Fitness Factoids: Volume 53
Depression May Impact Blood Pressure
The negative i
mpact that stress can have on the body by causing diseases such as hypertension and mental health have been recognized by doctors for decades. According to researcher Susan Wood at the South Carolina School of Medicine depression, a mental health disorder typically not associated with cardiovascular disease, may in fact be an underlying cause of hypertension for number of people. In a recent article published by the University of South Carolina’s research magazine titled Breakthrough Wood and her team of researchers show that a depressive stress response causes increased markers of inflammation in the body and brain. Chronic inflammation is a destructive process that is associated with a number of degenerative biological processes including hypertension. Researchers believe by training the body to “produce a more resilient” stress response, individuals may be able to help mitigate depression induced hypertension.
http://www.sc.edu/uofsc/stories/2014/03_susan_wood_stress_depression_heart_disease.php#.UyWXesuPL41
Order of Operations Does Not Impact Performance
There’s a long list of exercise my
ths and supposed truths that impact the decisions of even the most experienced trainers and athletes in the gym. The idea of performing cardio after resistance training to take advantage of depleted glycogen stores while tapping into stored body fat has been considered an irrefutable fact by generations of athletes. However, a recent study conducted by researchers in Finland has found that the weights before cardio paradigm isn’t quite true after all. For the study researchers tracked 200 healthy and active individuals between the ages of 18-40 on a supervised exercise protocol between 2011-2013. Participant’s engaged d in 2-3 sessions per week that consisted of either training before cardio, or cardio performed after training. Researchers found that during the first few weeks’ concentrations of serum testosterone did decrease. However, after the initial differences researchers noticed that differences disappeared, and after 24 weeks both groups appeared to similarly increase physical performance and muscle size.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/274009.php
Vitamin Supplements May Limit Hearing Loss
Adverse reac
tions to properly prescribed medications that are taken as instructed can be result in a number of serious or potentially fatal incidents. One commonly prescribed class of antibiotics known as aminoglycosides have been known to cause hearing loss in as many as 25% of patients taking the drug. According to new research published in the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology has found that that taking beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and magnesium helps prevent hearing loss for individuals taking aminoglycosides. During a two week animal model study researchers gave half of the animal’s antibiotics with their normal diet while giving the other half antibiotics with vitamin enriched food. At the conclusion of the study researchers found that the animals that had received vitamin enriched food showed better maintenance of their hearing than those who did not. Researchers believe that the increased antioxidants helped decrease inner ear oxidation, and now hope to begin human trials to see if the results can be replicated.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/274066.php
Married Women Are Less Likely to Die From Heart Disease
New research conducted by the Oxford 
University Cancer Epidemiology Unit has found that married women are 28% less likely to die from heart disease than unmarried women. The new information comes in part from the analysis of data conducted by the university in a large program known as the Million Women Study. The study followed 730,000 women over a nine-year period who were 60 years old on average. Over the course of the study 30,000 women developed heart disease, 2,000 of which ultimately died from complications. Researchers found that married women, or those living with a partner were 28% less likely to die from heart disease than unmarried women, although the risk of developing heart disease remained the same. The new information refutes the “you’re killing me” claim made my by wives to their husbands since the beginning of time.
http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/filming_in_oxford/index.html
Strenuous Exercise Reduces Flu Risk
The benefi
cial effects of exercise as a preventative measure of improving health may not be limited to chronic disease. New data suggests that performing at least two hours of strenuous exercise weekly decreases your chance of contracting the flu. According to new data from the London Scholl of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, vigorous exercises imparts some sort of preventative effect on the body. Data collected from 4,800 people tracked a number of different variables including exercise habits. The findings indicate that nearly 100 cases per 1,000 diagnoses could be prevented by simply engaging in regular vigorous exercise.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26581722
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