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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

Low Bone Density: A Serious Risk Factor for Athletes

Posted October 29th, 2007 at 5:20 PM by Megan Hueter

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

A University of Missouri study suggests that athletic men may be at risk for low bone density. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, “osteoporosis affects more than 2 million men in the United States and nearly 12 million more have osteopenia– clinically significant low bone density that is less severe than osteoporosis.” The study now suggests that men who engage in low-impact forms of exercise have a higher incidence of osteopenia.

Pamela Hinton, an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Missouri’s College of Human Environmental Sciences claims that “Regular, non-weight-bearing activities, such as swimming and cycling are effective measures for preventing the leading risk factors for death and disability in our society, but the results of this study suggest that regular weight-bearing activities, such as running, jogging, or rope jumping, are important for the maintenance of healthy bones.”

Read the rest of this article by new, staff writer Denise Musumeci via our partner site: HesFit.com

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Is my New Year’s resolution to get in shape worth the effort?

Posted December 29th, 2006 at 12:00 PM by Martha Jones

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise, Weight Loss

Being out-of-shape is almost as strong a risk factor for a heart attack as smoking. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (December 21, 2005) shows that being out-of-shape markedly increases your risk for being fat, storing most of your fat in your belly, having a high bad LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure, and having low levels of the good HDL cholesterol.

We live in a society in which 91 percent of the population develops high blood pressure, 78 percent will have high cholesterol, and 35 percent are diabetic. More than 50 percent of us die of heart attacks and strokes from these risk factors. Doctors no longer think of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes as just being due to our genes. We now consider these diseases to be caused by our behavior.
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