Posts from — April 2009

Health Tip – Audio Version - A brisk walk from depression.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Depression
(National Institute of Mental Health)

Regular physical activity is good for the body. And a new study indicates it is good for the mind.

Researcher Andrea Dunn of the Klein Buendel community health education firm in Colorado looked at mild to moderate depression, to see if moderate activity could reduce symptoms as effectively as drugs or cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.

In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and done at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Dunn had some people exercise three hours a week. They burned as many calories as people do by walking briskly 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. She found:

Three hours a week is really comparable to what you see in pharmacological treatment studies or cognitive behavioral studies, so we are very encouraged by these results.”

While exercise builds its research record, drugs and psychotherapy are still the treatment mainstay.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 8, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Keeping an eye on diabetes.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Diabetic Retinopathy: What you should know
(National Eye Institute)

The damage done by diabetes can sneak up on you. In fact, some research finds the damage can begin even earlier than when diabetes sets in while people have a condition called pre-diabetes. That’s when blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not so high that they lead to a diagnosis of diabetes. Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health found some of these people with pre-diabetes have an eye problem called diabetic retinopathy — changes in tiny vessels in the back of the eye.

If diabetic retinopathy is not caught early, it can lead to vision loss. So Dr. Emily Chew of the National Eye Institute advises people to catch it early:

“Patients in so-called pre-diabetic state may be having some changes that are diabetic retinopathy-like, and perhaps they are true diabetic retinopathy. This may predict perhaps further problems down the road, so it’s very important for them to have a regular eye exam.”

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 20, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Not too old.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Exercise for Older Adults
(National Institutes of Health)

If you see people in their 50s biking through the neighborhood and say, “Youngsters,” this message is for you: Don’t assume those kids are doing something you can’t. You’d be surprised what you can do, and how much it could help you feel better. Studies show that a careful program of physical activity can pay off in a better ability to do the ordinary things of life carry groceries, go for a walk, keep your balance. At the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Judith Salerno:

“There are people who live very active, healthy lives, until very, very late into their 90s. Those people have the blessing of good genes but they also, many of them, have developed lifelong habits that have paid off.”

A doctor’s OK might be wise if you have a health problem such as heart disease — but Salerno says seniors often can start those lifelong habits right now.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 21, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Happy birthday.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Exercise: Getting Fit For Life
(National Institute on Aging)

SOUND: Happy Birthday (under) (one second)

Senior citizens sometimes say a little hard work never hurt anyone. Certainly one senior believes it Laura Sharer. That little chorus of Happy Birthday was for her. She’d just turned 100.

The birthday party was in Washington, D.C. Sharer was on hand for a “Celebrate Long-Term Living event by the U.S. Administration on Aging.

Sharer says she’s been active all her life:

“I walked about two miles and a half to school. And get home from school and we had to go a mile and a half to get the cattles out of the field, out of the woods, bring them home and milk them.”

Sharer is still active. She volunteers with elementary school children, takes part in events with a senior center — she lives with her daughter now in Monticello, Minnesota, and helps out around the house.

And, while there’s no guarantee that active living can keep you as vigorous as she is, it’s still not a bad goal to live so that, at age 100, you can hear people singing:

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 22, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Beating the games.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Exercised Lately?
(President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports)

Let’s face it. Many kids are only too happy to sit in front of the video game. And the only exercise they get is with their thumbs twitching on the controls. Not good enough is the consensus of health experts, who watch the kids get fat and out of shape.

And maybe bored. Some people in the industry think the button-pushing business needs a breakout. They’ve developed video games kids play by moving.

Dance games have you stomp to different light patterns. Other games use videocams that detect your body motion and literally draw you into the action — your movements become what the game character does.

At a conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, professor Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina finds value in video games that get kids off the couch.

“If you can’t get the video game people to move toward creating active games, we’re going to have more and more time spent doing nothing.”

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 8, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Don’t stop.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Physical Activity for Everyone: Energize Your Life!
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned play? As we grow up, being physically active often changes somehow from playing to exercising. Play is fun. Exercise? Well, for many of us, that’s not fun. And without play, we quit being active. So we get out of shape and start gaining weight.

But new reports call on us to be physically active for the sake of our health. So what can we do? At the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, executive director Melissa Johnson says it’s simple. Get on your walking shoes and go for a walk, or do something else you enjoy:

“A lot of sedentary or deconditioned people haven’t yet experienced the euphoria or the good feeling of just moving. And once that becomes familiar to them, they don’t want to stop.”

Federal officials recommend 30 minutes of moderate activity on most if not all days of the week as a minimum goal for good health.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 8, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Going with the group.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Mental Health Services Locator
(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

Getting together to talk about problems beats suffering alone. In fact, experts say, it even helps in healing. A consensus panel looked at group therapy as a way to recover from substance abuse, and it decided that group has advantages over individual therapy.

The review was done for the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Dr. Westley Clark is Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment:

“They shouldn’t say, `I don’t want to do groups,because one of the things we find out, particularly in regard to recovery, you need peer support and peer feedback.”

The panel says fitting into the group helps people to overcome feelings of shame and depression, and provides a sense of identity and support.

Group therapy is different from a 12-step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Group addresses all the symptoms and 12-step focuses on abstinence. But they can work together very well.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 8, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - What’s that?
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Outdoor Eating Food Safety Tips
(Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition)

When the Smithsonian Institution throws its annual Folklife Festival on the National Mall in the heat of a Washington, D.C. July, people and food both bake.

Now, people can adapt. For instance, these chanting, drum-beating dancers from the Middle Eastern sultanate of Oman are used to it.

Food, though, can’t adapt. In the heat, it can go bad fast. However, this year’s festival focused on food safety as well as singing and dancing. And consumer safety officer Amy Green of the Food and Drug Administration told people how to protect their food when temperatures on the backyard deck rival Oman’s desert.

“Even cut fruit salad should be refrigerated. Any kind of meats. Even cut vegetables. Anything that’s refrigerated in a grocery store, probably.”

Beats looking at your perished perishables and asking, “What’s that?”

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 25, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - The pathway to friendship.
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles; Physical Activity and Nutrition
(Administration on Aging)

Friends keep you going in lots of ways, and some of those ways are physical. Especially as people age, they rely on friends to help them do things, such as get to places when they no longer drive. But that’s not the only way. Joining a group is a great way to take up the habit of being active, because you make friends. And those friends are there to encourage you if you begin to lose that new habit of being active. At HHS’ Administration on Aging, program specialist Kay Loughery:

“Especially if you think about, if you’ve started a walking program and some day you say, ‘Oh, gee, I’d rather not go today,’ but your friend calls you and says ‘Come on, let’s go with the group.’ I guess it’s really again the buddy system somebody who’s kind of urging you on seems to make a difference for people.”

Community groups such as rec centers are good places to start. Through its You Can! Campaign, HHS is giving community groups help in encouraging seniors to make healthier choices in what they do and also what they eat.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 29, 2005

Health Tip – Audio Version - Living on
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
(SAMHSA, CDC, NIH, HRSA, IHS)

Suicide is one of the most tragic events that a family can endure. The suicide of someone young makes the pain yet sharper. And on Indian reservations, rates of suicide, especially among the young, are generally higher than for the rest of the U.S. population.

Researchers and government officials are trying to prevent these deaths and bring healing. The Indian Health Service is reaching for help into Indian culture, bringing native healers to work with IHS caregivers. IHS Director Dr. Charles Grim:

“The traditional healers get very, very involved, as do the faith-based organizations that may happen to be on reservations, and a lot of times the Tribes will look to their elders for support.”

Grim says other people also can help. A program called QPR for Question, Persuade and Refer tells how to recognize when someone is considering suicide, how to be forthright enough to ask questions, and where to refer them for help.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: August 1, 2005