Lifestyle strategies for your healthiest heart
Filed under: Women Heart Health, Men Heart Health, Aging Heart Health
We often post tips and facts about having a healthy heart, but over at That's Fit, I think this post sums up what you need to do to have a healthy heart. Here's what they recommend:- Get a good night's sleep
- Get active -- this especially includes resistance training
- Drink wine in moderation
- Eat fish, or some other source of Omega 3's
- Floss regularly
- Quit smoking
- Take a daily walk
- An aspirin a day can take the heart problems away -- but talk to your doctor first.
[RESEARCH] Pharmacological and lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance: systematic review and meta-analysis
Objective To quantify the effectiveness of pharmacological and lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance.
Data sources Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane library searched up to July 2006. Expert opinions sought and reference lists of identified studies and any relevant published reviews checked.
Study selection Randomised controlled trials that evaluated interventions to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance.
Results 21 trials met the inclusion criteria, of which 17, with 8084 participants with impaired glucose tolerance, reported results in enough detail for inclusion in the meta-analyses. From the meta-analyses the pooled hazard ratios were 0.51 (95% confidence interval 0.44 to 0.60) for lifestyle interventions v standard advice, 0.70 (0.62 to 0.79) for oral diabetes drugs v control, 0.44 (0.28 to 0.69) for orlistat v control, and 0.32 (0.03 to 3.07) for the herbal remedy jiangtang bushen recipe v standard diabetes advice. These correspond to numbers needed to treat for benefit (NNTB) and harm (NNTH) of 6.4 for lifestyle (95% credible interval, NNTB 5.0 to NNTB 8.4), 10.8 for oral diabetes drugs (NNTB 8.1 to NNTB 15.0), 5.4 for orlistat (NNTB 4.1 to NNTB 7.6), and 4.0 for jiangtang bushen (NNTH 16.9 to NNTB 24.8).
Conclusions Lifestyle and pharmacological interventions reduce the rate of progression to type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance. Lifestyle interventions seem to be at least as effective as drug treatment.
Fabulous makeovers courtesy of DIVABETIC
Filed under: Type 2, Lifestyle
Big pharma giant Novo Nordisk wants to remind you of its involvement in a social outreach program for diabetics. Entitled "Divabetic - Makeover Your Diabetes," the program is being touted as a series of fun community outreach events designed to support, educate and motivate women with Type 2 diabetes and those who are at-risk for it. It's also open to those who do not have diabetes themselves, but who have been adversely affected through the diagnosis of a loved one. The "Divabetic" part of the title refers to the outreach organization DIVABETIC, which is collaborating with Novo Nordisk in this project.Divabetic offers women makeovers at the hands of a team of fashion and beauty gurus. It's all about having fun with fashion, beauty and the like. All that GIRL-STUFF. Hmm. Nice, but not really related to diabetes education, is it? Well, no. But the idea is to use that as a means to an end, say the organizers. You know, self-esteem and all that jazz. The idea is to get away from the very un-fun and un-sexy clinical learning environment, which tends to alienate those who are most in need of help.
The goal is to motivate attendees to get control of their diabetes by making lifestyle changes. You know what I mean - The Biggies: eat healthy, exercise, take your meds. Alan Moses, associate vice president of medical affairs for Novo, says the company acknowledges the role that overall lifestyle changes can play in turning around a diabetic's health status, but that they also have come to understand how hard it is for most people to make that change. That's where motivation comes into play...in the form of makeovers. Yes, says DIVABETIC founder Max Szadek. When women look great, they feel great, and you have to feel great about yourself before you can get motivated to take care of your health, he enthuses.
Divabetic events are free. They will be taking place around the country (big cities, only, folks), starting with New York at Gotham Hall on February 22. Want to read more? Read Novo's press release, visit the ChangingDiabetes website or call 1-800-634-8888. Or check out DIVABETIC's sassy and fun site.
Exercising Mind And Body
I’ve recently purchased a CD set called “The 5 Forces of Wellness” by Dr. Mark Harman. It’s made me realise that the food we eat has such a majorimpact on the quality of our health. Being healthy is not just amount being free from disease now, it’s about leading a full and active life and laying the foundation for preventing diseases in the future. By completing the questionnaires in the accompanying workbook I’ve gained a powerful insight into the current state of my health. The series helps you understand how you got where you are and what you can do to change things (sometimes in conjunction with your physician or other medical practitioner).
I realise my lifestyle has got me where I am today. If I want to be healthy, not just control my weight, then I have to make changes to my lifestyle. The person who has to take responsibility for my health is ME, not my physician.
I’m more determined than ever to focus on eating healthy, nutritious food. Preparing my own meals is a major key. Processed food should be the rare exception not the norm.
I thoroughly recommend the CD. I’m sure it will help you achieve not just weight loss but will inspire you to make changes to your lifestyle that will have a big impact on improving the quality of your health.
Don’t think you’ve got time to listen to an eight CD set? Follow my example and listen to a CD as you walk outdoors on on the treadmill. Forty five minutes will be up before you know it. Exercise your body and your mind. You’ll feel doubly virtuous!
Isobel Whytock 1Stop-Weightloss.com
7 Tips for Dieting Success
There are lots of dieters, trying every sort of plan to lose weight. Here are 7 tips that will help you be successful in your diet and achieve a healthier all-around lifestyle.
How to get healthy without really trying
Filed under: Diet, Prevention, Exercise
Healthy living is such an ordeal, isn't it? Not really, of course, but it can certainly seem that way if you've spent the better part of the last several years being a couch potato. If you'd like to clean up your lifestyle but the idea of changing too much too soon has been scaring you off, take heart. Experts say that it really doesn't take the much to be healthy. For instance, just adding one serving of fruits and vegetables to every meal will equal three of the recommended 5 to 9 servings. And three 10-minute walks a day are enough to decrease your risk for cardiovascular disease. If you're consistent in adding in small changes to your routine, before you know it your lifestyle will look a lot healthier than it did just a few months ago.
If you're interested in trying out "stealth health," check out these suggestions from WebMD to get started.
Health, longevity linked to insulin in the brain
Filed under: Type 2, Diet, Lifestyle, Research, Exercise
What makes for a long and healthy life? Why, you say, how about a healthy diet and liberal quantities of exercise? True! A healthy lifestyle keeps you in shape and is one factor that promotes longevity. But have you ever wondered exactly how this works on a physiological level? How does the brain understand you skipped the gym all summer and had French fries for lunch yesterday? The answer, according to the results of a new study published in Science (July 2007), could relate to insulin levels in the brain. Researchers induced lab mice to overeat until they became obese and some exhibited symptoms of diabetes. Yet some of those same mice actually lived eighteen percent longer than their slender mice buddies. The researchers attributed that longevity to a gene that affects insulin. Put simply: the longevity gene (called Irs2) effectively "tricked" the brains of those mice into thinking they were slim and fit, when in fact the opposite was true.
For diabetics, the study raises an additional question: if raising insulin levels decreases the body's sensitivity to it, is it really desirable to treat type 2 diabetics with insulin over the long-term? Lead author of the study, Morris White of Children's Hospital in Boston, says it's highly preferable (when possible) to get type 2 diabetes under control through old-fashioned diet and exercise, rather than through insulin or other meds.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Factors that Aggravate Inflammatory Markers
Filed under: Type 1, Type 2, Childhood, Adult Onset, Lifestyle, Research
The results of this study do not surprise me at all. Researchers have found that psychosocial factors like cynical distrust, chronic stress and depression, may be associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers. These inflammatory markers are related to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of premature death among people with diabetes.
The study included 6,814 men and women between the ages of 45 to 84. Participants were assessed for their levels of depression, chronic stress and cynical distrust. Blood samples obtained at the start of the study were analyzed for markers for inflammation. The researchers found associations between all three psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers.
A high stress lifestyle may increase the chance that an individual engages in social behaviors that increase inflammatory markers. The same high stress lifestyle may contribute to obesity and related metabolic problems. Furthermore, socioeconomic position is likely to be a precursor to psychosocial characteristics. True. But let's not wager our lives on a dollar-denominated scale. Consider the Chinese proverb, those who know when they have enough are rich. Now ask yourself where you stand in the socioeconomic parade. If you put it that way - I'm on easy street! Too bad it's in the wrong neighborhood.
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Too much exercise can be bad for you too!
Filed under: Research, Exercise
Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. But in individuals with heart troubles, too much exercise can be a bad thing too -- it can speed up heart failure ... in rats, at least. These findings are in direct opposition to what researchers thought they would find -- that the more they exercised, the healthier rats are. But don't use these findings as an excuse to skip the gym for the next few decades -- it's still thought that a reasonable amount of exercise is better than a sedentary lifestyle. Excessive exercise might be a problem, but a daily walk will not kill you.