From the Harvard Health Letter
The numbers are shocking. Just three out 10 American adults are active enough to stay healthy and fit. Nearly four out of 10 admit they aren’t active at all, despite reams of research proving that exercise is a powerful preventive, and sometimes an antidote, for disability and illness. Which side of this divide are you standing on – and why?
Regular physical activity makes an enormous difference to the quality and length of your life, a fact underscored by hundreds of solid studies. In a nutshell, exercise does the following:
• Lessens the likelihood of getting heart disease, the No. 1 killer of Americans. How? Exercising regularly may bump up the number of blood vessels feeding the heart, help prevent plaque buildup by striking a healthier balance of blood lipids (HDL, LDL, and triglycerides), and help arteries retain resilience despite the effects of aging. Even if you already have heart disease, exercise lowers your chances of dying from it.
• Lowers blood pressure, a boon for many body systems. Long-term hypertension (high blood pressure) doubles or triples the odds of developing heart failure and helps pave the path to other kinds of heart disease, stroke, aortic aneurysm, and kidney disease or failure.
• Helps prevent diabetes by paring off excess weight, modestly lowering blood sugar levels, and boosting sensitivity to insulin so that your body needs less of it. If you have diabetes, exercise helps control blood sugar.
• Reduces risk for developing cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium (uterine lining), and prostate. By helping you attain a healthy weight, exercise also lessens your risk for other cancers in which obesity is a factor.
• Helps shore up bones, which reach peak density and strength during the first three decades of life. Over time, bones become lacier and weaker as density slips away. When combined with calcium, vitamin D, and bone-saving medications if necessary, weight-bearing exercise like walking, running, and strength training helps ward off bone loss. And balance-enhancing activities, including tai chi and yoga, help prevent falls that may end in fractures.
• Helps protect joints by easing swelling, pain, and fatigue and by keeping cartilage healthy. Strong muscles support joints and lighten the load upon them. Activities that boost flexibility, such as stretching, yoga, and tai chi, extend range of motion.
May limit and even reverse knee problems by helping to control weight—a big deal, since for every step taken, each additional pound of body weight translates to four additional pounds of load on the knee, according to the Arthritis Foundation.
• Lifts spirits by releasing mood-elevating hormones, relieving stress, and promoting a sense of well-being. In some studies, exercising regularly has helped ease mild to moderate depression as effectively as medications; combining exercise with medications, therapy, and social engagement is even better.
• May boost your ability to fend off infection, as shown in three randomized trials of women who walked briskly 35 to 45 minutes a day, five days a week for 12 to 15 weeks, and experienced half the cold symptoms of a sedentary group. Additional research shows exercise prompts a modest, short-term upswing in natural killer cells and white blood cells, which help squelch infection.
• Adds years to your life. In the long-running Framingham Heart Study, moderate activity tacked on 1.3 years of life for men and 1.5 years of life for women versus low activity. Raising the bar to high activity added 3.7 years for men and 3.5 years for women. Even current couch potatoes can’t wiggle out of this. A separate long-term study of 10,000 men ages 20 to 82, who were examined and given two fitness tests at five-year intervals, found those who made the effort to shift status from unfit to fit cut their likelihood of dying by 44 percent compared with those who stayed sedentary.
© 2009 by Harvard University. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Dubos joins local chiropractic office
Chiropractic physician Dr. Paul M. Dubos recently joined the staff of Ohio Institute of Pain Management in Boardman. Dubos graduated from Cleveland Chiropractic College located in Kansas City in 1996 with a doctorate in chiropractic. He recently moved back to the Youngstown area to be closer to family and friends, after operating his own practice in North Canton for over 12 years. Dubos specializes in disorders of the musculoskeletal system, nervous system and the effects of those disorders on general health.
Catholic Charities plans series on grief
Catholic Charities Regional Agency will present a series of grief workshops at St. Mary Church, 3504 Main St. in Mineral Ridge. Sessions occur from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, March 18, 25 and April 1. The sessions will be conducted by Catholic Charities Regional Agency licensed counselors. The series includes: “The Grief Process” on March 18; “The Grief Journey ” on March 25; and the “Emotional Component of Grief” on April 1. Registration is necessary. The public is invited to attend every workshop or individual sessions. For more information or to register, call Catholic Charities Regional Agency at 330-744-3320.
2 elected to head podiatry at St. E’s
Two podiatric physicians with Ankle & Foot Care Centers have been elected to lead the podiatry divisions of the medical staffs at St. Elizabeth Health Center’s main and Boardman facilities. Dr. Lawrence A. DiDomenico, managing partner at Ankle & Foot Care Centers, the region’s largest podiatry practice, has been elected chief of podiatry at St. Elizabeth’s main campus in Youngstown. Dr. Kenneth J. Emch, a partner at Ankle & Foot Care Centers, has been elected chief of podiatry at St. Elizabeth’s Boardman campus on McClurg Road.
DiDomenico is a board-certified podiatric physician, surgeon and wound specialist, and has practiced in the Youngstown area since 1991. A section editor at Podiatry Today, the profession’s leading trade journal, DiDomenico has delivered numerous lectures to podiatrist gatherings in the United States, Western Europe and Russia. He lives in Canfield with his wife, Maura.
Emch also is a board-certified podiatric physician & surgeon and wound specialist, and has practiced in the Youngstown area since 1993. He holds a doctor of podiatric medicine degree from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland. Emch lives in Boardman with his wife, Lisa, and three children.
Compiled from local reports.
FDA issues health advisory on psoriasis drug Raptiva
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late February issued a public health advisory concerning three confirmed, and one possible report of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare brain infection, in patients using the psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab).
Three of those patients have died. All four patients were treated with the drug for more than three years. None of the patients were receiving other treatments that suppress the immune system.
The FDA is reviewing this latest information. The agency will take appropriate steps to: ensure that the risks of Raptiva do not outweigh its benefits; that patients prescribed Raptiva are clearly informed of the signs and symptoms of PML; and that health care professionals carefully monitor patients for the possible development of PML.
PML is caused by a virus that affects the central nervous system. PML usually occurs in people whose immune systems have been severely weakened. It leads to an irreversible decline in neurologic function and death. Symptoms may include unusual weakness, loss of coordination, changes in vision, difficulty speaking and personality changes. There is no known effective prevention or treatment.
Psoriasis is a chronic disease, for which a number of effective therapeutic options are available, including four other approved biologic agents, ultraviolent light therapy, and the drugs cyclosporine, acitretin, and methotrexate. Generally, treatment for psoriasis patients involves a rotation of therapies.
In October 2008, the product labeling for Raptiva was revised to highlight in a boxed warning the risks of life-threatening infections, including PML. At that time, the FDA directed Genentech, the manufacturer, to develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) to include a medication guide to educate patients about the drug’s risks.
The FDA strongly recommends that health care professionals carefully monitor patients on Raptiva, as well as those who have discontinued the drug, for any signs or symptoms of neurologic disease, and that they periodically reassess the benefits of continued treatment. Patients should be aware of the symptoms of PML and contact their health care professionals immediately if they experience any such symptoms.
Raptiva is a once-weekly injection approved for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic (whole body) therapy or phototherapy. The drug works by suppressing T-cells (blood cells that help fight infection) in the immune system. These cells, when activated, migrate to the skin and cause inflammation which results in the red, inflamed and scaly patches of skin, which is associated with psoriasis. By suppressing T-cells, Raptiva decreases the function of the immune system which increases a patient’s susceptibility to infections.
Health care professionals and consumers may report serious adverse events (side effects) or product quality problems with the use of this product to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online, by regular mail, fax or phone.
Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
By regular mail: use postage-paid FDA form 3500 available at: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm and mail to MedWatch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787
By fax: 800-FDA-0178
By phone: 800-FDA-1088
