Forget jumping jacks and treadmills

No need for the elderly to pump iron to stay fit

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Forget jumping jacks and treadmills. Just doing household chores and other mundane activities of daily living is enough to help older adults live longer, new research suggests.

Elderly couch potatoes were much more likely to die within about six years than those whose lives included regular activity no more strenuous than washing dishes, vacuuming, gardening and climbing stairs, according to the study of adults aged 72 to 80.

About 12 per cent of people with the highest amount of daily activity died during the six-year follow-up, compared with nearly 25 per cent of the least active participants. The government-funded study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

“This is a monumental study,” said Dr. Andrew Goldberg, a geriatrics expert who was not involved in the research. “They used state-of-the-art methodology to answer a very important question, which is how important is it to remain physically active.”

The highest activity level studied “translates into a 50 per cent reduction in mortality. That's really big,” said Dr. Goldberg, a University of Maryland professor and director of geriatric research at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Centre.

The most active among the 302 adults studied didn't even do much, if any, rigorous exercise. But they did burn about 1,000 calories daily through activity, or about 600 more than the least active.

For someone weighing 170 pounds, roughly the study's average body weight, that would equal about 3½ hours of daily activity including yard work and household chores, versus less than two hours of similar activity for the least active.

The groups had similar amounts of age-related illness including diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease, which affected more than half the study participants.

The most active were more likely to work for pay and to climb two or more flights of stairs daily, but surprisingly didn't do higher amounts of traditional exercise, said lead author Todd Manini, a scientist at the National Institute on Aging.

Jean Serpico, 75, of Arlington Heights, Ill., wasn't part of the research but has habits similar to the most active participants in the study. She climbs stairs daily to her second-floor condo, does frequent volunteer work, enjoys household chores, baking, shopping and helping her elderly neighbours.

“I do all that to keep busy. I just can't sit and look out the window,” Mr. Serpico said. “I just keep active. I think it keeps me going.”

The study results don't mean that older adults who engage in a more intense fitness regimen should stop, or that they won't gain perhaps even greater health benefits from it, the researchers said. Rather, they said, the study should be encouraging for those intimidated by traditional exercise, illustrating that activity doesn't have to be strenuous to be beneficial.

Mr. Manini said it is uncertain whether the results would apply to younger people.

The researchers used a laboratory technique that some consider the gold standard of measuring expended energy and more reliable than self-reported activity levels, although they also questioned participants about their habits.

Participants drank specially formulated water that is expelled from the body as carbon dioxide, which is a direct measure of energy use. For the next two weeks, they went about their usual activities. Fourteen days later, researchers measured the amount of special water remaining in the body. The difference between the levels on the first and 14th day, factoring in resting metabolic rate, determined how much energy had been expended through activity.

Participants were then followed for up to about eight years.

Improved activity-related cardiac fitness and well-being from feeling socially connected through work or volunteering might explain why active people lived longer, although the study didn't measure those effects, said co-author Dr. James Everhart of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Dr. Sandra Selikson, a geriatrics specialist at Montefiore Medical Centre in New York, said the results would help her encourage her older patients.

“You don't have to be motivated to do a mini-triathalon or a 10K. Just being active ... even benefited people who had medical problems,” Dr. Selikson said. “Even doing something is better than nothing.”

Herbal Supplement , Metatonin

Melatonin is a widely used over-the-counter supplement that's marketed as a way to help you overcome insomnia, prevent jet lag, battle cancer, rejuvenate your sex life and slow aging.

To find out if you can benefit from melatonin, try it for two weeks, comparing your sleep with the prior two weeks without melatonin.

However, the benefits of melatonin are often exaggerated.

Your body already produces melatonin, releasing it into your bloodstream in increasing amounts starting at dusk and tapering off toward the morning.

More research is needed to help evaluate how melatonin works and its potential long-term risks. Talk with your doctor before taking any herbal supplements.

Sleep not coming natural ?

Sleep is as important to your health as a healthy diet and regular exercise. Whatever your reason for sleep loss, insomnia can impact you both mentally and physically.

The impact can be cumulative. People with chronic insomnia are more likely than others to develop psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety disorders. Long-term sleep deprivation may increase the severity of chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Insufficient sleep can also lead to serious or even fatal accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 100,000 crashes each year are due to drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

If self-help measures don't work or you believe that another condition, such as depression, restless legs syndrome or anxiety, is causing your insomnia, talk to your doctor. He or she may recommend that you take medications to promote relaxation or sleep.

Taking prescription sleeping pills, such as zolpidem (Ambien), eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata) or ramelteon (Rozerem), for a couple of weeks until there's less stress in your life may help you get to sleep until you notice benefits from behavioral self-help measures. The antidepressant trazodone (Desyrel) also may help with insomnia. Doctors generally don't recommend prescription sleeping pills for the long term because they may cause side effects, and developing your ability to sleep without the help of medication is the goal. In addition, sleeping pills can become less effective after a while.

Over-the-counter sleep aids contain antihistamines to induce drowsiness. They're OK for occasional sleepless nights, but they, too, often lose their effectiveness the more you take them. Many sleeping pills contain diphenhydramine, which can cause difficulty urinating and a drowsy feeling in the daytime.

Insomnia

If insomnia has been severely interfering with your daytime functioning for a month or longer, see your doctor to determine what might be the cause of your sleep problem and how it might be treated.

Insomnia may be difficult to diagnose because of its partly subjective nature and because so many factors can affect your sleep. Also, the kind of sleep patterns and degree of daytime fatigue that some people might consider to be indications of insomnia other people would not.

Your doctor may ask you questions about your sleep patterns, such as how long you've experienced your symptoms and whether they occur every night. Your doctor may also ask about whether you snore, how well you function during the day, whether you take any medications and whether you have other health disorders. You may be asked to complete a questionnaire to determine your wake-sleep pattern and your level of daytime sleepiness.

It's possible that your doctor may suggest you spend a night at a sleep disorders center. These centers are accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. A team of people at the center can monitor and record a variety of body activities during the night, including brain waves, breathing, heartbeat, eye movements and body movements. But for most people whose main complaint is insomnia, their sleep is usually so distorted by the laboratory environment that doctors can learn little useful information.

Insomnia Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of insomnia may include:

• Inability to get enough sleep at night
• Difficulty falling asleep at night
• Waking up during the night
• Waking up too early
• Waking up feeling tired, even after a full night's sleep
• Daytime fatigue or sleepiness
• Daytime irritability

Common causes of insomnia include:

• Stress. Concerns about work, school, health or family can keep your mind too active, making you unable to relax. Excessive boredom, such as after retirement or during a long illness, may occur and also can create stress and keep you awake.
• Anxiety. Everyday anxieties as well as severe anxiety disorders may keep your mind too alert to fall asleep.
• Depression. You may either sleep too much or have trouble sleeping if you're depressed. This may be due to chemical imbalances in your brain or because worries that accompany depression may keep you from relaxing enough to fall asleep when you want to.
• Stimulants. Prescription drugs, including some antidepressant, high blood pressure and corticosteroid medications, can interfere with sleep. Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications, including some pain medication combinations, decongestants and weight-loss products, contain caffeine and other stimulants. Antihistamines may initially make you groggy, but they can worsen urinary problems, causing you to get up more during the night.
• Change in your environment or work schedule. Travel or working a late or early shift can disrupt your body's circadian rhythms, making you unable to get to sleep when you want to. The word "circadian" comes from two Latin words: "circa" for "about" and "dia" for "day." Your circadian rhythms act as internal clocks, guiding such things as your wake-sleep cycle, metabolism and body temperature.
• Long-term use of sleep medications. Doctors generally recommend using sleeping pills for no more than four weeks, or until you notice benefits from self-help measures. If you need sleep medications for longer, take them no more than two to four times a week, so they don't become habit-forming. Sleeping pills often become less effective over time.
• Medical conditions that cause pain. These include arthritis, fibromyalgia and neuropathies, among other conditions. Making sure that your medical conditions are well treated may help with your insomnia.
• Behavioral insomnia. This may occur when you worry excessively about not being able to sleep well and try too hard to fall asleep. Most people with this condition sleep better when they're away from their usual sleep environment or when they don't try to sleep, such as when they're watching TV or reading.
• Eating too much too late in the evening. Having a light snack before bedtime is OK, but eating too much may cause you to feel physically uncomfortable while lying down, making it difficult to get to sleep. Many people also experience heartburn, a backflow of acid and food from the stomach to the esophagus after eating. This uncomfortable feeling may keep you awake.
• Inherited condition. Some people have inherited poor sleep tendency. If that's your case, be extremely careful not to overexcite yourself, especially in the evening.

Insomnia becomes more prevalent with age. As you get older, changes can occur that may affect your sleep. You may experience:

• A change in sleep patterns. After age 50, sleep often becomes less restful. You spend more time in stages 1 and 2 of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and less time in stages 3 and 4. Stage 1 is transitional sleep, stage 2 is light sleep, and stages 3 and 4 are deep (delta) sleep, the most restful kind. Because you're sleeping more lightly, you're also more likely to wake up. With age, your internal clock often speeds up. You get tired earlier in the evening and consequently wake up earlier in the morning.
• A change in activity. You may be less physically or socially active. Activity helps promote a good night's sleep. You may also have more free time and, because of this, drink more caffeine or alcohol or take a daily nap. These things can also interfere with sleep at night.
• A change in health. The chronic pain of conditions such as arthritis or back problems as well as depression, anxiety and stress can interfere with sleep. Older men often develop noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland (benign prostatic hyperplasia), which can cause the need to urinate frequently, interrupting sleep. In women, hot flashes that accompany menopause can be equally disruptive. Other sleep-related disorders, such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome, also become more common with age. Sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing periodically throughout the night and then awaken. Restless legs syndrome causes unpleasant aches in your legs and an almost irresistible desire to move them, which may prevent you from falling asleep.

Sleep problems may be a concern for children and teenagers as well. In addition to many of the same causes of insomnia as those of adults, younger people may have trouble sleeping because of conditions such sleepwalking, night terrors or teeth grinding (bruxism). In addition, some children and teenagers simply have trouble getting to sleep or resist a regular bedtime, often because their inherent (circadian) clocks are set later. When the clock on the wall says it's 10 p.m., their bodies may feel like it's only 8 p.m., because of their delayed clocks.

Insomnia

Almost everyone has occasional sleepless nights, perhaps due to stress, heartburn, or drinking too much caffeine or alcohol. Insomnia is a lack of sleep that occurs on a regular or frequent basis, often for no apparent reason.

How much sleep is enough varies from person to person. Although 7 1/2 hours of sleep is about average, some people do well on four to five hours of sleep. Other people need nine to 10 hours of sleep each night.

Insomnia can affect not only your energy level and mood, but your health as well because sleep helps bolster your immune system. Fatigue, at any age, leads to diminished mental alertness and concentration. Lack of sleep caused by insomnia is linked to accidents both on the road and on the job.

Insomnia may be temporary or chronic. You don't necessarily have to live with the sleepless nights of insomnia. Some simple changes in your daily routine and habits may result in better sleep.

Metabolism and weight loss:

Metabolism and weight loss: How you burn calories.

Find out how metabolism burns calories, how it affects your weight and ways you can burn more calories for greater weight loss.

You likely know your metabolism is linked to your weight. But do you know how?

Common belief holds that a slim person's metabolism is high and an overweight person's metabolism is low. But this isn't usually the case. Metabolism alone doesn't determine your weight.

Rather, weight is dependent on the balance of calories consumed versus calories burned. Take in more calories than your body needs, and you gain weight. Take in less and you lose weight. Metabolism, then, is the engine that burns these calories and is the scale that regulates your energy needs.

Metabolism: Converting food into energy

Stated simply, metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. During this biochemical process, calories — from carbohydrates, fats and proteins — are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function.

The number of calories your body burns each day is called your total energy expenditure. The following three factors make up your total energy expenditure:

* Basic needs. Even when your body is at rest, it requires energy for the basics, such as fuel for organs, breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, plus growing and repairing cells. Calories expended to cover these basic functions are your basal metabolic rate. Typically, a person's basal metabolic rate is the largest portion of energy use, representing two-thirds to three-quarters of the calories used each day. Energy needs for these basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren't easily changed.

* Food processing. Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body's energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn't easily changed.

* Physical activity. Physical activity — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — accounts for the remainder of calories used. You control the number of calories burned depending on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.

Metabolism and your weight

It may seem logical to think that significant weight gain or being overweight is related to a low metabolism or possibly even a condition such as underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). In reality, it's very uncommon for excess weight to be related to a low metabolism. And most people who are overweight don't have an underlying condition, such as hypothyroidism. However, a medical evaluation can determine whether a medical condition could be influencing your weight.

Weight gain is more likely due to an energy imbalance — consuming more calories than your body burns. To lose weight, then, you need to create an energy deficit by eating fewer calories, increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity, or preferably both.
Influences on your calorie needs

If you and everyone else were physically and functionally identical, it would be easy to determine the standard energy needs. But many factors influence calorie requirements, including body size and composition, age, and sex.

* Body size and composition. To function properly, a bigger body mass requires more energy (more calories) than does a smaller body mass. Also, muscle burns more calories than fat does. So the more muscle you have in relation to fat, the higher your basal metabolic rate.

* Age. As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight. Metabolism also slows naturally with age. Together these changes reduce your calorie needs.

* Sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight. This is why men generally have a higher basal metabolic rate and burn more calories than women do.

Burning more calories

Your ability to change your basal metabolism is limited. However, you can increase daily exercise and activity to build muscle tissue and burn more calories.

Regular aerobic exercise, such as walking daily for 30 minutes or more, is an excellent way to burn calories. Strength training exercises, such as weight training, also are important because they help counteract muscle loss associated with aging. And since muscle tissue burns more calories, muscle mass is a key factor in weight loss.

Even though regularly scheduled aerobic exercise is best for weight loss, any extra movement helps burn calories. Look for ways to walk and move around a few minutes more each day. Lifestyle activities, such as gardening, washing your car and even housework, burn calories and contribute to weight loss. Taking the stairs more often and parking farther away at the store also are simple ways to burn more calories.

Don't look to dietary supplements for help in burning calories. Products that claim to speed up your metabolism are likely to offer minimal benefit and may produce undesirable or even dangerous side effects. Dietary supplement manufactures aren't required by the Food and Drug Administration to prove their products are safe or effective, so view these products with caution and skepticism.

Your metabolism influences your energy needs, but it's your food intake and physical activity that ultimately determine your weight.