3, January 2015

An hour of exercise curbs Parkinson's effects!

Just an hour of exercise thrice a week can help people with Parkinson's disease improve their balance and even reduce risk of falling down in people with early stage of the disease, new research says.

People with Parkinson's disease experience trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face, rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and trunk, slowness of movement and postural instability.

"These results suggest that minimally supervised exercise programs aimed at reducing falls in people with Parkinson's should be started early in the disease process," said study author Colleen Canning from University of Sydney in Australia.

Falling down is a common problem for people with Parkinson's, with 60 percent falling each year and two-thirds of those falling repeatedly.

"The resulting injuries, pain, limitations of activity and fear of falling again can really affect people's health and well-being," Canning said.

For the study, 231 people with Parkinson's disease either received their usual care or took part in an exercise programme of 40 to 60 minutes of balance and leg strengthening exercises three times a week for six months.

For those with less severe disease, a 70 percent reduction in falls was reported in those who exercised, compared to those who did not.

But those with more severe Parkinson's disease did not accrue much benefit in terms of reduced falling.

Overall, those who took part in the exercise programme performed better on tests of ability to move around and balance, had a lower fear of falls and reported better overall mood and quality of life.

The study appeared in the journal Neurology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

03.01.2015

High heels today, spine therapy tomorrow

An expert here gives valuable tips on what to do if high heels are unavoidable.

Even if the next day is to be spent on painful rehab and exercise, to get relief from calf and lower pack pain, the red carpet seems to deserve high heels. Luckily, there are some actresses who buck the trend.

Top model Cara Delevingne even goes so far as to say that she "hates high heels more than anything." She calls high heels the worst part of being a model. Jennifer Lawrence is one of the stars to speak out against high heels, calling them "Satan's shoes." Emma Thompson asks, "Why do we wear them? They're so painful." Tina Fey writes about high-heeled shoes and other "curses associated with being a woman" in her book 'Bossypants', saying she hopes that her daughter will "not have to wear high heels" in the future.

Dr.Garima Anandani, Chief Spine Specialist at a Spine clinic in the city sees women who come to her for high-heel related back pain on a daily basis, is grateful for the stance taken by some senior celebrities. She says, " Apart from being a major cause of foot and ankle problems in women, high heels may also cause gait imbalance and cause the wearer to walk unnaturally."

High heels, especially those over 2 inches high, may cause body weight to be distributed excessively on the toes and the person leaning forward. To compensate for this, the person tends to lean backwards causing overarching of the lower back. Hence you may be forced to adapt a certain posture of your back and upper body in order to carry off your high heels. All of this results in increase of abnormal stresses on the lower back, hips and knees, which may triggerback pain in the long term.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

03.01.2015

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mustery, today is a gift which is why we call it the present

Bill Keane