7 Important Health Benefits Of Walking

From ibtimes.com

Being one of the easiest cardio or aerobic exercise, walking can be a great activity for everyone. Did you know that the simplest form of physical activity you have been doing since you were one year old, can be a real lifesaver?

Here is a list of some amazing benefits of such a healthy exercise:

1. Walking Helps Reduce Chronic Health Conditions- Regular walking can help reduce your risk of chronic diseases. It can improve your heart health and also reduce your risks of developing cardiovascular diseases. Studies report that individuals who walked a minimum of four hours every week had a lesser cardiovascular disease risk.

2. Promotes Weight loss- Needless to say, regularly doing any form of exercise can aid weight loss. But more precisely, the researchers at Harvard have discovered that among people who walked regularly, the obesity-promoting genes were 50% less effective.

3. Regulates Blood Pressure- Walking can help lower your blood pressure levels. Japanese researchers have reported a significant drop in blood pressure and higher stamina among individuals who walked 10000 steps daily for about three months.

         Breast cancer patients may benefit from Nordic walking. Photo: Pixabay/bluelightpictures

4. Strengthens your Bones- You can reverse the weakness of your bones that happens with age. Walking is an effective low-impact exercise that can prevent any loss of bone density and reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis, fractures and bone injuries.

5. Improves Immune Function- When you walk during the cold and flu season, it can help protect your immunity. A study has reported that individuals who walked a minimum of twenty minutes daily, at least 5 times a week had 43% fewer sick days when compared to the others who exercised lesser.

6. Reduces Cancer Risk- Although any kind of regular physical activity blunts breast cancer risk, one study has proved that women who walked regularly had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked lesser. This protection was possible even among overweight women or those who used hormonal supplements.

7. Helps Ease Joint Pain- Walking can aid in the reduction of arthritis-related pain. Regular walk of five to six miles per week can even prevent arthritis in the first place. Regular walking protects your joints and provides lubrication to strengthen the supporting muscles.

https://www.ibtimes.com/7-important-health-benefits-walking-2834660

Arthritis prevention: What you can do today to keep you moving tomorrow

From benningtonbanner.com

By Matthew Nofziger, MD

Everybody's heard of arthritis but not everybody appreciates that arthritis isn't a single disease. In fact, the term is used to describe over 200 conditions that affect the joints, connective tissue, and other tissue around the joints of people of all ages. It's estimated that more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children in the U.S. are impacted by arthritis.

The most common symptoms of arthritis are pain, swelling, stiffness, and decreased range of motion. Virtually any joint in your body can be impacted. The severity of symptoms can range from mild to severe and, in some instances, may come and go. For some people, the disease can progress very slowly and may even hold steady for years, not having a great impact on the quality of life. But for those with severe arthritis, pain can be chronic and may make simple daily activities, including walking, getting dressed, preparing meals, etc., difficult.

The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis which occurs when the cartilage that normally covers and cushions the ends of bones begins to wear away. The resulting bone-on-bone contact leads to the tell-tale pain, swelling, and stiffness. Without cartilage in place to cushion the bone, the pain can become chronic as the joint becomes further damaged. It's not uncommon for the joint to actually weaken over time.

While osteoarthritis is more common as we age, there are a few things you can do to prevent its progress.

The first is to maintain a healthy weight. The less extra weight you carry on the your body's frame, the less strain you put on your joints; especially the hips, knees, and feet. Even if you already have osteoarthritis, losing weight is a great way to lessen pain and damage to your joints.

Next, you need to stay active. Despite the pain that arthritis can cause, regular physical activity helps arthritis in a few ways. First, it can help to strengthen the muscles around the joints and increase flexibility. Low impact exercises like riding a bike, swimming, rowing, resistance bands, and walking are all good choices for building strength without putting too much pressure on your joints. An added bonus of regular exercise is that it actually helps lubricate the joints which, in turn, eases pain and makes for easier movement. A phrase you'll sometimes hear doctors use while counselling arthritis patients is "rest is rust and motion is lotion." But it's more than a phrase as there's plenty of science to back up the value of exercising to prevent arthritis as well as to minimize the symptoms.

Avoiding injury is also key to preventing arthritis. While that may mean not jumping off high walls to some, avoiding injury can also be accomplished simply by using proper technique while using your body. If you repeat the same bad form while swimming, lifting weights, or engaging in daily activities such as sitting and lifting, you can actually contribute to arthritis. If you're taking up a new exercise, be sure to speak with a trainer or coach to make sure you're helping and not hurting yourself. If you're having arthritic pain doing basic tasks, you may benefit from seeing an occupational therapist who can correct bad habits.

While very common, arthritis isn't necessarily a part of everyone's future — or yours. Maintaining a healthy weight and showing your body some love through proper exercise and activities can help. If you start to develop symptoms, see your doctor sooner than later so that together you can look for ways to slow its progress and preserve your mobility.

https://www.benningtonbanner.com/stories/matthew-nofziger-arthritis-prevention-what-you-can-do-today-to-keep-you-moving-tomorrow,585644

Understanding Arthritis: 8 Common Questions Explained

From health.clevelandclinic.org

The term arthritis refers to inflammation in the body’s joints, such as the knees, wrists, ankles and hips. But arthritis isn’t just one thing.

It’s actually an umbrella term for more than 100 conditions that cause pain, stiffness or swelling in the joints. Different types of arthritis have different symptoms and treatments.

Rheumatologist Adam Brown, MD, fields common questions and misconceptions about arthritis.

Q: How does arthritis work?

A: There are multiple types of arthritis. By far, the most common is what we call wear-and-tear arthritis, or osteoarthritis. If you’re old enough, you probably have some degree of osteoarthritis somewhere in your body — at the base of your thumbs, the tips of your fingers, your hips or your knees.
Then, there’s a much rarer category, which is autoimmune or inflammatory arthritis, where the immune system actually attacks your joints.

The immune system is normally built to fight off bacteria and viruses trying to cause infections, but for reasons that aren’t very clear, sometimes it gets confused and attacks your joints.

That’s when you get red, swollen, painful joints, like what you see in rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis.

Then there’s another category called crystalline arthritis. The most common version of that is gout. Gout has been around for a long time and most commonly affects the big toe. People wake up and have a severely swollen and painful toe. Then it just spontaneously goes away in the majority of cases.

Q: How does arthritis affect the body?

A: Osteoarthritis primarily affects the joints, but autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, are multi-systemic. That means they involve not just the joints but many parts of your body. For example, lupus can involve the lungs and the kidneys.

Q: Are women more susceptible to arthritis?

A: For reasons that aren’t very clear, women have a higher tendency to develop autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In contrast, crystalline disease like gout seems to be a little bit more common in males.

Q: Arthritis happens to older adults, right?

A: The longer you live, the more wear and tear your joints are going to have. So the majority of people have some degree of osteoarthritis the older they get. But autoimmune conditions can happen at any age. You can have young children with types of inflammatory autoimmune conditions that cause arthritis.

Q: Does weather affect arthritis?

A: Weather can absolutely make a difference on different types of arthritis. Patients tell me, for example, that when the temperature goes from 30 degrees to 60 degrees in a day, it can make them ache.
But once the weather is stabilized, the joint aches a little bit less. It’s probably pressure related — the pressure in the atmosphere that changes with weather can affect the pressure in your joints.

Q: Is arthritis hereditary?

A: There looks to be some genetic component to it, but just because your mom and dad had osteoarthritis does not mean you’re going to get it.

Q: Can arthritis be cured?

A: For osteoarthritis, we have lots of things that can hopefully help keep you moving and living as normal of a life as possible, starting with physical therapy, over-the-counter medications or creams, prescription medications and cortisone injections.

Some people end up having surgery to replace the painful joint. That’s “curative” because you get rid of the joint and put hardware in there to take the place of the joint.

Autoimmune arthritis is a very different approach than osteoarthritis because the problem is that the immune system is overactive. It’s attacking various parts of your body — in particular, your joints. But we have medications that can make a profound difference in people’s lives, and hopefully with minimal side effects.

One of the goals of therapy is to suppress or lessen the immune system, which sounds scary, but we’re doing that because it’s overactive. Using those medications could potentially mean you get an infection like a cold or pneumonia or urinary tract infection, but most people live a normal life and do well without major infections.
In contrast to that, we have crystalline disease like gout, which is a condition where your blood level of uric acid is elevated. There are ways to control the uric acid which include eating less meat and drinking less alcohol, and there’s a whole laundry list of other things to avoid if you have severe gout. There are also a handful of medications aimed at reducing uric acid.

Q: Is heat or cold best for arthritis pain?

A: Warmth brings about inflammation. If you put a hot pack on your hand, it’s gets a little bit red, right? That’s usually inflammatory cells coming to the surface. It makes sense to use cold to decrease inflammation, but in reality, I’ve had patients swear by putting something warm on their joints and having them feel better. The answer is, do what makes it feel better.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/understanding-arthritis-8-common-questions-explained/

Plant-based diets may relieve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms

From upi.com/Health_News

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Eating vegetables may help soothe the pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis, a new study says.
A plant-based diet can help with weight loss and relieve the inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research published Tuesday in Frontiers in Nutrition.
On the other hand, consuming red meat can aggravate the condition, causing higher body mass index and joint pain from inflammation.
"A plant-based diet comprised of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes may be tremendously helpful for those with rheumatoid arthritis," Hana Kahleova, the study's co-author who runs clinical research for the Physicians Committee, said in a press release.

                   A plant-based diet may help soothe the pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

                                                 File Photo by Syda Productions/Shutterstock

In a review of clinical trials and observational studies, researchers with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine uncovered four ways to a plant-based diet can positively impact rheumatoid arthritis.

In one study, patients prescribed a plant-based diet for two-months had lower levels of C-reactive proteins, which are linked to inflammation. Other research showed the low-fat and high fibre normally associated with plant-based diets helped to alleviate morning stiffness and joint swelling.

Another analysis showed plant-based diets helped to lose weight better than diets that contain meat. Losing just 11 pounds made it three times more likely a person's rheumatoid arthritis symptoms would go into remission.

Finally, the researchers say the high-fibre of a plant-based diet can diversify gut bacteria, which also may help relieve the inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis.
"This study offers hope that with a simple menu change, joint pain, swelling, and other painful symptoms may improve or even disappear," Kahleova said.

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/09/12/Plant-based-diets-may-relieve-rheumatoid-arthritis-symptoms/6131568316623/

9 worst foods for arthritis

From english.khabarhub.com

Arthritis is the collective name for over 100 joint diseases affecting both adults and children. It can cause joint pain, swelling, inflammation, and affects your range of motion. It can also get worse as you age and may even begin to harm your organs and skin.

There are food ingredients that tend to accelerate, worsen, or alter your arthritic symptoms.
1. Fried Food
2. Corn Oil
3. Cigarettes
4. Candy
5. Cheese & Dairy
6. Trans Fats
7. MSG
8. Refined Carbohydrates

https://english.khabarhub.com/2019/01/41711/

Best supplements for arthritis: Three supplements to help prevent painful joints

From express.co.uk

Arthritis is a common condition that can have debilitating symptoms. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, but what can you do to reduce your risk of developing it? An expert says supplements may help.

Osteoarthritis affects nearly 9 million people in the UK, according to the NHS, and can occur at any age. The condition is caused by the wearing away and less repair of the cartilage lining of the joint, and can make movement more difficult than usual, leading to pain and stiffness. So is there anything you can do to reduce your risk of developing the condition? LloydsPharmacy Pharmacist Matt Courtney-Smith said taking one of three supplements could help.

He said: “If you’re concerned that vitamin or mineral deficiencies may be impacting your joint health or is increasing your risk of developing osteoarthritis, supplements may help.

According to Matt, glucosamine, boswellia and omega-3 may be effective.
He explained: “There is research into Glucosamine’s ability to help maintain and repair cartilage in the body, which is important in staving off the onset of osteoarthritis. Glucosamine supplements are available as tablets, capsules and powders and can be found in most pharmacies.
“Boswellia is an ancient natural supplement which has also been shown to slow down cartilage damage, and there are targeted joint supplements which contain this ingredient.
“You could also consider Omega-3 supplements as they are well-known to help reduce inflammation, including around the joints, helping to prevent inflammatory arthritic conditions.”

Matt also recommends setting healthy weight goals, maintaining strong posture and staying active to reduce the risk of osteoarthritis.

     Best supplements for arthritis: Supplements could help prevent painful joints (Image: GETTY)

Set healthy weight goals

Excess weight can place additional pressure on the joints, which can sometimes increase the risk of wear and tear of the cartilage around the joints, according to Matt.
He said: “A little weight loss may help to relieve pressure on the joints, particularly the knees and hips, helping to prevent osteoarthritis or reduce the symptoms if you already have the condition.
“There are some simple lifestyle changes that you can make to help support your weight loss such as eating plenty of fruit and veg and drinking plenty of water. Try to eat high-fibre foods as these can help to keep you fuller for longer, and be sure to cut down on alcohol – a glass of wine can have as many calories as a piece of chocolate.”

        Best supplements for arthritis: Boswellia has been shown to slow down cartilage damage

                                                        (Image: GETTY)

Maintain strong posture

Your posture is important for a number of reasons, including preventing the onset of osteoarthritis, said Matt.
He added: “Maintaining good posture will help your body naturally distribute weight evenly across your body, instead of putting unnecessary pressure or stress on particular areas of the body.
“If you have a desk-based job, try to ensure that you don’t slouch and take regular breaks. When standing you should try and distribute weight evenly on both legs, avoiding leaning on just one leg. You should ideally keep your shoulders back, with your feet hip width apart, relaxing your knees whilst keeping your legs straight.”

       Best supplements for arthritis: Omega-3 is well-known for helping reduce inflammation

                                                                   (Image: GETTY)

Stay active

Regular exercise is extremely important to help increase the strength of the muscles surrounding the joints, which helps protect the bone and cartilage from wearing down, said Matt.
He warned: “However, the type of exercise you do can affect your risk of osteoarthritis. Too much running and weight training can put unnecessary strain on your joints, increasing the impact of wear and tear on the joints, potentially increasing your risk of the condition.
“If you’re concerned about your risk of osteoarthritis, choose activities such as walking and cycling, which will help build muscle strength, without as much impact. Yoga is also a great gentle exercise for those concerned about their risk.”

Weight-bearing exercises such as walking could help to increase the strength of the muscles surrounding the joints, which could help to prevent and reduce the severity of arthritis.
Matt added: “This is due to the fact that muscles can help support joints, alleviating stress and associated pain.
“If you do start experiencing niggles, or are concerned about your joints, drug-free gels such as Flexiseq Osteo help to restore lubrication in the joints, maintaining healthy joints and supporting mobility.”
Supplements are recommended to help protect against a range of ailments.

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1168465/best-supplements-arthritis-osteoarthritis-glucosamine-boswellia-omega-3