by admin | Dec 10, 2019 | Health Awareness
The CDC recommends everyone over the age of six months receives a flu vaccination, with the exception of people who are allergic to the vaccine or its ingredients. For individuals who are at a high risk for flu-related complications, including pregnant women, seniors, and children under the age of five, it’s especially important to be vaccinated. Aside from simply complying with general health recommendations, however, there many benefits to receiving the flu vaccine. Flu season spans the fall, winter, and spring with activity peaking from December through February, so here’s why you should get vaccinated if you haven’t already done so. Here are 5 Benefits of Getting the Flu Vaccine.
Avoid the Flu Entirely
The effectiveness of the flu vaccine can vary from person to person based on factors like age and current health. Yet, in many cases, it can prevent the flu altogether. For instance, during the 2016-2017 season, it’s estimated that the vaccination prevented more than 5 million cases of the flu.
Experience Fewer or Reduced Symptoms
If you do contract the flu despite receiving the vaccine, it’s possible that your symptoms will be less severe than those of a person who wasn’t vaccinated. Typically, symptoms include fever and chills, muscle or body aches, fatigue, headaches, cough, sore throat, and runny nose. Yet, in at-risk populations as well as people with chronic conditions such as asthma, COPD, and diabetes among others, flu-like complications can become deadly. The vaccine can minimize symptom severity and therefore decreases the risk of death in populations like young children and people 65 and older.
Prevent Flu-Related Hospitalization
Because the vaccine can reduce the risk of the flu and its complications, it can also help you stay out of the hospital. Within recent years, immunizations have helped reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization by 40%. Of those who do require hospitalization, vaccinated parties may be 82% less likely to be admitted to ICU.
Save Your PTO
While it may not be a health-related reason, saving your paid time off (PTO) is still a compelling incentive for getting vaccinated. Since many employees receive just 10 to 15 days of PTO each year, it’s important to use them wisely. Staying at home with the flu is certainly not anyone’s idea of a fun day off.
Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Events
Recently, researchers discovered individuals with high blood pressure who receive the flu shot are 16% less likely to experience a deadly cardiovascular event, and 18% less likely to die from any cause. Medical experts have long suspected that the flu puts stress on the body, which could trigger stroke or heart attack. Because patients with high blood pressure are already at an elevated risk for these conditions, it’s critically important for them to be vaccinated.
In addition to these benefits, there’s even more good news to consider. Most local pharmacies now offer convenient flu shot services right at their locations, so you don’t even have to schedule an appointment. And, chances are your insurance will cover the cost of the shot, too. You can always discuss your candidacy for the vaccination with your physician, but unless you have a known allergy to the shot or its ingredients, they’re likely to give you their approval.
by admin | Nov 25, 2019 | Health Awareness, Stroke
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain becomes blocked. When the brain cells cannot get sufficient oxygen, they may die off, resulting in lasting symptoms such as difficulty walking and speaking. Although some challenges may be permanent, there are a number of rehabilitative therapies that can help stroke survivors recover as much function as possible. This will shed light on how High-Intensity step training can help stroke survivors.
One form of rehabilitation which has recently emerged as an effective therapy for boosting walking skills is high-step training. While rehabilitative measures typically focus on low-intensity walking to help stroke survivors restore balance and walking skills, experts believed this approach isn’t challenging enough to help patients navigate real-world scenarios. To test their theory, a research team at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis compared the patient outcomes in low-impact training programs against those from a higher-intensity stepping program.
Participants were involved in one of three programs: high-intensity steps with variable tasks, such as steps on uneven surfaces, inclines, or over obstacles while moving forward; high-intensity steps only moving forward; or low-intensity steps with variable tasks. Stroke survivors in both high-intensity groups were able to walk faster and farther than those in the low-intensity group.
In the high-intensity groups, the majority of participants (57% to 80%) made noteworthy clinical gains, but less than a third of participants made the same improvements in the low-intensity group. Participants in the high-intensity group also reported improved balance and confidence.
Although rehabilitative walking programs have historically taken a more gradual approach, these findings suggest that pushing patients to walk further, faster, and across a variety of conditions could challenge the nervous system more effectively. In doing so, stroke survivors may improve mobility and witness noticeable improvements in a shorter amount of time. All in all High-intensity step training can help stroke survivors.
by admin | Nov 19, 2019 | Health Awareness
Sitting has recently been dubbed “the new smoking,” as medical experts have linked it to heart disease, diabetes, and even certain forms of cancer. Unfortunately, many of us spend hours sitting at desks during the workday, then log more time at home in front of our phones, tablets, or the TV. So, what are the dangers of sitting & how can we avoid them?
3 Risks of Sitting All Day
Decreased Metabolism
Inactivity causes the metabolism to slow, which eventually translates to weight gain. Sitting burns just 139 calories per hour, while standing and walking burns many more – 186 and 324, respectively. Thus, the less you move each day, the fewer calories you’ll burn. Weight gain can ultimately lead to obesity, which is linked to serious health concerns including heart disease and stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer.
Insulin Resistance
Long periods of sitting have been associated with reduced insulin sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity refers to the body’s reaction to the effects of insulin. High insulin sensitivity allows your body to use glucose effectively and keep blood sugar levels in control. When insulin sensitivity dips too low, it leads to insulin resistance, in which the cells cannot absorb glucose properly. As a result, blood sugar levels increase, and left unaddressed, the condition leads to type 2 diabetes.
Elevated Disease Risk
In addition to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, sedentary lifestyles are also associated with elevated odds of other serious diseases. In particular, research from the National Cancer Institute shows people who sat and watched TV for at least 7 hours a day have a risk of death from any cause that’s 61% higher than their peers who watched less than an hour. For cardiovascular mortality, the risk increased 85%, while the increased risk for cancer was 22%. Of course, many individuals spend at least seven hours seated without watching TV, between time spent at their desks, commuting, dining, and relaxing.
What Can You Do to Minimize Your Risks?
While you may not be able to change the nature of your work or commute, there are plenty of ways to minimize the effects of sitting. For one, regular exercise can significantly improve health and reduce mortality risk. One study shows that getting 150 to 299 minutes of exercise each week can help offset the risk of deadly conditions associated with sitting.
In addition, it’s also important to take periodic breaks from sitting throughout the day. Set a timer for every hour to stand up, stretch, and walk around the office. Take trips to talk to your co-workers instead of emailing them when possible. Find small ways to inject more movement into your day, whether it’s taking the stairs or parking in a remote space in your lot. All of these little actions can add up to a big positive impact on your health.
by admin | Nov 11, 2019 | Health Awareness
If you’ve been looking for ways to reduce your calorie intake and lose weight, you may have come across the term “intermittent fasting,” or IF. While it may seem like just another fad diet, many experts agree that this eating pattern may actually hold up to its claims. Not only is IF safe and effective, but it could also play an important role in diabetes prevention. The catch is that it’s all in how you approach IF – discover some important tips below.
A Beginner’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting isn’t an entirely new concept, but it was only recently popularized after a number of documentaries and books hailing the practice emerged from 2012 to 2016. The concept is simple: IF encourages eating only during a limited window of time, then fasting during the “off” hours.
In between meals, our body breaks down food and uses it as energy. When we don’t use all of this energy, however, it enters the cells, where it gets stored as fat. Yet, for sugar to enter the cells, insulin must be present. When we give our bodies a break from eating, insulin levels drop, and fat cells release built-up sugar to be used as energy. As a result, fasting encourages insulin levels to go down, thereby promoting weight loss.
What’s the Best Way to Approach It?
As with many well-known diets, there are different approaches to IF. Some advocates for the diet recommend fasting every other day, but many individuals find this approach too restrictive. Luckily, there are other, more sustainable approaches to try.
Most IF plans fall into an eight- or 12-hour window. In the first, you’d be able to eat within an eight-hour time frame, then fast for the other 16 hours of the day. In the second, you’d have 12 hours to eat and 12 to fast. Research suggests the more restrictive window may have a greater payoff: according to a 2018 study conducted by the University of Alabama, men with prediabetes who practiced “early time-restricted feeding” by having all of their meals between 7 am and 3 pm had drastically lower insulin levels than their peers who followed the 12-hour method, eating between 7 am and 7 pm. Their appetites had also reduced significantly.
Of course, IF is unlikely to yield any noticeable benefits if you fill your eight- or 12-hour eating period with high-calorie, nutritionally-poor food choices. Yet, if you’re following a sensible diet prioritizing vegetables and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean protein, you may notice some improvement by restricting your “eating window.”
As with any diet, IF is also only as effective as your ability to stick with it. If you’re interested in trying it, you might start with a manageable 12-hour window, such as 10 am to 6 pm. Or, simply adopt some of the principles from intermittent fasting if fasting seems too restrictive to you: avoid snacking between meals by taking in enough nutrient-dense calories during your meals and try not to eat after dinner. And, as with any diet, be sure to get the okay from your physician before starting IF.
Contact us today if you would like to learn more about IF!
by admin | Nov 4, 2019 | Health Awareness
Bilirubin, a pigment found in bile, is best known for lending itself to the yellow hue seen in the skin of people with jaundice. Yet, recent research shows that this pigment could play a surprising role in protecting brain cells against the damage caused by oxidative stress. Here we will talk about the link between bile pigment & brain cell protection.
Recently, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers reported that, in mice studies, the compound was found in high doses in the brain. Bilirubin is known to be found in the liver and the blood and is often used as a measure to look for disease. While it has previously been unknown whether the compound has an effect on healthy people, researchers were surprised to discover bilirubin in “exceptional levels” within mouse brains. In fact, its concentration was five to 10 times higher than it is in their livers.
Researchers note that while bilirubin was originally deemed a waste product, the body uses a significant amount of metabolic energy to produce the compound. It, therefore, seemed strange for it to have no function. Thus, the researchers set out to discover why there would be so much bilirubin present in the brain. Because the brain is both metabolically active yet vulnerable to oxidative damage, they thought that the compound could serve as an important antioxidant.
To test their theory, they genetically engineered mouse neurons to not produce bilirubin. They then exposed the neurons to different sources of oxidative stress. Compared to normal mouse neurons, these cells were much more vulnerable to stressors, and in particular, were damaged by a chemical cell messenger called superoxide. While superoxide is important for learning and memory, it can lead to oxidative stress and brain damage in abnormally high levels. Uncontrolled superoxide levels could be caused by excessive neuron activity. According to the researchers, the study findings suggest that bilirubin may be integral to controlling superoxide levels within the brain.
Although research is still in its infancy, the team believes their discovery could help to uncover new treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases. In specific, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases are characterized by high levels of oxidative stress and superoxide, so this finding could be particularly useful for researching new therapies for these conditions.
by admin | Oct 29, 2019 | COPD, Health Awareness
A decline in lung function can be both age-related and result from a disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although there are medications available to help patients manage the symptoms of COPD, the disease has no cure. Thus, for both age-related and COPD-related decline in lung function, patients are limited in terms of their treatment options.
Recently, researchers discovered a potential therapy in flavonoids for improving lung function. This group of phytonutrients is found in nearly all vegetables and fruits and is known to have powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. While there have been plenty of previous research showcasing flavonoids’ abilities in medical applications, studies on their effect on lung function have been limited.
In the most recent research, investigators focused on anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid which has been found in lung tissue shortly after being ingested. Based on findings, it appears that the plant chemicals may play an important role in minimizing mucus and inflammatory secretions. Study participants who consumed the most anthocyanins experienced improvements in a number of key lung function indicators over their peers, including a slower rate of decline in FEV1, which measures how much air a person can exhale in a second. They also experienced a slower rate of decline in FVC, the amount of air exhaled after taking a deep breath. Benefits were realized across people who had smoked as well as those who had not.
Good Sources of Anthocyanins
While the researchers note that quitting is the best choice smokers can make to improve their lung function, a diet rich in anthocyanins could be an effective way to boost lung function in former smokers and people who have never smoked. Anthocyanins are found naturally in red onions, berries, grapes, tomatoes, acai, kidney beans, and tart cherries.
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