RESEARCH ROUND-UP BONE BUILDER


by aiding bone growth, according to a five-year study of 833 Swedish men. The participants – all aged 19-24 at


E


the outset – involved self-reporting of physical activity over five years. Participants’ bones were also scanned at the beginning and end of the study. Researchers found an association


between increased activity and favourable developments in areas such as total body bone mineral content, plus lumbar spine and total hip areal bone mineral density. For every extra hour of activity, men gained bone mass. Those who remained sedentary over the five years lost around 2.1 per cent of bone mass in the hip – the bone most likely to break in later life. Load-bearing sports such as


basketball seemed best at making the body form new bone tissue: those who played for four hours a week increased hip bone density by 1.3 per cent. n Nilsson M et al. JMBR, January 2012


THE COLD WAR


in less severe symptoms of acute respiratory illnesses (ARI), such as colds and flu, or even prevent them altogether. A recent study assessed three


P


randomly assigned groups of people aged 50+. One group took part in an eight-week meditation programme, the


42 Health Club Handbook 2013


ositive thinking (via mindfulness meditation) and exercise can result


second undertook an eight-week exercise programme, and the third was a control. During the nine-month US cold and flu


season, 40 bouts of ARI were reported by the control group, compared to 27 among the meditators and 26 in the exercise group. People in the exercise and meditation groups felt sick for five days on average, compared to nine days among the control group. The whole meditation group missed a combined total of only 16 days’ work due to ARI;


Load-bearing


sports were best at stimulating bone growth


xercising in your early 20s may cut the risk of osteoporosis in later life


the exercise group took 32 days off, and the control group 67 days. Using the Wisconsin Upper


Respiratory Symptom Survey, which rates 24 symptoms on a scale of 0–7 for severity, symptoms were also less severe among meditators: the average score was 144, compared to 248 among exercise participants and 358 in the control group. n Barrett, Bruce et al. The Annals of Family Medicine, July/August 2012


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