Archive for June, 2009
June 22nd, 2009
To paraphrase from the ads for EAS Myoplex, I know when I’m not done yet in my workouts.
I’m not done — no matter how soon I’m supposed to be at work, or home from it – if I haven’t done at least 20 minutes of some kind of weight training. Aging, and I’m getting up there, is associated with the loss of muscle mass and strength which, in even later years, can mean loss of mobility, balance and independence.
Studies have shown that even the very old and frail can benefit from resistance training — that can be training with free weights, resistance bands or machines. The idea doesn’t have to be a big increase in muscle mass because even light weights can be effective.
The idea is improvement in muscle strength and, assuming your doctor clears you for such exercise, that can be a very good idea.
An easy way for an older person — yes, women receive great benefits too — to get started is to choose a light weight that you can easily lift 12 times for whichever exercise you choose, say something simple like a dumbbell curl. After performing the 12 repetitions, rest for a minute or so and then try the next weight up (if your first lift was with a 5-pounder, the next weight up is usually an 8-pounder).
Try to do the same exercise with that weight 8 times. Whether you succeed on the second set of lifts or not, that’s it for the first try.
Take a day off and then come back and try the same lifting routine again. In a few weeks, when both sets become easy to achieve, challenge yourself with the next higher weight (first set with the eight, second set with the next weight up which in most gyms is probably going to be a 10-pounder).
Use the same gradual increase for any exercise you want to try and you can keep your strength for a long, long time.
June 12th, 2009
I first ran across this exercise five or six years ago during a National Exercise Trainers Association workshop on core strength.
It must be good, because I’ve seen it recommended in literally scores of exercise programs since then. When I’ve used it with my clients, I just call it hand and knee balance, but it also goes by several fancier names. It works for the shoulders, back, abs, obliques and a little muscle under your glutes called the piriformis, no matter what you call it.
 The beginner’s form of the exercise is to start on the floor on your hands and knees, with your abs tight and neck and back in neutral spine (flat). Lift the right hand off the floor and extend it above your head while also lifting the left knee and extending it back with toes pointed. While balancing on left hand and right knee, bring the lifted hand and knee in toward your midsection at the same time. Then return to extended position. Do 12 repetitions, then switch to left hand and right leg up and extended and do 12 more repetitions.
Don’t worry if you wobble a bit. Tighten your abs, glutes and obliques to help keep yourself on balance.
Another note: When you’re starting out, especially, one side is always quite a bit better than the other. You’ll improve.
To increase the intensity of the exercise as you get better, you can hold a weight or weighted ball in the extended hand, put the hand that is on the floor on a ball to de-stabilize yourself, or do both at the same time. You can be even tougher on yourself by trying it while balancing on an exercise bench, but make sure you’re really good before you do.
And, by all means, have fun.
June 1st, 2009
Several studies have shown that patients with gum disease, known as periodontitis, are also candidates for heart disease.
That has cardiologists and dentists ready to copy parts of each other’s role in health care. For instance,  a cardiologist may examine a patient’s mouth for signs of significant tooth loss, oral inflammation or receding gums and a periodontist might begin asking questions about heart health and family history of heart disease.
The connection between the two is that both are inflammatory diseases, and experts believe managing one disease may reduce the risk for the other.
A paper on the relationship between gum disease and heart disease was recently published in the online versions of the American Journal of Cardiology and the Journal of Periodontology http://www.joponline.org/toc/jop/0/0 . Dr. Kenneth Kornman, editor of the Journal of Periodontology and a co-author of the report, called inflammation a major risk factor for heart disease and said periodontal disease may increase the inflammation level throughout the body.
“Therefore, you will now see cardiologists and periodontists joing forces to help our patients,” he said.
Source: American Academy of Periodontology and PRNewswire-USNewswire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Â
June 1st, 2009
The problem with heart problems is that the first sign of trouble is often death. So, before you give yourself a clean bill of heart health, make sure you aren’t operating under misinformation about your chances for a heart attack.
The cardiovascular medicine faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health recently offered up a list of the most common myths they hear from patients.
MYTH: “Nobody in my family has heart disease, so I’m not going to get it.”
Dr. James Stein, director of the Preventive Cardiology Program at the UW Hospital and Clinics in Madison, said only 47 percent of people with heart disease have a family history of the disease. That means the other 53 percent develop it in the absence of an obvious genetic component.
“Risk factors like unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle predict heart disease. The presence of any risk factors increases your risk of developing heart disease,” Stein said, “but not having a family history does not protect you.”
MYTH: “I don’t have high blood pressure. My bottom number has always been normal.”
When you’re young, the bottom number of a blood pressure reading is a marker of heart disease and stroke risk. After age 35 or 40, though, the top number of the reading is the one that should have your attention.
“As you age, your arteries get stiffer, and as a result, the top number goes up and the bottom number goes down,” Stein said. “Actually, a low bottom number is very dangerous.”
MYTH: “My angiography showed that I have an artery with 50 percent blockage. We just have to take care of that one spot, right?”
No. Atherosclerosis — maybe better known as hardening of the arteries — isn’t confined to one spot.
“Chances are, if you have blockage that is easy to see, you almost assuredly have blockages elsewhere that are harder to see, said Dr. Jon Keevil, a preventive cardiologist at UW Hospital and Clinics. “Unfortunately, even those can be risky for heart attacks.”
MYTH: “I’m thin and I’m in shape. I don’t have to worry about bad cholesterol.”
Wrong again. Dr. Mary Zasadil, a preventive cardiologist with UW Hospital and Clinics, said obese patients may be more likely to have cholesterol issues but, like heart disease, cholesterol is largely genetic. If your parents or relatives struggled with cholesterol you and your doctor need to play close attention to yours.
MYTH: “I stopped taking my cholesterol medication because my cholesterol improved. I didn’t think I needed it any more.”
Cholesterol medicines, including statins, aren’t like antibiotics, which can be stopped once the infection is resolved and you’ve completed your course. The protective benefits of cholesterol medicines disappear when a patient stops taking them and what went down can quickly shoot back up again.
Source: University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics
