Want to Reduce Body Fat? Take Public Transport, Walk, Cycle
Want to Reduce Body Fat? Take Public Transport, Walk, Cycle
Adults who commute to work via cycling or walking have lower body fat percentage and body mass index (BMI) measures in mid-life compared to adults who commute via car, according to a study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.
Even people who commute via public transport also showed reductions in BMI and percentage body fat compared with those who commuted only by car. This suggests that even the incidental physical activity involved in public transport journeys may be important.
The study looked at data from over 150000 individuals from the UK, the largest to date to analyze the health benefits of active transport.
The strongest associations were seen for adults who commuted via bicycle, compared to those who commute via car. For the average man in the sample (age 53 years) cycling to work rather than driving was associated with a weight difference of 11lbs. For the average woman in the sample (age 52 years) the weight difference was 9.7lbs.
After cycling, walking to work was associated with the greatest reduction in BMI and percentage body fat, compared to car-users.
Commuters who only used public transport also had lower BMI compared to car-users.
“We found that, compared with commuting by car, public transport, walking and cycling or a mix of all three are associated with reductions in body mass and body fat percentage, even when accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Many people live too far from their workplace for walking or cycling to be feasible, but even the incidental physical activity involved in public transport can have an important effect,” said study author Dr Ellen Flint, Lecturer in Population Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK.
Our Friday Song of the Week – Bartender
Our Friday Song of the Week – Bartender
Can Social Support by Family and Friends Have Negative Impact on Loved Ones? YES
Can Social Support by Family and Friends Have Negative Impact on Loved Ones? YES
A recent study conducted by Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) researchers suggests that social support from family and friends does not have an entirely positive effect on mental health but is instead a ‘mixed blessing’.
While some studies have shown that receiving social support can help to improve the mental health of a person, others have found that the receipt of social support may have no effect or even a negative effect on one’s mental health. Past research has not clearly demonstrated the reasons for this ambiguity.
This Duke study analyzed data collected from surveys administered to 2766 older adults aged 62 to 97 who are a part of the Panel of Health and Aging in Singaporean Elderly (PHASE). It found that receipt of social support, such as receiving money, food, clothing and housework help, reduced depressive symptoms among older individuals but at the same time made them feel like they had lost their control over their lives. This loss of control in turn increased their depressive symptoms, counteracting the positive effect of receiving social support. The study also found that the reduction in one’s sense of control over their life was larger for women than in men.
These novel findings are contrary to the common notion that more social support is always good. They also suggest that in order for social support to improve the overall mental health of older adults, both caregivers and policy-makers have to be aware of both its negative and positive effects.
“While receiving social support may help older people feel a sense of belonging or enhance their relationship closeness with the provider, it can also impact them negatively because it reduces their sense of control over their own lives,” explained first author Mr Ang, Research Assistant at Duke-NUS.
Hostile Young Adults May Experience Thinking and Memory Problems in Middle Age
Hostile Young Adults May Experience Thinking and Memory Problems in Middle Age
I have always maintained that how you live your life when you are young impacts how you age. Now comes a study that shows that “Hostile Young Adults May Experience Thinking and Memory Problems in Middle Age.” Young adults with hostile attitudes or those who don’t cope well with stress may be at increased risk for experiencing memory and thinking problems decades later, according to a study published in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“We may not think of our personality traits as having any bearing on how well we think or remember things, but we found that the effect of having a hostile attitude and poor coping skills on thinking ability was similar to the effect of more than a decade of aging,” said study author Lenore J. Launer, PhD, with the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, 3,126 people were asked questions that measured their personalities and attitudes, ability to cope with stress, and memory and thinking abilities at the start of the study when they were an average age of 25. Cognitive abilities were measured again when they were an average age of 50.
To measure hostility, the questions about personality assessed aggressive behavior, a lack of trust for others and negative feelings associated with social relationships. Another question looked at effortful coping, which was defined as actively trying to reduce stress despite repeated barriers to success. For the analysis, participants were divided into four groups based on their level of hostility and effortful coping.
The study found that for both personality traits, people with the highest levels of the traits performed significantly worse on tests of thinking and memory skills 25 years later than people with the lowest levels of the traits. For example, on a test that asks people to recall a list of 15 words, people with the most hostility in young adulthood remembered 0.16 fewer words in mid-life than people with the least hostility. Those with the highest level of effortful coping remembered up to 0.30 fewer words than those with the lowest level of effortful coping.
The results were the same when the researchers adjusted for factors such as depression, negative life events and discrimination. When researchers adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes and high blood pressure, the results stayed the same for the coping trait but the relationship between hostility and thinking skills was reduced.
Launer noted that the study is observational. It does not prove that hostile attitudes and poor coping skills cause memory and thinking impairment; it only shows the association.
Older Adults with Reading Problems Often Misdiagnosed with Dementia, including Alzheimer’s
Older Adults with Reading Problems Often Misdiagnosed with Dementia, including Alzheimer’s
A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reports that older adults with a history of reading problems perform similarly on some neuro-psychological tests to those exhibiting signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) associated with early Alzheimer’s disease. In other words, professionals could mis-diagnose people as having dementia when all they really have is a reading problem.
Researchers at Stony Brook University in collaboration with Boston University School of Medicine emphasize the need for professionals to take into account developmental history and have a broad understanding of neuro-psychological testing when interpreting the meaning of low memory test scores.
Lead author Brian K Lebowitz, PhD and colleagues assessed the relationship between MCI classification and suspected reading disorder in 1804 community living adults (mean age, 62 years) in the Framingham Heart Study from 1999 to 2005. Individuals with previous dementia, stroke and other neurological disorders were excluded from the study.
Because memory complaints are extremely common in older adults, a lot of weight is placed on memory test scores when assessing the clinical significance of a patient’s memory concerns. However, memory tests are often administered alone, without a comprehensive battery tests that include testing for reading ability, and without a clear understanding of a patient’s lifelong pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
KEY FINDING – Dr Lebowitz said. “It could mean that a reading or learning disorder history may increase the misdiagnosis of neuro-degenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease. Alternatively, a reading disorder may represent a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease in later life.”
