Staying Healthy Archive

Spinal instability can contribute to low back pain, but the "big three" exercises can help.

A strong core can stabilize your spine to help keep your lower back healthy and pain-free. The muscles and ligaments surrounding your spine can weaken with age or from an injury, which can make movements like twisting, stretching, lifting, and bending difficult.

"The lower back often has to compensate for this lack of mobility, which places greater stress and burden on its muscles," says Eric L'Italien, a physical therapist with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Center.

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It's well established that regular exercise is healthy. But how much exercise do you need to achieve health benefits? Even just a little activity — both at home and at work — may reduce your risk of hospitalization, suggests a long-term observational study published May 6, 2020, in BMC Geriatrics. Researchers analyzed the self-reported workplace and leisure activity of 25,000 men and women ages 40 to 79 over a 20-year period. During the first 10 years of the study, people who were active were 25% less likely to be hospitalized for more than 20 days per year, compared with people who were inactive. In the second 10 years of the study, people who remained active or became active — even just slightly — were 34% less likely to be hospitalized for more than 20 days per year. Also, people who were inactive or became inactive during the study had the highest risk of being hospitalized. The take-home message: Stay as active as you can, whether it's a brisk walk most days of the week or just vigorous housework. Even a little activity protects your health.

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Don't wait to get hearing aids if you need them. They can improve your quality of life.

Hearing aids may be a symbol of advancing age, but they also can be your means to a healthier and more vibrant life.

Research continues to show that people with age-related hearing loss who get fitted for hearing aids tend to become more active. Some science has even suggested they have fewer cognitive issues.

In the journals

Scientists continue to explore the health benefits versus risks of aspirin therapy. One new analysis suggests that taking aspirin may protect against several types of digestive tract cancers. The results were published online April 1, 2020, by Annals of Oncology.

Researchers examined 113 observational studies of cancer in the general population. They found that individuals who took aspirin regularly — at least one or two tablets a week — had significantly lower rates of cancers of the bowel, stomach, gallbladder, esophagus, pancreas, and liver, compared with people who did not take aspirin.

Lifestyle improvements, such as quitting smoking and exercising more, can reduce your risk of a stroke.

A stroke may seem like a sudden, uncontrollable event — a lightning strike out of the blue. But in reality, stroke risk often builds over time, and many strokes are preventable. A study published in the May 2020 issue of Stroke found not only that lifestyle changes can help you head off a potential stroke, but also that you can still reduce your risk even if you don't make these changes until later in life.

"What is novel about our study is that we found that even in middle-aged women, changing lifestyle has a large effect on preventing stroke," says Dr. Goodarz Danaei, senior author of the study and the Bernard Lown Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Even in the sixth decade of life, lifestyle changes can still prevent up to a quarter of all strokes." The average age in women for a first stroke is 75.

You might be eager to leap into your exercise routine and get on with the day — but don't just dive in. Starting a workout with "cold" muscles can lead to injury. It's important to start each workout with a warm-up and end with a cool-down — and that goes for true beginners, seasoned pros, and everyone in between.

Warm-up

Warming up pumps nutrient-rich, oxygenated blood to your muscles as it speeds up your heart rate and breathing. A good warm-up should last five to 10 minutes and work all major muscle groups. For best results, start slowly, then pick up the pace. Many warm-up routines focus on cardio and range-of-motion exercises, such as jumping jacks and lunges. If you prefer, you can do a simpler warm-up by walking in place while gently swinging your arms, or even dancing to a few songs. 

How does exercise reduce stress? Surprising answers to this question and more.

How does exercise reduce stress, and can exercise really be relaxing?

Rest and relaxation. It's such a common expression that it has become a cliche. And although rest really can be relaxing, the pat phrase causes many men to overlook the fact that exercise can also be relaxing. It's true for most forms of physical activity as well as for specific relaxation exercises.

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The use of electronic apps (applications) downloaded to a smartphone or laptop has been revolutionizing the way we do many tasks, including staying healthy and socially connected. And a review of studies published online Jan. 30, 2020, by BMJ Open suggests that certain apps may also help you do a good job of staying on your medication schedule. Researchers combed through nine randomized controlled trials that included about 1,000 mostly middle-aged and older adults with chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, depression, or Parkinson's disease. People who used apps to support them in taking medications were twice as likely to report that they stuck to a medication regimen compared with people who didn't use apps. The study doesn't prove that apps are going to make people take their pills; the information in the study came from self-reported adherence, not objective measures like pill count or blood levels of drugs. But since these were randomized trials, the results probably are valid. And apps can help in many ways: you can use medication apps not only to set reminders to take medications and log when you've had them, but also to look up potential drug interactions, renew prescriptions, identify pills, and even find cheaper drug prices.

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Here's another reason to stay off the road if you've been drinking any amount of alcohol: a study published online March 3, 2020, by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that a significant amount of motor vehicle deaths involve people who've consumed alcohol but whose blood alcohol levels do not exceed legal limits. In most states, it's legal to drive with a blood alcohol level above zero but below .08%. When researchers evaluated all vehicle-related deaths that occurred in the United States from 2000 to 2015 (612,000 deaths), they noted that nearly 37% of the deaths (more than 223,000) occurred in crashes involving one or more drivers who'd been drinking. Of those deaths, 15% (almost 34,000) were from crashes involving drivers whose blood alcohol level was detectable but within legal limits. And 55% of the people who died in those crashes were passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers who hadn't been drinking. Bottom line: driving with a low blood alcohol level may be legal, but it's not really safe.

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