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Volume 3, Issue 7
Exercise helps prevent depression
Exercise, diet, and realistic expectations help to keep off the pounds
Exercise improves balance among seniors
Even minimal exercise can help control blood pressure
Yoga improves heart health in heart failure patients
Exercise helps prevent depression
While there are many different medications one can take to treat depression, recently there has been a great deal of research on exercise as treatment for patients with mild depression. In one such study, researchers at Duke University found that exercise is highly effective in controlling and reducing depressive symptoms.
Researchers followed a group of 133 inactive men and women with high blood pressure for a six month period. Participants were divided into three groups, exercise, exercise and diet, and a control group. In the end patients in both the exercise and exercise and diet group not only reported fewer depressive symptoms as compared with the control group, but they also lowered their blood pressure and improved their overall aerobic capacity.
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Exercise, diet, and realistic expectations help to keep off the pounds
In an effort to uncover the best way to take off-and keep off-unwanted pounds, researchers conducted an analysis of over 80 studies which was recently reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. They found that most studies focused on cutting calories, with or without exercise, and resulted in an average weight loss of 11 to 19 pounds some of which was gained back over time. Participants in weight loss programs that combined both diet and exercise usually hit a plateau after 6 months and many times gained some weight back.
Researchers advise that individuals who enter into a weight loss program of any kind should have realistic expectations. In addition, the best way to keep the weight off is to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise even after the weight has been shed.
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Exercise improves balance among seniors
While balance is generally taken for granted among younger individuals, it is a huge issue for seniors. Falls are the leading cause of injury and death among seniors, however recent research shows that exercise can help seniors maintain their independence, prevent injury, and stay on their feet!
In an analysis of 34 studies including 2,800 participants, researchers found that seniors that participated in regular exercise including walking, yoga, strength training, and Tai Chi saw significant improvements in balance. Through regular exercise study participants saw, among other things, improvements in walking speed, standing on one leg, and muscle strength. [Bre, just wanted to make sure you saw my notes from last night's edits. This is a meta analysis so the results are summarized above.]
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Even minimal exercise can help control blood pressure
There has been much debate about how much exercise one needs to see health improvements. While the US government along with a variety of health organizations recommend 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week, a recent study reveals that even low levels of exercise can result in lower blood pressure and improved overall fitness.
For the study a group of 100 sedentary men and women between the ages of 40 and 60 were recruited for a twelve-week exercise program. Participants were divided into three groups: 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week, 30 minutes of brisk walking three days a week, and a control group. In the end, researchers found that both exercise groups saw significant improvements in blood pressure and weight loss, thereby reducing risk for cardiovascular disease.
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Yoga improves heart health in heart failure patients
Chronic heart failure, a condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood efficiently to the body's organs, affects millions of Americans. A wide variety of medications and therapies are used to treat this condition, however researchers have recently uncovered a treatment that is far less invasive than many current treatments: yoga.
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine studied a group of 19 heart failure patients who participated in an eight-week yoga regimen. At the end of the study, results indicated that yoga helped to reduce markers of inflammations associated with heart failure and improve exercise tolerance and quality of life.
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Sources
1Smith PJ, et al. (2007). Effects of exercise and weight loss on depressive symptoms among men and women with hypertension. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 63, 463-9.
2Franz MJ, et al. (2007). Weight-loss outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of weight-loss clinical trials with a minimum 1-year follow-up. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 107, 1755-67.
3Howe T, Rochester L, Jackson A, Banks P, Blair V. (2007). Exercise for improving balance in older people. Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, CD004963.
4Tully MA, at al. (2007). Randomised controlled trial of home-based walking programmes at and below current recommended levels of exercise in sedentary adults. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 778-83.
5Goldberg N, et al. (2007). American Heart Association Annual Meeting.
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