HIV, AIDS Patients Embracing Exercise

"'This is definitely the best shape I've ever been in,’ Tanner said. ‘And it's ironic because I got so sick when I first became (HIV) positive, and now I'm the healthiest I've ever felt.’ Such a refrain is not unusual among HIV and AIDS patients. In the decade since protease inhibitor medications have helped manage the virus, many patients have either begun exercise regimens or resumed endurance training. Mounting evidence suggests that exercise not only provides a boost to well-being but also can help the immune system fight off illness and AIDS wasting disease by increasing muscle mass and improving heart and lung endurance. A 2006 Massachusetts General Hospital study found that exercise manages symptoms of "’metabolic syndrome,’ which increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Reports say as many as 45 percent of HIV-positive patients have the syndrome. And a 2005 Columbia University study found that moderate exercise, in combination with anti-retroviral drugs, led to improved nervous-system function and circulation in HIV patients. Such preliminary reports are heartening to people with HIV. Even so, many say that they would be exercising even if it showed no healthful indications.”

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/06/02/2_AIDS_EXERCISE.ART_ART_06-02-08_D3_MMAC13C.html?sid=101

Cheap Exercise For Patients Is Just What The Doctor Ordered

"People who are overweight, at risk of diabetes, recovering from a stroke or suffering from depression are to be given ‘exercise prescriptions’. Instead of leaving GP surgeries and heading to the chemist, patients will instead be sent to the gym or swimming pool. NHS Lothian [Hospital in Scotland] is currently working on a partnership with Edinburgh Leisure, which will give people discounted access to sports facilities. It is part of a new drive by the health board to improve the fitness of people in the region. The board wants to help people control their weight before they require hospital treatment. It is also hoped it will help people's mental health as exercise is known to release endorphins that make people happier. Michael Pinkerton, spokesman for Edinburgh Leisure, said: ‘A lot of it is still at the proposal stage, but we are looking to work with NHS Lothian. The proposals include a cardiac rehabilitation scheme and a stroke rehabilitation scheme. We are also looking to introduce a weight management intervention scheme, and we will be targeting diabetes patients as physical inactivity is known to be one of the causes.’”

http://news.scotsman.com/health/Cheap-exercise-for--patients.4141303.jp

Age Appropriate

“There are times when Bob Fitzgerald, a personal trainer who works in and around California's San Fernando Valley, is 25 years younger than his client. In those circumstances, he has to take extra care — after all, he doesn't want to work the 100-year-olds too hard. Even though he has 10 years of experience working with older adults, Fitzgerald remains among a relatively new breed in the world of exercise and wellness: The 75-year-old personal trainer. A newcomer to the field at age 65 after a long career in the paper business, Fitzgerald is the natural embodiment of what is almost certain to become a trend as the baby boomers flex their collective muscles. Data from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association indicates that members 55 and older make up the fastest-growing segment of the health club population. Younger personal trainers are taught that these older members are more limited in their physical abilities, and yet everyone of a certain age connected with the industry seems to know a peer who has been injured by an overzealous young trainer…a Tufts University study was the first to suggest that older adults should be trained at the same intensity as younger exercisers — but the techniques used.”

http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=1794&zoneid=32

Have A Heart: Wellness Incentives Take Center Stage

“As more organizations get serious about incentivizing a larger category of employee behaviors, it was only a matter of time before employee wellness became an incentive target. Fueled by the skyrocketing cost of health care coverage, encouraging employees to be healthier is not only good for their physical well being, but it's also good for the company's bottom line, producing savings in healthcare costs that many employers in turn pass on to their employees. With a significant increase in heart disease, one of the leading killers today, a 70 percent increase in diabetes in people 30-40 years old during the 1990s (which leads to a four times higher risk of heart attack), and an estimated 30 million individuals with undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes in the United States today, perhaps it's time for organizations to help their employees help themselves to take responsibility and control of their health. Incentivizing a wellness initiative in your company could do just that.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/extraedge/consultants/return_on_people/2008/06/02/column423.html?market=portland

24 Hour Fitness Selects Team Members to Serve as Fitness Ambassadors at U.S. Training Center During Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

“24 Hour Fitness, the largest privately-owned U.S. fitness chain and the Official Fitness Center Sponsor of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, today announced that 21 team members from its more than 425 locations across the United States will serve as ‘Fitness Ambassadors’ and staff the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) High Performance Training Center (HPTC) in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games. Fitness managers and master trainers from the 24 Hour Fitness network participated in a rigorous selection process in which they were asked to submit an application that detailed how they changed people’s lives by helping them achieve their fitness goals, along with inspiring member testimonials. Once the staff was announced, the group attended an intensive three-day training at the USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO to prepare them for their two week assignment at the HPTC in Beijing where they will support both the athletes and USOC. ‘24 Hour Fitness is proud to continue its support of the U.S. Olympic Team by providing this unique opportunity to its own team members,’ said Carl Liebert, Chief Executive Officer, 24 Hour Fitness.”

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080602005333&newsLang=en

There's One Thing You Should Never Tell Overweight Teens

“University of Minnesota researchers who study adolescent health found that parents who correctly perceived their kids as overweight tended to use only one strategy -- advising them to diet. But five years later, those kids were far more likely to still be too heavy than were overweight kids whose parents had no idea they were fat and did nothing. In short, it's a technique that seems certain to backfire, said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a professor of epidemiology at the university and the lead author of the study published in the journal Pediatrics. The best thing parents can do to be role models, said Neumark-Sztainer, is to provide and eat healthful food, have regular family meals, and do physically active things with their kids.”

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/19443819.html?location_refer=Nation

Research At The American College Of Sports Medicine Annual Conference

“A unique study by Indiana University researchers found that physical activity throughout the day -- simply moving -- is related to positive feelings, but they found no similar relationship between physical activity and negative moods. ‘In the study, if people are more active, they tend to report a more positive mood,’ said Bryan McCormick, associate professor in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. ‘Really low levels of activity are related to lower levels of positive affect.’”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/109508.php