Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

If 2020 is the year you’ve resolved to quit smoking, don’t start vaping. No matter what e-cigarette companies advertise, their products aren’t approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a safe and effective way to give up tobacco, the American Lung Association warns. And switching from tobacco to e-cigarettes isn’t quitting. “The simple truth is that e-cigarettes are tobacco products, and the Lung Association has been helping people avoid and quit using tobacco for decades,” said Michelle Caul, the association’s director for health promotions. She said misinformation about the health risks of vaping runs rampant, especially among young people. She offered these facts in a news release: E-cigarettes are tobacco products and no tobacco products are safe. Hospitalizations and deaths from vaping show that e-cigarette use is harmful. Quitting is ending addiction to nicotine, which can be difficult. E-cigarettes contain dangerous metals and toxic chemicals that can cause lung disease. “One of the biggest problems with e-cigarettes is that many times people become dual users, meaning they smoke cigarettes when they can and use vaping devices at other times,” said Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer of the association. “Using e-cigarettes is not safe,” he added. “A new study released in December found adults who currently or ever used e-cigarettes are 30% more likely to develop chronic lung disease, including asthma, bronchitis and… read on >

(HealthDay News) — With regular visits to a vision specialist, about half of all cases of blindness can be avoided or treated, says Harvard Medical School. There are many misconceptions about what can hurt or help vision. The school debunks five common eye myths: Doing eye exercises will not improve or preserve sight. Reading in dim light does not worsen vision. But it may tire your eyes more quickly. Although good for you, eating carrots will not prevent vision problems. You can wear glasses all the time. Wearing glasses won’t worsen vision. Staring at a computer screen will not permanently harm your eyes, but it may cause eyestrain.

Exercise may do more than build body strength: New research shows it might also keep brain cells in shape. According to the study, exercise helps maintain the brain’s gray matter, which is linked to various skills and thinking abilities. So, keeping your gray matter intact may help prevent thinking declines, the German researchers explained. The report was published online Jan. 2 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. “This [study] provides indirect evidence that aerobic exercise can have a positive impact on cognitive function in addition to physical conditioning,” said Dr. Ronald Petersen, a Mayo Clinic neurologist. “Another important feature of the study is that these results may apply to older adults, as well. There is good evidence for the value of exercise in midlife, but it is encouraging that there can be positive effects on the brain in later life as well,” said Petersen, who co-authored an editorial that accompanied the report. The German researchers, led by Katharina Wittfeld, followed more than 2,000 adults in northeastern Germany from 1997 through 2012. Over the study period, fitness was measured and participants underwent MRI brain scans. Although the study found an association between exercise and brain health, it couldn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship. According to Mayo Clinic experts, moderate and regular exercise — about 150 minutes per week — is recommended. Good fitness also involves: Not smoking. Following… read on >

If you plan to make a New Year’s resolution about improving your health, the American Medical Association (AMA) has some good suggestions. “With too many holiday sweets and not enough exercise likely in the rearview mirror, now is the perfect time to consider your personal goals and how you can make positive health choices in the coming year,” AMA President Dr. Patrice Harris said in an association news release. “The good news is that there are a few easy steps you can take that will set you on the right track for a healthier 2020,” Harris added. Learn your risk for type 2 diabetes and take steps to prevent or delay the onset of the disease. Get the recommended amount of physical activity. For adults, it’s at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity. Know your blood pressure and, if you have high blood pressure, take steps to get it under control. Doing so will reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke. Cut back on processed foods, especially those with added sodium and sugar. Eat less red meat and processed meats, and eat more plant-based foods, such as olive oil, nuts and seed. Reduce your consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and drink more water instead. If you’re prescribed antibiotics, take them exactly as directed. Antibiotic resistance… read on >

Lose weight. Eat healthier. Quit smoking. These are all popular New Year’s resolutions that are often only kept for a short time, if at all. About 40% of Americans make a New Year’s resolution, most of which are abandoned by February, according to researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. But Bernadette Melnyk, vice president for health promotion and chief wellness officer and dean of the College of Nursing at Ohio State, has some tips to help you make your resolutions stick: Set a realistic, specific, 30-day goal. The more specific and realistic the goal, the more likely it will be achieved. Break big goals down into small ones, and try to tackle one small change for 30 days. Many resolutions fail because people try too much, too fast. Write your goal down and put it where you can see it every day. Keep a journal of your successes and write encouraging messages to yourself. Visualize yourself accomplishing your goal and celebrating your success. If you have a positive attitude, you’re more likely to achieve your goal. Share your resolution with a friend or family member, and enlist them to help support your effort with encouraging texts and calls as you let them in on your progress. Work toward your goal one day at a time. You can always start again if you fall… read on >

(HealthDay News) — More than 5 million teeth are knocked out every year in children and adults, says the American Association of Endodontists. But knocked out teeth don’t have to be lost for good. Proper emergency action can save the tooth, so it can be replanted. If your tooth gets knocked out, the association urges you to: Pick up the tooth by the crown, not the root. If the tooth is dirty, gently rinse it with water. Re-position the tooth in the socket immediately, if possible. Keep the tooth moist at all times. See an endodontist or dentist within 30 minutes of the injury.

Obesity is seldom a friend to health, but in one medical context it might give patients a slight advantage, new research suggests. Specifically, when Australian researchers looked at trials of atezolizumab, an immune system-based treatment for lung cancer, they found that the drug worked better in people who were overweight. The trial involved more than 2,100 people with the most common form of lung tumors, non-small cell lung cancer. About half of the participants were normal weight, about one-third were overweight and 7 percent were obese. About two-thirds of patients received the newer drug, atezolizumab, while the remaining third got an older drug, docetaxel. The researchers found that obesity — a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above — “was associated with significantly improved overall survival in patients treated with atezolizumab, but not in those who received docetaxel.” What’s more, there seemed to be a “linear relationship.” As body weight rose in patients taking atezolizumab, so too did their odds for survival. The study was led by Dr. Ganessan Kichenadasse, a medical oncology researcher at the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer. “This is an interesting outcome and it raises the potential to investigate further with other cancers and other anti-cancer drugs,” Kichenadasse said in a Flinders University news release. “While our study only looked at baseline and during treatment, we believe it warrants… read on >

(HealthDay News) — The bones that form your spine are cushioned by round discs. A herniated disc is a disc that has been pushed out of place, says the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The group mentions warning signs of a herniated disc: Low backache. Numbness or weakness in parts of the body. A sharp, electric shock-like pain on one side of the body. Burning or tingling that radiates into the leg or shoulder. Sometimes, these symptoms can worsen with standing, walking or sitting.

Diets heavy in red meat and fatty foods could help spur a leading cause of vision loss in older Americans, new research suggests. The study found that people who ate more typical Western diets were three times more likely to develop an eye condition that robs you of your central vision — late-stage age-related macular degeneration. “What you eat seems to be important to your vision, and to whether or not you have vision loss later in life,” said study lead author Amy Millen. She’s an associate professor in the department of epidemiology and environmental health at the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, in Buffalo, N.Y. “People know that diet influences cardiovascular risk and the risk of obesity, but the public may not know that diet can affect vision loss,” Millen said. Age-related macular degeneration occurs when a part of the eye called the macula is damaged. Sometimes this happens when deposits called drusen grow on the macula. Or it can occur when new blood vessels keep forming and leak blood, scarring the macula, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Genetics and smoking are known risk factors for age-related macular degeneration. The study included almost 1,300 people from a nationally representative sample. Most did not have macular degeneration. There were 117 who had early AMD, and 27 had late.… read on >

If you’re overweight or obese, shedding pounds can help improve your health and your longevity. What’s more, doing so may also significantly boost your bank balance. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore wanted to know how a person’s expenses and income might change if their weight went from obese to overweight to normal at different ages. So they created a computer simulation that looked at a person’s health and weight over the years. They considered time lost from work, health complications related to being overweight — such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes — and direct medical costs to insurers and health care facilities, among other things. How much could you save? If you’re 20, the research, which was published in the Journal of Obesity, found that slimming down from obese to overweight saves you more than $17,000 in direct medical costs and lost productivity over your lifetime. Reach a healthy weight and the savings exceed $28,000. If you’re in your 40s, going from obese to overweight saves you around $18,000. Drop to a healthy weight and you’ll net an average lifetime savings of about $31,000. Savings peak for those who slim down in the midlife years. A 50-year-old who goes from obese to overweight can see a lifetime savings of about $36,000. You’ll add even more cash to your wallet if… read on >