Sports « Weekly Gravy

Does a crowded neighborhood make you move more? Yes, says new research that found people who live in highly populated areas walk more than people who live in less densely populated areas. Since more walking is connected to better health, generally speaking, the extra steps can make a big difference in terms of promoting an active lifestyle and public health, said lead study author Glen Duncan, a Washington State University nutrition and exercise physiology professor. “We have so many people in the U.S. population who don’t get sufficient activity. If we could shift the percentage of the population that just took on more plain old walking, we would see real health benefits,” Duncan said in a university news release. In other words, improving local walkability, and getting more Americans to walk, can potentially boost the health of the entire population. For this study, researchers examined twins’ activity levels by location. Neighborhoods were deemed walkable based on an index that measures the density of people, roads and desirable places to walk to — destinations such as stores, parks, restaurants and coffee shops. The study analyzed data from surveys of 5,477 pairs of twins who lived in various parts of the United States. Data from 2009 to 2020 — which included information about where people lived, the number of minutes they walked in a typical week and… read on > read on >

Can you literally step away from depression? A new global review of data found that “increasing the number of daily steps, even at modest levels, was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms.” The Spanish study found that up to a level of about 10,000 steps per day, the odds for depression decline as daily step levels rise. The findings were published Dec. 16 in the journal JAMA Network Open. Researchers led by Estela Jimenez-Lopez, of the University of Castile-La Mancha, noted there’s already solid evidence that exercise of any kind is a natural antidepressant. But what about something as easy as walking? To find out, they looked at data from high-quality studies on daily step counts and their links to mental health. In total, the new review covered 33 studies involving a total of more than 96,000 adults worldwide. Studies included people who used fitness-tracker devices to calculate their daily steps. Compared to a baseline of 5,000 steps taken per day, folks who took even 1,000 more steps daily saw a 9% drop in their odds for developing depression, the researchers found. Those benefits quickly mounted up: Compared to folks walking 5,000 steps per day or less, those who walked 7,000 steps/day had a 31% lower odds for depression, the study found. “In addition, counts above 7,500 steps/d were associated with a 43% lower… read on > read on >

Seniors who want to stay sharp as they age should hit the treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike as often as possible. A new study shows that better cardio fitness in older age is linked to healthier brain aging. That sort of fitness preserves brain health as people age even if they carry genetic risk factors that make them vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, researchers reported Dec. 10 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. “We found that cardiorespiratory fitness, which predicts the onset of numerous diseases and can be modified by regular exercise, was positively associated with cognitive performance across all domains assessed,” concluded the research team led by Kirk Erickson, director of translational research at AdventHealth Research Institute in Orlando, Fla. For the study, researchers recruited nearly 650 brain-healthy seniors ages 65 to 80 and tested their cardio fitness using a graded treadmill running test. Their brain power was also assessed with a comprehensive battery of tests carried out over two days. Previous research has linked cardio fitness to a reduced risk of age-related brain decline and dementia, but it’s not clear which aspects of brain function cardio specifically boosts, researchers said in background notes. The cognitive tests assessed five different types of brain function. These included processing speed, short-term working memory, long-term episodic memory, planning and organizational skills and the ability to interpret visual… read on > read on >

Want to give your brain a boost for tomorrow? Get in a little pulse-pounding exercise today, a new study shows. In a finding that suggests the benefits of exercise may linger longer than believed, researchers discovered that middle-aged adults and seniors perform better on memory tests even a full day after they’ve had some moderate to vigorous physical activity. “Moderate or vigorous activity means anything that gets your heart rate up — this could be brisk walking, dancing or walking up a few flights of stairs. It doesn’t have to be structured exercise,” said lead researcher Mikaela Bloomberg, a senior research fellow in social epidemiology with the University College London’s Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care. “Our findings suggest that the short-term memory benefits of physical activity may last longer than previously thought, possibly to the next day instead of just the few hours after exercise,” Bloomberg said in a UCL news release. People ages 50 to 84 also did better on memory tests if they spent less time sitting the day before or got six or more hours of sleep. Exercise is known to provide a short-term brain boost by increasing blood flow to the brain, and by stimulating the release of neurochemicals that support many different cognitive functions, researchers explained in background notes. These brain chemical changes are known to last at least… read on > read on >

Take the stairs. Tote heavy shopping bags. Walk up that hill. Play tag with a kid or a pet. Weaving these tiny bursts of vigorous physical activity into everyday life can halve a woman’s risk of a heart attack, a new study shows. An average of four daily minutes of this sort of activity appears to protect the heart health of women who don’t otherwise exercise, researchers reported Dec. 3 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. “We found that a minimum of 1.5 minutes to an average of four minutes of daily vigorous physical activity, completed in short bursts lasting up to one minute, were associated with improved cardiovascular health outcomes in middle-aged women who do no structured exercise,” said lead researcher Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor of physical activity, lifestyle and population health at the University of Sydney in Australia. Specifically, women were 51% less likely to have a heart attack and 67% less likely to develop heart failure if they engaged in these short bursts of activity, compared to women who were completely sedentary, researchers found. “Making short bursts of vigorous physical activity a lifestyle habit could be a promising option for women who are not keen on structured exercise or are unable to do it for any reason,” Stamatakis said in a university news release. For the study, researchers analyzed data on… read on > read on >

Bouncing a soccer ball off the head during play could be doing real damage to the brain, a new study suggests. MRI brain scans of male and female soccer athletes suggests that lots of “heading” could damage areas of the brain already known to be linked to debilitating concussion-linked conditions, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). “The potential effects of repeated head impacts in sport are much more extensive than previously known and affect locations similar to where we’ve seen CTE pathology,” said study senior author Dr. Michael Lipton, professor of radiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. “This raises concern for delayed adverse effects of head impacts.” He and his colleagues are slated to present their findings in Chicago next week at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Previous studies have suggested that head impacts of all kinds might be linked to neurological issues such as CTE, according to an RSNA news release. In the new study, Lipton’s groups used a high-tech form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to track changes in “microstructures” close to the surface of the brains of 352 amateur soccer players and 77 “non-collision” athletes, such as runners. Participants ranged from 18 to 53 years of age. Players who had engaged in a lot of soccer headers showed changes in the brain’s… read on > read on >

It’s common to find a pitcher soaking their elbow in an ice bucket following a baseball game, in an effort to save their arm for tomorrow’s innings. But athletes about to hit the turf would be better off soaking their aching muscles and joints in a hot tub rather than an ice bath, researchers report in a new small-scale study. A hot soak appears to improve exercise performance among athletes, researchers found. On the other hand, cold soaks are better for lowering inflammation, swelling and fatigue, results show. “While post-exercise [cold water immersion] is common on the sports field, cooling does not always have a positive effect on exercise capacity,” lead researcher Mamoru Tsuyuki, a master’s student in sports and health science at Ritsumeikan University in Shiga, Japan, said in a news release. For the study, researchers asked a small group of endurance athletes to perform 50 minutes of high-intensity interval running, followed by 20 minutes of either a cold-water soak at 59 degrees Fahrenheit or a hot-water tub at 104 degrees F. One hour after the workout, researchers measured the athletes’ jump height and blood levels of enzymes that indicate muscle soreness. The athletes jumped higher after a hot soak compared to a cold soak, results show. “The novel findings from our study are that post-exercise hot water immersion promoted recovery of muscle power… read on > read on >

TUESDAY, Nov. 26, 2024 (HeathDay News) — A potentially important form of brain signaling appears to be affected whenever concussion strikes, according to new research involving high school football players. “This study is important because it provides insight into both the mechanisms and the clinical implications of concussion in the maturing adolescent brain,” said study co-lead author Alex Wiesman, assistant professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. He and his colleagues are slated to present their findings next week in Chicago at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). As the researchers explained, multiple concussion studies have already examined the effects of head injury on what’s known as periodic or “rhythmic” brain signaling, which is crucial to attention, movement or sensory processing. But much less has been known about non-rhythmic brain signaling. “Most previous neuroscience research has focused on rhythmic brain signaling, which is also called periodic neurophysiology,” explained study lead author Kevin Yu, a neuroscience student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. “On the other hand, aperiodic neurophysiology refers to brain signals that are not rhythmic.” For a long time, neurologists haven’t paid a lot of attention to aperiodic signaling, considering it mere “background noise” in the brain. But that perspective is beginning to change. “While it’s often overlooked, aperiodic activity is important… read on > read on >

A cancer diagnosis can bring overwhelming stress and depression to women, but new research suggests yoga can help ease that emotional toll. “A wellness intervention that integrates yoga and psychological tools may strengthen the connections among the mind, body and spirit, leading to a better and more meaningful quality of life,” said study senior author Deidre Pereira. She’s an associate professor of clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville. The new research involved 51 women who’d been diagnosed with some form of gynecological, gastrointestinal or thoracic cancer. According to a university news release, they “enrolled in a 10-week, in-person, group intervention that used breathing and relaxation techniques, mindfulness meditation, psychotherapy skills and gentle yoga aimed at improving physical and mental quality of life.” Based on answers to detailed questionnaires, Pereira’s team found women reporting a lowering of their symptoms of anxiety and depression after completing the program. When it came to the physical symptoms of depression, the program was especially helpful to women of color, the researchers noted. “Quality of life during and beyond cancer treatment is a critical component of whole-person cancer care,” explained study co-lead author Elizabeth Kacel, a recent graduate of the clinical psychology doctoral program at UF. It’s the program’s use of yoga/meditation alongside psychotherapeutic training that really seemed to help, she added. “The combination of both… read on > read on >

People whose genes put them at high risk for dementia may be able to fight Mother Nature and win, new research out of Sweden suggests. The weapon: Working out on a regular basis to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, also known as CRF. CRF is the capacity of the body’s circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to muscles — a capacity that declines as people age and lose muscle, starting in their 20s and accelerating over time. By the time folks reach their 70s, CRF drops off more than 20% per decade. Low CRF is a strong predictor of early death from all causes and heart-related events such as strokes and heart attacks. “Our study shows that higher CRF is associated with better cognitive function and decreased dementia risk,” the Swedish researchers concluded. “Moreover, high CRF may buffer the impact of genetic risk of all dementia by 35%.” For the study, a team led by Weili Xu, of the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, looked at data on more than 61,200 people between the ages of 39 and 70. They were enrolled in the UK Biobank study between 2009 and 2010 and were followed for up to 12 years. At the start of the study, all were dementia-free. Each took a six-minute ride on a stationary bike to determine their CRF. They also… read on > read on >