Physical Activity News and Research

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Vigorous exercise can slow down arthritis

Almost 60 percent of Americans age 65 and older suffer from some form of arthritis, a progressive joint disease which is the leading cause of disability in the United States. For more than 1 in 10 sufferers, arthritis makes simple, everyday tasks, from walking up a flight of stairs to bathing and dressing, extremely difficult and by 2010, the disease is expected to affect almost 40 million Americans over age 65, increasing the ranks of senior citizens with disabilities that limit independent living.

7 Apr 2005

HHS to tackle obesity among African Americans

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced today the award of $1.2 million to improve efforts to reduce obesity among African Americans through a new partnership with national African American organizations.

7 Apr 2005

Mediterranean diet makes you live longer

The Mediterranean diet is associated with longer life expectancy among elderly Europeans, finds a study published online by the BMJ today.

7 Apr 2005

You need to do vigorous activity if you want to be lean

Adolescents who get daily vigorous physical activity tend to be leaner and fitter than their less active peers, researchers have shown.

7 Apr 2005

Obesity costs California $21.7 billion a year

California businesses are feeling the financial pinch from employees with obesity-related health conditions, State Public Health Officer Dr. Richard J. Jackson announced today. The combined cost of physical inactivity, obesity and overweight totaled $21.7 billion in 2000, according to a new report, The Economic Costs of Physical Inactivity, Obesity and Overweight in California Adults, the first such research conducted for California.

5 Apr 2005

Operation yields best results for severe obesity

Surgical treatment of severe obesity provides long-term wait loss and better quality of life compared with conventional treatment in primary health care. This is shown in a ten-year follow-up of the psychosocial component of the Swedish Obese Subjects project, SOS, at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg.

4 Apr 2005

California teens do not get regular physical activity

Teenage girls, teens from low-income families, teens with no access to safe parks or open spaces, teens whose schools do not require physical education, and Latino, Asian, and African American teens are particularly at risk according to researchers at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

4 Apr 2005

$Why do black South Africans have a low hip fracture rate despite low calcium intake?$

Why do black South Africans have a low hip fracture rate despite low calcium intake?

After Nelson Mandela was released from prison February 11, 1990, all children born in the great Johannesburg area were enrolled in a 20-year longitudinal study. Officially known as “Birth to Twenty,” the study and its 3,273 youth, are colloquially referred to as “Mandela’s Children.” It’s the largest and longest running study of child and adolescent health and development in Africa, and one of the few large-scale longitudinal studies in the world.

3 Apr 2005

Girls more active with sports they enjoy

The more enjoyable a physical education program can be made for adolescent girls, the more likely they are to be physically active, according to new research in the March issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

29 Mar 2005

Body fat may promote inflammation

Why does extra fat around the waist increase the risk of heart disease? A new study by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researchers and colleagues suggests that inflammation may be the key.

28 Mar 2005

Heart attacks can be triggered by physical exertion and emotional stress

Philip Strike and Andrew Steptoe of University College London, in a review published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, of dozens of studies done between 1970 and 2004 have come up with compelling evidence that indicates that people with a history of heart disease, can trigger heart attacks, some of them fatal, by physical exertion and emotional stress.

23 Mar 2005

Physical exertion and emotional stress can trigger heart attacks in people with a history of heart disease

Authors Philip Strike and Andrew Steptoe of University College London point out that the triggers for heart attacks may be quite different from the factors that lead to development of coronary heart disease over the long term, such as cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, work stress, social isolation, anxiety and depression.

22 Mar 2005

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome respond to placebos at a lower rate

Contrary to conventional wisdom, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome respond to placebos at a lower rate than people with many other illnesses, according to the first systematic review of the topic.

22 Mar 2005

Being physically active in middle age helps people maintain higher physical function later in life

“Participation in a physically active lifestyle appears to be critical to preserving high physical function in relatively fit, healthy, middle-aged men and women,” according to Dr. Melvyn Hillsdon of University College London and colleagues.

21 Mar 2005

Heart disease risk in older women identified by simple blood test

Postmenopausal women who are not identified by traditional cardiovascular risk factors, could benefit from a simple blood test to show their white blood cell (WBC) count which may predict cardiovascular events and risk of death.

15 Mar 2005

Simple blood test may help to predict cardiovascular risk in older women

White blood cell (WBC) count may predict cardiovascular events and risk of death in postmenopausal women who are not currently identified by traditional cardiovascular risk factors, according to an article in the March 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

14 Mar 2005

Active brains stave off Alzheimer's signs

Mice who keep busy playing with toys also keep their brains and bodies active; more importantly, they also have lower levels of the peptides and brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease, compared to mice raised in environments not "enriched" with chew toys, running wheels,and tunnels, according to a new study in the 11 March issue of the journal Cell.

13 Mar 2005

Aspirin does not prevent first heart attacks or death from cardiovascular causes in women

The Women's Health Study is the first large clinical trial to study the use of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke in women.

7 Mar 2005

Nutrition Month in Canada

Health ministers in Canada have taken the bull by the horns and announced March to be Nutrition Month to highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity.

3 Mar 2005

Natural mentoring relationships positively impact teens

Natural mentoring relationships positively impact teens, but these relationships do not meet all the needs of at-risk youth, according to a study by University of Illinois at Chicago researchers. The study appears in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

2 Mar 2005