Thursday, July 28, 2011

Can practicing yoga help women suffering from Fibromyalgia?

Good news!  A new study published in the Journal of Pain Research suggests it can!  Thanks to the Scope blog for passing along the following news:

Women suffering from fibromyalgia may find some welcome relief in yoga. A new study from York University in Toronto shows that practicing yoga boosts levels of the stress hormone cortisol, helping ease some of the symptoms, which include pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness and depression. Low cortisol has been tied to fibromyalgia, and this study is the first to look at the effect of yoga on levels of this hormone.



For the study, which appears in the Journal of Pain Research, the researchers followed a group of women who practiced 75 minutes of hatha yoga twice a week. After eight weeks, saliva samples revealed elevated levels of cortisol. Women also reported significant reductions in both physical and psychological symptoms. Kathryn Curtis, the study’s lead author, explains more in a release:


“We saw their levels of mindfulness increase – they were better able to detach from their psychological experience of pain,” Curtis says. Mindfulness is a form of active mental awareness rooted in Buddhist traditions; it is achieved by paying total attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental awareness of inner and outer experiences.


“Yoga promotes this concept – that we are not our bodies, our experiences, or our pain. This is extremely useful in the management of pain,” she says. “Moreover, our findings strongly suggest that psychological changes in turn affect our experience of physical pain.”

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Two important things parents can do to change the childhood obesity epidemic

The following is a repost from Stanford School of Medicine's Scope blog:

Following a controversial commentary published last week in the Journal of American Medical Association, the ever-growing childhood obesity epidemic is once again the subject of many headlines and roundtable discussions. Today, as a guest on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, Stanford pediatrician Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, took on the issue and responded to listeners’ calls and e-mails. Many parents, he said, don’t know how to solve their child’s weight problems – and some don’t know how to identify if their child needs help in the first place.


Robinson, who runs the Center for Healthy Weight at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and serves on the Institute of Medicine’s standing committee on childhood obesity prevention, says the most important thing for parents is to set a good example, and he offered up two simple suggestions: Turn off the TV and don’t bring foods you don’t want your children eating into the home. “If you know that they shouldn’t be drinking sodas all the time… then you shouldn’t have them in your home,” Robinson said.

A great post written by a girl recovering from an Eating Disorder

Kids in your life?  Read this!!  Eating disorders aren't always about body size or body image -- sometimes it's about feeling like life is out of control.  Here's a great post written by a girl recovering from an Eating Disorder.

“What I wish parents knew about eating disorders…”  by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on July 20, 2011

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Exercise Guidelines for Toddlers

Do you think this is actually going to work?  Do you think new guidelines will give parents the knowledge it takes to raise healthy toddler's?

British government urging toddlers to ‘get physical’


Margarita Gallardo on July 11th, 2011
In case you haven’t heard, the British government – in an effort to combat childhood obesity – has just issued guidelines recommending that children under the age of 5 get at least 3 hours of exercise a day. The activities can be as simple as playing, walking to school, or lifting kettle balls like in the photo to the right. (Okay, just kidding about the last one).

The U.K. Department of Health is hoping that by encouraging such a fitness plan, toddlers will be encouraged to adopt healthier habits and minimize sedentary activities – like being in a stroller or playpen or in front of the television. Explained Maura Gillespie, head of policy and advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, in a statement:

…It’s vital that parents introduce children to fun and physically active pastimes to help prevent them becoming obese children, who are likely to become obese adults at risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

What if it's not the kinds of foods we're eating?

Although it has been my rant for the last couple years, here is some research support for the idea Americans are getting fatter not because of the foods we're eating ("healthy" vs. "unhealthy") but  that we're just eating too much.  Too much, as in, too many meals and snacks:

"According to a new study, the biggest single contributor to the sharp rise in calorie intake has been the number of snacks and meals people eat per day. Over the past 30-odd years, the study found, Americans have gone from consuming 3.8 snacks and meals per day to 4.9, on average — a 29% increase.


The average portion size has increased, too, but only by about 12%. And, surprisingly, the average number of calories per 1-gram serving of food (known as “energy density”) actually declined slightly over that period, which suggests that calorie-rich food has played a relatively minor role in our expanding waistlines."

credit to Stanford Scope

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Beetroot Juice: The new cardiovascular cure-all???

Check this out!  I don't usually get too excited about a new wonder drug -- but what happens when the new wonder drug is juiced up plant product?  Beetroot?  I'm not sure how that is going to taste.  Or if your teeth are going to become permenantly purple but....

Researchers are finding that the nitrates in beetroot juice lower blood pressure (the high the pressure the more effective it is!), increase our ability to exercise, and improve physical performance in events like the Tour de France.

How's this all possible?  And what are the downsides?

Well...the nitrates in the juice relax the blood vessels and cause working muscles to require less oxygen for a given amount of work.

As for the downsides.....taste, maybe?  Research has shown results with 250 ml of juice.  Seems like a very small price to pay to possibly avoid having to take blood pressure meds!

What do you think?