Health Tips for Healthy Living
Medical Author: Dennis Lee, MD
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD
Physical activity and exercise
Benefits of regular exercise:
- Regular exercise can prevent and reverse age-related
decreases in muscle mass and strength, improve balance, flexibility, and endurance, and decrease the risk of falls in the elderly. Regular exercise can help prevent coronary heart disease,
stroke, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. Regular, weight-bearing
exercise can also help prevent osteoporosis by building bone strength.
- Regular exercise can help chronic arthritis sufferers improve their capacity to perform daily activities such as driving, climbing
stairs, and opening jars.
- Regular exercise can help increase self-esteem and
self-confidence, decrease stress and anxiety, enhance mood, and improve general mental health.
- Regular exercise can help control weight gain.
Consequences of physical inactivity and lack of exercise:
- Physical inactivity and lack of exercise are
associated with heart disease and some cancers.
- Physical inactivity and lack of exercise are
associated with Type II diabetes mellitus (also known as maturity or adult onset, non-insulin dependent diabetes).
- Physical inactivity and lack of exercise contribute to weight gain.
Exercise recommendations:
- 30 minutes of modest exercise (walking is OK) at
least three to five days a week is recommended. But, the greatest health benefits come from exercising most days of the week.
- Exercise can be broken up into smaller 10-minute
sessions.
- Start slowly and progress gradually to avoid injury
or excessive soreness or fatigue. Over time,
build up to 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day.
- People are never too old to start exercising. Even frail, elderly individuals
(ages 70-90 years) can improve their strength and balance.
Exercise precautions:
Individuals can begin moderate exercise, such as walking, without a medical examination. The following persons, however, should consult a doctor before beginning more vigorous exercise:
- Men over age 40 or women over age 50.
- Individuals with heart or lung disease, asthma,
arthritis, or osteoporosis.
- Individuals who experience chest pressure or pain
with exertion, or who develop fatigue or shortness of breath easily.
- Individuals with conditions that increase their risks
of developing coronary heart disease, such as high blood pressure, diabetes,
cigarette smoking, high blood cholesterol, or having family members who had early onset heart attacks
and coronary heart disease.
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Healthy Living & Disease Prevention
Diabetes Prevention »
Introduction to diabetes prevention
I'm pretty lucky in my office practice. I have friendly
patients who are usually already fairly well informed about their disease. They are also
generally willing to have discussions about therapies and options.
What I have noticed (much to my delight) is that there
are a growing number of patients coming to me for evaluation BEFORE they actually have
developed diabetes, wanting to know how to prevent it. Most of them have seen family
members with diabetes go through the process of diagnosis and management. As our
attitude towards disease changes, and we learn to focus on prevention, I have
more and more to discuss with these patients. Ultimately, I hope to see a
paradigm shift where our focus is primarily on prevention of chronic diseases
such as diabetes. For now, I hope this review provides some information to those
of you wanting to make healthy lifestyle changes, and that it encourages you to
open up a...
Read the Diabetes Prevention article »
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