an association.

“Exercise is a low-cost way to improve health overall, so our study sought to determine if it may be linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating disease that has no cure,” said study author Alexis Elbaz, MD, PhD, of the Inserm Research Center in Paris, France. “Our results provide evidence for planning interventions to prevent Parkinson’s disease.”

The study included 95,354 female participants, mostly teachers, with an average age of 49 who did not have Parkinson’s disease at the start of the study. Researchers followed participants for three decades during which 1,074 participants developed Parkinson’s disease.

Over the course of the study, participants completed up to six questionnaires about the types and amounts of physical activity they were getting. They were asked how far they walked and how many flights of stairs they climbed daily, how many hours they spent on household activities as well as how much time they spent doing moderate recreational activities such as gardening and more vigorous activities such as sports.

Researchers assigned each activity a score based on the metabolic equivalent of a task (METs), a way to quantify energy expenditure. For each activity, METs were multiplied by their frequency and duration to obtain a physical activity score of METs-hours per week. For example, a more intense form of exercise like cycling was six METs, while less intense forms of exercise such as walking and cleaning were three METs. The average physical activity level for participants was 45 METs-hours per week at the start of the study.

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April 29, 2023 · 11:14 pm

Doing Household Chores May Be Good for Your Brain

Mopping floors, cleaning stovetops, dusting, and vacuuming may seem like hard labor, but new evidence may have you thinking differently about housework. A study published in Neurology in 2022 found a link between doing ordinary household chores and a lower risk of dementia. The researchers collected data from more than half a million cognitively normal adults ages 40 to 69, including information about their physical activity (leisure time and housework both counted) and mental activity, such as social interactions. They followed the subjects for an average of 10 years and found that regular housework-related activities were associated with a 21 percent lower risk of developing dementia. (Social engagement and other types of exercise were also beneficial.)

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“That’s a pretty significant reduction, on par with what we’ve seen from medical interventions to remove amyloid or reduce blood pressure,” says Sudha Seshadri, MD, FAAN, founding director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s & Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. “I think the real takeaway from this study, as well as other research, is that we shouldn’t be prescribing a particular kind of exercise or activity, but that overall, not being sedentary is helpful in preventing dementia. Instead of seeing housework as drudgery, we can view things like doing the laundry and changing the sheets as doing something good for our health.”

“When you’re cleaning mirrors or windows or walking around the house with a vacuum, you’re exercising,” says Carolee J. Winstein, PhD, PT, professor of biokinesiology and physical therapy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “You’re moving around, you’re increasing your heart rate and getting your circulation going, and you’re getting out of breath. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also try to incorporate more structured forms of exercise into your day. Both are important. But if you didn’t have time to go to the gym today, but you vacuumed and mopped your floors, you’re still investing in yourself.”

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April 25, 2023 · 11:39 pm

Whether physical exertion feels ‘easy’ or ‘hard’ may be due to dopamine levels

Dopamine, a brain chemical long associated with pleasure, motivation and reward-seeking, also appears to play an important role in why exercise and other physical efforts feel “easy” to some people and exhausting to others, according to results of a study of people with Parkinson’s disease led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers. Parkinson’s disease is marked by a loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain over time.

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The findings, published online April 1 in NPG Parkinson’s Disease, could, the researchers say, eventually lead to more effective ways to help people establish and stick with exercise regimens, new treatments for fatigue associated with depression and many other conditions, and a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease.

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April 24, 2023 · 11:46 pm

Indigenous populations and brain-aging

Among Indigenous, rural non-industrial populations inhabiting the tropical forests of lowland Bolivia, researchers report, there appears to be an optimal balance between levels of food consumption and exercise that maximizes healthy brain aging and reduces the risk of disease.

“We hypothesize that energy gain from food intake was positively associated with late life brain health in the physically active, food-limited world of our ancestors, but that obesity and other manifestations of a Western lifestyle now lead to greater cognitive aging and dementia in middle and older ages,” said UC Santa Barbara professor of anthropology Michael Gurven, a senior co-author on a study that published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For this paper, the researchers collaborated with the Tsimané and Mosetén tribes, two Indigenous populations that live along tributaries of the Amazon River that flow through lowland Bolivia. In comparison to urban post-industrialized populations, these groups have less reliable access to food and have to exert a lot of effort to get it. They also have less access to modern health care. Meanwhile, people in wealthy countries have largely grown accustomed to eating more and exercising less — habits that are associated with decreased brain volumes and faster cognitive decline.

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April 5, 2023 · 11:46 pm

Healthy Longevity – Harvard

Longevity is the achievement of a long life. We may hope for longevity so that we can experience many years of quality time with loved ones or have time to explore the world. But living to a ripe old age doesn’t necessarily mean healthy or happy longevity if it is burdened by disability or disease. The population of people over age 65 has grown more quickly than other age groups due to longer life spans and declining birth rates, and yet people are living more years in poor health. Therefore, we will explore not just one’s lifespan but healthspan, which promotes more healthy years of life according to Harvard School of Public Health.

What you do today can transform your healthspan or how you age in the future. Although starting early is ideal, it’s never too late to reap benefits.

Five factors for a longer and healthier lifespan

Healthy diet – The prevalence of hypertension (high blood pressure) and dementia increases with age. Eating patterns such as those from the DASH, MIND, and Mediterranean diets can lower the risk of these and other chronic conditions that accompany older ages.
Regular exercise – Regular physical activity lowers the risk of several chronic conditions that increase with age including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, and cognitive decline. Exercise also helps to lower anxiety and blood pressure, and improve sleep quality. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services first recommends to move more and sit less, with some activity better than none. For additional health benefits, they advise a minimum of 150-300 minutes weekly of moderate to vigorous activity, like brisk walking or fast dancing, as well as two days a week of muscle-strengthening exercises. Older adults who are at risk for falls may also wish to include balance training such as tai chi or yoga. See additional physical activity considerations for older adults.
Healthy weight – Determining one’s healthy weight range is unique for each person. Factors to consider include reviewing current health conditions, family history, weight history, and genetically inherited body type. Rather than focusing on scale weight alone, monitoring an increase in harmful visceral “belly fat” and weight change since age 20 may be useful.
Not smoking – Smoking is a strong risk factor for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung diseases, and earlier death as it promotes chronic inflammation and oxidative stress (a condition that can damage cells and tissues). [2] Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Quitting greatly reduces the risk of these smoking-related diseases. [4]
Moderate alcohol – Research finds that moderate drinking, defined as 1 drink daily for women and 2 drinks daily for men, is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, and early death from cardiovascular disease. Low to moderate amounts of alcohol raises levels of “good” cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and prevent small blood clots that can block arteries. However, because alcohol intake—especially heavier drinking—is also associated with risks of addiction, liver disease, and several types of cancer, it is a complex issue that is best discussed with your physician to weigh your personal risk versus benefit.

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April 3, 2023 · 11:24 pm

For clues to healthy brain aging, look to the Bolivian Amazon

Some of the lowest rates of heart and brain disease ever reported by science are found among Indigenous communities inhabiting the tropical forests of lowland Bolivia. New USC research on two of these societies, the Tsimané and Mosetén, suggests that there are optimal levels of food consumption and exercise that maximize healthy brain aging and reduce the risk of disease.

The study appears on Monday, March 20 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thanks to industrialization, humans now enjoy greater access to food, less physical toil and better access to health care than ever before. However, we’ve grown accustomed to eating more and exercising less. Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are associated with smaller brain volumes and faster cognitive decline.

To better understand the tipping point where abundance and ease begin to undermine health, the researchers enrolled 1,165 Tsimané and Mosetén adults, aged 40-94 years, and provided transportation for participants from their remote villages to the closest hospital with CT scanning equipment.

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March 19, 2023 · 10:29 pm

Further on walking …

I have written about the benefits of walking for more than 10 years, calling it the ‘Cinderella’ of the exercise spectrum, completely unappreciated. Now comes the Wall Street Journal with a wonderful article on more favorable aspects of walking.

if you are concerned about weight loss and calorie-burning:

Intensifying your fitness routine could come from the simplest change possible: how you put one foot in front of the other.

Walking with more intensity can burn as many calories as higher-impact activities such as running or even HIIT classes, experts say. That could mean incorporating weights, hills, intervals or a faster pace without breaking into a jog.

What about walking faster:

Speed up those steps and research suggests you can boost longevity. Plus, you can get the same—if not greater—calorie burn on a 20-minute walk where you incorporate intervals at a brisk pace as you would from a 40-minute walk at a leisurely pace, Dr. Allison says.

” …for those looking to lose weight: Along with making healthy diet choices, you need to increase the intensity of your exercise. If jogging or running is uncomfortable on your joints, Dr. Allison suggests power walking, where you swing your arms, and race walking, where one foot remains in contact with the ground at all times.

But speed isn’t the only way to up the ante through walking:

Incorporating hills into your walking routine is a low-impact way to challenge the muscles and heart more, says Abrea Wooten, senior national education manager for gym company Life Time Inc. Ms. Wooten walks uphill wearing a weighted vest on a treadmill to help train for ultramarathons. “It’s so much gentler on my joints,” she says. “The incline puts less stress on the knees.”

Finally, you can check out my Page: Why you should walk more if you need further convincing.

Tony

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March 15, 2023 · 10:47 pm

Daily 11 minute brisk walk enough to reduce risk of early death – Cambridge

One in ten early deaths could be prevented if everyone managed at least half the recommended level of physical activity, say a team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

In a study published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers say that 11 minutes a day (75 minutes a week) of moderate-intensity physical activity – such as a brisk walk – would be sufficient to lower the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and a number of cancers.

Cardiovascular diseases – such as heart disease and stroke – are the leading cause of death globally, responsible for 17.9 million deaths per year in 2019, while cancers were responsible for 9.6 million deaths in 2017. Physical activity – particularly when it is moderate-intensity – is known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and the NHS recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity a week.

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To explore the amount of physical activity necessary to have a beneficial impact on several chronic diseases and premature death, researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis, pooling and analyzing cohort data from all of the published evidence. This approach allowed them to bring together studies that on their own did not provide sufficient evidence and sometimes disagreed with each other to provide more robust conclusions.

In total, they looked at results reported in 196 peer-reviewed articles, covering more than 30 million participants from 94 large study cohorts, to produce the largest analysis to date of the association between physical activity levels and risk of heart disease, cancer, and early death.

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March 7, 2023 · 11:46 pm

Exercising at least once a month linked to better brain function in later life – UCL

Exercising at least once a month at any time in adulthood is linked to better cognitive functioning in later life, a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers has found.

The study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry looked at data from 1,417 people who filled in surveys about their leisure-time physical activity (sports and exercise) over three decades and took cognitive tests at the age of 69.

The research team found that people who reported being physically active at least one to four times a month in five separate surveys, at the ages of 36, 43, 53, 60-64, and 69, had the biggest cognitive effect. This effect was greater than for those who reported exercising frequently (more than five times a month) during at least one survey period, but who did not necessarily keep this up across multiple surveys.

Lead author Dr Sarah-Naomi James (MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Aging at UCL) said: “Our study suggests that engaging in any leisure-time physical activity, at any point in adult life, has a positive effect on cognition. This seems to be the case even at light levels of activity, between once to four times a month. What’s more, people who have never been active before, and then start to be active in their 60s, also appear to have better cognitive function than those who were never active.

“The greatest cognitive effect was seen for those who stayed physically active throughout their life. The effect is accumulative, so the longer an individual is active, the more likely they are to have higher later-life cognitive function.”

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March 3, 2023 · 11:43 pm

US neighborhood walkability influences physical activity, BMI levels – BU

A new study led by Boston University School of Public Health found that people in highly walkable neighborhoods were more likely to engage in adequate physical activity.

For the first time, a study examined perceived neighborhood walkability, physical activity, and obesity indicators on a national level, finding that people who lived in walkable neighborhoods were more likely to be physically active and have lower BMIs—but this association differed among Black, Hispanic, and Asian populations.

Three out of four adults do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week. As obesity and related chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, and diabetes continue to rise in the US, a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher is examining how neighborhood walkability may influence physical activity and obesity rates.

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March 2, 2023 · 11:20 pm

Here’s how to feel more alert in the morning – BPS

Sometimes we wake up feeling alert, alive, and ready to face the day – while other mornings we struggle to pull back the duvet and get out of bed. The reason is often clear: a late night making us less alert, or a calming bedtime routine giving us a good night’s sleep. Now a new study, published in Nature Communications, finds that there are a number of factors that impact both how we wake up and how alert we feel for the rest of the morning – and the good news is that they are almost all things we can control.

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Participants were 870 adults from the UK and 95 from the United States. Most participants were twins, which allowed the researchers to explore the genetic contributions to our morning alertness and determine whether changeable or innate factors were more important.

First, participants completed various baseline questionnaires, including measures of how well they normally slept, how much caffeine and alcohol they consumed, and how much exercise they got. They also indicated whether they had ever received a diagnosis of depression or anxiety.

The study then took place across the course of two weeks. Every day for breakfast, participants consumed standardized test meals which differed in nutritional composition – for example, some were higher in carbs, some in fat, some in protein and some in fiber. At several points each morning after breakfast, they rated how alert they were. During the day and night, they also wore physical activity monitors, to gauge how much physical activity they got and how long they slept. Participants also recorded other dietary intake each day on an app.

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February 27, 2023 · 11:35 pm

Lifestyle and Dementia: What You Can Do – Tufts

While life-altering cognitive decline is not always a part of aging, one in three people is likely to have some form of dementia by age 85. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s diseases or any other form of dementia, and the few existing treatments can only slow the onset and progression of these conditions. Prevention is our best weapon, and lifestyle choices play a major role in keeping our brains healthy.

Take Charge!

Take Care of Your Heart. Work with your healthcare provider to control blood pressure, blood sugar, and serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Get Moving. Engage in moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
Eat Right. Consume a healthy dietary pattern, such as a Mediterranean-style diet, reduced sodium DASH diet, or the AHA heart healthy diet described on page 2.
Butt Out. Avoid exposure to tobacco products.
Watch your Head. Reduce risk of head injuries by wearing appropriate safety helmets and practicing fall prevention.
Keep the Mind Active. Engage in novel cognitive activities, like continuing formal education, learning a new language or instrument, or doing challenging puzzles.
Rest and Relax. Get good quality sleep (treat sleep apnea if present), and manage stress, anxiety, and depression.
Prioritize Friends. Stay socially active.
Listen Up. Seek help to improve your hearing if you suspect you don’t hear well.

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February 21, 2023 · 11:09 pm

Following healthy lifestyle may reduce risk of long COVID – Harvard

Key points:

A healthy lifestyle was associated with a reduction in the risk of long COVID
Findings suggest simple lifestyle changes, such as having adequate sleep, could prevent long COVID symptoms

Women who followed most aspects of a healthy lifestyle, including healthy body weight, not smoking, regular exercise, adequate sleep, high quality diet, and moderate alcohol consumption, had about half the risk of long COVID compared with women without any healthy lifestyle factors, according to a study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“With ongoing waves of COVID-19, long COVID has created a serious public health burden. Our findings raise the possibility that adopting more healthy behaviors may reduce the risk of developing long COVID,” said Andrea Roberts, senior research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and senior author of the study.

The study appeared online February 6, 2023, in JAMA Internal Medicine.

It’s estimated that 8-23 million Americans suffer from long COVID, which is defined as having COVID-19 symptoms four weeks or more after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Symptoms can include fatigue, fever, and a variety of respiratory, heart, neurological, and digestive symptoms.

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February 5, 2023 · 11:22 pm

What is the best time of day to exercise for heart health?

Morning physical activity is associated with the lowest risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a study in more than 85,000 individuals published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the ESC. The findings were consistent regardless of the total amount of daily activity.

“It is well established that exercise is good for heart health, and our study now indicates that morning activity seems to be most beneficial,” said study author Ms. Gali Albalak of Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands. “The findings were particularly pronounced in women, and applied to both early birds and night owls.”

The study used data from the UK Biobank. It included 86,657 adults aged 42 to 78 years who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. The average age was 62 years and 58% were women. Participants wore an activity tracker on their wrist for seven consecutive days. Participants were followed for incident cardiovascular disease, which was defined as the first hospital admission or death related to coronary artery disease or stroke.

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January 10, 2023 · 11:42 pm

Pumping iron may help you live longer – CSPI

We wanted to know if weightlifting alone—or in combination with aerobic exercise—influences one’s risk of early death,” says Jess Gorzelitz, assistant professor of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

“So we asked a group of roughly 100,000 older adults about their lifestyle, and then we followed them for about 10 years.”
Those who hit the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic activity—150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week—were nearly a third less likely to die over those 10 years. That’s no surprise, since aerobic activity improves cardiovascular fitness and is linked to a lower risk of several cancers.