A better, easier way to measure fat than BMI ?
Hello,
I ran across this article on body fat measurement. It is much easier than using the BMI formula. Please enjoy.
A better, easier way to measure fat than
BMI?
AFP Relax News – 3 hrs ago
Forget BMI:
researchers say that …
Body mass index (BMI) may soon be replaced with a new tool for measuring body fat
and associated health risks – waist-to-height ratio.
A review of 31
studies found that waist-to-height ratio predicted diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, high blood pressure, cancers, stroke and respiratory problems
better than BMI.
While body mass index, which is calculated from your weight and height, has
long been considered the most reliable indicator of body fat, it doesn’t consider muscle mass, so could incorrectly
indicate obesity, said lead researcher Dr. Margaret Ashwell of the Oxford Brookes University, UK. The report was presented at the
19thEuropean Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France, this weekend.
WebMD reported on
Tuesday that another British report presented at the same conference claimed
“that a 30-year-old nonsmoking man would have a reduced life expectancy by
as much as 14 percent if his waist circumference is more than half of his height.”
“Keeping your waist circumference to less than half your height can help
increase life expectancy for every person in the world,” stated researcher
Margaret Ashwell, PhD, of Ashwell Associates, in Hertfordshire, England.
“Buh-bye BMI,” Dr. Pamela Peeke, founder of Peeke Performance Center in Rockville, Maryland, told WebMD.
“Take out your tape measure, and really pay attention to your waist and
waist-to-height ratio.”
The best way to measure your waist is to place the tape measure at your belly
button level, she added.
Print
Th Surprising Shortcut to Better Health
Hello,
Gretchen Reynolds new book talks about exercise and health. This interview was interesting to me. Please enjoy.
The Surprising Shortcut
to Better Health
BOOKS |
For
more than a decade, Gretchen Reynolds has been writing about the science of
health and fitness. Her weekly column, Phys Ed, is one of this paper’s most
popular features, regularly appearing on top of the “Most E-mailed” list. Now
Ms. Reynolds has distilled the knowledge gained from years of fitness reporting
into a new book, “The First 20 Minutes:
Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live
Longer,’’ published
last month.
Gretchen
Reynolds on the science of fitness.
While
the subtitle alone makes bold promises about the potential of exercise to
protect the human body, the most surprising message from Ms. Reynolds is not
that we all need to exercise more — or at least not the way exercise is
typically defined by the American public. Ms. Reynolds makes a clear
distinction between the amount of exercise we do to improve sports performance
and the amount of exercise that leads to better health. To achieve the latter,
she explains, we don’t need to run marathons, sweat it out on exercise bikes or
measure our peak oxygen uptake. We just need to do something.
“Humans,”
she writes, “are born to stroll.”
I
recently spoke with Ms. Reynolds about the science of exercise, why standing up
is good for you and why, after writing a book about fitness, she began to
exercise less. Here’s our conversation.
Q.
Why did you choose “The First 20 Minutes” for
the title of a fitness book?
A.
The
first 20 minutes of moving around, if someone has been really sedentary,
provide most of the health benefits. You get prolonged life, reduced disease
risk — all of those things come in in the first 20 minutes of being active.
Without
being evangelical, I wanted people to understand that this is a book about how
little exercise you can do in order to get lots and lots of health benefits.
Two-thirds of Americans get no exercise at all. If one of those people gets up
and moves around for 20 minutes, they are going to get a huge number of health
benefits, and everything beyond that 20 minutes is, to some degree, gravy.
That
doesn’t mean I’m suggesting people should not exercise more if they want to.
You can always do more. But the science shows that if you just do anything,
even stand in place 20 minutes, you will be healthier.
Q.
Is part of the problem that people equate
exercise with trying to lose weight, and many of them have given up?
A.
I think
a lot of people look to exercise to help them lose weight, and when they don’t
lose weight immediately with exercise, they quit. They return to the couch, and
they basically never move again. What is lost in that is that fitness is almost
certainly more important than fatness.
If you
are overweight but fit, meaning you have a reasonably good V012 max (a measure of
oxygen uptake), then your risk of premature death, all the chronic diseases —
diabetes, heart disease, cancer — will drop. If you have to choose, choose to
be fit, whether you lose weight or not.
If
someone starts an exercise program and improves his fitness, even if he doesn’t
lose an ounce, he will generally have a longer life and a much healthier life.
It would be nice if people would look at exercise as a way to make themselves
feel better and live longer and not necessarily as a way to make themselves
skinnier.
Q.
In researching this book, what did you find
are the biggest misconceptions about exercise?
A.
One of
the biggest misconceptions is that exercise has to be hard, that exercise means
marathon running or riding your bike for three hours or doing something really
strenuous. That’s untrue and, I think, discourages a lot of people from
exercising. If you walk, your body registers that as motion, and you get all
sorts of physiological changes that result in better health. Gardening counts
as exercise. What would be nice would be for people to identify with the whole
idea of moving more as opposed to quote “exercise.”
Q.
A regular theme of your column is the risks of
being sedentary. What’s more important to health: exercise or sedentary
behavior?
A.
It’s
also an important theme in the book. There are two things going on: One is
activity, and the other is inactivity, and they have different effects on the
body. There is a whole scientific discipline called inactivity physiology that
looks at what happens if you just sit still for hours at a time. If the big
muscles in your legs don’t contract for hours on end, then you get physiological
changes in your body that exercise won’t necessarily undo. Exercise causes one
set of changes in your body, and being completely sedentary causes another.
What’s your approach to better fitness? Join in the discussion below.
Q.
Has writing this book changed your own
approach to fitness?
A.
It
validated some of the things I was already doing, like not stretching before a
workout, which I always hated doing. I hated sit-ups and found out they were
bad for your back. I was pleased to learn that. It has changed how I approach
hydration in exercise. Now I drink when I’m thirsty, and it seems to be
completely fine.
I also
exercise a whole lot less. Partly it’s because I have less time, but it’s also
because I have learned that I don’t have to do more to be healthy. My main goal
now is not to be competitive. What I really want is to be healthy and to set a
good example for my son. I want to be around for the next 40 years, and the
science seems to show very clearly that you don’t have to do a lot to make
yourself a whole lot healthier.
I run a
couple of miles most days. I used to feel like if I didn’t run five miles it
didn’t count. Now I’m very content to get out for half an hour or 20 minutes,
and I feel reasonably healthy after that.
Q.
And you told me that you also stand more?
A.
I
really do stand up at least every 20 minutes now, because I was spending five
or six hours unmoving in my chair. The science is really clear that that is
very unhealthy, and that it promotes all sorts of disease. All you have to do
to ameliorate that is to stand up. You don’t even have to move. I’m standing up
right now as I talk on the phone. I stand during most of my interviews now.
Q.
I’m finding this very inspirational. What is
your advice for people reading this — what should they go do today?
A.
If
people want to be healthier and prolong their life span, all they really need
to do is go for a walk. It’s the single easiest thing anyone can do. There are
some people who honestly can’t walk, so I would say to those people to try to
go to the local Y.M.C.A. and swim.
There
are always options for moving. You don’t have to do anything that hurts. You
don’t have to buy equipment. If you have a pair of shoes, they don’t even have
to be sneakers. People have gotten the idea that exercise has to be
complicated, and that they need a heart rate monitor, and a coach, and
equipment and special instruction. They don’t.
The human body is a really excellent coach. If you listen to it,
it will tell you if you’re going hard enough, if you’re going too hard. If it
starts to hurt, then you back off. It should just feel good, because we really
are built to move, and not moving is so unnatural. Just move, because it really
can be so easy, and it really can change your life.
Spring Exercise Tips
Hello,
It’s spring and time to mix up our exercise programs. Please enjoy the article.
Spring
Exercise Tips
By Kelly Smith, eHow Contributor
Spring is the perfect time to refresh your
exercise routine.
Spring can be the perfect time to begin a new fitness program,
whether you’ve been sedentary all winter, or simply need a change of pace.
Refreshing your exercise routine may include taking your workout outdoors, or
alternatives to your normal workout, such as taking up a sport or tackling
projects around your home. With a little preparation, your spring exercise
routine can help you stay fit and healthy for the rest of the year.
- Set Realistic Goals
- Take your current fitness level into account
before beginning a new spring workout routine. If you didn’t work out much
during the winter, Shape Magazine recommends starting out slowly, as you get
back in shape. Commit to exercising regularly and increase your intensity as
your fitness level improves.
Take Your Workout Outdoors
- If you’ve spent the winter working out indoors,
you may enjoy trying something new, or adapting your current workout to the
outdoors. For example, if you normally walk or jog on a treadmill, try walking
around a track, a park, or your neighborhood. If you’ve been working out on a
stationary bike, you may enjoy riding a regular bike on a local bike trail. To
make these workouts even more fun, invite your friends or family to join you.
Take Up a Sport
- Try a new sport, or take up one you used to
enjoy. Playing a sport can break up the monotony of your workout routine by
providing a great workout, as well as fun and a connection with others. Shape
recommends tennis and golf as good outdoor workout
options.
Spruce Up Your Home
- Spring cleaning, gardening and home repair
projects can all provide good workouts, while sprucing up your home. Dusting,
vacuuming and cleaning windows can burn up to 200 calories an hour, according
to P&G Everyday Solutions, while gardening and yard work can burn between
250 and 350 calories an hour, reports U.S. News and World Report.
Protect Your Skin
- It’s easy to forget sunscreen when the weather’s
mild, but your skin needs protection from ultraviolet (UV) rays year-round.
Apply a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, to all exposed areas of your body
when working out outdoors, suggests Shape. Choose a waterproof variety to keep
sunscreen from running when you begin to sweat.
Treat Seasonal Allergies
- Outdoor workouts can bring on, or worsen
seasonal allergies, because pollen and mold counts are high in spring. If you
suffer from seasonal allergy symptoms, such as a runny nose or itchy, watery
eyes, your doctor can recommend a treatment option, such as an antihistamine or
decongestant. Many prescription and non-prescription options are available.
Melanoma Rates On the Rise Among Yound Adults : Study
Hello,
A new study shows that skin cancer rates are rising among young adults. A good reason to stay out of tanning beds and protect your self from sun exposure. Please enjoy.
Melanoma Rates On the Rise Among Young Adults: Study
By By Denise Mann
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – 31 mins ago
SUNDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) –
New research highlights a dramatic increase in the rates of melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer, among young adults, with young women being hit the hardest.
According to the study, the
incidence of melanoma increased eightfold among young women and fourfold among
young men from 1970 through 2009.
The findings come from a
population-based study by Mayo Clinic
researchers using records from the Rochester
Epidemiology Project, a decades-long database of all patient care in
Olmsted County, Minn. The researchers looked for first-time diagnoses of
melanoma in patients 18 to 39 from 1970 to 2009.
Dermatologists said these findings
mirror what they are seeing in their own practices.
And the study researchers pointed to
the rise in the use of indoor tanning beds as one of the main reasons behind
the trend, but childhood sunburns and ultraviolet (UV) exposure in adulthood
may also contribute to melanoma risk. The findings appear in the April issue of
Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Although the rates of melanoma have
increased, the study did show that fewer people are dying from skin cancer.
Researchers credit early detection of skin cancer and prompt medical care for
the improved survival rates.
“People are now more aware of
their skin and of the need to see a doctor when they see changes,” Mayo
Clinic dermatologist Dr. Jerry Brewer said in a statement. “As a result,
many cases may be caught before the cancer
advances to a deep melanoma, which is harder to treat.”
Dr. Jennifer
Stein, an assistant professor at the Ronald O. Perelman department of
dermatology at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said that she
is seeing a lot of young people, especially young women, with melanoma.
“Skin cancer awareness is up,
and even though there is lots of information about the dangers of tanning beds,
people still use them,” Stein said.
Other risks for melanoma include a
family or personal history of melanoma and large numbers of unusual looking
moles. “People who have had a melanoma are at higher risk for having
another,” she said. “It is important to check your own skin at home
and come in to see a skin doctor if you ever see anything you are worried about
it.”
How can you tell? Look for moles
that follow the ABCD rule, said Dr. Alicia Terando, a surgical oncologist at
Ohio State University’s James Cancer Hospital in Columbus. “‘A’ stands for
asymmetry, meaning that one half of the mole is a different size than the
other. ‘B’ is for border irregularity. ‘C’ stands for color. Melanomas are
often brown, tan and black. The ‘D’ is for diameter. Most melanomas are greater
than 6 millimeters in size. “A melanoma is the mole that stands out,”
she said. “It’s the ugly duckling.”
“Prevention is also
important,” Stein said. “Take precautions when in the sun, including
wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sun-protective clothing and applying and reapplying
sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB rays.”
Dr. Kavita Mariwalla, director of
Mohs and Dermatological Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City,
is concerned about the rising rates of skin cancer in young women.
“People know they should wear
sunscreen and should not get burned, but there is a disconnect between that and
tanning bed use,” Mariwalla said. Tans
are also being glamorized on reality shows like “Jersey Shore,” she
added.
As it stands, 36 states restrict
indoor tanning use by minors. California became the first state to prohibit the
use of indoor tanning devices for everyone under the age of 18, and many other
states are considering such bans, according to the American Academy of
Dermatology.
John Overstreet, executive director
of the Indoor Tanning Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.,
said that indoor tanning bed use shouldn’t be singled out as a cause for the
rise in skin cancer rates.
“The study itself has almost
nothing to do with indoor tanning and the links they cite to indoor tanning are
nothing but speculation,” he said. “They attempt to make indoor
tanning the story while ignoring other possible risk factors such as sunburning
outdoors, sunscreens that for several decades did not block UVA, the more
deeply penetrating ultraviolet wavelength, and more frequent travel to sunny
vacations locations over the last decade where severe sunburns are more likely
to occur.”
Don’t Forget to Eat Your Fruits, Veggies … and Popcorn?
Hello,
I love popcorn and I’m happy to see that it may be a healthy snack. Of course you need to limit the oil and butter. Please enjoy.
Don’t Forget to Eat Your Fruits, Veggies … and
Popcorn?
SUNDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) — Want a healthy
snack? Consider passing the popcorn. A new study says the whole-grain
treat contains more of the “good for you” antioxidants called polyphenols than some fruits or vegetables.
The amount of polyphenols in popcorn
was up to 300 milligrams (mg) per serving compared with 114 mg per serving of
sweet corn and 160 mg per serving for all fruits, according to study findings
to be presented Sunday at a meeting of the American
Chemical Society in San Diego. This is because polyphenols are diluted
in the 90 percent water that makes up many fruits
and vegetables, whereas they are more concentrated in popcorn, which
averages only about 4 percent water, the study authors said.
In the average U.S. diet, fruits provide
255 mg of polyphenols per day and vegetables provide 218 mg per day. One
serving of popcorn would provide 13 percent of the average daily intake of
polyphenols per person in the United States, the Pennsylvania researchers said
in a society news release.
The levels of polyphenols in popcorn
reported in this study were higher than previously believed. The levels were
similar to those found in nuts and 15 times the levels found in whole-grain
tortilla chips, the researchers said.
The investigators also found that
the hulls of popcorn — the bits that tend to get caught in the teeth — have
the highest concentrations of polyphenols and fiber.
“Those hulls deserve more
respect,” study author Joe Vinson, of
the University of Scranton, said in the news release.
However, Vinson warned, adding
butter, salt and other calorie-laden flavorings can turn this snack into a
bucketful of trouble.
“Air-popped popcorn has the
lowest number of calories, of course,” Vinson said. “Microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as
air-popped, and if you pop your own with oil, this has twice as many calories
as air-popped popcorn. About 43 percent of microwave
popcorn is fat, compared to 28 percent if you pop the corn in oil
yourself.”
Vinson also added that eating
popcorn shouldn’t be an excuse to skip the fresh
fruits and vegetables. Popcorn lacks the vitamins and other nutrients
found in fruits and vegetables that are essential for good health.
Popcorn is the “only snack that
is 100 percent unprocessed whole grain. All other grains are processed and
diluted with other ingredients, and although cereals are called ‘whole grain,’
this simply means that over 51 percent of the weight of the product is whole
grain,” Vinson said.
“One serving of popcorn will
provide more than 70 percent of the daily intake of whole grain. The average
person only gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could
fill that gap in a very pleasant way,” he noted.
The study was funded by the
university and received no money from the food industry. The data and
conclusions of research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More support for passing on the Red Meat
Hello,
We all have heard that red meat should be limited in our diet, new research reinforces this fact. I hope you enjoy this article.
More support for passing on the red meat
By Genevra Pittman | Reuters – 23 mins ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People
who eat a lot of red meat are more likely to
die at any given time than those who go light on the burgers and hot dogs, a
new study suggests.
Researchers found that the more
servings of processed or unprocessed red meat people reported eating daily, the
higher their chance of dying over more than a 20-year span.
“Red meat and especially processed
red meat contains a lot of compounds and chemicals that have been linked to
chronic disease risk,” said Dr. Frank Hu,
one of the study’s authors from the Harvard School
of Public Health — and cooking red meat produces more carcinogens.
Research has suggested that the
saturated fat and cholesterol in red meat is linked to plaque buildup in the
arteries, which increases the risk of heart disease. Eating more meat was
associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer in another recent study (see
Reuters Health story of December 28, 2011).
Hu and his colleagues used data from
two large, ongoing studies of U.S. doctors and nurses who filled out regular
questionnaires about their typical eating habits as well as physical activity,
smoking and family history.
The current report includes
information from about 38,000 middle-aged men followed for an average of 22
years after their first survey and 84,000 women tracked for 28 years.
The lightest meat eaters reported getting half a serving or less of meat per
day, while the study’s biggest meat-lovers had red meat twice or three times
daily.
Three ounces of unprocessed meat,
one hot dog or two slices of bacon was counted as a serving.
About 24,000 study participants died
over the two-plus decades that researchers followed them. Hu and his team
calculated that the chance of dying was 12 percent higher for every extra
serving of red meat the men and women had eaten each day.
Each extra serving was also tied to
a 16 percent higher chance of dying from cardiovascular disease, in particular,
and a 10 percent higher chance of dying from cancer.
That was after taking into account
other aspects of health and lifestyle that could influence participants’
chances of dying, like weight and smoking, as well as the rest of their diet
and various socioeconomic factors.
Substituting one daily serving of
red meat with fish, poultry, beans, nuts, low-fat dairy products or whole
grains was tied to a seven to 19 percent lower chance of death, Hu and his
colleagues reported Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“The results are not really
surprisingly given that previous studies have found consumption of red meat is
linked to diabetes, heart disease and
certain cancers,” Hu told Reuters Health.
“What’s surprising is the
magnitude… Even a small amount of red meat is associated with a significantly
increased risk of mortality,” he added.
Hu said that it’s probably a
combination of chemicals and compounds that are found in red meat, including
saturated fat, cholesterol and lots of salt — especially in processed meat — that account for increased
health risks in meat-eaters, although his study can’t prove a cause-and-effect
relationship.
Though he doesn’t necessarily
recommend everyone drop their burgers at once, Hu said it’s not a bad idea to
try to cut back on red meat, given this and other evidence of its
less-than-stellar health record.
“We’re not talking about
everyone becoming a vegetarian — I think a small amount of red meat is still
okay as part of a healthy diet,” he said.
“We’re talking about no more
than two or three servings of red meat a week. Basically, red meat should be an
occasional part of our diet and not a regular part of our diet.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/zGjfPu
Archives of Internal Medicine, online March 12, 2012.
FDA adds new safty information to statin drugs
Hello,
Many of us are taking statin drugs to control cholesterol levels. New research indicates that memory loss and elevated blood surgar may be a side effect of statin drug use. If you are experiencing these side effects you may want to talk to your doctor. Please enjoy the article.
FDA adds new safety
information to statin drugs
By The Associated Press Tuesday, February 28,
2012
|
|
|||||
Federal health officials are adding new safety
warnings about risks of memory loss and elevated blood sugar to statins, the
most widely prescribed group of cholesterol-lowering medications.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it
is making labeling changes to medicines like Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor,
AstraZeneca’s Crestor and Merck & Co. Inc.’s Zocor. The drugs are used by
tens of millions of U.S. patients to help prevent heart-related problems
associated with cholesterol.
New labeling on all such drugs will warn of
memory loss and confusion reported among certain patients taking statins. In
general the problems were not serious and went away after patients stopped
taking the drugs, according to the FDA.
The updated labels will also mention elevated
levels of blood sugar, associated with diabetes, that
“Patients should not see this as a new
danger with the drugs, but as a known abnormality that appears in blood testing
and should be discussed with their doctor,” said Dr. Kevin Marzo, chief of
cardiology at Winthrop-University Hospital in New York.
Marzo said the labeling change may lead doctors
to monitor patients more closely for diabetes, especially those on high-dose
statins, but he does not expect significant changes in how the drugs are
prescribed. He urged patients to continue taking their medication as directed.
Statins are mainly prescribed to prevent heart
attacks in people with clogged arteries and work by dramatically lowering LDL
or “bad cholesterol.” They were the third best-selling drug class in
the U.S. for 2010 with sales of $18.8 billion, according to health care data
firm IMS Health.
In addition to the label additions, the FDA said
it will remove a long-standing warning related to liver injury. The drugs label
previously recommended routine testing of liver enzymes to avoid injury. The agency
now recommends a single test when patients first begin taking statins.
“FDA has concluded that serious liver
injury with statins is rare and unpredictable in individual patients, and that
routine periodic monitoring of liver enzymes does not appear to be effective in
detecting or preventing this rare side effect,” the agency said in a
statement.
In addition to statins, the new labeling changes apply to several
combination drugs that mix older statins with newer cholesterol medicines,
including Merck’s Vytorin and Abbott Laboratories’ Simcor.
have been reported in some patients taking
statins. A growing number of studies published over the last five years have
found a link between statin use and type 2 diabetes. Last June, a report in the
Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed five older randomized
trials and concluded the increased risk was small but real for people taking
higher doses of any statin.
Cardiologists said Tuesday that the lifesaving
benefits of statin drugs still drastically outweigh the risks.
Good Football Helmet Fit Key to Preventing Brain Injuries
Hello,
There has been a great amount of talk and research on sports related concussions and brain injuries. I ran across this article on the importance of proper helmet fit for football players. Whether it is football, biking, hockey, or any other sport that helmets are used, proper fit is essential to decrease brain injuries in sports.
Good Football Helmet Fit Key to Preventing Brain
Injuries
By By Lisa Esposito
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – 43 mins ago
FRIDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) –
While football helmets don’t prevent concussions, good helmet fit might help reduce
loss of consciousness that can follow a blow to the head, a new study finds.
Expensive, high-tech helmets with
air-lining systems aren’t much better than vintage “leatherheads” for
preventing concussions, the researchers said.
“The occurrence of concussion
has been constant for the past 30 years: whether it was a leather helmet, whether it was a plastic helmet with web suspension, whether it was
a plastic helmet with foam, or one with the new combination air cells and
padding,” said study author Dr. Joseph Torg,
an adjunct professor of orthopedic surgery at Temple University in
Philadelphia.
The researchers looked at data from
the U.S. National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance System from
2005 to 2009. Of the nearly 1,400 kids who sustained a concussion, 44 lost
consciousness and 267 experienced amnesia.
Injury reports addressed helmet fit,
type of inner-helmet padding and whether the helmet was new or reconditioned.
“Youngsters who had a
concussion, if the helmet fit, they had 82 percent less chance of loss of
consciousness,” Torg said. “Helmets — and advanced helmet technology
– do not prevent against concussions or the severe intracranial injuries of
hemorrhage [bleeding] and brain swelling.”
The researchers also analyzed
previous studies comparing types of helmets.
Older, reconditioned helmets did as
well as new helmets. But unpublished data suggested that helmets with
air-bladder linings might be a risk factor, because they tend to leak and can
deflate if not maintained properly.
Wendy Norris, head athletic trainer
at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., said her responsibility
for player health includes gear safety, and it’s standard practice to inspect
helmets before each game.
“We have helmets certified
every year, and the day before games we always check them to make sure they’re
fitting well,” said Norris, a certified athletic trainer. “It’s an
ongoing process. Sometimes I’ll see somebody on the field and say, ‘Hmm, I
don’t like how that looks.’ And we adjust it.”
Higher-tech helmets with improved
air-cell systems cost about $250 to $350 each, Norris said. An advantage is
that company representatives come out to the schools and educate trainers and
coaches on proper fit.
Torg said the big question is,
beyond helmets, what sets apart the four to six football players who suffer
catastrophic injuries from concussion each year?
“Our thesis: there’s a
combination of factors that predisposes those small numbers of
youngsters,” he said. The factors are mostly unidentified, he added,
noting they could be congenital, anatomic, or even related to air temperature.
“A kid who has a severe
concussion has a number of predisposing factors, one of which is probably a
helmet that doesn’t fit,” Torg said. “If you remove that component,
then maybe the problem is solved.”
Torg’s study was presented at this
month’s annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
in San Francisco.
Athletic trainer Norris suggested
some “easy landmarks that parents can look for,” with helmet fit:
- Players’ eyes should be visible.
- Helmet ear holes should line up with players’ ears.
- Cheek pads should sit next to the skin, without a big
gap. - The back of the skull should be covered.
- Mouth guards shouldn’t be chewed up and hanging out of
players’ mouths. They should fit past the second molar on both sides.
Molded is better because that helps absorb the shock when players get hit
in the head. - The helmet shouldn’t shake or rattle. If you grab the
facemask and the chin strap is tightened up all the way, you should not be
able to move the facemask left or right. It should stay neutral. - Find out if helmets are recertified every year.
“They should be,” Norris said. “But a lot of schools can’t
afford that.” One way you can tell: there should be a sticker at the
back of the helmet with the year.
If you think something’s wrong, ask
the trainer or the coach, she advised.
Players also have a role, the
trainer stressed.
“We tell them for sure not to
customize the helmet in any way,” Norris said. “A lot of them want to
cut the forehead pads or cut the cheek pads to make them thinner. We definitely
discourage that.”
And, she added, “they should
also have their coaches check their helmets at least every week or two weeks,
just to make sure everything’s good.”
The data and conclusions of research
presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published
in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to learn about concussion in sports.
CDC : Bread beats out chips as biggest salt source
Hello,
Sources of salt in our diet concern all of us. This article surprised me on the source of most of the salt in our diet. Please enjoy.
CDC : Bread beats out chips as biggest salt source
Updated 3h 31m ago
ATLANTA–Bread and rolls are the No.
1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much
sodium as salty junk food like potato chips.
Al
Behrman, AP
Most of
the sodium comes from common restaurant or grocery store items. Some foods that
are consumed several times a day, such as bread, add up to a lot of sodium even
though each serving is not high in sodium.
Most of the sodium comes from common
restaurant or grocery store items. Some foods that are consumed several times a
day, such as bread, add up to a lot of sodium even though each serving is not
high in sodiAds by GoogleJimmy John’s Sandwich
That surprising finding comes in a
government report released Tuesday that includes a list of the top 10 sources
of sodium. Salty snacks actually came in at the bottom of the list compiled by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Potato chips, pretzels, and
popcorn — which we think of as the saltiest foods in our diet — are only No.
10,” said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden.
Breads and rolls aren’t really
saltier than many of the other foods, but people tend to eat a lot of them,
said Mary Cogswell, a CDC senior scientist who co-authored the report.
Salt is the main source of sodium
for most people, and sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, a major
cause of heart disease and stroke. Health officials say most Americans get too
much salt, mostly from processed and restaurant foods — not added from the salt
shaker.
Experts have known that the sodium
in breads and certain other foods can add up, but even CDC officials were
amazed that just 10 foods are responsible for 44 percent of the sodium
consumed.
“It’s possible to eat a whole
bunch of sodium without it seeming salty,” noted John Hayes, an
assistant professor of food science at Penn State, who was
not involved in the report.
According to the CDC, breads and
rolls account for about 7 percent of the salt that the average American eats in
a day. Next on the list: cold cuts and cured meats; pizza; fresh and processed
poultry; soups; fast-food hamburgers and sandwiches and cheese.
Rounding out the list — and
accounting for about 3 percent each — are spaghetti and other pasta dishes;
meatloaf and other meat dishes and snacks like potato chips and pretzels.
Dietary guidelines recommend no more
than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, equal to about a teaspoon of salt.
Certain people, such as those with high blood pressure, should eat even less.
But average sodium consumption in the U.S. is around 3,300 milligrams, the CDC study found. Only 1 in
10 Americans meet the teaspoon guideline.
The amount of sodium in food types
can vary. For example, a slice of white bread can have between 80 and 230 milligrams
of sodium. A cup of canned chicken noodle soup has between 100 and 940
milligrams and 3 ounces of luncheon meat has between 450 and 1,050 milligrams.
A small 1 ounce bag of potato chips ranges from 50 to 200 milligrams.
The new CDC report is based on
surveys of more than 7,200 people in 2007 and 2008, including nearly 3,000
children. Participants were surveyed twice, each time answering detailed
questions about what they had eaten over the previous day. Researchers then
broke down what they ate into categories, and assigned sodium amounts.
Salt reduction has become a recent
focus of public health campaigns, and some major food makers have taken steps
or announced plans to gradually reduce sodium in their products.
CDC officials — who have long
encouraged people to eat more fruits and vegetables — stopped short of advising
people to lay off the bread. But they are encouraging consumers to read labels
and, for example, buy brands of bread that have lower sodium.
“People can choose how much
salt to add to their food at the table. They can’t take it out once it’s
there,” Frieden said.
There’s another way to consume less
sodium. “Eat smaller portions,” Hayes
Frying With Olive, Sunflower Oil OK for Heart, Study Finds
Hello,
Who doesn’t like fried food and who doesn’t try to stay away from it due to our health concerns. I found this article about frying food with olive and sunflower oil and heart health. Please enjoy.
Frying With Olive, Sunflower Oil OK for Heart, Study
Finds
HealthDay – 2 mins 34 secs ago
TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) — Researchers in Spain have some
good news for people who enjoy eating fried food:
Cooking in olive or sunflower oil is not
linked to heart disease or premature death.
Because heart
disease risk factors — such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and
obesity — have been linked to eating fried foods,
the study authors decided to investigate the association.
For the study, the researchers
examined the cooking habits and health of nearly 41,000 adults, aged 29 to 69,
who did not have heart disease at the start of the 11-year study. The
participants were split into four groups depending on how much fried food they
consumed.
The study authors pointed out that
because their research was conducted in Spain, where olive and sunflower oil
are used for cooking, the findings may not apply in other countries where other
types of oil are more commonly used. For example, when food is fried in solid
and re-used oils (as in the Western diet), it absorbs the fat of the oils,
which increases the calories of the food.
There were 606 heart disease-related
events and 1,134 deaths during the study follow-up period, according to the
report published in the Jan. 24 online edition of the BMJ.
“In a Mediterranean country
where olive and sunflower oils are the most commonly used fats for frying, and
where large amounts of fried foods are consumed both at and away from home, no
association was observed between fried food consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease or death,” according
to the research team, led by Pilar Guallar-Castillon from Autonomous University
of Madrid.
In an accompanying editorial, Michael Leitzmann, from the University of
Regensburg in Germany, wrote that the findings challenge the belief that
“frying food is generally bad for the heart.”
However, he added that this “does not mean
that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no health consequences.”
Specific aspects of frying food, such as the type of oil used, are important, Leitzmann
![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed")
