The heart is an incredible organ, not only delivering a constant, reliable stream of life-giving oxygen and nutrients, but also responding instantly to challenges like stress, cardiovascular workouts and high-intensity bursts of energy.
“The human brain seems to benefit from physical activity at each age. Moving matters—especially for those brain regions that are important for learning and memory, such as the hippocampus,” said Carsten Diener, PhD, to IDEA Fitness Journal, as a result of new research available in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry (2013; doi: 10.3109/15622975.2013.803600).
Researchers from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina reported recently in PLOS ONE (2013; 8 , e76632) that 40 years of nutrition information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey—the gold standard database for such information—may be fatally flawed.
Rhabdomyolysis at a Glance
Definition. Muscle breakdown that leaks harmful proteins into the bloodstream. Causes. Crushing injuries; repetitive bouts of eccentric exercise, intense exercise or high-repetition exercise; blood restriction to tissues; some drugs. Threats. Renal failure, blood clotting, irregular heart rate.
Bergeron, M.F., et al. 2011. Consortium for Health and Military Performance and American College of Sports Medicine consensus paper on extreme conditioning programs in military personnel. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 10 (6), 383–89.
For anyone who wants to get slim or maintain a healthy body weight, reading food labels is widely considered a vital dietary strategy. Supermarkets have thousands of them, those black-and-white Nutrition Facts labels telling shoppers how many calories each portion of a product contains. Many recipes in magazines and diet books also indicate the calories you’ll take in with every serving. But now science is showing that not all calories are created equal and those numbers aren’t always, well, black and white.
Childhood obesity, inactivity and poor food choices are taking a toll on today’s youth. In some cases, structured exercise is encouraged for weight management. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t seem to be working.
According to the National Stroke Association, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in America and a leading cause of adult disability. A stroke can significantly impact quality of life and reduce functional capacity. However, research presented at the Canadian Stroke Congress in October suggests that stroke patients who engage in regular exercise can improve function.
According to a study from the British Medical Journal, (2012; doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001711), a daily power walk offers more heart health benefits than a leisurely stroll, even if the stroll lasts longer.
As part of The Copenhagen City Heart Study, the researchers followed 10,135 men and women aged 21–98 for 10 years. The purpose was to find links between leisure-time physical activity and risk of developing metabolic syndrome.