07.05.2010
Lifestyle Coaching: Changing Your Path, Pain Management: Controlling Your Life
A new study indicates that (1) obesity alone can increase the risk of having fibromyalgia and (2) also having a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle can make this risk even greater. The study followed 15,990 women after 11 years who initially did not have fibromyagia or physical problems.
Concerning weight, the article stated, “Being overweight — with a BMI [Body Mass Index] of 25 or higher — was a strong independent risk factor, with the heavier women having a 60 percent to 70 percent higher risk of developing the condition compared to the healthy weight women.”
Regarding exercise, the article emphasized its importance. According to the article, principle researcher Paul Mork, of Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway noted, “Women who reported exercising four times per week [or more] had a 29 percent lower risk of fibromyalgia compared with inactive women. Those who exercised two to three times a week were about 11 percent less likely to get fibromyalgia.”
Article available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_98189.html
An abstract/summary from the original study is also available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123268508/abstract
Dr. Schwartz
San Diego Psychologist
www.integrative-health.net
15.04.2010
Lifestyle Coaching: Changing Your Path, The Heaviness of Weight Management, The Wounded Heart: Heart Disease and You
In the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Toronto, a study suggested that the potential heart healthy benefits of light drinking are eliminated if you drink and smoke. For non-smokers, they found that drinking 3-14 approximate glasses of wine lowered the risk of stroke about 37% as compared to non-drinkers. They did not specify red or white (although many studies point to red wine as being more effective). However, the study showed that these benefits were not found in the participants who also smoked.
Now, I would NOT recommend running out to the liquor store and starting to drink 3-14 glasses of red wine per week (if you don’t smoke) so you can reduce your stroke risk. Also, one of the authors notes in other research, “the protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption was seen among both smokers and nonsmokers.”
Therefore, (and as always) please make sure you talk to your primary care physician or other health care provider(s) about the contents of this blog or the article/study it refers to before making any decisions about your health. Article available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_97536.html.
Dr. Schwartz
San Diego Psychologist
www.integrative-health.net
02.03.2010
Lifestyle Coaching: Changing Your Path, The Wounded Heart: Heart Disease and You
A government-industry collaboration study announces that even as little as a 10% reduction of salt in the U.S. population can very significantly reduce the amount of heart attacks, strokes, etc. per year. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_95859.html
Dr. Schwartz
San Diego Psychologist
www.integrative-health.net
09.02.2010
Lifestyle Coaching: Changing Your Path
A Columbia University study shows that the Mediterranean Diet may help keep your brain healthy. It’s not just weight loss and reduced cholesterol anymore. In their results they showed that people who followed the diet modestly were 21 percent less likely to have brain damage than people who followed it poorly. And those who followed it most closely had a 36 percent reduced risk compared with those who followed it the least. Check it out at http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=635737. Comments are always welcome!
Dr. Schwartz
San Diego Psychologist
www.integrative-health.net
13.01.2010
Services Posts
Weight management is your ability to sustain or manage a certain weight that you, or one of your resources, has determined for your daily living. Two of the most important factors (aside from how you chose your optimal weight for yourself) are diet and exercise. Although being underweight can have health risks, much of the research focuses on excessive weight and obesity.
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13.01.2010
Services Posts
Heart disease is a general term that describes a wide variety of diseases that affect you heart and you blood vessels. These conditions include coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); and heart defects you’re born with (congenital heart defects). The most common cause of heart disease is cardiovascular disease — a condition involving the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries (blood vessels that supply the heart) that can lead to chest pain (angina), heart attack, or stroke. Other forms of heart disease may include infections and conditions that affect your heart’s muscle, valves, or rhythm.
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