Delay the inevitable
Here’s good news for those who can’t stand the thought of getting – and using – a gym membership. Physical activity of any intensity – even if it means just walking around for a bit – provides health benefits. “If you have a job or lifestyle that involves a lot of sitting, you can lower your risk of early death by moving more often, for as long as you want and as your ability allows,” said Dr. Keith Diaz at Columbia University, referring to a study funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Research has shown that long periods of sitting increase the risk of heart disease and death overall. But the amount of activity needed to counter these dangers has been unclear. The Columbia study included almost 8,000 participants aged 45 and older. All participants wore an activity monitor for a week between 2007 and 2013. The device recorded how often they moved while awake and the intensity of their activities. Deaths were tracked through April 2017. The researchers then used this data to model how, when substituting for sitting, various amounts and intensities of activity affected the risk of death from any cause. The team found that any amount of activity was better than sitting. People who swap 30 minutes of sitting for 30 minutes of light-intensity activity per day would have a 17 percent lower risk of death. Light-intensity activities include walking and doing chores that require moving around.
Obesity in the four-legged population
Humans are not the only residents of the United States gaining weight. So are their dogs, according to Nationwide, a provider of pet health insurance, as reported by The New York Times. Obesity among dogs and cats has risen for eight years in a row, along with claims for ailments related to being overweight. In 2017, obesity-related insurance claims for veterinary expenses exceeded $69 million, a 24 percent increase over the last eight years, Nationwide reported in January. With only 2 percent of pets covered by insurance, the costs to owners of overweight pets is likely to be in the billions. A study of 50 obese dogs enrolled in a weight-loss program at the University of Liverpool demonstrated the value of losing excess body fat. The 30 animals in the study that reached their target weight had greater vitality, less pain and fewer emotional issues than the animals that remained too fat. Pet owners: Learn to resist dogs that beg for more food than they need, suggested John P. Loftus, veterinarian at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. “If you’re already meeting your pets’ nutritional needs, they’re not hungry. What they’re really asking for is your attention. Better to distract them with an activity.”
Sleep tight
Researchers say they are closer to solving the mystery of how a good night’s sleep protects against heart disease. In studies using mice, they discovered a previously unknown mechanism between the brain, bone marrow, and blood vessels that appears to protect against the development of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries – but only when sleep is healthy and sound. “We’ve identified a mechanism by which a brain hormone controls production of inflammatory cells in the bone marrow in a way that helps protect the blood vessels from damage,” explained Filip Swirski, Ph.D., the study’s lead author who also is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “This anti-inflammatory mechanism is regulated by sleep, and it breaks down when you frequently disrupt sleep or experience poor sleep quality. It’s a small piece of a larger puzzle.” The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Tobacco use: Going up
Tobacco product use among U.S. youth is increasing, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than one in four high school students and about one in 14 middle school students in 2018 had used a tobacco product in the past 30 days. This was a considerable increase from 2017, and was drivenby an increase in e-cigarette use. E-cigarette use increased from 11.7 percent to 20.8 percent among high school students and from 3.3 percent to 4.9 percent among middle school students from 2017 to 2018. No change was found in the use of other tobacco products, including cigarettes, during this time. Among youth: 1) e-cigarettes are still the most commonly used tobacco product, ahead of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, and pipes; 2) e-cigarettes are the most commonly used product in combination with other tobacco products; and 3) e-cigarette use is highest among boys, whites, and high school students.
Need another reason to quit smoking?
African-Americans who smoke appear to be at greater risk for peripheral artery disease, or PAD, new research has found, reports the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, the findings suggest that smoking intensity – how many cigarettes a day and for how many years – also affects the likelihood of getting the disease. PAD affects 8 to 12 million people in the United States and 202 million worldwide, especially those age 50 and older. It develops when arteries in the legs become clogged with plaque, which are fatty deposits that limit blood flow to the legs. The impact of cigarette smoking on PAD has been understudied in African-Americans, even though PAD is nearly three times more prevalent in African-Americans than in whites. For the study, researchers divided the 5,258 participants into smokers, past smokers and never smokers. They found that those smoking more than a pack a day had significantly higher risk than those smoking fewer than 19 cigarettes daily. Similarly, those with a longer history of smoking had an increased likelihood of the disease. Despite strong associations between smoking and PAD, however, the findings do not establish a causal link, according to the study’s authors. Nor can they be generalized to people of African descent from other regions or countries, since the study was conducted in a single community of African-Americans.