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This useful installment of Outside's Owner's Manual series takes us through the five circles of the back pain inferno: diagnosis, injury prevention, working smarter, icing injuries, and back pain relief. The bottom line: to avoid back injury, strengthen your torso, hips and shoulders. A must read for back pain sufferers.
There are at least two ways to avoid the kind of repetitive strain injuries that are caused by such occupation-related tasks as typing or working an assembly line. One way is to not go to work. The other way, according to research conducted at the University of British Columbia, is to be more active outside of work. The Scientific American reports that when researchers analyzed the causes of work-related RSI by studying data from the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey for 58,622 full-time workers between the ages of 15 and 74 years, they found that one of the several risk factors was "an inactive leisure life." Read more.
In what may be the least surprising health news of the year, the BBC reports that kickboxing, the martial art in which opponents routinely kick each other in the head, can cause brain damage. BBC reports that researchers at Erciyes University Medical School in Turkey noticed, in particular, damage to the pituitary gland, which produces a range of hormones that help control the body's regulation of metabolism, coping with daily stress, general wellbeing and sex drive amongst other areas. In what may be the second least surprising health news report of the year, kickboxers say they are unaware of any brain damage. Read more from the BBC.
About 21 percent of the calories that Americans consume come from things we drink, not things we eat. Jane Brody offers us that tidbit and more in this story on the calories we drink, in the New York Times. Brody reports that calories from sugary drinks account for half the rise in caloric intake by Americans since the late 1970s, and American's liking for such drinks shows no sign of abating. Anyone know how many calories there are in a 16-ounce Starbucks Caffe
Mocha without the whipped cream? Brody does: 240.
Read more.
The Scientific American reports on a new study that indicates that women who take aspirin live longer than women who don't take aspirin. How much longer? They won't say. But the Harvard Med School researchers who did the work are claiming that aspirin use was associated with a 25-percent reduced risk of mortality from any cause, compared with never using aspirin regularly. In terms of specific causes of death,Sciam reports that aspirin use was linked to a 38-percent reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 12 percent reduced risk of death due to cancer. The use of aspirin for 1 to 5 years seemed to provide protection against cardiovascular disease, whereas at least 10 years of use was required to prevent malignancy. Read more in the Scientific American.
Karen Voight, the L.A. Times' favorite fitness guru, gives us these two exercises to strengthen the neck. Both should be done while sitting on the floor with legs crossed in front of you and your weight evenly distributed.
1. Place your left arm at your side with
your fingertips reaching toward the floor. On an exhale, allow your
head to tilt toward your right shoulder. Use your right hand to gently
press your head away from your left shoulder. Hold and relax for
several breaths. Repeat on the other side.
2. Place both hands behind your head, and
on an exhale, gently drop your chin toward your chest. Keep your
sternum lifted as you point your elbows toward the floor. Use the
weight of your arms to gently encourage the back of your neck to
stretch. Do not allow your back to round forward as you hold for
several breaths.
Read the whole story here.
Reuters reports on a study conducted at the Yale Prevention Research Center indicating that dark chocolate improves the function of blood vessels. For six weeks, Reuters reports, 45 people were given 8 ounces of cocoa without sugar, cocoa with sugar or a placebo each day. An upper arm artery's ability to relax and expand to accommodate increased blood flow -- known as flow mediated dilation (FMD) -- was measured before and after. Of the 39 subjects who completed the trial, FMD improved significantly in both cocoa groups -- by 2.4 percent among those who had it without sugar and 1.5 percent among those who had it with sugar. It dropped 0.8 percent in the placebo group.
Which drug does more harm, alcohol or ecstasy? The answer depends on which iteration of UK drug classification you read, with the most recent draft putting booze well ahead of ecstasy. The BBC reports on the recent rewrite of drug dangers by scientists from the Academy of Medical Sciences. BBC reports that a panel of experts was asked to rate 20 drugs on nine individual categories, which were combined to produce an overall estimate of harm. Heroin was rated as the most dangerous drug, followed by cocaine and barbiturates. Ecstasy, however, rated only 18th, while cannabis was 11th. Alcohol was rated the fifth most dangerous substance, and tobacco ninth. See all ratings here, then choose your poison.
Finally, science has determined the age at which we no longer want to be surrounded by hard-bodied twenty-somethings--at least when we exercise. The L.A. Times reports on a study conducted at the University of British Columbia in which 947 people, aged 30 to 92, were asked how they'd feel about exercising with twenty-somethings. People in their 30s and 40s liked the idea; people over 50 did not. The Times reports that people in all age groups were keen to exercise with people their own age. Read more in the L.A. Times.
Loyal Sportsgeezer readers know that boomers are the healthiest generation of woman born, right? Not exactly. A new study suggests that boomers are fatter, more stressed out, and hurt more than previously 50-somethings. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that when University of Pennsylvania sociologist Beth Soldo examined data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, she found that in 1992, 57 percent of
people in the 51-56 age group rated their health as excellent or very good. In 1998, 53 percent
did so, and in 2004, the number dropped to 50 percent.
The Post-Gazette reports that since publication two weeks ago of Dr. Soldo's report, called
"Cross-Cohort Differences in Health on the Verge of Retirement," people
who study health issues have suggested a number of theories to explain
why those new to the age group might report more physical problems than
their predecessors:
The nation's increased obesity rates, which affect various health issues, are just now showing up as a factor in such data.
Baby
boomers may be less stoic than their predecessors, with higher
standards for their health and more likelihood ofo complaining about
maladies.
Improvements
in medical diagnoses and more widespread use of medications make people
more aware of their own health issues and less likely to pronounce
themselves in top shape.
Increased stress is burdening the newer members of the age group, rendering them less likely to report vigorous health overall.
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