Smiling can
help fight memory loss
Washington: A new study has revealed that humor and laughter
can help lessen the damage that stress hormone cortisol has on memory and
learning ability in the elderly.
According to the researchers at Loma Linda University, there
was a significant decrease in cortisol concentrations among both groups who
watched a funny video and showed greater improvement in all areas of the memory
assessment when compared to controls.
Gurinder Singh Bains said that their findings offer
potential clinical and rehabilitative benefits that can be applied to wellness
programs for the elderlyand the cognitive components, such as learning ability
and delayed recall, become more challenging as people age and are essential to
older adults for an improved quality of life.
The researchers said that the less stress one has the better
their memory, as humor reduces detrimental stress hormones like cortisol that
decrease memory hippocampal neurons, lowers the blood pressure, and increases
blood flow and mood state.
The study revealed that the act of laughter-or simply
enjoying some humor-increases the release of endorphins and dopamine in the
brain, which provides a sense of pleasure and reward and the positive and
beneficial neurochemical changes, in turn, make the immune system function
better.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health
06.05.2014
Gardening
offers much needed health benefits to younger adults
Washington: Researchers
have said that gardening can not only enhance home and community landscapes and
provide low-cost food sources, the level of physical activity required also
offers a multitude of health benefits to young adults.
Studies
have confirmed that engaging in gardening can lower cholesterol and blood
pressure, and increase psychological well-being.
Researchers
from Konkuk University and Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea, published a
study in HortTechnology that evaluated the intensity of gardening activities
for adults in their 20s.
Study's
lead author Ki-Cheol Son said that the exercise intensity of physical activity
may differ between age groups and fitness levels, and there was not enough data
on the metabolic equivalents of gardening tasks in different age groups to
develop a garden exercise program for maintaining or improving health
conditions.
Fifteen
university students in their 20s participated in the study in South Korea. Each
subject performed 10 common gardening tasks in a high tunnel and in a nearby
grassy area with a vegetable garden and weeds.
The
subjects visited the garden plot twice and performed five gardening tasks
during each visit; each task lasted for 5 minutes and was followed by a
5-minute rest. Subject wore a portable telemetric calorimeter and respired into
the facemask during the gardening tasks and resting periods so researchers
could measure their oxygen uptake.
The
subjects also wore a heart rate monitor to record heart rate data during the
gardening tasks and resting periods via radiotelemetry.
The
research team evaluated the data and determined that all 10 gardening tasks
were "moderate- to high-intensity" physical activities for the
research subjects. Planting transplants, mixing growing medium, watering,
harvesting, sowing, hoeing, mulching, raking, and weeding were all classified
as "moderate intensity", while digging was a found to be a
"high-intensity" activity and was the most intense task in
study.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health
06.05.2014
SUCCESS is the
product of STRUGGLE
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