Energy drinks increase heart strain

Healthy adults who consumed energy drinks high in caffeine and taurine had significantly increased heart contraction rates one hour later.

Healthy adults who consumed energy drinks high in caffeine and taurine had significantly increased heart contraction rates one hour later, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Until now, we haven't known exactly what effect these energy drinks have on the function of the heart," said radiology resident Jonas D?rner, MD, of the cardiovascular imaging section at the University of Bonn, Germany, which is led by the study's principal investigator, Daniel K. Thomas, MD. "There are concerns about the products' potential adverse side effects on heart function, especially in adolescents and young adults, but there is little or no regulation of energy drink sales."

Energy drinks represent a multibillion dollar industry that is growing every day. While teenagers and young adults have traditionally been the largest consumers, in recent years more people of all demographics have begun consuming energy drinks.

More emergency department visits

A 2013 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that in the US from 2007 to 2011, the number of emergency department visits related to energy drink consumption nearly doubled, increasing from 10 068 to 20 783. Most of the cases were identified among patients aged 18 to 25, followed by those aged 26 to 39.

"Usually energy drinks contain taurine and caffeine as their main pharmacological ingredients," Dr D?rner said. "The amount of caffeine is up to three times higher than in other caffeinated beverages like coffee or cola. There are many side effects known to be associated with a high intake of caffeine, including rapid heart rate, palpitations, rise in blood pressure and, in the most severe cases, seizures or sudden death."

For the study, which is ongoing, Dr D?rner and colleagues used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the effect of energy drink consumption on heart function in 18 healthy volunteers, including 15 men and three women with a mean age of 27.5 years. Each of the volunteers underwent cardiac MRI before and one hour after consuming an energy drink containing taurine (400 mg/100 ml) and caffeine (32 mg/100 ml).

Compared to the baseline images, results of cardiac MRI performed one hour after the study participants consumed the energy drink revealed significantly increased peak strain and peak systolic strain rates (measurements for contractility) in the left ventricle of the heart. The heart's left ventricle receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it to the aorta, which distributes it throughout the rest of the body.

Additional studies required

"We don't know exactly how or if this greater contractility of the heart impacts daily activities or athletic performance," Dr D?rner said. "We need additional studies to understand this mechanism and to determine how long the effect of the energy drink lasts."

The researchers found no significant differences in heart rate, blood pressure or the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle of the heart between the volunteers' baseline and second MRI exams.

"We've shown that energy drink consumption has a short-term impact on cardiac contractility," Dr D?rner said. "Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of long-term energy drink consumption and the effect of such drinks on individuals with heart disease."

Dr D?rner said that while long-term risks to the heart from drinking energy drinks remain unknown, he advises that children, as well as people with known cardiac arrhythmias, should avoid energy drinks, because changes in contractility could trigger arrhythmias. He also cautions that additional study is needed to address risks posed by the consumption of energy drinks in combination with alcohol.

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Dutch government warns about e-cigarettes

The Dutch Health Ministry sounded an early warning about the possible health risks of electronic cigarettes.

The Dutch Health Ministry sounded an early warning on Thursday about the possible health risks of electronic cigarettes, announcing plans to clamp down on labelling ahead of European regulations.

The move followed an analysis of existing scientific research by the National Institute for Public Health, the leading Dutch government health advisory body.

The institute said it was concerned about a lack of evidence on the possible health effects of e-cigarettes, and said that as a precaution, they should not be used by pregnant women or in the vicinity of children.

Some health experts say e-cigarettes – battery-powered metal tubes that turn nicotine-laced liquid into vapour – may be the answer to helping millions of smokers to quit cigarettes and thereby avoid the damaging health effects of smoke.

Smoking tobacco causes lung cancer and other chronic respiratory diseases and is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, the world's number one killer.

May outsell conventional cigarettes

Tobacco has an annual death toll of 6 million people, and the World Health Organisation says that could exceed 8 million by 2030 unless something urgent is done to stop people smoking.

All the top tobacco companies are investing in e-cigarettes, which some analysts have predicted may outsell conventional cigarettes in 10 years.

But they are far from universally accepted as a public health tool - with some critics worried they will not break nicotine addiction and may be a "gateway" to regular cigarettes - and the fast-growing market is largely unregulated.

The Dutch institute also recommended banning flavour and scent enhancers in e-cigarettes that contain nicotine because of concerns they may attract children to smoking.

Citing the institute's findings, Dutch deputy health minister Martin Van Rijn argued that e-cigarettes are as addictive as tobacco cigarettes because they contain nicotine, and he said there was no proof of claims by manufacturers that they help smokers quit.

"There is insufficient scientific evidence to be able to say whether the quantities of toxins in the exhaled air are dangerous for bystanders," Van Rijn wrote in a letter to parliament on Thursday.

Flashing lights

"In advance of European regulations, I will take measures in national legislation in regard to advertising, safety, quality and labelling of e-cigarettes," the letter said.

Additional research will be conducted by the institute to learn more about e-cigarettes, the ministry said.

The warning came as Britain signalled it would force tobacco companies to scrap branded cigarette packaging on Thursday in an attempt to reduce the number of children who may be drawn to smoking by striking and brightly coloured packs.

The Dutch institute raised concerns on its website last week that e-cigarettes are attractive to young people because of bright colours, flashing lights and jewellery-like appearance.

Roughly 11 to 18 percent of Dutch smokers have tried the e-cigarette, while about 5 percent said they use it regularly, the ministry said.

More than $2 billion

Market consultant Euromonitor estimates the world market for electronic cigarettes was more than $2 billion last year, with the United States accounting for a quarter of that.

A few countries have banned them outright – such as Brazil, Norway and Singapore – while others are opting for varying degrees of regulation, in some cases including limits on advertising and curbs on their use in public places.

Big tobacco companies are grappling with declining sales of tobacco in a number of markets due to increasing government regulation and more health-aware consumers, as well as smuggling and an economic downturn.

Philip Morris International Inc, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said this month it plans to enter the e-cigarette market next year, saying it is the "greatest growth opportunity".

Imperial Tobacco Group plans to launch two electronic cigarettes in its new fiscal year.

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Acupuncture could help in dentist's chair

For people who fear going to the dentist, a natural remedy may help them overcome thier gag reflex.

Acupuncture may provide relief for dental patients who reflexively gag during procedures like teeth impressions, according to Italian researchers.

Up to 20% of the US population has severe anxiety at the dentist's office. People who cannot help their gag reflex may unintentionally deprive themselves of the best dental care, write Giuseppa Bilello and Antonella Fregapane, both from the University of Palermo in Sicily.

Acupuncture may be one strategy to solve that problem, the pair suggests."It is a small study, and that is one weakness," Dr Palle Rosted told Reuters Health.

"But it is a good start."Rosted is a consultant acupuncturist with Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield, England. He was not involved with the current study.

The researchers recruited 20 people with a history of gag reflex in the dental chair to have upper and lower teeth impressions taken under normal circumstances and then immediately after acupuncture. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 80.

No comparison group

For the first round of upper teeth impressions, they reported an average gag reflex score of 7 on a 0-10 scale, with 10 representing the maximum nausea sensation. During the second round, the researchers applied acupuncture needles about 30 seconds before taking impressions and left the needles in until the procedure ended.

On average, gag reflex scores dropped to just 1.The pattern was similar for gag reflex scores during lower teeth impressions done with and without acupuncture, according to findings published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine. The researchers point out that they can't be sure the improvements were due to the acupuncture needles themselves – in part because there was no comparison group that didn't get acupuncture.

Another possibility is that gag reflex scores improved because participants were more used to the impressions the second time around. Still, "It has certainly given us some more evidence that acupuncture may be effective," Rosted said.

The study's positive result "is something that we doctors definitely need exposure to and to keep in mind as a possible option," Dr. Preeti Nair said.

"We rarely think of acupuncture, and usually use local anaesthetics."Nair was not part of the current research. She has studied gag reflex at the People's College of Dental Sciences & Research Centre in Bhopal, India. One difference between a drug like local anaesthesia and acupuncture could be side effects.

"We haven't gotten all of the details in our hand, but with acupuncture, the side effects could be less," Nair said. Much more research is needed on the subject, she added. In order for a large, randomised controlled trial - the gold standard in medical research – to be done on this subject, dental offices and academic institutions may have to work together, said Chris Dickinson of King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's Hospital in England. In England, the British Dental Acupuncture Society offers training for dentists in certain dental applications of acupuncture, said Dickinson, who was not involved in the new study.

Simple technique

"There are very few contraindications associated with acupuncture and dental operations that we've experienced," Dickinson said. "But we don't use the technique in patients with metal allergies, pregnant women and those with needle phobias."

Dickinson noted that other acupuncture points could have been used for gag control such as ear points and LI4, also known as the Hegu point. Researchers in the current study placed needles in the PC6, EX 1 and CV24 acupuncture points on the face and wrist."The message to dentists is that it's a simple technique and easily learned," Dickinson said.

"It's also cost-effective. Even though it does not work in every case there's very little lost by trying it."In the US, acupuncture typically costs about $100 per session. One of the positive aspects of acupuncture is that after an operation, a patient may choose to drive home, which is not possible with other treatments, such as general anesthesia, Rosted said. "The risk of causing harm with this treatment is nearly non-existent," he said.

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Blood vessels reorganise after face transplants

Blood vessels in face transplant recipients re-organise themselves, leading to an understanding of the biologic changes that happen after full face transplantation.

Blood vessels in face transplant recipients re-organise themselves, researchers have found, leading to an understanding of the biologic changes that happen after full face transplantation.

The results of the study have been presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America .

Face transplantation is a recent development in reconstructive surgery for patients who have lost some or all of their face from injury or disease. The first full face transplantation in the US was carried out at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in 2011.

As part of the procedure, surgeons connect the patient's major arteries and veins to those from a donor face to ensure healthy circulation in the transplanted tissue. Because the technology is new, not much is known about the vascular changes that help blood penetrate into the transplanted tissue.

Arteries and veins

 The development of new blood vessel networks in transplanted tissue is critical to the success of face transplant surgery.

 "We assumed that the arterial blood supply and venous blood return was simply from the connections of the arteries and the veins at the time of the surgery."
                
 Co-author Dr Frank J Rybicki,  director of the hospital's Applied Imaging Science Laboratory and his fellow researchers used 320-detector row dynamic computed tomography angiography (CTA) to study the facial allografts of patients one year after successful transplantation.

 The CTA technology offers imaging over 16cm of coverage, enabling the researchers to view collateralisation, a process in which the body stimulates existing blood vessels to elongate, widen and form new connections.

Larger vessels

"The key finding of this study is that, after full face transplantation, there is a consistent, extensive vascular reorganisation that works in concert with the larger vessels that are connected at the time of surgery," said another researcher, Dr Kanako K Kumamaru.

"We have found that since the vessels more commonly associated with the back of the head are critical to maintain the vascular reorganisation.”                    
The authors note that the findings could help improve surgical planning and assessment of potential complications in face transplant patients.

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Blacks happier at work than whites

Research shows that although black people report being happier at work, they tend to have fewer friends in the workplace.

Despite working in more routine and less autonomous jobs, having fewer close friends at work, and feeling less supported by their co-workers, blacks report significantly more positive emotions in the workplace than whites, according to a new study in Social Psychology Quarterly.

"We were surprised by this," said lead author Melissa M. Sloan, an assistant professor of interdisciplinary social sciences and sociology at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. "Based on the history of discrimination against African Americans in the workplace, we thought blacks would experience more negative emotions at work than whites. As it turned out, the opposite was true."

Titled, "Counting on Coworkers: Race, Social Support, and Emotional Experiences on the Job," the study considered more than 1 300 state government employees in Tennessee.

Sloan and her co-authors Ranae J. Evenson Newhouse, an assistant professor of sociology at Tennessee State University, and Ashley B. Thompson, an assistant professor of sociology at Lynchburg College, also found that the higher the percentage of minorities in a workplace, the more close friends blacks had and the fewer whites had.

Negative emotions and race

In workplaces with a low percentage of minority employees — 13% or less — black workers said they considered 39% of their co-workers to be close friends versus 61% for white workers. However, in workplaces with a high percentage of minority employees — 35% or more — black workers said they considered about 42% of their co-workers to be close friends versus 46% for white workers.

"What was surprising to us about these findings was that the percentage of minority workers in a workplace more strongly influenced the friendships of whites than blacks," Sloan said.

In addition, the study found that the more minorities in a workplace, the more negative emotions whites experienced at work. "This is a concern because the increased negative emotions of white workers in racially diverse workplaces can negatively impact the workplace atmosphere," Sloan said.

Sloan and her co-authors also discovered that while providing social support to co-workers negatively affected the emotional experiences of white workers, it was associated with increased levels of positive emotion among black workers. "By providing support to colleagues, black workers may feel valued and more integrated into the work environment," Sloan said. "In contrast, white workers who do not experience social isolation in the same way as black workers do, may find providing support to be a burden."

In terms of policy implications, Sloan said the study suggests that more research is needed to determine how to encourage people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds to develop supportive relationships with each other. "Simply increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the workplace might not be enough to foster social connections between workers with different backgrounds and, in fact, may elicit negative emotions among members of the majority group," Sloan said.

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600 teens start smoking every day

The number of teenage smokers is increasing, with research showing that in London the daily tally is 67 new smokers a day.

UK national figures on smoking prevalence are available, but the researchers* wanted to estimate smoking uptake among children, to provide some baseline data to inform efforts for preventive measures, and focus attention and resources on what is "essentially a child protection issue."

This is because taking up smoking at a young age is an even greater risk to health than starting later in life, they say. Smoking at a young age affects lung development and boosts the risk of progressive lung disease (COPD).

And people who start smoking before the age of 15 run a higher risk of developing lung cancer than those who take up the habit later on, even if the cumulative number of cigarettes smoked is smaller, they add.

How the study was done

The researchers based their analysis on data taken from the 2011 'Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England' survey, which targets schoolchildren in England between the ages of 11 and 15 every year.

Questionnaires were completed by 6519 children in 219 schools. And by comparing the numbers of current smokers - regular and occasional - with smoking rates among the same age band surveyed the previous year, the researchers were able to estimate the numbers of new 11 to 15 year olds starting to smoke in 2010-11 in the UK.

To calculate the number of new child smokers for each locality, this estimate of 207 000 was then split across geographical areas according to population size and smoking prevalence among adults, on the assumption that there would be more child smokers where the proportion of adult smokers was high. Parental smoking is one of the strongest predictors of smoking among children.

The researchers then used population and adult smoking prevalence data for each of the four UK countries to calculate the number of new child smokers for each locality.

The analysis indicated that among the 3.7 million children aged between 11 and 15 in the UK, an estimated 463 start smoking every day in England, with the equivalent figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, 55, 30, and 19, respectively.

Of 74 000 children in this age group in Birmingham, nine take up smoking every day, while the daily tally in London is 67 out of 458 000 children in this age group.

The authors acknowledge that as their figures are calculated from survey data, they can only be approximate, but the fact that they are regional might be more helpful to healthcare professionals and regulators, they say.

Smoking rates among both adults and children are falling in the UK, but the figures are still high, so the pressure needs to be kept up to reduce smoking further, say the authors.

This means increasing taxation, curbing smuggling, and running well-funded anti-smoking media campaigns, as a well as banning smoking in cars and introducing plain packaging to reduce children's exposure to branding, they say.

"Smoking is among the largest causes of preventable deaths worldwide," they write. "The present data should help to raise awareness of childhood smoking and to focus attention on the need to address this important child protection issue," they conclude.

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Party-season survival plan

If you've been watching your diet over the past months and getting ready to show off your new figure this summer, you may be approaching the party season with some trepidation.

Hooray! The end of the year is in sight and the party season has officially started. Though we're still slaving away at the office to get all the last things done before year-end, we're partying equally hard to reward ourselves for all the hard work.

If you've been watching your diet over the past few months and getting ready to show off your new figure this summer, you may be approaching the party season with some trepidation. Parties = foods and drink galore = kilojoule bombs = bikini crisis.

Before you sink into a deep pit of depression and deprivation, take heart: food fests and trim waistlines do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Follow these tips and you can have the best of both worlds:

• Never go to a party hungry. Have a healthy balanced snack beforehand and you'll be far better able to resist temptations.
  
• Once you're at the party, don't torture yourself by lingering near the buffet table. The persistent call of your favourite party snack will become totally irresistible if you hover there long enough.
  
• When you do feel like having a snack, avoid the fried, fatty foods, chips, nuts and cheese platters which are very high in kilojoules.
  
• Rather opt for the vegetable crudités and fresh slices of summer fruit. Watch out for the fatty mayonnaise and creamy dips.
  
• When it comes to drinks, choose carefully. Alcoholic drinks, especially cocktails, can be loaded with kilojoules and they also tend to make you feel like eating unhealthy snacks.
  
• Add soda water or ice to your wine, use sugar-free mixers with spirits and drink lots of water in between.
  
• And finally, shake that booty. If dancing on the tables or jumping into the pool is not part of your party repertoire, make some time for at least 30 minutes of exercise every day - this will act as the perfect antidote to that forbidden snack that somehow snuck past your willpower right into your mouth.

Here's to a healthy, fun-filled summer.

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Obese people do have more heart attacks

An analysis supports the idea that obese people who are otherwise healthy are still at risk of heart problems down the road.

A new analysis supports the idea that obese people who are otherwise healthy are still at risk of heart problems down the road.

Contrary to previous results

Researchers who reviewed past studies found that even heavy people who didn't have high blood pressure or diabetes, for instance, had more heart attacks and strokes over time than healthy normal-weight people. That runs contrary to the results of some recent shorter-term reports, which suggested people could be obese but heart-healthy.

"It made perfect sense to say there might be a group that have extra body fat but aren't necessarily at risk," James O. Hill said. "I think what this study says is, they are. It's just that the risk may be lower (than among obese people who also have other problems) and it might take a little longer to see it."

Studies over 10 years or more

Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado in Aurora, co-wrote a commentary published with the new analysis. Canadian researchers pooled the results of eight studies that followed normal-weight, overweight and obese people over time. Some of those participants were metabolically healthy. Others had a mix of heart-related risk factors like a large waist circumference, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low "good" cholesterol and diabetes.

The studies included just over 61,000 people. Over a period of three to 30 years, depending on the study, about 4,000 of them died or developed heart problems. At first, obese people without metabolic problems didn't seem to be any more at-risk than slimmer participants who were also metabolically healthy. Then, however, the researchers looked only at studies that followed people for 10 years or more. They found that over time, heavy but healthy people in those studies were 24 percent more likely to die, have a heart attack or stroke or develop heart failure.

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Cape Town Marathon winner tests positive for banned steroid

The SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) has announced today that the Cape Town Marathon winner Lindhikaya Mthangayi tested positive for a prohibited anabolic steroid.

The SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) has announced today that the Cape Town Marathon winner Lindhikaya Mthangayi tested positive for a prohibited anabolic steroid, Methandienone, and will face a doping charge at an independent tribunal.

Lindhikaya Mthangayi tested positive in an in-competition test conducted by the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport at the Cape Town Marathon on 22 September 2013.

This is Mthangayi’s second offence as the athlete tested positive in 2009 for the stimulant, methylhexaneamine during the Nedbank Marathon series and received a six-month ban.

Mthangayi has the option to request his B-Sample analysed to confirm A-sample result. If Mthangayi is found guilty, he faces the possibility of a four to six-year ban from sport.

“It is our responsibility as the national anti-doping organisation to protect the clean athletes and uphold the integrity of sport. Athletes should expect that any event they compete in will be subject to drug testing,” explains SAIDS CEO, Khalid Galant.

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Mild heart disease may pose equal risks for men and women

Doctors say the rate of heart attacks and death among men and women with heart disease is similar and some have the same chance of avoiding severe consequences.

Men and women with mild heart disease share the same risks, at least over the short term, a new study suggests.

Doctors have thought that women with mild heart disease do worse than men. This study, however, suggests that the rate of heart attacks and death among men and women with heart disease is similar.

Meanwhile, both men and women who don't have build-up of plaque in their coronary arteries have the same good chance of avoiding severe heart-related consequences, said lead researcher Dr Jonathon Leipsic.

Diagnose plaque

"If you have a normal CT scan, you are not likely to have a heart attack or die in the next 2.3 years - whether you're a man or a woman," said Leipsic, director of medical imaging at St  Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"That's an important new finding."

Leipsic said the ability to use a CT scan to diagnose plaque in the coronary arteries enabled researchers to determine that the outcomes are the same for men and women, regardless of what other tests show or what other risk factors patients have.

The results of the study were discussed at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

More on Coronary artery disease

When the coronary arteries - the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart  - start building fatty deposits called plaque, coronary artery disease occurs. Over time, plaque may damage or narrow the arteries, increasing the chances of a heart attack.

Dr Gregg Fonarow, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, said coronary artery disease is associated with both fatal and nonfatal heart episodes, even when a person's arteries aren't narrowed. Fonarow was not involved with the new research.

What did the new find?

The new study found similar increased risk for major adverse cardiac events in men and women, even after risk adjustment, said Fonarow, who is also a professor of cardiology at the University of California in Los Angeles.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in both women and men.

"Irrespective of sex, controlling the seven major heart health risk factors - smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, inactivity and poor diet - can substantially reduce the risk of the development and progression of coronary artery disease," Fonarow said.

What do the findings suggest?

These new study findings also suggest that effective medical therapy, along with lifestyle modification, should be started in both men and women who have mild heart disease, he said.

For the study, Leipsic and his colleagues used data from a large international study registry. That registry included nearly 28 000 people from six countries who had images taken of their hearts.

The researchers identified more than 18 000 people without known heart disease whose scans were normal or showed mild disease, in which arteries were less than 50% blocked.

These patients, including about 8 800 women and 9 300 men, were then matched with more than 11 000 similar patients.

Risk factors

Based on scan findings and standard risk factors for heart attack and death, the researchers calculated that men and women with mild heart disease had the same risk for death or heart attack.

In addition, men and women who didn't have any heart disease had the same odds for good outcomes, Leipsic said.

Over more than two years of follow-up, only about 250 of the 18 000 patients had a heart attack or cardiac-related death, the researchers said.

Because the new study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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Staying active all day linked to healthy ageing

A study conducted in Sweden shows that a generally active life, even without regular exercise, is tied to better heart health.

A generally active life, even without regular exercise sessions, is tied to better heart health and greater longevity in a study of older Swedes.

Based on nearly 3 900 men and women over the age of 60 in Stockholm, the study adds to evidence suggesting that just sitting around may be actively harmful, researchers say.

Lead author Elin Ekblom-Bak, of the ?strand Laboratory of Work Physiology of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm said: "We have known for 60 years that physical activity is important for the heart,"

But until recently the research has mainly focused on exercise and has "forgotten" about the background activity that we do every day, she said.

Whether someone exercises vigorously or not, it usually takes up a few hours of the day. That leaves the rest of the time for sitting still or engaging in non-exercise activities, like home repairs, lawn care and gardening, car maintenance, hunting or fishing.

Low intensity activities

For older people, who tend to exercise less vigorously than younger people, spending more time doing low-intensity activities like the above could help cut down on sitting time, Ekblom-Bak and her colleagues write in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Between 1997 and 1999, more than 5 000 60-year-olds were invited to participate in the study, which began with a questionnaire about health history, lifestyle and daily activities, as well as medical tests and measurements.

At the study's outset, people who were more active on a daily basis, regardless of their exercise levels, tended to have smaller waists and healthier cholesterol levels.

The participants were followed for the next 12.5 years. During that time nearly 500 people had a first-time heart attack or stroke and nearly 400 people died.

Least active

People who had reported high levels of daily non-exercise activity were less likely to suffer a heart-related event and less likely to die than those who were the least active.

For every 100 people reporting low activity levels who had a heart attack or stroke, for example, only 73 highly active people experienced such events. For every 100 of the least active who died, only 70 of the most active did.

"These are fascinating findings," said David Dunstan, of the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, "but not really surprising since other studies that have looked at this from a different angle - that is, describing the detrimental relationship between excessive sitting and mortality outcomes - are essentially showing the same thing but in reverse because there is such a high correlation between sitting time and non- exercise physical activity behaviours.

Move more and sit less

"While sitting, muscles do not contract and blood flow decreases, which reduces the efficiency of many body processes, like absorbing glucose from the blood, said Dunstan, who studies heart health and exercise.

Non-exercise activity likely prevents the general slowing-down associated with sitting, he said.

"Moderate-to-vigorous exercise helps strengthen the heart muscle and other body muscles and may help regulate blood pressure more than general activity, Dunstan said.

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Male and female brains do develop differently

While not every woman is intuitive or every man handy with tools, neurological scans of young males and females suggest that their brains really do develop differently.

While not every woman is intuitive or every man handy with tools, neurological scans of young males and females suggest that – on average – their brains really do develop differently.

The research comes with a caveat: It doesn't connect the brain-scan findings to the actual ways that these participants behave in real life. And it only looks at overall differences among males and females.

Still, the findings "confirm our intuition that men are predisposed for rapid action, and women are predisposed to think about how things feel," said Paul Zak, who's familiar with the study findings.

"This really helps us understand why men and women are different," added Zak, founding director of the Centre for Neuro-economics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California.

Connectivity in the brain

Researchers Ragini Verma, an associate professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues used scans to explore the brains of 428 males and 521 females aged 8 to 22.

The goal was to better understand the connectivity in the brain, Verma said, and determine if certain types of wiring are in good shape or like a road "that could be broken or has a bad rough patch that needs to be covered over."

The study found that, on average, the brains of men seem to be better equipped to comprehend what people perceive and how they react to it. Females, on average, appear to be better able to connect the parts of their brains that handle analysis and intuition.

"It starts when they're young," Verma said. "It manifests itself when they are adolescents."

To put the results another way, "men's brains are biased toward rapid understanding of a situation and how to respond to it, especially in how to act and move in response to information," Claremont's Zak said. "Women's brains are biased toward integrating information with feelings."

The findings suggest the hormones that begin to kick in during adolescence push the male and female brains in different directions, he said.

Why the man drives

Why the "It tells us why, almost always, when men and women are in a car together, the man drives," Zak contended. "His brain is biased toward being better at moving a vehicle along a road and going to the right place, the stereotype of the lost man notwithstanding."

Also, "women maintain and value friendships and other relationships better than men do. Men can have many friends, but on average we are less good at this," Zak said.

Verma, the study co-author, said the next step in the research is to figure out if people behave differently depending on how their brains are wired.

The study appears online in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

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Childhood stress linked to higher blood pressure

A new US study offers more evidence that childhood experience may have health effects that echo into adulthood.

A new US study offers more evidence that childhood experience may have health effects that echo into adulthood.

Based on health data for 500 unrelated black men over age 20 enrolled in the Howard University Family Study, researchers found those who had lived with one parent rather than two as children had higher average blood pressure readings.

The men who had grown up in single-parent households also had a 46% greater risk of developing high blood pressure, also known as hypertension."These differences in mean blood pressure and the prevalence of hypertension among men raised in two-parent households vs. single-parent households during childhood are quite significant," Debbie Barrington said.

Barrington led the study at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities with colleagues at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Childhood living arrangements

About 1 in 3 US adults has high blood pressure, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, which are leading causes of death.

Generally, the lower the maximum blood pressure (the top number), the better, with a reading under 120 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) considered best.

Previous studies have linked childhood living arrangements to aspects of high blood pressure, but this one is the first to examine black men a population at particular risk for hypertension.

Men who had lived with both parents as children tended to have a maximum blood pressure 4.4 mmHg lower than those who had never lived with both parents. The differences in maximum blood pressure between men raised by two parents versus one were greater than the changes produced by some common prescription blood pressure medications, Barrington said.

The men from two-parent households also tended to have a smaller difference between maximum and minimum blood pressure as the heart pumps, and a lower average pressure, all of which are usually for the better.

Single-parent households

The gaps widened further for men who had lived with both parents between ages 1 and 12, averaging 6.5 mmHg lower maximum blood pressure readings than men from single-parent households, according to the results published in the journal Hypertension.

It might not actually be the presence or absence of parents that directly affects blood pressure, but the number of parents in the home could indicate other important childhood risk factors, Barrington said.

Children who grow up in single-parent households are more likely to experience poverty, and early childhood poverty has been linked to later health problems like hypertension, she said.

Among the study participants, "Those men who grew up in two parent households during childhood were also more likely to experience less economic hardship and subsequently less stress in early life," she said.

"Less childhood stress potentially delays the rise of blood pressure that increases with age, lowering one's risk of hypertension in adulthood. "Childhood family living arrangements might, for research purposes, be equivalent to social and economic status, Barrington said, though she did not collect economic data on the men's childhood households.

If that kind of economic background information had been taken into account, she said, the protective effect of having two parents in the home might have been smaller or might have disappeared.

'Hard-wiring' for hypertension

Research has shown that living with two parents improves the social circumstances of black American boys, increasing their academic success and employment prospects and decreasing the likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse, Barrington pointed out.

"There is substantial evidence that changes in family structures can augment environmental stressors and unmask genetic, ethnic and cultural factors in the African-American predilection for hypertension," said Richard Millis, who was not involved in the study.

To begin to translate these results to useful principles in daily life, the medical community should begin by "educating the educators", namely nurses, doctors and health professionals, said Millis, an associate professor of physiology and biophysics at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. Doctors can then help patients understand how lifestyle choices might reverse "hard-wiring" for hypertension, he said.

One interesting place to start would be to research the "critical period" of childhood between ages 1 and 12, the study authors write. Until the new results are replicated, black Americans should continue to follow Institute of Medicine recommendations for blood pressure screening and decreasing salt, fat and sugar in their diets, Barrington said.

"Our study suggests that there may be a link between childhood family living arrangements and blood pressure in black men," she said. "It does not suggest that those men who did not live with both parents during childhood are destined to have high blood pressure in adulthood."

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Charity sporting events a way to get fit

Fitness experts say raising money for a good cause is another incentive for people to get in shape.

Along with the usual reasons for losing weight, like fitting into a bikini and improving health, fitness experts say raising money for a good cause is another incentive for people to get in shape.

Entering a charity run in memory of a loved one or a bicycle ride for a worthy cause has pushed many couch potatoes from their sedentary lifestyle on to the path of fitness.

Kelly Flynn, running coach for Team In Training, a charity sports endurance program from the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society, has been teaching novice runners to tackle the Boson Marathon since 2005.

"The people who've never run before and have a motivation, like a loved one, are the easiest people to coach," said Flynn, a 40-year-old Boston-based attorney. "They stick it out. And when they cross the finish line, they've become running junkies.

Inspirations for Charity

Flynn, a soccer and softball player in her teenage years said it was the death of a high school friend from lymphoma that inspired her to become a running coach for charity.

"I saw a flyer (from Team in Training) and went, on a lark," she said. "His death was my catalyst."

Team in Training, which is 25 years old, has raised more than $1.4 billion, with more than 600 000 people from across the country taking part in different endurance events to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society.

Flynn, whose 200-strong team soon will start training for 2014, has helped to train more than 800 Boston marathoners, and her teams have raised over $4 million.

For Sarah Jane Constantine, a self-described recreational runner, marathon running was a bucket-list dream until she started running for charity.

"I didn't think at 39 I was going to start marathoning," said Constantine, a 41-year-old manager for a pharmaceutical company in Boston who has raised money for cancer research.

Beneficial events

"That's what I'm most proud of," said Constantine, who finds some way to exercise every day, from running to strength training to swimming with her daughter.

Constantine dedicated her first marathon to her stepfather, who died of melanoma at 44. Last year it was for her daughter's school friend's mother, who died of lung cancer.

This year she plans to run for the cancer-stricken daughter of her husband's co-worker.

"You feel helpless," she said. "I'll be running for money for research and treatment."

Charity events are a nationwide staple of Flywheel Sports, a chain of indoor cycling studios founded in 2010. New York-based co-founder and creative director Ruth Zukerman said the fundraising events her company holds throughout the year are beneficial for people new to the sport, for charities and for her business.

Charity fitness here to stay

"A lot of people come to these charity rides who've never been to us before. Typically some 80% of the people are new," she said. "They come to us to give, they love it, and they become clients of ours."

Zukerman said her regulars often approach her with their own pet causes to raise money, which attracts even more newcomers to indoor cycling.

"Some of our celebrity riders, such as (actresses) Kyra Sedgwick and Jessica Alba, draw a lot of attention because of their names," she said.

Last spring Alba hosted a class in Los Angeles to raise funds for Baby2Baby, which redistributes baby gear and clothes to the needy. In December, Sedgwick will host a ride for the Food Bank for New York City.

Zukerman believes charity fitness is here to stay.

"So many typical charity events involve going to speeches with a tedious sit-down dinner," she said. "People see this as an opportunity to contribute in a newer, fresher, more fun way."

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Fertility doctors aim to lower rate of twin births

Fertility clinic doctors are reporting an epidemic of twins in the US and are now urging couples to try one embryo at a time.

Boston - US doctors are reporting an epidemic - of twins.

New federal numbers show nearly half of all babies born with advanced fertility help are multiple births.

In the five years since the "Octomom" case — when a California woman gave birth to octuplets — big multiple births have decreased substantially, but the twin rate has barely budged.

Twins aren't always twice as nice; they have much higher risks of prematurity and serious health problems.

Fertility help

Now fertility experts are pushing a new goal and that is a growing number of couples attempting pregnancy with just a single embryo, helped by new ways to pick the ones most likely to succeed.

New guidelines are also urging doctors to stress this approach.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent numbers show that 46% of IVF babies are multiples — mostly twins — and 37% are born premature. By comparison, only 3% of babies born without fertility help are twins and about 12% are preterm.

It's mostly an American problem and some European countries that pay for fertility treatments require using one embryo at a time.

Embryo transfer

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine is trying to make it the norm in the US, too. Its guidelines, updated earlier this year, say that for women with reasonable medical odds of success, those under 35 should be offered a single embryo transfer and no more than two at a time. The number rises with age to two or three embryos for women up to 40, since older women have more trouble conceiving.

The medical director of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York, a Manhattan fertility clinic, Dr Alan Copperman, said: “Our goal in 2014 is to minimize the birth of twins.

"This year I'm talking about two versus one. Several years ago I was talking about three versus two" embryos.”

The one-at-a-time idea is catching on. Only 4% of women under 35 used single embryos in 2007 but nearly 12% did in 2011.

It's less common among older women, who account for fewer IVF pregnancies, but it is gaining among them, too.

View the original article here

Surprise find of ADHD in children

Doctors and parents may soon be better able to make informed decisions about medication for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Chicago - A newer MRI method can detect low iron levels in the brains of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The method could help doctors and parents make better informed decisions about medication, a new study says.

Psychostimulant drugs used to treat ADHD affect levels of the brain chemical dopamine.

Study author, Dr Vitria Adisetiyo, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, said because iron was required to process dopamine, using the MRI scanner to assess iron levels in the brain could provide a non-invasive, indirect measure of the chemical.

Behaviour

Adisetiyo said if these findings were confirmed in larger studies, the technique might help improve ADHD diagnosis and treatment.

The method might allow researchers to measure dopamine levels without injecting the patient with a substance that enhances imaging, she said.

ADHD symptoms include hyperactivity and difficulty staying focused, paying attention and controlling behaviour.

The American psychiatric association reports that between 3 – 7% of school-age children are affected by ADHD.

View the original article here

Contraceptive pill for men one step closer

An Australian researcher says he has successfully made male mice infertile and believes a contraceptive pill for men has moved one step closer.

Sydney - A contraceptive pill for men has moved one step closer after Australian researchers successfully made male mice infertile.

The result was that even though the mice had sex normally and were otherwise healthy, they were infertile, researcher Sabatino Ventura from Melbourne's Monash University said.

Monash scientists genetically modified mice to block two proteins found on the smooth muscle cells which are essential for sperm to travel through the animal's reproductive organs.

General health

"We've shown that simultaneously disrupting the two proteins that control the transport of sperm during ejaculation causes complete male infertility," Ventura said.

"But without affecting the long-term viability of sperm or the sexual or general health of males. The sperm is effectively there, but the muscle is just not receiving the chemical message to move it."

Dysfunctional sperm

Ventura, who collaborated with researchers from the University of Melbourne and Britain's University of Leicester on the study, now wants to replicate the genetic process chemically and believes a male contraceptive pill could be possible in about 10 years.

"The next step is to look at developing an oral male contraceptive drug, which is effective, safe and readily reversible," he said.

Previous attempts to develop a male contraceptive pill have focused on hormones or producing dysfunctional sperm - methods which can interfere with male sexual activity and cause long-term and potentially irreversible effects on fertility.

Ventura said because his approach was non-hormonal and did not impact on the development of sperm, a drug which switched off the two proteins should not have any long-term side effects and could be reversed once the man stopped taking it.

View the original article here

How to benefit from negative-energy foods

Some foods have such a low energy content that you can eat large quantities of them without risking weight gain. Here's how to use these foods to your advantage.

Slimmers are always on the lookout for quick fixes to help them in their desperate quest to lose weight. A popular subject is the use of ‘negative-energy foods’ or so-called ‘free foods’.

As the latter name implies, these are foods with such a low energy content that you can eat large quantities of them without risking weight gain. Sounds like magic, but when you see the list of foods, you'll realise that you can't survive on these foods alone.

Free foods

Diabetics and other people who have to control their food intake carefully will be acquainted with so-called ‘free foods'. According to Krause's Food, Nutrition, & Diet Therapy (Mahan & Escott-Stump), a ‘free food’ is defined as “any food or drink that contains less than 20 calories [84 kJ] or less than 5g of carbohydrate per serving”.

Vegetables (serving = 1 cup)

Asparagus
Eggplant (brinjal)
Turnip greens
Beans, green
Gem squash
Vegetable marrow
Beet leaves
Lettuce
Watercress
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Brussels sprouts
Okra
Cabbage
Radish
Cauliflower
Sauerkraut
Celery
Spinach
Chicory
Sweet peppers
Cucumbers
Tomatoes

Fruit (serving = 1 cup)

Cranberries
Blackberries
Blueberries
Grapefruit
Lemon
Pawpaw
Peach
Pear
Raspberries
Rhubarb cooked with artificial sweetener
Strawberries
Watermelon
(All raw or cooked and sweetened with artificial sweetener)

Very-low-energy foods (use as desired)

Clear broth
Bouillon (fat-free)
Dill pickles
Gelatin, unsweetened
Herbs
Lemon juice

Fat-free foods (3 servings spread out over the day)

Cottage cheese, fat-free: 1 Tablespoon
Mayonnaise, fat-free: 1 Tablespoon
Non-stick cooking spray
Salad dressing, fat-free: 1 Tablespoon
Salsa: 1/4 cup

Sugar-free or low-sugar foods

Boiled sweets: one sweet
Chewing gum, sugar-free
Gelatine, unflavoured
Jam, low-sugar or lite: 2 Tablespoons
Jelly, sugar-free

Need for other foods

Clearly, no person can exist and do a day’s work if he or she only eats the foods listed above.

For example, to obtain just 4200kJ or 1000cal from eating strawberries only, you would have to eat 3.3kg of these berries.

Even when you're slimming, it's important to eat a varied, balanced diet and to obtain enough energy from your diet to sustain your basic energy needs. This will prevent your body from going into starvation mode and will also make it possible for you to do some physical exercise to stimulate weight loss.

How to use free foods

These negative-energy foods can be used to give variety to your diet, to increase nutrient intake (most of the fruits and vegetables listed above are rich sources of vitamins and antioxidants) and to fill out meals.

Free foods are also excellent for preventing cravings, so use them as low-energy snacks whenever you feel peckish.

View the original article here

The Best Omega 3 Foods Infographic

Regular intake of omega 3 fatty acids is linked to a noticeably decreased risk of age related macular degeneration.

Approximately 9 million U.S. adults exhibit signs of age related macular degeneration.

Another 7.3 million have early age related macular degeneration, which increases the risk of advanced age related macular degeneration.

View the original article here

Healthy Numbers For A Healthy Heart Infographic

Blood pressure ranges are normally shown using the systolic number before or over the diastolic pressure in millimeters of mercury.

Then the systolic pressure is when the heart is pumping blood out of the ventricle to the veins.

The diastolic pressure is between heartbeats when the pressure goes down before the following heart pumping motion.

View the original article here

What You Can Expect From Health Tips

You have a right to define your expectations on whatever aspect of life you are researching on. So, it is the case when you are trying to get the best way you can deal with the pressures of health in your general life. There are several resources that promise you better health and you will be able to have this kind of health.

The various tips that are available on health would help you in almost all aspects of health that you would think of. You can be sure that you would find them very real and up to date.

Health tips for beauty

If you are not sick and all you are interested in is to enhance your looks or beauty, you would have to find the best tips that would help you have the ideal beauty that you want. The tips are still available for free. They will help you in terms of shape and even facial and skin and hair beauty.

Health tips for weight loss

When you need to lose weight, the kind of tips that you would get would also be termed as health tips. When you have the ideal weight, you would be healthy and that is why, you need to consider the tips keenly. If possible, it is best that you make use of all of them.

Health tips for disease prevention

Diseases can really weigh you down and make you lose hope in life. Even when some of them have treatment that works, the pain is not worth it. the tips can help you forget about the pain and prevent diseases from getting into you completely.

Health tips for fitness

Some of the tips that you would come across are those of regular body exercise. Sometimes you would even see how you can burn the fat and build muscles. This would contribute to fitness which is best for you. So, it is true that the tips can help you get fit and on shape.

Health tips for nutrition

Nutrition is a very crucial aspect of our health. You can be sure that when you take the tips seriously, you would never miss out on the best nutrition that you actually should be keen on.

Health tips during pregnancy

Pregnancy is a very delicate period both for the mother and the unborn child. There are tips that would help this mother know what she needs to do so that they are both healthy and go through the period without any stress. She will be able to find this very important for her health and her baby's.

Health tips on drugs

Drugs are good because they cure disease and keep us well. They can be poisonous when they are taken for granted. There are tips that would help you know what you need to do especially when you are on drugs or on any kind of treatment.

So, the many health tips that you can see are important for various aspects of our lives. You can be sure that when you take the weight loss tips as part of your general health awareness routine, you would be happy in life.

There is no health care without applicable tips. You need to find out how you can make the best use of the health information to promote your health and life. Visit health-niche.com to know more.

Home Remedies and Yoga Can Be a Source of Natural Health Tips

Health is invaluable and there are certain things that money can't buy at all. Health comes without price tag. Changing lifestyle has changed our living and eating habits. Consequently, it has augmented the health related issues and problems among human beings. Medicines might not be suitable for everyone and it might cause side-effects. But natural remedies and yoga are bound to compromise a good source of health tips. In the coming sections, we would discuss how home remedies and yoga can be beneficial in providing you necessary health tips.

As a matter of fact, there is an increasing excitement among the researchers and scientists too regarding the evolution of home remedies and yoga in curing a number of health related issues. It is estimated that there is a strong influence of 'sense of smell' over physiological and psychological health. Certain vegetables and herbs can be best for the body and its good health.

A number of studies, though in their initial stages, have also unveiled that natural and home remedies can provide health tips for a number of issues. For instance, it is revealed that fragrances of vanilla, peppermint and coffee have the capacity to cure certain health related issues and have therapeutic effects. Another study also reveals that inhalation of certain chemicals such as those found in linalool, flowers and spices helps in reducing stress, especially in rats. Certain other such home remedies helps in making people calmer.

Yoga has been providing health tips since years and it was developed in Hindu culture. But now, its benefits are evident all over the world. Yoga possesses health tips for depression and is powerful in curing a number of health related problems. There are many exercises that help in curing breath-related, throat, nose, anxiety and other such health related problems.

Bikram Yoga which is started by Bikram Choudhury can help in providing health tips for asthma, arthritis and other such issues. Yoga can in fact, help in creating a balance in the flow of energy of life, it can provide peace to mind and soul as well. It is the most holistic approach for the mental, physical and spiritual good health of human beings. It can provide health tips and can be very useful for relaxation, stress relief, clarity, concentration, memory, and stamina, zeal for life, motivation, will power, self confidence, awareness, creative insight and inner peace as well as happiness.

Treatments, therapies and medicines might cause side-effects to your health but natural, home made remedies and yoga are a source of a number of health tips. These are a few natural treatments that can prove beneficial in your health menaces and nuisances. If you do not wish to go for medicines, then do not worry because nature has in store a number of tips for your health. Health and wellness are one of the most important aspects of your life and you can find solutions to a number of issues within your home. So adopt the home made remedies and yoga and stay healthy always!

Health is usually a prime concern and people must be careful about their wellness. It is not mandatory that medicines provide you utmost satisfaction. Sometimes home remedies and Bikram yoga can have in store a number of health tips that can prove beneficial.

Advantages of Home Fitness Equipment

Do you feel the need to trim up a bit because of the extra counts of calories accumulated from the food and drinks served up during the past holidays? But the problem is you’re too lazy to rise up early in the cold mornings to go outside and exercise? Are you not the kind that can go around the park for a brisk walk or 30-minute jog? Or is your daily schedule too tight up to even get a 1-hour work-out at the gym fitness center?

If you answer yes to these questions, you might like the idea of doing it at home at anytime of the day and night.

 

A home fitness regimen is a flexible option for individuals like you who cannot easily go out to trim excess calories and fats. It usually means two things: either you do your own physical exercises, like doing aerobics, bending, dancing, jogging, and the likes; or you get exercise equipment and devices for your own home use. Most people opt for the latter due to the many advantages it gives to an individual looking for a more flexible, better way of losing calories.

 

The advantages in doing your workout regimen at home with physical fitness equipment are:

 

* First, you can do it at any time convenient for you. Whether you want to do it at mornings after waking up or at nights because your schedule is quite full at daytime, a home fitness exercise is perfect for you. You have the freedom to not wake up early in the mornings, or you don’t have to be bounded by time when doing your exercise with your home fitness equipments.

 

* Second, you can use your exercise equipment without hassles. There is no more confining yourself to a limited time of using equipment due to other people waiting in line, which usually happens at a gym center. You can use it at any amount of hours at your own discretion.

 

* Third, you have the privilege to exercise at a desired amount of time needed to burn your extra calories. You can do it everyday, bi-, or tri-weekly. And for the best part, you do this freedom of exercising at a desired amount of time without paying for extra cost, which is the next advantage.

 

* And finally, you save money. In a gym fitness center, you pay monthly not only for the time you spend with them but for the services of the trainers and staff. With home fitness equipment, there is no need for you to maintain your membership by paying regularly. In addition, you don't pay whenever you use their equipments, facilities, and services in excess to the number of hours you originally signed up with them. If you think of how much you can save in a year, you will be surprised at how much more advantageous it is to own exercise equipment at home.

 

There are many kinds of exercise equipment that are available in the industry. The treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationery bike, fitness ball, and a lot others are typically ideal choices for home use. Whatever home fitness equipment that you find ideal to your needs, it is advised that you look at the advantages, disadvantages, price, and most importantly, the terms and conditions coming from the provider or maker of the machine.

Before Buying Home Fitness Equipment

Going to the gym and participating in a regular exercise activity is a great way to stay fit and healthy. However, in some situations, a regular commute to the gym is not convenient. And since staying fit and healthy has always been your desire, you may already have considered building a gym at home. But before shopping for home fitness equipment, ask your self, "Are you ready to invest on such things?"

Money has always been a significant factor when building your own home gym. A good treadmill can cost up to $3000 and buying one can really put some pressure to your financial standing. So as outrageous as it may sound, you need know if you can afford it or not. (Do not forget to include all the added cost like shipping and installation.)

For some, buying expensive equipment will oblige them to use it. While the cost can be a motivating factor to stay fit, this doesn't happen in real life. In fact, it is estimated that 80% of home fitness equipment is not used after the first year – and the majority of people who belong to this statistics are beginners. That said, if you are planning to jump start the interest in exercising at home, you are more likely to stop using the equipment you bought without even getting your money's worth.

You have to identify what exactly is your goal. Are you going to build muscles? Improve cardiovascular fitness? Or increase flexibility? Your goal determines the type of equipment that you have to buy. Also, select between new and used exercise equipment. Both have advantages and disadvantages (the most notable is the price; used exercise equipment can save you as much as 70%, than brand new.)

Set a budget and limit your selection to the things you can afford. Home gym equipment doesn't have to be so expensive. You can start with exercise ball and dumbbells. A good pair of walking shoes is a way to start.

Another factor that is always overlooked is the amount of space available for the equipment. Having a treadmill is cool, but do you know where are you going to put it? Will your spouse love to climb over your elliptical machine just to get into the bed? Or will you still be using your treadmill in your garage even if it is 10 degrees below? Such things matter so think before you buy.

Do not fall prey to people that offer different types of equipment that promise amazing results in a very short time. Just think about it, if you can get 6-pack abs by using a certain machine for 3 minutes a day, 3 times a week, then how much more if you do not use any machine at all? The rule of thumb is, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

Finally, you have to shop around. Do not feel obliged to buy on the first store you enter just because you like the way the sales person talks. The best buys are found when you look at different stores, compare prices and do thorough research. When at a store, test the machines. If you do not belong to a gym, let someone test it. Do not forget online stores and discount shops.

Home Fitness Guides To Keep You Focused

It is common scenario for people to never complete a diet program they initially took with the goal of trimming up after calories and fats were collected from a bad lifestyle. Similarly, it is common for people to start using home fitness equipment and then leaving the machine up collecting dust at the corner because they have forgotten it.

Why not all people can stick to what they primarily embarked upon to improve their physical and health aspect? First, it is because of the lack of discipline. Second, focus was directed elsewhere maybe due to boredom, lack of determination and goal. And third, the lack of proper diet and fitness program – a carefully planned guide which you can utilize to easily see your direction and accountability of every result.

If you are in the same boat, you are probably looking once again for another program where you think you can put your focus on for a long time and thus gives you realistic results of keeping yourself in tip top shape, both physical and inner health. However, even with home fitness program, you have the chance to succeed in your goal provided that you have the discipline, the right program, and focus or determination.

To help define what you really want in this particular aspect, here are some simple yet effective guides to keep you focused, determined, and disciplined and stick to your home fitness routine in a lifelong basis.

- If the home fitness plan happens to be your resolution for this year, don't just think of it as a resolution for the whole year. Or don't make it a resolution that benefits you for only a few months, or even for a year.

Rather, make it your lifetime resolution. Think of the long term benefits and think how it can give you a lifelong health and physical fitness. Think how it will be easier for you to live life as you age. That's how a fitness and diet program should be. Long term goals are often easier and lighter to follow than fitness programs for short term effects.

* It is not necessary to spend hours and hours working out. A mere 30 minutes a day is enough to keep you fit and in shape. And remember that it doesn't have to be with exercise equipment or machine. There are lots of other activities which can get your muscles working out, like dancing, jogging, brisk walking, and even when doing household chores and running errands. Also, you can buy exercise and yoga DVDs so you can use them at home.

* And this is the most important - eat healthily, rest properly, and avoid getting into disastrous vices such as smoking and drinking. You don’t have to eat fancy, healthy foods which you cannot easily prepare for some reasons. And you don't have to be strict with this aspect. Just remember to count the calories you take in.

* Also, consider this goal as a gift to your family and loved ones. Taking care of yourself is an ultimate act that tells you actually care for them. It gives them less of the worries, lesser expenses on medical bills, and the likes. Plus, being healthy, fit, and active means you can give more time to bond with them by engaging in family physical activities.

Home Fitness on a Budget

Busy schedule has prompted most to do their fitness routines outside the confines of a commercial fitness center. But that is not the only reason why many do not enroll to a gym anymore. Budget has now become one of the main reasons why for some, it is most practical to exercise at home. Here are some of the things you can do to stay in shape without having to pay for a membership and spend time commuting to your gym.

Hiking

Contrary to what most people think, hiking is not a weekend activity. And not because you carry a backpack that can hold all your survival stuffs means that you have to stay overnight on the trail. Hiking can be a regular exercise routine, which can be done several hours a day on your free day, especially if live near hiking parks and trails. Hiking is free and can burn as much as 550 calories per hour.

Walking. Jogging. Running.

Putting on your rubber shoes and going around the neighborhood may not be as adventuresome as hiking in parks and trails, but you can still get almost the same health benefits and physical fitness. A good hour of walking can burn up to 380 calories. Jogging and running can burn much more than that.

However, the main disadvantage of walking around the neighborhood is you cannot do it all throughout the year. When the weather is bad or if the winter season has begun, you cannot simply go out and run around the neighborhood (this is the reason why treadmill is so popular). Still, it is still better to maximize the warm days by walking or jogging around the neighborhood than just sitting on your couch and do nothing. Plus, it is free.

Home DVDs

Over the past years, home videos have vastly improved creating quality and very useful training techniques that often require little or no equipment. From $10 to $30, you can get professionally made workout DVD regardless of your fitness level. Take note: do not be too concerned of the celebrities that endorse these products. What you should be looking out for is if the instructional video is created by a credible fitness professional.

Use your existing exercise machine.

It is estimated that 80% of exercise equipment bought in the United States is not used after the first year. This stunning figure only equates to one thing: if you are consider buying new exercise equipment, you are more likely to stop using it after some time. And if you have bought one before, you probably still have it somewhere in your house. That leaves us to the question, do your really need to buy a new one? If you already have existing equipment and if it is functioning well, use it again. There's nothing wrong with using old exercise equipment. What is wrong is actually buying a new one knowing that you can still use something.

Buy the basics

Having a treadmill or an elliptical trainer at home is cool but that doesn't mean that you must buy one. Remember that they only simulate activities you can do outdoors so you can always choose to forego buying any one of these if you cannot afford to buy one. Just buy the basics like weights, exercise mat and exercise ball. They all provide various workout techniques but do not cost as much.

Home Fitness: Exercise Equipment Choices

There are several considerations when buying exercise equipment and the biggest challenge is perhaps choosing the one that matches your budget, space and fitness level. But regardless of these factors, you are most likely to land on any of the following exercise equipment:

Treadmill is a popular piece of gym equipment that has become the primary choice of anyone who wants to maintain an exercise routine at home. It lets you walk, jog or run anytime of the day, any month of the year – regardless of season and weather condition. A good treadmill costs at about $1500 but it can go as much as $3500, depending on the brand and features. When selecting one, focus on the load capacity, wide belt, incline settings, safety shutoff, smooth action and solid construction.

Elliptical Trainer is a no-impact exercise machine that simulates running and walking without causing excessive pressure on the joints thus decreasing the risk of impact injuries. The machine can be set from low- to high-intensity work out that is suited for all fitness levels. Today, elliptical trainers are the most popular piece of gym equipment. Price ranges from $500 to as much as $4000. Try out different brands when buying one.

Rowing Machines are excellent for those who want a total body workout. Requires little space, the rowing machine simulates the body movement of watercraft rowing targeting both the upper and the lower body muscle groups. Proper posture is required to avoid back strain.

Cross Country Ski Machines provide a full body workout, targeting both the upper and the lower body muscle groups. However, this type of machine is hard to master. So before buying one, make sure that you try it out first and see if it is really for you. People who use a cross country are often the best experienced exercisers with sufficient skills, who want a challenging workout.

Step Machines or steppers are low impact exercise machines that improve cardiovascular fitness and build and strengthen lower body muscles. A good step machine can be very expensive. Choose the right one or consider other alternatives if your budget does not fit.

Stationary Bike is composed of pedals, a paddle and some kind of handle similar to a real bike but used as exercise equipment rather than a means of transportation. A stationary bike is good for new exercisers or for those who like to have a no-impact cardiovascular workout. A quality stationary bike costs between $500 and $1000.

Recumbent Machines are like stationary bikes but with the rider sitting in an inclined position. The main advantage of a recumbent machine over a stationary bike is it provides better lower back support, thus minimizing the stress on the knees. A recumbent machine has the same aerobic effect with that of a stationary bike and targeting the muscles of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteus.

Resistance equipment is often known as either free weights or multi-stations or home gyms. Both have pros and cons and purchasing either of the two requires major thinking. Free weights are reasonably priced and require less space but they also require greater supervision and instruction as they are more likely to cause injury. Multi-stations on the other hand are more convenient to use but takes up a lot of space and the price depends on the quality of the machine. Take your pick.

Some Tip-Top Health Tips

A healthy lifestyle begins with a healthy body. Americans have becoming increasingly unhealthy, sedentary, and unhappy in the last decade and rank relatively lower on the scale than other nations for overall healthiness and happiness. The two do often go hand in hand. Obesity is on the rise, closely correlated with a sedentary lifestyle and is one of the leading reasons for depression. The famous line "a healthy mind leads to a healthy body" also applies when talking about overall healthiness. This is a list of the top health tips for leading a happy and healthy lifestyle.

· Don't diet. Eat healthier all of the time and it will be better in the long run. Losing weight gradually is generally better than losing it quickly and is more likely to stay off.

· Eat a high fiber diet. This is an important top health tip. This includes whole grains, brown bread, and cereals. Fiber regulates the digestive system and reduces the risk of bowel cancer. Average about 13-18 grams of fiber a day.

· Stay away from hazardous artificial sweeteners, and try to substitute sugar with the likes of natural sweetening alternatives such as agave nectar or better yet stevia artificial sweetener that is safe and sweet.

· Reduce the amount of saturated fat consumed daily. Only 35% of daily calorie intake should be fat calories and only 10% of those should be from saturated fats.

· Drink less alcohol. Men and women have different requirements - women should have less than 14 units per week and men should have less than 21 units of alcohol. That is equivalent to one glass of one or half a pint of beer. As usual, moderation wins out - a small amount of alcohol helps the heart while a large amount is bad.

· Try to eat the recommended five fruits and vegetable servings a day. It helps to vary the daily diet with different colored fruits and vegetables and also gives a wide range of vitamins and minerals.

· Consume more fish. Omega three fatty acids in the oils are very protective against heart disease and raised cholesterol levels. The recommended weekly serving of fish is two to three - because it provides 1.5 grams of fatty acids.

· Reduce the amount of salt consumed. No more than 5-6 grams of salt should be consumed daily and too much salt can cause heart complications later on.

· Drink about eight ounces of liquid a day. This is not limited to water and can be fruit juices. This helps the kidneys to flush and stay healthy and reduces urinary tract infections.

· Take vitamin and mineral supplements as a back up only. It is much easier to consume the proper foods and meet the minimum nutrient requirements.

· One of the most important top health tips is to exercise! Exercise thirty minutes a day at least to lower the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, and most of all, to combat obesity.

These top health tips covered overall health, but it is important to remember that there are other ways to help our bodies stay healthy. For females, we should look to reduce our risk of osteoporosis. For males, prostate health and heart health are very important. These are the top health tips for bone health:

· Weight control. The bones are the shock absorbers of the body. If the body weighs more than is recommended the bones are under undue stress and can lead to osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and increased blood pressure. Avoid junk foods that are high in fat and cholesterol and have little nutritional value.

· Movement is another important top health tip. This will keep the body from gaining weight and the joints stiffening up from disuse. Low impact for at risk people is best.

· Do weight bearing exercises. As a person ages their bones become less dense and more brittle. Strengthening joints and bones with low impact exercise is optimal; not only does it keep the bones and joints moving, it also keeps the heart and other body systems in shape.

· Flexibility exercises are a top health tip as well; range of motion improves joint health by lubricating the joints and keeping them from becoming stiff.

· Dietary aids that are rich in calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus naturally fortify bones.

These top health tips will help anyone achieve a healthy life style and improve overall health. An active person is happier than a sedentary one. This list provided the top health tips for achieving a lower overall body weight, a healthier heart, and helps to prolonging the effects of aging. Reading this list of top health tips can assist with leading a better lifestyle.