A study in online July 22 in the American Journal of Epidemiology by Alpa Patel and colleagues concludes that sitting shortens our lives, even after considering impact of being overweight and how much we exercise. The study collected questionnaire data for 14 years (1993-2006) from 123,216 healthy people (53,440 men and 69,776 women) in the American' Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention II study.
Even after considering body mass index (BMI) and smoking, women who spent six hours a day sitting had a 37 percent higher risk of dying than those who sat for less than three hours a day. Men had a 17% higher risk. Exercise lowered the risk of sitting, but more sitting meant a higher risk of death even among those who exercised. And for those who didn't exercise, sitting a lot was even worse: women who sat a lot had a 94% higher risk of dying than women who didn't, and for men, sitting conferred a 49% higher risk of death.
So start moving; you can still read this blog on your mobile while moving! Disclaimer: Don't read while walking out in the street! More dangerous to your health than sitting....
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Modifiable factors in stroke risk
The INTERSTROKE study, an international study of stroke risk factors was recently published in the Lancet, and shows as you might have expected the modifiable risk factors which play the greatest role in stroke risk. The number one factor is high blood pressure, which can be reduced by reducing salt intake and exercising more, and if that doesn't work, taking medications to reduce blood pressure. Smoking, abdominal obesity (fat around the middle!), diet, and reduced physical activity were other factors which together with high blood pressure accounted for 80% of ischemic stroke risk (ischemic stroke means a stroke that happens because of a reduction of oxygen flow to the brain, usually due to a clot in a blood vessel), and 90% of the risk of having a hemorrhagic stroke (due to bleeding into the brain) in the study.
Additional risk factors for a clot-type stroke included diabetes, alcohol intake, psychosocial factors, the ratio of apolipoproteins B to A1, and other heart diseases (arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, previous heart attack, and valve disease). Hypertension, smoking, abdominal obesity, diet, and alcohol intake were the most important risk factors for a stroke due to bleeding into the brain. '
Anything new here? No! But it's interesting to note that these results were the same all around the world.
Additional risk factors for a clot-type stroke included diabetes, alcohol intake, psychosocial factors, the ratio of apolipoproteins B to A1, and other heart diseases (arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, previous heart attack, and valve disease). Hypertension, smoking, abdominal obesity, diet, and alcohol intake were the most important risk factors for a stroke due to bleeding into the brain. '
Anything new here? No! But it's interesting to note that these results were the same all around the world.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
feedback about our health: the ODL
Today I received a newsletter from AHIP, the friendly association of health plans. I learned again about the phrase "observations of daily living", or ODL's. This phrase is bandied about in some projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, studying whether automatically recorded data about our daily lives can help us manage our health. A variety of devices out there are designed to provide real time feedback about our diets, our exercise habits, sleep, sex, smoking, etc.
(I imagine that next - you heard it here - the neurotic and narcissists among us will be replaying our interpersonal interactions in real time for our mental health professionals...my prize is going to go to the person who gets our dreams and waking fantasies to be automatically recorded...)
Fantasies and cynicism aside, these data are extremely helpful to all of us in managing our habits. They can be useful for our physicians in determining what we need help with. However, of course they will also be used to inform our insurers for about our risk status. Be cautious, then, whose tool you use and where the data are going. Make sure the information from these devices goes to a record under your control, not your insurer's. If you are uploading data to your provider organization, is your provider organization authorized to release that data to insurers? These observations bring medical privacy concerns to a new level.
So check out the Zeo a device marketed to consumers that analyzes your sleep. Or Body Media Fit. Several others are listed at Wired.com
(I imagine that next - you heard it here - the neurotic and narcissists among us will be replaying our interpersonal interactions in real time for our mental health professionals...my prize is going to go to the person who gets our dreams and waking fantasies to be automatically recorded...)
Fantasies and cynicism aside, these data are extremely helpful to all of us in managing our habits. They can be useful for our physicians in determining what we need help with. However, of course they will also be used to inform our insurers for about our risk status. Be cautious, then, whose tool you use and where the data are going. Make sure the information from these devices goes to a record under your control, not your insurer's. If you are uploading data to your provider organization, is your provider organization authorized to release that data to insurers? These observations bring medical privacy concerns to a new level.
So check out the Zeo a device marketed to consumers that analyzes your sleep. Or Body Media Fit. Several others are listed at Wired.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
