How Weekend Exercise Reduces Risk Of Early Death - Experts

In an effort to make more people improve their health, scientists have revealed that cramming all recommended weekly exercise into one or two weekend sessions is enough to produce important health benefits.
These are contained in a report published in ‘JAMA Internal Medicine’. According to the report, being active without managing 150 minutes of moderate activity a week was still enough to reduce the risk of an early death by a third.
Health experts said purposeful exercise was key to better health. The researchers said this was good news for people with a busy lifestyle who turned into “weekend warriors” in order to fit in all their recommended physical activity.
The findings are based on a survey of about 64,000 adults aged over 40 in England and Scotland. Researchers from Loughborough University and the University of Sydney analysed data on the time people spent doing exercise and their health over 18 years.
They found that no matter how often people exercised in a week or for how long, the health benefits were similar as long as they met the activity guidelines.
Exercise is the physical exertion of the body – making the body do a physical activity which results in a healthy or healthier level of physical fitness and both physical and mental health.
The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, regardless of age, sex or physical ability. Compared with those who didn’t exercise at all, people who did some kind of physical activity – whether regularly or irregularly – showed a lower risk of dying from cancer and from cardiovascular disease (CVD), which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
“Weekend warriors”, who did all their exercise on one or two days of the week, were found to lower their risk of dying from CVD by 41 per cent and cancer by 18 per cent, compared with the inactive.
Those who exercised regularly on three or more days per week reduced their risks by 41 per cent and 21 per cent.
Even the “insufficiently active” lowered their risk by a significant amount – 37 per cent and 14 per cent, the researchers said.
Reacting to the development, Study author and expert in physical activity and health, Dr. Gary O’Donovan, who is from Loughborough University, said the key was doing exercise that was “purposeful, and done with the intention of improving health.”

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Sedentary Lifestyles Make Women Age Faster - Experts

Women who lead a sedentary lifestyle have faster ageing cells than those who exercise every day. These are the findings of a study published in the ‘American Journal of Epidemiology’. According to the study, as people age, their cells age, causing DNA protectors to shorten and fray.
The researchers from California noted that health and lifestyle factors may speed up the process. A sedentary lifestyle is a type of lifestyle with no or irregular physical activity.
A person who lives a sedentary lifestyle may colloquially be known as a couch potato or in the Nigerian parlance 'ajebo'. It is commonly found in both the developed and developing world. Sedentary activities include sitting, reading, socialising, watching television, playing video games, mobile phone and computer use for much of the day with little or no vigorous physical exercise.
A sedentary lifestyle can contribute to many preventable causes of death. The ‘BBC’ reported that the research on 1,500 women aged 64 to 95 found those who spent many hours sitting and exercised for less than 40 minutes a day had cells that were biologically eight years older.
The researchers similarly suggested that even in old age, it was important to keep active and avoid sitting for more than 10 hours a day. “During ageing, tiny caps on the ends of DNA strands known as telomeres naturally shorten.
“These telomeres – which have been likened to the plastic tips of shoelaces – are there to prevent chromosomes from deteriorating.
Telomere length is one indicator of biological age, which does not always match chronological age. Shortened telomeres have been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and major cancers. How much regular exercise people do now also appears to be a factor in their length.
To track the women’s movements in the study, they wore an accelerometer on their right hip for seven days in a row, during the day and night.
They were also asked to complete questionnaires on their activity. Reacting to the development, lead study author, Dr. Aladdin Shadyab from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, said: “We found that women who sat for longer did not have shorter telomere length if they exercised for at least 30 minutes a day.
“Discussions about the benefits of exercise should start when we are young, and physical activity should continue to be part of our daily lives as we get older, even at 80 years old.” Medical experts advised older adults to break up long periods of sitting with light activity because “sedentary behaviour is now considered an independent risk factor for ill health.”
The study urged adults aged 65 or older who are generally fit and mobile should try to do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, such as cycling or walking, every week and strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).
Similarly, it said older adults at risk of falls, or with poor balance, should also do exercises to improve balance and co-ordination at least twice a week.

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New Drug Set To End Age Related Blindness

An experimental drug may one day make treatment simpler for patients suffering from vision-threatening age-related macula degeneration. These are contained in a report published in the journal ‘Science Translational Medicine’.

 The drug — called AXT107 — has been only tested on mice and rabbits, but it requires far fewer injections than current therapy to prevent vision loss.

Current treatment requires frequent injections directly into the eye, the report stated. Age-related mascular degeneration — also called macula degeneration, AMD or ARMD — is the deterioration of the mascula, which is the small central area of the retina of the eye that controls visual acuity. According to the United States, U.S. National Institutes of Health, NIH, age-related macular degeneration is a common eye condition and a leading cause of vision loss among people age 60 and older.

 The condition causes damage to the macula, a small spot near the centre of the retina and the part of the eye needed for sharp vision. In some people, age-related macular degeneration advances so slowly that vision loss doesn’t occur for a long time. In others, the disease progresses faster and may lead to a loss of vision in one or both eyes, according to the NIH.

 Mascular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss among ageing population and the number of people affected by AMD is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead. As age-related macular degeneration progresses, a blurred area near the centre of vision is a common symptom.

 Over time, the blurred area may grow larger and blank spots may develop in central vision. Objects also may not appear as bright as they used to. Age-related macular degeneration by itself doesn’t lead to complete blindness, the NIH says. The loss of central vision can, however, interfere with simple activities, such as the ability to see faces, drive, cook, read and write.

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Cannabis Can Be Used To Treat Multiple Sclerosis - Experts

Patients suffering multiple sclerosis (MS) may now turn to alternative therapy to address the condition. Going by findings of a new study, there is evidence that cannabis may be useful in the treatment of MS.
The American Association of Neurology, AAN, which disclosed this development, based it on the position of several studies, which claim that cannabis is effective for the treatment of pain and spasticity.
Although there are many anecdotal reports indicating cannabis’ beneficial effects for treatment of MS symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness, anxiety and sleep deprivation, they have not been scientifically verified.
This is because clinical trials – where patients are given cannabis – are difficult to do because of how the substance is regulated in America.
Cannabis or marijuana has long been used for hemp fibre, hemp oils, medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber.
MS is a demyelinating disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems.
Specific symptoms can include double vision, blindness in one eye, muscle weakness, trouble with sensation, or trouble with coordination. Cannabis, which is now being used to help MS patients, contains over 100 compounds, but THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (Cannabidiol) are believed to have the most medical relevance.
To satisfy the United Nations, UN, Narcotics Convention, some cannabis strains have been bred to produce minimal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent.
It was reported that reported that researchers at Integrative Neurophysiology Laboratory at Colorado State University are studying people with MS in the state who are already using medical cannabis as a treatment to investigate what MS symptoms the drug can effectively treat.
The long-term goal of the trial is to determine whether cannabis can safely and effectively treat MS symptoms. According to the report, the results which have not yet been published, found that 91 respondents (66 per cent) reported that they currently use cannabis, and 56 per cent of the cannabis users reported using either smoked or edible products.
Seventy-eight per cent of the cannabis users also indicated that they reduced or even stopped other medications as a result of their cannabis use.

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Malta Guiness Herbs Eating Deeper And Deeper Into The Nigerian Market

Barely 4 months of being launched into the Nigerian market, Malta Guiness Herbs Lite, the new brand extention of Malta Guiness from Guiness Nigeria Plc, is gearing up to take a leadership position in the Nigerian Malt market. A survey carried out By Nigeria Natural Health Online www.kimekwu.blogspot.com showed that most consumers of malt drinks are gradually abandoning their old brands in favor of the new herbal malt drink, which happens to be the first herbal malt drink in the Nigeria market.
Distributors and retailers who spoke to our correspondent, said the herbal nature of the drink is endearing it to the heart of malt lovers, especially those who take issues of their health seriously.
"as you know, Malta Guiness Herbs Lite is low in sugar and contains fruit and vegetable herbs that is good for the body. even the taste of the drink alone is enough to tell you that this is a herbal drink," one of these who owns a shop in the yaba area of Lagos, simply called Iya Tunji, told our correspondent.
Malta Guinness Herbs Lite not only gives the goodness of Malta Guinness, it also gives the benefits of Herbal extracts and gives you all of these in a low sugar preparation which is more than you would expect from a normal Malt drink.
It will be recalled that the launch of Malta Guiness Herbs Lite took place on the 4th of October 2016 at the prestigious Golden Royale Hotel in Enugu and the launch was graced by Guinness Nigeria Plc top management, industry regulators and entertainers from all across Enugu state.
At that event, the Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa had explained that Guinness Nigeria Plc chose to introduce this new addition to the Malt category to give Nigerians not only a wider selection of malt drinks to choose from but also help in maintaining a healthier lifestyle by virtue of its low sugar formulation. He also stated that with the new classifications by industry regulators on sugar content for malt drinks, Malta Guinness Herbs Lite is the first truly Light sugar malt in Nigeria delivering even less sugar than most other malt drinks.
Mrs Jody Samuel Ike, Innovations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, while unveiling Malta Herbs Lite said “We also are committed to ensuring that we comply with regulations, in all our activities. So in response to the recent NAFDAC/SON statute prescribing new guidelines for low, light and regular malt drinks, we are introducing a perfectly balanced Malt drink that gives you much more than you expect from a regular malt drink. Malta Herbs is a brand that is positioned to redefine the experience in the Malt beverage market as it is masterfully crafted with 100% natural herb and fruit extracts".
Industry analysts say that, with the force at which the new brand is eating deeper into the Nigerian market, it may soon end up taking customers away from not just other malt drinks in the market but also from its own parent brand, Malta Guiness.

 

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Chilli Peppers Could Prolong Your Life - New Study

Scientists have come to the conclusion that chilli peppers could help its consumers live longer. These are the findings of a new study published in the journal ‘PLoS ONE’.
Researchers from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in the United States, U.S, used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) III, to look at 16,179 participants at least 18 years of age, who were followed for up to 23 years.
The ‘Sunday Times’ reported that the researchers used the information to assess the characteristics of the participants according to their consumption of hot red chilli peppers. The chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae.
The substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. Although peppers and spices have been thought to be beneficial for health for centuries, studies on the ingredients are limited.
As only one other study—which was conducted in China and published in 2015 —has previously looked at a possible association between chili pepper consumption and mortality, the researchers wanted to find further evidence to support the link in their own study.
The study found that those who ate more of the spicy ingredient tended to be “younger, male, white, Mexican-American, married, and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and consume more vegetables and meats . . . had lower HDL-cholesterol, lower income, and less education,” in comparison to participants who did not consume red chilli peppers.
Similarly, they found that the participants who consumed hot red chilli peppers benefited from a 13 per cent reduction in risk of death, mainly thanks to a reduction in deaths related to heart disease or stroke.
It is as yet unclear what is causing the positive association between chili peppers and life expectancy. However, the researchers put forward the suggestion that it could be the principal component in chilli peppers, capsicum.
Capsicum is believed to play a role in the mechanisms that prevent obesity, modulate coronary blood flow, and also has antimicrobial properties that “may indirectly affect the host by altering the gut microbiota” with changes in bacterial composition linked to cardiovascular disease amongst other conditions.
Furthermore, the study found that the nutrients in hot red chilli peppers such as B-vitamins, vitamin C and pro-A vitamin could also partly account for its protective effect.
The team now suggest that red chilli peppers “may be a beneficial component of the diet” and that further research in the form of clinical trials should be carried out.
It must be noted that chilli peppers are predominantly used in Africa, especially in Nigeria as spices for most staple foods. "Red pepper", as it is commonly known, is consumed in almost every home in Nigerian villages on a daily basis. Experts say this could explain why people in the villages live longer than those in the cities where several other kinds of pepper (most of which are adulterated when ground) are sold.

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