Women's Health

Do You Really Need To Exercise To Lose Weight? Women's Health It can be seriously frustrating to hit the gym over and over again, only to see zero weight-loss results. Heaps of research hint that eating habits are the most critical factor in losing weight (and keeping it off), but a new study from Saint Louis ...

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Do You Really Need To Exercise To Lose Weight? - Women's Health

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Experts have worried about recommending weight loss to older, obese people because it speeds up bone and muscle loss, increasing the danger of falls and broken bones. Losing weight plus aerobic activity and strength training improved their health more than dieting plus either type of exercise alone.

The results suggest a combination of exercises is the safest approach, and may have big implications for helping people continue to live independently as they age. Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for people 65 and older, now covers behavioral therapy for weight loss and some plans offer gym memberships.

It is the worst of both worlds, being fat and frail, said Dr. Dennis T. Villareal of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who led the study under a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

More than a third of Americans ages 65 and older are obese. Obesity can make the elderly vulnerable to medical problems, but losing weight can worsen frailty by hastening muscle and bone loss.

The study, published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 141 older obese people who were randomly assigned to a diet-and-exercise program. They scored in the frail range on a standard test used with seniors.

Gym members use a treadmill to warm up for a morning exercise class in Addison, Texas, in 2013. A new study suggests that heavy seniors who want to lose pounds safely shouldnt skip the weight machines or the treadmill. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

One group did aerobics such as treadmill walking. Another did strength training with weight machines. A third group did aerobics and strength training. All exercised three times a week.

A control group didnt diet or exercise and only attended monthly nutrition classes.

After six months, all the groups except the do-nothing group had lost weight, about 19 pounds on average.

The combination and aerobics-only groups built their ability to use oxygen most efficiently, which can increase endurance. The combination and strength-only groups preserved the most lean mass and bone.

The health differences showed up in follow-up testing where participants did a series of nine tasks including picking up a penny, standing up from a chair and climbing stairs.

Most improved was the combination group with a 21 percent average increase in scores compared to 14 percent improvement in the aerobics-only and strength-only groups.

Its never too late to change lifelong unhealthy habits, Villareal said.

Minor injuries such as knee pain and shoulder pain among the exercisers were not enough to outweigh the benefits, he said.

The study excluded people with severe heart disease and other serious health problems, so the results apply only to people well enough to start an exercise program.

You get more bang for your buck with doing both types of training, especially when it comes to improving frailty scores, said Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the study.

Follow AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson on Twitter: @CarlaKJohnson

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Lean and mean seniors - Albuquerque Journal

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Swimming is one of the most fun activities during the summer. Pediatricians, as part of their anticipatory guidance, will discuss with parents several pieces of advice regarding swimming. We advise on safety precautions, having secure fences around swimming pools, swimming lessons, the need to always watch kids closely in and around the water, and never have a false sense of security, particularly for the younger children (even if they know how to swim).

One important element that we often add to this guidance is how swimmers, both adults and children, must keep the swimming pool water clean. This is critical to protect your childs health and the health of all those who share the swimming pool with your kids.

Last week, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) put out a news release stating that the number of diarrheal cases connected to swimming pools is on the rise. The most common bug that causes these diarrheal illnesses after swimming in a pool is a parasite called Crypto (Cryptosporidium). I hate to use the word dirty pool, as Crypto is not easily killed by chlorine. The pool water can be clear and treated appropriately, but the water can be contaminated with the parasite. Crypto can lasts up to 10 days in pool water or playground water (like water parks).

Children that are affected by crypto will develop diarrhea, stomach pain, stomach cramps and at times vomiting, fevers and weight loss. Some people can have crypto and have no symptoms. But people with low immunity can get very sick. Kids can get dehydrated. So it is critical to keep up with fluids. Crypto can affect people of any age, from very young babies to older individuals. Although Crypto diarrhea is the focus of this column, there are other recreational water illnesses that are prevalent in the summer. These might include infections of the eyes, ears and skin. Other bugs can also be acquired in the water, including Escherichia Coli (E.Coli 0157:H7) and another parasite called Giardia.

There are several ways to keep children safe from getting sick with Crypto diarrhea. Kids who are sick with diarrhea of any kind should not be brought to the pool to swim. These children should only swim two weeks after the diarrheal illness has stopped entirely. Adults and children should shower or rinse profusely right before getting into the swimming pool. Diapers should be changed in the diaper-change area. Diapers should be checked regularly while kids are swimming in the pool. Kids should be taken out of the pool often for bathroom breaks. Remind every child that they should not swallow the swimming pool water.

As I highlight the news release from the CDC, I would like to remind our readers that the majority of our swimming pools and public swimming pools are well maintained and they are safe. The cases of Crypto are still few. The concern is that the number of Crypto outbreaks has doubled from 16 in 2014 to 32 in 2016. So public health officials are worried that the number of cases will continue to increase if we do not take the proper precautions.

There is nothing like summer fun. As our kids start swimming for the summer vacation, one must remember that the water overall is clean, but chlorine does not kill everything and the pool water is not germ-free. The CDC, in putting out a press release, does not discourage swimming. It wants our families to practice healthy swimming.

For more information regarding healthy swimming, please check out this website on your mobile phone, tablet or computer: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/.

Vernat Exil is a pediatric cardiologist at UNM. Please send your questions to him at vexil@salud.unm.edu.

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How to swim safely this summer - Albuquerque Journal

Mother Nature plays a dirty trick on women. Just as they begin planning to enjoy their lives as empty-nesters, their lives often change overnight as they cope with night sweats, ballooning weight, aching joints, and fuzzy thinking associated with menopause.

"What's going on?" asks Dr. Erika Schwartz, author of The New Hormone Solution. "It's simple," she says. "Hormone levels are plummeting and wreaking havoc in our bodies.

"It's a dirty joke Mother Nature has just played on us," says Schwartz, nationally recognized expert on hormone supplementation. "We've had and raised our families and made sure the species will survive. We are no longer needed, so Mother Nature will just get rid of us. We have now become road kill."

While not as obviously disruptive as menopause, men's sex hormones are also declining at mid-life. And it's not just sex hormones. Both sexes may suffer from an imbalance of other hormones, such as thyroid and adrenal. Lower hormone levels accelerate aging, bringing on heart problems, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and other chronic diseases.

But you don't have to suffer and resign yourself to the infirmities of advancing age. "It doesn't have to apply to any of us if we don't want it to," says Schwartz. The answer, she says, is replacing lost hormones with human identical hormones, which are available to both men and women to replace hormones lost in aging.

"Human identical hormones have the same molecular structure as those produced by the body," says Schwartz. "The key is treatment that is individualized to each patient's particular needs."

Schwartz explains the confusion over the term "synthetic" as it applies to hormones. "All hormones are synthetic because they are made in a lab, but human identical hormones are synthetically manufactured hormone drugs that look identical to the human hormone molecules our bodies make," she says.

"They are made from soy and yam oils by pharmaceutical processes of concentration and purification that produce hormone powders," she says. "These powders are then placed in different preparations, such as pills, patches, and creams, for us to take.

"These hormones look identical to our own hormones estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, growth hormone, and insulin.

"Synthetic doesn't mean bad," she says. "It just refers to creating specific molecules in the laboratory in this case hormones."

Replenishing hormone levels can eliminate hot flashes, mood swings, depression, bone loss, weight gain, digestive problems, and many other signs of middle-age, and restore vigor and energy.

But relatively few people are getting replacement hormones. Why? One reason is that many doctors don't understand human identical hormones and know how to use them, says Schwartz. "There's no one to teach them. Information isn't even passed from doctor to doctor, it's passed from patient to patient who then takes it to the doctor."

Pharmaceutical companies apparently neither seriously study nor promote human identical hormones. "Since they have the same molecular structure as those produced by our bodies, human identical hormones can't be patented by drug companies, so they have no financial incentive to conduct studies," Schwartz says.

The second reason is fear. Until 2002, conventional doctors prescribed synthetic hormones to women undergoing menopause: Premarin and Prempro (conjugated estrogens derived from the urine of pregnant horses), and Provera (a man-made type of progesterone). Not only did doctors believe they safely reduced the symptoms of menopause, but that they also protected women from heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.

However, a 10-year study conducted by the National Institutes of Health called the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), turned the medical world upside down by proving that the hormone replacement therapy doctors prescribed increased the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and breast cancer.

Almost immediately, doctors refused to prescribe hormones to millions of women, and their symptoms quickly returned. As a result, many physicians prescribed antidepressants, which only treated a symptom and not the cause, which was an imbalance of hormones.

A year later, new guidelines released by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology indicated it was safe to prescribe the same drugs in lower doses for shorter periods of time, although their safety has never been proven.

At the same time, American pharmaceutical companies conducted no studies on the safety of human identical hormones, while most doctors ignored and continue to ignore earlier studies conducted in both the United States and Europe prior to 2002 which found that bioidentical hormones were safe and effective.

In fact, a 2013 Danish study found that women taking human identical hormones had a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and thromboembolism than those not taking hormones.

The FDA has approved some human identical hormones, and in her practice, Schwartz prescribes them as well as compounded customized formulas, depending on the blood levels of each patient.

How do you find a doctor that's competent to prescribe human identical hormones? "Ask friends," says Schwartz. "Some doctors realize there's a big market for natural hormones, and some who don't know much about them have hung out their shingle. The best way to find a good doctor in your area is by word of mouth.

"You want a doctor who knows what they are doing and cares about you, and isn't just jumping on the bandwagon and is trying to make money off of you."

Human identical hormones can change your life, says Schwartz. "Look around," she says. "You see people who look and feel great well into their golden years. That can be you."

2017 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.

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Human Identical Hormones Can Restore Your Health - Newsmax

JAMES EXTON from LDN Muscle reveals how you can get in shape in time for your summer holiday.

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With summer well and truly here, people everywhere are trying to get in shape in time for their vacation.

Bur whats the best way to lose weight fast? While crash dieting can work in the short term, its not a viable long-term solution.

James Exton from LDN Muscle revealed to the Daily Star Online that the key really is diet and exercise.

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James said: We all have urges but channelling them is the key, and finding a food that is both nutrient dense and not jam packed full of calories is the way forward.

Food that is both nutrient dense and not jam packed full of calories is the way forward.

Thats why the Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit is a great sweet craving calorie, jam packed with vitamin C and only 79 calories.

He added vegetables and protein shakes are also a great option to keep at work for a quick, healthy snack.

It depends where you cravings truly lay - sweet or savoury. Just because a snack is healthy it can still be packed with calories. Take nuts for examples, devouring a smallish pack can be a 1000 calories in just one sitting," he said.

Vegetables dipped in low fat hummus, or a tasty LDNM Whey Protein Shake, these are also both good choices.

LDN Muscle founder Tom Exton shows off his shredded body

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When it comes to exercises, James a personal trainer and co-creator of the LDM Muscle guides said compound moves work best.

To burn calories quickly we favour compound moves, squats, deadlifts, and overhead press. Alongside HIIT cardio and Tabata Style Circuits," James added.

"Remember these all need to be done alongside a constructive dietary approach to elicit maximum results.

Along with diet and exercise, portion control is one of the key things to learn when losing weight.

James explained you can use your hands and fingers as a rough guide for portion control.

This would typically involve, two palms full of protein (chicken, fish etc one cupped handful of a carb source of choice (rice, pasta, bread), a thumb full of fat source (e.g. nut butter) and two fists of salad or vegetables," he added.

Meanwhile, LDN Muscle co-founder Tom Exton revealedwhy its so important to warm up before you workout it can make all the difference.

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This is the EASIEST way to get in shape fast - Daily Star