Image via Wikipedia Will the high gas prices increase the number of people walking and biking to get groceries and work and lead to a turn around in the obesity rate in developed countries? I previously wrote about: diabetes, obesity and gasoline keep on rising and now Wired has a piece on their site, “Rising…
exercise
brain hack, brain health, exercise
What heart rate measurements can tell you about your brain
by Ward • • 7 Comments
The ancient Greeks (Aristotle) considered the heart the center of our thinking. While over the last 2,000 years we have altered our view, and now know the brain is our control center (for most of us), we can still get a window into our brain from listening to our heart. I previously covered some simple…
brain health, exercise
Is long-term statin use bad for our long-term brain health?
by Ward • • 7 Comments
Does early long term use of statins decrease progenitors cells and result in dementia at an earlier age than normal? Earlier I had written a post about how cholesterol lowering drugs may be prescribed to kids as young as 8 year olds as suggested by recent guidelines released by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Statins…
exercise
Do you think 8 year olds should be taking anti-cholesterol medication ?
by Ward • • 4 Comments
Image via Wikipedia American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines, as reported here, that are suggesting that anti-cholesterol drugs be prescribed for kids as young as 8 year old if they have high levels of LDL (bad cholesterol, see below) and other risky conditions (e.g. obesity, high blood pressure). What do you think of this…
exercise
Heart measurements for your health
by Ward • • 6 Comments
Image via Wikipedia Yesterday I mentioned several health measurements one could use to chart your general health. Today I will focus on one them – heart rate measurements. This is probably the simplest and most cost effective (big bang for the buck) of all the ones I mentioned yesterday. The explanation I will give you…
exercise, humor
Diabetes, Obesity, and Gasoline keep on rising
by Ward • • 0 Comments
New data released from CDC indicates that the number of cases of diabetes in USA has risen to 24 million (2007), up from 21 million 2 years ago (2005). Now, 8 % of the American population have diabetes. A further 57 million Americans are in the pre-diabetic stage, which makes this group prone to developing…
brain fitness, brain health, enriched environment, exercise
Combining exercise and an enriched environment: walking book club
by Ward • • 3 Comments
In previous posts (here, here, here, here) I have explained how the two simplest things you can do for better brain and body health is live in an enriched environment (new learning, novelty, etc), and exercise. But we all are limited by time. That is why I was quite excited by a post by Alvaro…
brain health, exercise
What should you be eating after the big game?
by Ward • • 0 Comments
What should you be consuming/eating after you exercise, or the big game if you are Kevin Garnett? The dogma over the last 15 or so years is we should be consuming a large number of carbohydrates after exercise. Then they started telling us we should be doing it before, during and after. Next came the…
exercise
Nature vs Nuture
by Ward • • 0 Comments
Are you limited by the talent you are born with, be it intellectually or physical? We all want to be the best we can, but we wonder how good we can be and what are our limits. Is our ultimate limit dependent on genetics (nature) or effort (nurture)? Here are three perspectives on this subject;…
brain fitness, brain health, exercise
New neurons for better brain health: neurogenesis
by Ward • • 0 Comments
Image via Wikipedia Now you might ask what good does all this exercise and enriched environment (novelty) really do for my brain health and fitness? One thing that these two brain hacks increases is the birth of new neurons. Yes, new neurons. The old dogma back when I started my undergraduate degree was that in…