9, September 2014

5 minute walk every hour good for your heart

If you are working long hours at the desk, do make it a point to take a five minute walk every hour to reverse negative effects of prolonged sitting, says an Indian-origin researcher.

"We found that easy five minute walks can reverse harm caused to leg arteries during hours of prolonged sitting," claimed Saurabh Thosar, a post-doctoral researcher from the Oregon Health and Science University.

When people sit, slack muscles do not contract to effectively pump blood to the heart.

Blood can pool in the legs and affect the endothelial function of arteries or the ability of blood vessels to expand from increased blood flow.

"We have shown that prolonged sitting impairs endothelial function, which is an early marker of cardio-vascular disease and that breaking sitting time prevents the decline in that function," added Thosar, who led the study as a doctoral candidate from Indiana University's school of public health.

The study involved 11 non-obese, healthy men between ages 20-35.

In one trial, they sat for three hours without moving their legs.

In the second trial, the men sat during a three-hour period but also walked on a treadmill for five minutes at a speed of two mph at the half hour, 1.5 and 2.5 hour marks respectively.

Researchers demonstrated that during a three-hour period, the flow mediated dilation, or the expansion of the arteries as a result of increased blood flow, of the main artery in the legs was impaired by as much as 50 percent after just one hour.

The participants who walked for five minutes each hour of sitting saw their arterial function stay the same - it did not drop throughout the three-hour period.

"Normally, a working adult sits for approximately eight hours a day. The impairment in endothelial function is significant after just one hour of sitting. It is interesting to see that light physical activity can help in preventing this impairment," Thosar concluded.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.09.2014

Animal fur bed helps reduce asthma risk in infants

A new study has observed that infants who sleep on animal fur in the first three months of life are less likely to suffer from asthma in later childhood.

The study at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich suggested that microbial environment in animal skin and fur could have a protective effect against asthma and allergies.

The researchers collected information on exposure to animal skin during the first three months of life, along with information on the health of children until the age of 10 years and information on 2,441 children was used in the study, with 55percent of those included sleeping on animal skin in the first three months of life. The results showed that sleeping on animal skin was associated with a reduced risk of a number of factors connected to asthma. Dr Christina Tischer, from the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen Research Centre, said that previous studies suggested that microbes found in rural settings could protect from asthma. Tischer added that an animal skin might also be a reservoir for various kinds of microbes, following similar mechanisms as has been observed in rural environments.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.09.2014

You are strong when you know your weakness; you are wise when you learn from your mistakes…