you are what fur coat
marika
Thomas Jefferson, you just signed the Declaration of Independece! What
are you going to do next?
Buy a thermometer and find out the temperarutre, OF COURSE!
God that's pathetic that the "news" has to stoop to such levels. on easter
no less
Healthy body helps keep mind healthy
(Created: Sunday, March 23, 2008 9:55 AM EDT) | Text Size | print | e-mail
There are lots of opportunities in our lives to listen to or read
advertisements for products or services that are supposed to make our lives
better. Some of these things might even be good for us. However, in almost
every case, someone is looking to sell you something (or at least, profit by
instructing you).
This column is about subjects that do not need to cost you a dime. These
things are bargains!
These bargains involve improving your health. In fact, recent studies
suggest that people engaging in unhealthy lifestyles consume nearly 50 to 75
percent more health services per year.
It has been stated that obesity may pose the greatest obstacle to U.S.
healthcare reform today. Approximately 30 percent of adults are obese, while
about one in six children is obese. Studies show a 40 percent increase in
overweight pre-schoolers aged 2 to 5 since 1994.
Now, I am not saying that obesity is the fault of each person. In fact,
a study of more than 5,000 pairs of twins has found that a child's risk of
becoming overweight is mostly due to nature, not nurture. The research into
children aged between 8 and 11 showed that the variation in a child's body
mass index and waist circumference was 77 percent attributable to genes and
23 percent to the environment in which they grow up.
If you are one of unlucky ones who inherited fat genes, your path to
good health is more difficult, but not impossible! It is like having
diabetes in that it is not your fault but you must learn to deal with it in
order to stay healthy.
Having a healthy body leads to a healthier mind, reducing the risk of
clinical depression and dementia in later life. Scientists at Britain's
Bristol University have found that physical exercise can reduce the risk of
losing the ability to think or remember things clearly in older people by
between 30 and 40 percent. This was based on studies carried out on subjects
aged 70 or above. The patients were observed for between five and 21 years,
and all showed a reduced risk of these mental health problems. Evidence is
also available that exercise was vital for improved psychological
well-being, mood and self-esteem.
Another team of researchers in Italy measured the calories burnt by more
than 700 retirees each day and found those who were most active were least
likely to develop vascular dementia, in which the blood vessels that feed
the brain become damaged and lead to mental decline.
Walking, gardening or doing housework for 30 minutes most days can cut
the risk of dementia by more than a third.
It is pretty well known that weight control and exercise will improve
your health, physically, mentally, and psychologically. For those who smoke
or use tobacco in any form, giving up that addiction is not only a bargain,
it clearly will actually save you money!
But there is yet another healthcare bargain of which I was unaware until
recently.
A study carried out at the University of Michigan School of Public
Health has found that couples who suppress their anger were twice as likely
to die before couples who communicated their anger, even after other factors
such as age, smoking, weight, blood pressure, bronchial problems and
cardiovascular risk were taken into account.
It turns out that those marital shouting matches actually do make you
live longer without costing you any money (except for the flowers that need
to be purchased to be allowed back into the house). On the other hand, maybe
it is the making up after the fights that makes you live longer. I am not
sure how that factor might have been taken into account.