AU Blogspot

Tea and coffee are the major sources of caffeine in our diet, but there are significant amounts to be found in less likely foods such as cocoa, chocolate bars, drinking chocolate, cola, sports drinks, some desserts and ice creams. Caffeine is also important ingredient in some cold and pain relief medications. Without doubt, caffeine acts as a stimulant, which can stave off fatigue and enhance mental performance when we are feeling sluggish. It stimulates the heart, open the airways and can even aid digestion by stimulating gastric juices. However, there is another side to this most acceptable of drugs.

Stress And Stimulation

Caffeine acts like stress on the body, causing the physical symptoms of the ‘flight or fight’ response. It stimulates the adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol which, in turn, cause the liver to break down its store of glycogen and release it as glucose into the bloodstream. In response, the pancreas releases insulin, which helps deposit the blood glucose into the body cells. As calcium is needed to increase the heart rate, improve muscle contraction and thicken the blood, this mineral is mobilized from the bones. In short, the body prepares for action.

The problem is that when we drink or eat caffeine, we are rarely preparing for any physical action. We are usually sitting down, eating and drinking, or having a cup of tea, coffee or cola at our desks to keep us going. In effect, the body has responded to a false alarm but the physical results of this state of alert remain the same. If caffeine were the only stressor in our lives then perhaps it would be less of a problem. However, the combination of stressors we all live with can make caffeine detrimental to our health. (more…)

Wellsphere is an online community devoted to fitness, exercise, and the overall promotion of a healthy lifestyle.  Think of Wellsphere as a social network for people interested in discussing the latest in health matters from a personal perspective.  I’ve actually developed a lot of good relationships there and learned a lot of useful tips along the way.  From weight loss advice to nutrition plans, there are informative discussions going on all the time.  Take a few minutes to check it out.  Perhaps there are elements of the Wellsphere community that you’d like to see included in our Ashworth Health Care community?  If so, please share your suggestions in the comments section.  Let’s open up the possibilities!

Carla Hardy MS, CSCS
Fitness and Exercise Instructor
Ashworth University

             Thanks to Kimberly Hurst for permission to use this Photo.

The following Wall Street Journal article should be of great interest to our medical students.  Insurance companies, never on anyone’s sympathy list, have long been complaining that they should not be responsible for paying out insurance claims related to hospital errors.  This position in itself is reasonable; however the issue also contains elements of a slippery slope argument.  Instead of simply refusing accountability for grave errors (mistaken operations, infected blood transfusions, etc.)—industry experts foresee private insurers, much like Medicaid, gradually widening the definition of “errors” to include non-coverage of patient infections alledgedly contracted during a hospital stay.  The CDC states that approximately 99,000 deaths occur annually due to hospital-based infections!  With added pressure being placed on them from the insurance industry, hospitals find themselves under fire for not improving their health safety standards.  In response, hospitals say that increased regulation will only increase health care costs for the patient and further complicate a hospital system already drowning in bureaucracy. 

The medical billing implications are also intriguing.  Due to dense and often confusing medical billing language, many patients are more often than not unaware that they are being billed for hospital errors.  Now that private insurers are beginning to adopt the Medicare model, patients may well be more informed about what exactly is on their medical bill, but hospitals will ultimately have to find new ways to offset the added costs they absorb to raise their infection prevention standards.  As this story continues to unfold, I have a feeling that the patients’ best interests will get lost in the details. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University School of Health Care       

 
                   Thanks to Akuan for permission to use this Photo.

You’ve probably heard countless times how exercise is “good for you.” But did you know that it can actually help you feel good, too? Getting the right amount of exercise can rev up your energy levels and even help improve your mood.

Rewards and Benefits

Experts recommend that teens get 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. Here are some of the reasons:

Exercise benefits every part of the body, including the mind.

Exercising causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person to feel more peaceful and happy. Exercise can help some people sleep better. It can also help some people who have mild depression and low self-esteem. Plus, exercise can give people a real sense of accomplishment and pride at having achieved a certain goal — like beating an old time in the 100-meter dash.

Exercising can help you look better.

People who exercise burn more calories and look more toned than those who don’t. In fact, exercise is one of the most important parts of keeping your body at a healthy weight.

Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases.

Exercising to maintain a healthy weight decreases a person’s risk of developing certain diseases, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. These diseases, which used to be found mostly in adults, are becoming more common in teens. (more…)

 
                  Thanks to Kate for permission to use this Photo.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a fabulous New Years. 2008 is a new year to start fresh and throw out any of those bad habits and excuses for not exercising out the window. I know that I definitely am! Now that it is a new year, that means more people are going to be at the gym because the most common resolution is to lose weight. For me, it’s not just to lose weight, but to live a healthy lifestyle and continuing to do so.

Looking back to the past couple months… 

I really messed up lately in regards to my choices with the food I consume and it’s all going to change from this day forward. It’s definitely easier said than done, but the past week gave me time to realize that fast food not only makes me sick, it’s definitely making me gain unnecessary weight!  I know that I definitely need to resist urges to eat sweets and fried foods!In regards to exercise, I just did not make time for myself. Waking up early is a challenge, but I realize that the morning would be the only time I could exercise at the gym, being that I get out of work late and it’s difficult for me driving when it’s dark. So heading to the gym after work would be a no go, but I could work out at home. I am still up in the air about the gym, if I want to continue going there. I rented a couple of exercise DVDs from Netflix that I’m going to try out this week and hopefully I can squeeze in a run. (more…)

            Thanks to Anita Bezanzon for permission to use this Photo.

Whether you are having troubles with your weight or health in general or not, healthy eating is one New Year’s resolution that will be beneficial to everyone.  Healthy eating is incredibly important, and necessary if you want to get and stay in shape and feel at your very best. There are many things that you need to think about when it comes to healthy eating, and if you want to get fit and feel great, here are a few things in particular that you are going to want to keep in mind.

Making Healthy Meals Happen

Sure we all want to eat healthy and especially if we have a family, make sure that they are getting the nutrition and vitamins that they need. But this is not always as easy as it sounds. Especially in the crazy hectic and busy world that we live in today it seems as though there is never enough time to get everything we need done, and the same goes for meals. Taking a few minutes each week to plan your meals is really going to help you out here and make things a great deal easier on you.

The first step is to get ready, and this should involve the whole family. After all, everyone is different and so everyone is going to have different food preferences, of which you are going to want to take into consideration when planning your meals. Involve all family members in all aspects of meal planning, and give each person in the family a chance to talk about what they like and dislike, and what recipes they would like to have included here.

Putting this down in writing is also very important, not only to help keep you organized but so that you can remember everything you have gone over. Especially if you have a larger family you are going to find that you have troubles remembering everyone’s opinion. You should always start with the main attraction when you are planning your meals, and so this means that you should decide on the main course for each meal of the week first, before thinking about sides and desserts. This is important because not only is the main course the most important part of the meal, but also by choosing the main dish first you will find it a great deal easier to add on and finish off each meal. (more…)

              Thanks to Gwen Harlow for permission to use this Photo.

Oxidative stress has been identified and proven to be the root cause of more than 70 chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration and other serious ailments, according to Dr Ray D. Strand, an expert on nutritional medicine.

Oxidative stress occurs when free radicals, which are not neutralized by antioxidants, go on to create more volatile free radicals and damage cell walls, vessel walls, proteins, fats and even the DNA nucleus of our cells.

The part of the body which receives the most free radical damage will be the first to wear out and potentially cause a degenerative disease. The type of disease will depend on which part of the body is affected.

“Imagine yourself in front a crackling fireplace. The fire burns safely and beautifully most of the time, but on occasion, out pops a hot cinder that lands on your carpet and burns a little hole in it. One cinder by itself doesn’t pose much of a threat, but if this sparking and popping continues month after month, year after year, you will have a pretty ‘ratty’ carpet in front of your fireplace,” Dr Strand explains.

Referring to his analogy, Strand says that the fireplace represents the furnace of the cell (mitochondria), the cinder is the charged ‘free radical’ and the carpet is one’s body.

The part of the body which receives the most free radical damage will be the first to wear out and potentially cause one of these degenerative diseases. If it is our arteries, one could develop a heart attack or stroke. If it is our brain, one could develop Alzheimer’s dementia or Parkinson’s disease. If it is our joints, one could develop arthritis. (more…)

                 Thanks to Gianni for permission to use this Photo.

Daniel Carlat, of the Carlat Report, has an article in the New York Times Magazine.  It’s six pages long, and decidedly anti-Pharma.  But Daniel Carlat isn’t from New York– so why would he have an article published there?

You say: well, where he’s from has nothing to do with it, the New York Times is publishing it because of what he says.

Exactly.

His article, well written and persuasive, stands as is, undisputed because there is no forum in which to dispute it.  I guess it would be nice if the Times would allow me to write an op-ed– you know, in op to the ed– but I guess this blog will have to do.

Carlat is wrong, very wrong, not because he is factually incorrect about his target, but because his target is a straw man.  The problem isn’t Pharma.  It’s doctors.

The article, called Dr. Drug Rep, chronicles his introduction into the world of lecturing for drug companies– a company hires you to give a talk about a topic or drug to a bunch of doctors– and the effects of the lecturing on doctors and himself, and then his pulling out.  For context, Carlat is a fairly famous psychiatrist blogger who is both a sort of watchdog of Pharma, as well as a source of information about psychiatric drugs. 

The general message is that Pharma softly manipulates doctors to act as proxy drug reps, which in turn lends credibility/celebrity endorsement to the Pharma message, and thus influences other doctors to prescribe the medicine.  Ok, I hear you.  I have no beef with Carlat, his point is not unique.

But break it down:

So we don’t want doctors lecturing about the drugs.  Okay.  Well, who do we want?  More reps?  Here’s where it all falls apart, and I defy anyone to contradict me: doctors aren’t studying these drugs on their own. (more…)

Thanks to Espelina for permission to use this Photo.

Today I went to the gym and tried something new on the treadmill. I did run, but I did something what is referred to as interval training. Interval training is basically doing intervals of a certain workout, in my case, running in bursts of high and low intensity. By running interval training style you’re burning fat efficiently while improving your cardiovascular capabilities.

Here is the exact workout I did today: (more…)

                  Thanks to Huain for permission to use this Photo.

My girl Fergie Ferg is not only a talented entertainer, she’s fit! She’s one of my inspirations in wanting to get in shape and live healthy. (I named my site after a line in one of her songs!) There are always pictures of her working out, and I always wondered what she ate on a daily basis to keep her figure lean and fit.

According to Life&Style magazine and also reported on FitSugar, here is an example of what she eats throughout the day by her nutritionist, Carrie Wiatt.

Seriously, I was so happy when I saw FitSugar’s post, I had to let my readers know about it, so read on to get the scoop of Fergie’s diet!

BREAKFAST: Six-egg-white veggie omelet, seasoned with salsa or hot sauce. Or an on to go breakfast: two slices of 100-percent whole-grain toast with 2 tablespoons of low-fat peanut butter. That actually sounds pretty good, I never thought of having salsa with my eggs.  And I love peanut butter with whole grain toast already, so I guess I’m doing something right!

MID-A.M. BITE: Top 4 ounces of low-fat or no-fat plain organic yogurt with 2 tablespoons of low-sugar granola (such as Bear Naked). “It’s low in sugar and has protein,” says Wiatt, who suggests pairing it with a bowl of fiber-filled berries. (Cottage cheese makes a great yogurt alternative.)  Sounds good too, definitely need to try the Bear Naked granola. (more…)