Saturday 22 August 2015

But research also finds that too much high-intensity running may harm heart.

But there is likely a tipping point, concluded the authors of another new study that looked at the cardiovascular health of endurance athletes, when the heart no longer benefits and may even suffer damage.
The first study, by researchers from the University of South Carolina and the Ochsner Health System, in New Orleans, was presented Saturday at the American College of Sports Medicine meeting, in San Francisco. It analyzed the link between running and cardiovascular-related deaths in nearly 53,000 adults. Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
The participants were between the ages of 20 and 100 and had undergone a medical exam between 1971 and 2003. All were free of heart disease, cancer and diabetes at the start of the study.
The researchers gleaned information from questionnaires in which the participants reported their leisure-time activities, including their running habits; about 27 percent said they ran.
The scientists used data from the National Death Index and found that the runners had about a 20 percent lower mortality rate than the non-runners, said lead researcher Dr. Chip Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, in New Orleans.
Running lowered the risk for mortality when a person did not exceed more than 20 miles a week, log more than five to seven miles per hour, or run more than two to five times a week, the authors reported.
"Although higher doses [of running] are not associated with worse outcomes when compared with non-runners, those with higher doses of distance, frequency and speed seemed to lose the survival advantage gained at lower doses of running," Lavie noted.
Another study, published in the June issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reviewed the scientific literature on the effect of extreme endurance training — such as that performed by marathoners, triathletes, professional cyclists and ultra-marathon runners — and found it can lead to long-term heart damage.
"There's probably nothing better a person can do for themselves for their long-term health than daily exercise," said Dr. James O'Keefe, lead author of the second study and a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri and Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. "But if you train more than the cardiovascular system is designed to handle, you can tax your heart and do damage."
He pointed out that the certain cardiovascular biomarkers become elevated during extreme training in some athletes.
"Even though they go back to normal within a week, over months and years, the elevations may lead to heart damage and increased susceptibility to certain types of arrhythmias," O'Keefe said.
He also noted that in one recent study, 12 percent of apparently healthy marathon runners showed "patchy myocardial scarring."
Ultra-marathon running and professional cycling have also been linked with as much as a fivefold hike in atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, the researchers reported. There is also some suggestion that long-term excessive exercise may be linked with coronary artery calcification and large-artery wall stiffening, but more research is warranted, they added.
To help paint a clearer picture of how exercise affects the heart, O'Keefe explained, "You and I pump about five quarts of blood a minute around our bodies. If we exercise hard, it might go up to 25 quarts per minute. You're demanding a lot of your heart. While the heart is an extremely resilient organ and you can train it up and it can do amazing things, we believe that over the long haul, it's healthier for people to do more moderate exercise."
"Beyond 30 to 60 minutes a day, you reach a point of diminishing returns," he said.
If you crave high-intensity exercise, he said, try to stick to interval training — smaller bursts at a time, instead of prolonged intensity.
Marathon runner and cardiologist Dr. James Eichelberger, an associate professor of medicine in the cardiology division at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, in New York, said while it is true that athletes who train extremely can develop mild changes in heart chamber volumes and even small leakage of cardiac biomarkers into the bloodstream, "most of these changes normalize soon after cessation of extreme exercise. Long-lasting negative effects are not clear, and most likely do not negate the well-known long-term benefits."
His advice: "Be consistent and avoid extremes if you are exercising solely for health." In other words, "Don't be a weekend warrior."
When it comes to suggesting weekly mileage guidelines, Eichelberger hesitated. "I'm not sure there is really a correct distance that applies to everybody. The idea that running less than 20 miles a week is good, and running more than 20 is bad — I'd view that with a lot of skepticism. It probably truly varies depending on a lot of different factors — patient age, whether they're in shape or not and other comorbidities, among other factors," he said.
He also noted that the heart's not the only part of the body that's affected by extreme endurance training; it takes a toll on the musculoskeletal system as well.
Lavie, an author on the second study as well as the first, said the endurance athlete study shows that prolonged, intense exercise has its risks.
"We know people are going to want to run marathons and triathlons, and doing this occasionally is probably okay," Lavie said. "But from a health standpoint, it would be best not to become a very frequent long-endurance exerciser."
"Mix it up. Go do some yoga, or strength-training," O'Keefe added.

How to Exercise With Health Conditions

There are many benefits to be gained from regular exercise. It can lower blood pressure, improve heart function and blood sugar control, alleviate depression, ensure good sleep, decrease risk of cancer, and help manage weight, says Susan Joy, MD, director of the Women's Sports Health Program at the Cleveland Clinic.
Exercise Benefits for Every Body 
Those benefits aren't limited to people who are able to exercise strenuously. Even a little bit of daily walking and physical activity has health benefits. As Dr. Joy says, "Physical activity is something everybody should build in, pretty much no matter what your health." People of all ages and levels of fitness can benefit from regular physical activity done at a moderate level of intensity.
If you have a disability, regular exercise may improve your ability to do everyday tasks. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has established physical activity guidelines for adults with disabilities, recommending at least 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity physical activity, as well as muscle-strengthening activities, when possible.
When to Talk With Your Doctor Before Exercising 
If you're under age 35 and in good health, it's generally agreed that you can begin an exercise program without consulting a physician. If you don't have other health problems, you can safely start a slow, progressive exercise program even if you're overweight, says Joy. But obesity increases the risk of heart conditions, so see your doctor first if you're seriously overweight and you haven't already been screened for heart disease.
If you have a personal history of heart disease, take medication for a heart condition, or have a family history of heart disease in a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling, or child), you should talk with your doctor before beginning an exercise program. And so should older individuals — men over 40 and women over 50 — because the risk of heart disease increases with age.
You should also check with your doctor first if you have chronic pain due to a structural problem, such as a joint or spine disorder, or pain due to injury or surgery. You may need help from a trained fitness professional in designing an exercise program that can accommodate any range-of-motion limitations. You can also benefit from a professional’s guidance if you're planning a more vigorous exercise program designed to increase your strength or endurance.
Getting Started With Exercise 
People sometimes overestimate their level of fitness and physical activity, says Joy. You need to honestly assess your fitness level, then work gradually to increase it. It's best to start slowly, to prevent injury. Overexertion isn't helpful, as it can have adverse effects. If you need to interrupt your exercise program because of illness, start at a lower level when you resume.
Exercise Safety Considerations 
If you have health problems, you may want to consider wearing a medical alert bracelet and letting your exercise partners and health club staff know about your condition. Stop your workout if you experience chest pain, an irregular heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, or shortness of breath.
On the other hand, don't let fear of injury stop you from exercising. It's one of the most important things you can do to improve your health.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

10 Tips to Quit Smoking



Giving up smoking can be hard but you can do it. Many smokers try more than once before they are successful.

Here are some tips to help you quit smoking.
  1. Pick a 'quit date' and stick to it. Increase your chances of success by choosing a day on which you are not likely to be subject to lots of stress.
  2. List your reasons for quitting. Knowing why you want to stop smoking will motivate you to keep going. You can refer to this list whenever you feel tempted to light up a cigarette.
  3. Decide on your quitting strategy. Do you intend to go cold turkey, use nicotine replacement therapy or attend group courses?
  4. Analyse what went wrong if previous attempts to quit didn't work. Plan how to avoid the same pitfalls this time.
  5. Ask for professional help. Support is available from your doctor, a smoking cessation course or the Quitline telephone service.
  6. Use the 4Ds method to cope with cigarette cravings. This means you delay lighting up anddeep breathedrink water and do something else until the urge passes.
  7. Give yourself a pat on the back. Every time you resist the urge to smoke, you're one step closer to breaking your nicotine habit for good.
  8. Reward yourself for not smoking. Put your cigarette money aside and spend it on treats such as a book, DVD or restaurant meal.
  9. Plan for tough situations. For example, you might decide to turn down social invitations for a few weeks if your cigarette cravings are stronger when you're out drinking with friends.
  10. Take it one day at a time. Focus on not smoking today and don't be swayed into having 'just one' more.

Take care of your health  ^_^


5 Tips to Stay Healthy If You Sit at a Computer All Day 2015

It might be due to the darkness that accompanies shorter days, or the invasion of warmer, comfier clothes into the winter workplace, but now is the time when long hours, slouching, slumping, and straining dominate the office. Clean up your act around the computer, before bad habits lead to poor health.

Here are five ways to make sure your computer desk doesn’t become the death of you.
1. Give your monitor a second look.
If your screen is planted directly on your desktop, it’s time to ask management for a raise — for your computer’s display. According to Dr. Jim Sheedy, director of the Vision Performance Institute at Pacific University, the top of your the screen should be level with your eyes. The ideas is to get the eyes looking down about 10 degrees. If it’s any lower or higher, computer users will adapt to it by moving their head. If your screen is to low, your head points down, causing neck and back aches. High displays, meanwhile, contribute to dry eye syndrome.
2. Poor posture? Take it on the chin.
Poor posture is something that every office-based employee should consider throughout their day. Most people sitting at a computer get drawn into the screen, which means they crane their necks forward. This imbalance puts strain on the neck and spine. It’s like holding a bowling ball with one hand, says Dr. James Bowman, of Portland, Ore.-based Solutions Chiropractic. If your arm is vertical underneath, it puts less strain on the muscles, but lean that ball forward and your muscles have to compensate to keep it aloft. Sitting at a desk, that bowling ball is actually our head, so Bowman recommends chin retractions, or making a double chin, to keep the neck and spine lined up underneath.
“It’s probably the most effective single exercise you can do for the upper back and neck,” he says.
3. Stand up for yourself.
The modern workplace was built around the concept of sitting, but humans’ ability to stand goes back millions of years. Buck the trend of the office era with a standing desk — or, if that’s too radical, a sit-stand workstation. According to research out of the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic, sit-stand workstations helped workers replace 25 percent of their sitting time with standing up, which can increase their sense of well being and decreased their fatigue and appetite. The Jarvis Desk can go from 26-inches to 51-inches at the push of a button, lifting up to 350 pounds of whatever’s on your desk—including multiple monitors.
“I definitely feel healthier standing while working as it causes me to be more focused on my posture and ‘hold’ myself better in terms of my stomach and shoulders especially,” says Dan McCormack, who uses a Jarvis Desk at his home office in Austin, Texas.
4. Move it or lose it.
But why stand when you could walk? Many offices around the country are getting wise to treadmill desks, which can help workers burn 100 calories more per hour over sitting, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health.
“The most important thing is to switch it up and work in different positions throughout the day,” says Emily Couey, Eventbrite’s vice president of people. The online event ticketing service offers multiple workspace options including traditional sitting desks, standing desks, and treadmill desks, which Couey says “people love, because it allows them move while they work — especially those with fitness trackers counting their daily steps.”
5. Pace yourself.
All work and no play makes Jack a bad employee. Whether it’s on their phone in the bathroom or on the computer in their cube, everyone takes sanity breaks to check their Facebook or read some news. The Pomodoro Technique even encourages this kind of behavior by breaking tasks into “pomodoros,” intense 25 minute work bursts, followed by five-minute breaks.
Named because they can be measured using little tomato-shaped kitchen timers (Pomodoro is Italian for tomato), this method lets people work intensely and stave off distraction, yet rewards them with time to goof off, as well. If you don’t have a tomato timer handy, there are a lot of apps online to keep track of your sessions. But Francesco Cirillo, the technique’s founder, recommends using the real deal.
“You have to be able to actually wind it up,” Cirillo says in his book, The Comodoro Technique. “The act of winding up the Pomodoro is a declaration of your determination to start working on the activity at hand.”
Take care of your health ^_^
source : 
http://time.com/3566809/computer-health-tips/

10 TOP TIPS FOR HEALTHY BACK

Follow these simple guidelines to keep your back in good shape:
  1. Standing… keeping one foot forward of the other, with knees slightly bent, takes the pressure off your low back.
  2. Sitting… sitting with your knees slightly higher than your hips provides good low back support.
  3. Reaching… stand on a stool to reach things that are above your shoulder level.
  4. Moving Heavy Items…  pushing is easier on your back than pulling. Use your arms and legs to start the push. If you must lift a heavy item, get someone to help you.
  5. Lifting… kneel down on one knee with the other foot flat on the floor as near as possible to the item you are lifting. Lift with your legs, not your back, keeping the object close to your body at all times.
  6. Carrying… two small objects (one in either hand) may be easier to handle than one large one. If you must carry one large object, keep it close to your
    body.
  7. Sleeping… sleeping on your back puts 55 lbs. of pressure on your back. Putting a couple of pillows under your knees cuts the pressure in half. Lying on your side with a pillow between your knees also reduces the pressure.
  8. Weight Control…  additional weight puts a strain on your back. Keep within 10 lbs. of your ideal weight for a healthier back.
  9. Quit Smoking…  smokers are more prone to back pain than nonsmokers because nicotine restricts the flow of blood to the discs that cushion your vertebrae.
  10. Minor Back Pain…  treat minor back pain with anti-inflammatories  and gentle stretching, followed by an ice pack.

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