If all the Phys Ed columns published this year have a single message, it is that now is a fine time to own a body. The diverse exercise-related experiments published in 2011 and covered in this space each week suggest that it’s possible to retain your cognitive powers, muscle mass, running speed and waistline, even as you age, and that a little exercise can go a long way in terms of physiological benefit. Recent, important science even tells us that coffee, chocolate and beer enhance exercise performance, which is fortunate, since I have no plans to give up any of those. As most of us prepare our exercise resolutions for 2012, now seems an ideal time to review the past year in fitness science and the lessons it contained, both encouraging and cautionary. [Read more...]
The Year In Fitness
Lots Of Sex ‘Key To Happier Retirement’
Married pensioners with a regular sex life are more likely to be happy, say scientists
The more often older people have sex, the more likely they are to be happy with life and enjoy a good marriage, a small study suggests.
The figures show that elderly people who had sex more than once a month were 50% more likely to say they were very happy with their life than those who reported no sexual activity during the previous year.
The findings were based on a US opinion poll of 238 people aged 65 or over and analysed by researchers at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Participants were asked to rate their feelings about life and their marriage according to whether they were happy, pretty happy or not too happy. [Read more...]
An Assistive Element To Physical Therapy Treatment
Few months ago, it was Friday afternoon right after taking my lunch; I received a text message from a friend stating therein that two of my close relatives were whisk out to the hospital for sustaining multiple fracture and injuries as a result of motorcycle incident that transpired. Without much ado, immediately proceed to the hospital’s emergency room and found out that one of them were having several contusions on several parts of his body and a fractured bone leg while the other one was severely wounded on his left knee and a broken arm. Though how much I wanted to lend a hand, but I was reminded by a physician that treating fractures appropriately depends on the type and location of the fracture, and it was only through an x-ray where they can definitely determine the extent of a fracture.
Recently, though they were still undergoing a physical therapy but they’re now able to regain their physical strength, increase movement, endurance, improve range of motion, mobility, and restore function. Of course, had it not been for the biofeedback machines they had utilized, all of the efforts may just possibly be put into waste. Well, it was through biofeedback machines that patients learn to use their own bodies’ responses to control pain. These machines are employed in a variety of ways, and are intended to serve as an assistive element to physical therapy treatment. Biofeedbacks machines let the patient see or hear their own body’s activity and help the patient become more aware of his/her rehabilitation progress. So if you are looking for rehabilitation supplies and equipment, then look no further than electro medical equipment.
College Students Not Eating Enough Fruits And Vegetables: Study
College students get a failing grade when it comes to meeting their fruit and vegetable requirements, says a new study out of Oregon State University.
In a survey that studied the eating habits of 582 college students, researchers found that many of the students weren’t even getting one serving of fruits or vegetables a day. The recommended daily intake is five servings.
The study, announced August 17 and published online in The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, also found that both males and females surveyed were consuming more than 30 percent of their calories from fat. The American Dietetic Association recommends no more than 30 percent of calories come from fat over the course of a week. [Read more...]
Dogs Can Sniff Out Lung Cancer, Finds Study
Benny can smell lung cancer in human breath samples.
The two-year-old Australian shepherd dog is among four sniffer dogs in Germany trained to detect lung cancer in breath samples of patients, their predictions of the disease matching standard medical diagnosis seven out of 10 times.
A team of doctors and dog trainers has trained sniffer dogs to distinguish between breath samples of healthy persons and lung cancer patients. Their experiments are described in today’s issue of the European Respiratory Journal. [Read more...]
Too Much Television May Shorten Your Life
Six hours of TV a day can cut life expectancy by nearly five years, research shows
Too much television could shorten your life, putting TV-watching ‘in the same ballpark as smoking and obesity’, say researchers. Photograph: Fancy/Veer/Corbis
Watching too much television could shorten your life, a study suggests. Research carried out in Australia, and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that every hour of TV watched after the age of 25 may shorten lifespan by 22 minutes. [Read more...]
Treadmill Shows Medieval Armour Influenced Battles
With the help of a treadmill, the team was able to assess how much energy someone wearing armour would have used (Footage: University of Leeds)
Medieval suits of armour were so exhausting to wear that they could have affected the outcomes of famous battles, a study suggests.
Scientists monitored volunteers fitted with 15th Century replica armour as they walked and ran on treadmills.
They found that the subjects used high levels of energy, bore immense weight on their legs and suffered from restricted breathing.
The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. [Read more...]