If you frequently wear high heels there is something you might need to do before putting on your flats.
It might be something you noticed in the past. You often wear high heels and find it can be a little painful when you wear flats or walk around bear footed. For years doctors have felt that frequently wearing high heels could lead to a shortening of the muscles in the back of the leg and this shortening could be causing the pain when you switch to flats. But they were never able to prove it until now.
Scientist looked at the calf muscles of women that frequently wore heels. An MRI scan showed no difference in calf muscles between them or those who mostly used flats. But when they examined those same muscles with an ultrasound they found shorter muscle fibers in the women who mostly wore high heels.
They also noticed these same women had thicker and stiffer tendons behind their heels. This combination is why it can be painful to switch to flats or even walk around without shoes if you've been wearing heels for a while. But there are things you can do to help. One is to alternate flats and heels when you can. The other is to do calf and heel stretches in your bear feet during the day, especially on days you wear heels. The main thing is to make sure fashion doesn't become painful.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Lucky Charms
If you have something important coming up, like a company presentation, you might want to take your lucky charm along with you.
Lucky rabbit's foot, special coin, old t-shirt. Many of us have some type of lucky object. But, does having these really do any good? According to a new series of studies, it looks they might actually help you perform better.
One group of researchers noticed star athletes frequently had lucky shirts or shorts, or didn't shave so they could carry a lucky beard during playoffs. So they set out to see if that type of thing worked. They asked a group of volunteers to bring in a lucky charm and give them up to be photographed. They only returned the charm to half of the group. Then they had them take a computerized memory test. The ones with lucky charms did much better.
Other researchers found something similar---people doing better when they had their lucky charm with them, or when they were told “good luck” before a task.
Although this technique isn't foolproof, scientist believe that having some type of “lucky Charm” with them gives people a little bit of confidence in whatever they are doing. And that confidence helps them do better. So next time you have an important presentation to give, or need to ask for a raise or promotion, stick your lucky charm in your pocket. It might help give you that slight edge.
Lucky rabbit's foot, special coin, old t-shirt. Many of us have some type of lucky object. But, does having these really do any good? According to a new series of studies, it looks they might actually help you perform better.
One group of researchers noticed star athletes frequently had lucky shirts or shorts, or didn't shave so they could carry a lucky beard during playoffs. So they set out to see if that type of thing worked. They asked a group of volunteers to bring in a lucky charm and give them up to be photographed. They only returned the charm to half of the group. Then they had them take a computerized memory test. The ones with lucky charms did much better.
Other researchers found something similar---people doing better when they had their lucky charm with them, or when they were told “good luck” before a task.
Although this technique isn't foolproof, scientist believe that having some type of “lucky Charm” with them gives people a little bit of confidence in whatever they are doing. And that confidence helps them do better. So next time you have an important presentation to give, or need to ask for a raise or promotion, stick your lucky charm in your pocket. It might help give you that slight edge.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Parents & Weight Gain
If you’ve put on a few pounds over the years, you might want to blame your kids.
It probably doesn’t come as any big surprise to any parent, but having kids means you don’t exercise nearly as much as you need to---and that means over the years you put on the pounds. But how much this affects you might be the big surprise.
As part of the Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index survey, nearly 60,000 Americans were interviewed about how often they exercised. It turns out that if they have an under 18-year-old child in the house, then they don’t exercise very much. And 28% of the parents surveyed said they don’t really exercise at all. Again, it probably won’t surprise any parent much that the ones least likely to exercise had kids under 4-years-old in the house.
But this was having an impact on the parent’s health. One-in-four of them reported being obese and over 35% overweight. This was more than parents without children in the home.
So what does this mean, are kids bad for your health? No. But as any parent will tell you, they do occupy a great deal of your time. The secret is to make exercise one of your priorities and involve the kids if you can, especially as they get older. This will do two things. One, keep you in good health, and two, get your kids to realize how important exercise is to overall health.
It probably doesn’t come as any big surprise to any parent, but having kids means you don’t exercise nearly as much as you need to---and that means over the years you put on the pounds. But how much this affects you might be the big surprise.
As part of the Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index survey, nearly 60,000 Americans were interviewed about how often they exercised. It turns out that if they have an under 18-year-old child in the house, then they don’t exercise very much. And 28% of the parents surveyed said they don’t really exercise at all. Again, it probably won’t surprise any parent much that the ones least likely to exercise had kids under 4-years-old in the house.
But this was having an impact on the parent’s health. One-in-four of them reported being obese and over 35% overweight. This was more than parents without children in the home.
So what does this mean, are kids bad for your health? No. But as any parent will tell you, they do occupy a great deal of your time. The secret is to make exercise one of your priorities and involve the kids if you can, especially as they get older. This will do two things. One, keep you in good health, and two, get your kids to realize how important exercise is to overall health.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Coughing & Sneezing Correctly
We all know to cover up when we cough and sneeze, but how many of us actually do that?
It turns out a lot of us are covering up but most of us aren't doing it right. And by not doing it right, we are helping spread the cold and flu.
This study was done in New Zealand, were medical students had the unenviable task of sitting at a train station, shopping mall and hospital, watching people sneeze and cough. They did this during the swine flu pandemic, right when everyone was telling us to cover up when coughing and sneezing.
The good news is that most people, three out of four, at least tried to cover up to help prevent their germs from flying around. But the bad news is that, again most of them, three out of four, used their hands to do it.
And the problem is when you use your hands, instead of the inside corner of your elbow, you spread the virus to your hands. Then anything you touch after that---a doorknob or computer keyboard--- gets contaminated with that virus and can spread to others.
So, the goal here is to keep up the good work of covering up during a cough or sneeze but instead of using a hand, use your elbow or even a tissue then make sure you wash your hands.
It turns out a lot of us are covering up but most of us aren't doing it right. And by not doing it right, we are helping spread the cold and flu.
This study was done in New Zealand, were medical students had the unenviable task of sitting at a train station, shopping mall and hospital, watching people sneeze and cough. They did this during the swine flu pandemic, right when everyone was telling us to cover up when coughing and sneezing.
The good news is that most people, three out of four, at least tried to cover up to help prevent their germs from flying around. But the bad news is that, again most of them, three out of four, used their hands to do it.
And the problem is when you use your hands, instead of the inside corner of your elbow, you spread the virus to your hands. Then anything you touch after that---a doorknob or computer keyboard--- gets contaminated with that virus and can spread to others.
So, the goal here is to keep up the good work of covering up during a cough or sneeze but instead of using a hand, use your elbow or even a tissue then make sure you wash your hands.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Glaucoma
As the population gets older more of us need to consider getting regular eye exams.
That's because glaucoma is one of those things you might not know you have until it's too late.
Around 4 million Americans suffer from glaucoma and it causes around 10 percent of the blindness in this country. What usually happens with this disease is the pressure inside the eye starts to build up. Over time, this build up in pressure pushes on the optic nerve at the back of the eye and that starts the process of vision loss.
The problem is that this usually goes unnoticed until a majority of the vision has been permanently lost. But a simple eye exam can find glaucoma early on, and the earlier it's found the easier it is to treat. The group Prevent Blindness America recommends a dilated eye exam every two to four years once you hit 40 and every one to two years if you're 65 or older.
The important thing is to get any glaucoma detected and to start treatment as early as possible so you can avoid what experts call “the sneak thief of sight” Like one expert puts it, you get your teeth examined just about every year, but not your eyesight. Would you rather loose your teeth or your vision?
That's because glaucoma is one of those things you might not know you have until it's too late.
Around 4 million Americans suffer from glaucoma and it causes around 10 percent of the blindness in this country. What usually happens with this disease is the pressure inside the eye starts to build up. Over time, this build up in pressure pushes on the optic nerve at the back of the eye and that starts the process of vision loss.
The problem is that this usually goes unnoticed until a majority of the vision has been permanently lost. But a simple eye exam can find glaucoma early on, and the earlier it's found the easier it is to treat. The group Prevent Blindness America recommends a dilated eye exam every two to four years once you hit 40 and every one to two years if you're 65 or older.
The important thing is to get any glaucoma detected and to start treatment as early as possible so you can avoid what experts call “the sneak thief of sight” Like one expert puts it, you get your teeth examined just about every year, but not your eyesight. Would you rather loose your teeth or your vision?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Later School Start Times
Later school starting times for teenagers could improve their performance.
We're talking about letting them sleep in just an additional 30 minutes. That can help teens in more ways than just with better grades.
It might seem a little odd to talk about a school subject in July, but a new study was just released looking at a small experiment that pushed back school starting time for teens. The results, published in this month's Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, were pretty amazing.
Researchers convinced a small boarding school in Rhode Island to delay high school start times from 8 to 8:30. At first many parents and teachers were reluctant to go along, but after the late start time began, the results were so impressive they made the change permanent.
First period tardiness fell by almost half and students reported feeling less depressed or irritated. Health center visits dropped substantially and the number of hot breakfasts served more than doubled, meaning more students were getting a healthy start to their day.
Other studies have shown similar results from later teen start times including better academic performance. Part of the reason is the teens' biological clock. They don't really start getting tired until 11 pm or later and are still in their deepest sleep around dawn, when most of them have to wake up to go to school.
So by delaying that wake up by half an hour school-wide, they getting much more out of school.
We're talking about letting them sleep in just an additional 30 minutes. That can help teens in more ways than just with better grades.
It might seem a little odd to talk about a school subject in July, but a new study was just released looking at a small experiment that pushed back school starting time for teens. The results, published in this month's Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, were pretty amazing.
Researchers convinced a small boarding school in Rhode Island to delay high school start times from 8 to 8:30. At first many parents and teachers were reluctant to go along, but after the late start time began, the results were so impressive they made the change permanent.
First period tardiness fell by almost half and students reported feeling less depressed or irritated. Health center visits dropped substantially and the number of hot breakfasts served more than doubled, meaning more students were getting a healthy start to their day.
Other studies have shown similar results from later teen start times including better academic performance. Part of the reason is the teens' biological clock. They don't really start getting tired until 11 pm or later and are still in their deepest sleep around dawn, when most of them have to wake up to go to school.
So by delaying that wake up by half an hour school-wide, they getting much more out of school.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Sweets & Blood Pressure
You might think about cutting out the sweets to drop a pound or two but how about cutting them out to improve your blood pressure?
We all take in plenty of sweets and these days more people are battling with high blood pressure—well now the two might actually be connected.
Over the last one hundred years or so the number of people with high blood pressure has tripled. The number of products with fructose sweeteners has also gone up dramatically during the same time. So researchers decided to see if the two were connected. After interviewing over 4,000 adults, here's what they found. On the average, adults consumed 74 grams of fructose per day, or the equivalent of 2 and ½ soft drinks every single day. About one third of those surveyed also had borderline blood pressure and eight percent had high blood pressure with values above 140 over 90.
The connection comes from the fact those consuming the most fructose were also more likely to have high blood pressure. And this might account for part of the reason blood pressures have risen dramatically over the last century.
Of course, it's hard to make a direct connection between the two and the Corn Refiners Association, a US trade group representing sweetener refiners, says this is a flawed study to begin with. But cutting out sweets is something most of us need to do anyway and that might also help keep your blood pressure under control.
We all take in plenty of sweets and these days more people are battling with high blood pressure—well now the two might actually be connected.
Over the last one hundred years or so the number of people with high blood pressure has tripled. The number of products with fructose sweeteners has also gone up dramatically during the same time. So researchers decided to see if the two were connected. After interviewing over 4,000 adults, here's what they found. On the average, adults consumed 74 grams of fructose per day, or the equivalent of 2 and ½ soft drinks every single day. About one third of those surveyed also had borderline blood pressure and eight percent had high blood pressure with values above 140 over 90.
The connection comes from the fact those consuming the most fructose were also more likely to have high blood pressure. And this might account for part of the reason blood pressures have risen dramatically over the last century.
Of course, it's hard to make a direct connection between the two and the Corn Refiners Association, a US trade group representing sweetener refiners, says this is a flawed study to begin with. But cutting out sweets is something most of us need to do anyway and that might also help keep your blood pressure under control.
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