Disabilities and Diseases Articles

New research suggests that a woman’s level of physical activity is a better sign than body weight of existing coronary artery disease and future heart problems. The study, which appeared in the September 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (2004; 292 [10], 1179–87), examined 906 women who had chest pain, suspected narrowing of the coronary arteries, o...

Low-carbohydrate diets may lure clients with promises of rapid weight loss, but the long-term health effects of these popular diets are unknown. Researchers recently conducted a prospective trial to determine whether low-carb diets used for weight loss increased or decreased the risk for type 2 diabetes in women over time. Using data from the ongoin...

The perception that people of “normal weight” are necessarily healthier than their overweight cohorts is wearing thin. According to a press release from the Mayo Clinic, adults with a regular body mass index (BMI)—used to define normal weight—may still be at risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. The press release comes on the heels of a Mayo Clinic study i...

Older adults exposed to particles in the air may experience diminished cardiovascular function, says a recent study. Published in the February issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2008; 177, 419–25), the study found that older adults exposed to miniscule indoor air particles could be at risk.

Look around your exercise floor. Although there are no outward or telltale signs, it is likely that several of your members or clients have some form of diabetes. It is also likely that many of these people either are unaware of their condition or have difficulty managing and regulating the disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20.8 million pe...

Although many women worry about their risk of getting breast cancer, heart disease is actually the leading killer of females in America. Not only does heart disease kill more women than men each year (Thom et al. 2006), but females who survive a cardiac event fare much worse than their male counterparts (Blomkalns et al. 2005). Yet many women and their physicians fail to recognize the toll that...

How long has it been since you’ve practiced your cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills? Recent findings show that the majority of people untrained in CPR, and even many trained emergency personnel, do not push with enough force. The research, detailed in the June issue of Cardiovascular Engineering, tested 104 adults untrained in CPR and 83 trained firefighters. Find...

The Feldenkrais Method may improve quality of life for patients with Alzheimer’s and enable them to learn new habits, according to an article published in Alzheimer’s Care Quarterly (2006; 7 [4], 278–86). As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, individuals lose reasoning and communication abilities. Motor skills are retained the longest. The more that pa...

Strange as it may seem, higher body mass index (BMI) has been associated with reduced risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women. Researchers recently conducted a longitudinal study of 113,130 young women to determine the mechanisms underlying this “We observed a significant linear inverse trend between current BMI and breast cancer that was not explained by menstrual cyc...

The results of a new international study may support your efforts to design programs for clients who have experienced heart failure (and who have a doctor’s release). The “largest randomized clinical trial of exercise training ever performed” is now underway, involving 83 sites that will test 3,000 people to determine whether exercise is good for heart failure patients. <...