13 August 2022
By Elizabeth Millard
This week I contributed a piece to the local media and posted the article on Linkedin, about how I felt counselling services for families that had lost their loved ones, especially a child, and counselling for parents concerned about their loved ones, and again their children suffering from rheumatic heart disease might be adopted by the MHMS in an expansion of general health services.
Is it fully realised back home in Honiara just how seriously many parents are worried and stressed out by their child’s confinement at the NRH with rheumatic heart disease or rheumatic heart fever, and would likely benefit from a counselling programme while hoping and indeed praying for treatment follow-up options for their child’ recovery?
Today, I raise the topic of exercise as a preventative measure to help reduce the incidence of illnesses occasioned by NCDs and a subject that needs to be promoted, just like counselling services should be in a reformed, more encompassing, MHMS.
Let me add today, two major studies, involving at least 100,000 people each, say that exercise helps you live longer.
Quote.
The recent study published in the journal, Circulation found that if you go above the recommended amount of physical activity (150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week); you significantly reduce your risk of early mortality.
The new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that even if you only work out on two consecutive days (like on the weekend), you’re still likely to live longer.
An oft-repeated recommendation for activity comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which advises at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity weekly—or a mix of both. Previous research has highlighted the benefits to making this your minimum. And those advantages include lower risk of serious issues like type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease
A recent study published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, highlights the fact that these advantages won’t just help you live better. They’re likely to help you live longer, too. And if you go above the minimum amount, the benefits are even more amplified when it comes to longevity.
Researchers looked at more than 100,000 participants over a 30-year period, and found that those who did two to four times the recommended amount of physical activity had a significantly reduced risk of early mortality.
Moderate activity was defined as walking, low-intensity exercise, and strength training, while vigorous activity included cycling, running, and swimming. It didn’t seem to matter how participants mixed higher-intensity aerobic exercise with more moderate options—the bigger factor was simply doing more activity.
Another notable finding is that even among those who quadrupled the recommended minimum activity levels, there was no evidence of harmful cardiovascular effects, according to lead author Dong Hoon Lee, Sc.D., research associate in the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
End of quote.
Source – YAHOO HEALTH NEWS
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
