Push-Up measures health
The Power of One Push-Up
Updated at 6:54 p.m. ET on June 28, 2019.
The numbers used to assess health are, for the most part, not helpful.
There are the vital signs: heart and respiratory rates and body temperature. Sometimes blood pressure. These are critical in emergencies. If you’ve been stabbed in the chest, paramedics want to know no numbers more than these.
But in day-to-day life, the normalcy of those numbers is expected. It doesn’t so much grant you a clean bill of health as indicate that you are not in acute danger. What if you just generally want to know whether you’re on pace to live an average life or longer?
The most common numbers are age and body weight. The U.S. health-care system places tremendous value on the latter, in the form of body-mass index, or BMI, a simple ratio of weight over height. BMI is used to define obesity and “overweight,” and so to stratify risks in insurance and health-care industries. This number has come to be massively consequential in the lives of millions of people, and to influence the movement of billions of dollars.
Despite all this emphasis on body weight, the ability of BMI to predict mortality and disease has been called into question. Its inadequacy is famously evident in examples such as the human muscle-mound Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson qualifying as obese. BMI also ignores the health problems among the “skinny fat” (or “overfat” or “normal-weight obese”).
Health is more strongly correlated with body-fat percentage and distribution than with overall weight, but getting an accurate measure of one’s muscle-to-fat ratio is not especially simple—and still draws focus to body image in ways that can introduce its own risks of eating disorders, depression, social isolation, and all manner of things that may be more dangerous than body fat itself.
Except in extreme cases, no single number gives a good idea of whether a person is functionally healthy or not. The common numbers are not directly or easily changeable. As these numbers continue to dominate health care, however, an emerging body of evidence is finding useful and cheap numbers that anyone can track. If these new numbers aren’t being taken seriously, it may be because they seem too obvious.
The speed at which you walk, for example, can be eerily predictive of health status. In a study of nearly 35,000 people aged 65 years or older in the Journal of the American Medical Association, those who walked at about 2.6 feet per second over a short distance—which would amount to a mile in about 33 minutes—were likely to hit their average life expectancy. With every speed increase of around 4 inches per second, the chance of dying in the next decade fell by about 12 percent. (Whenever I think about this study, I start walking faster.)
Walking speed isn’t unique. Studies of simple predictors of longevity like these come out every couple of years, building up a cadre of what could be called alternative vital signs. In 2018, a study of half a million middle-aged people found that lung cancer, heart disease, and all-cause mortality were well predicted by the strength of a person’s grip.
Yes, how hard you can squeeze a grip meter. This was a better predictor of mortality than blood pressure or overall physical activity. A prior study found that grip strength among people in their 80s predicted the likelihood of making it past 100. Even more impressive, grip strength had good predictive ability in a study among 18-year-olds in the Swedish military on cardiovascular death 25 years later.
Another study made headlines earlier this year for declaring that push-up abilities could predict heart disease. Stefanos Kales, a professor at Harvard Medical School, noticed that the leading cause of death of firefighters on duty was not smoke inhalation, burns, or trauma, but sudden cardiac death. This is usually caused by coronary-artery disease. Even in this high-risk profession, people are most likely to die of the same thing as everyone else.
Still, the profession needed effective screening tests to define fitness for duty. Since firefighters are generally physically fit people, Kales’s lab looked at push-ups. He found that they were an even better predictor of cardiovascular disease than a submaximal treadmill test. “The results show a strong association between push-up capacity and decreased risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease,” Kales says.
Usually when studies like these come out, pockets of experts talk about how they should “incorporate it into clinical care” or otherwise take these new metrics seriously to cut down medical costs and to monitor health in ways that are better than body weight. Then the novelty fades, and the system keeps relying on body weight. But Kales contends that metrics beyond BMI and age have to be taken seriously. This is driven in part by the Americans With Disabilities Act, which mandates that people not be discriminated against in occupational settings based on BMI or age.
“Before the ADA, a fire or police department might have a BMI standard where they won’t accept you,” Kales says. “Now they want functional standards.” That is, they want to know whether you can do the job—not if you’re fat.
The push-up study could reasonably extend beyond firefighters. “Push-ups are another marker in a consistent story about whole-body exercise capacity and mortality,” says Michael Joyner, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic whose work focuses on the limits of human performance. “Any form of whole-body engagement becomes predictive of mortality if the population is large enough.”
That is to say: Health is not simply about push-ups. There’s also nothing magic about grip strength or walking speed. But these abilities tend to tell us a lot. Firefighters with higher push-up capacity were more likely to have low blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar, and not to smoke. People with the lowest grip strengths were more likely to smoke and have higher waist circumference and body-fat percentage, watch more TV, and eat fewer fruits and vegetables.
Essentially, these quick metrics serve as surrogates that correlate with all kinds of factors that determine a person’s overall health—which can otherwise be totally impractical, invasive, and expensive to measure directly. If we had to choose a single, simple, universal number to define health, any of these functional metrics might be a better contender than BMI.
A good metric of health should be meaningful, measurable, actionable, and durable. Body weight and BMI aren’t always meaningful or actionable—as many people who’ve tried to change theirs are aware. Other metrics require drawing blood in a doctor’s office or spending money to send saliva or feces off to a lab to get genetic-sequencing results from companies such as 23andMe or UBiome. You don’t even need to track all your steps every day, unless that’s somehow fun. A single minute of push-ups or grip strength could track progress just as well.
Granted, Joyner and other experts I heard from estimated that the number of Americans who can do a single push-up is likely only about 20 or 30 percent. But that’s an issue of practice more than destiny. “Most people could get to the point of doing 30 or 40—unless they have a shoulder problem or are really obese,” Joyner says.
Connie’s comments:
I want to measure the quality of our diet, feces and our blood. I use fresh ginger and lemon to clean my blood which helps in the regular metabolism and bowel movement. Our diet affects our health as seen by our blood tests and bowel movements.
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Heart disease: 12 warning signs that appear on your skin
Warning signs can appear on your skin and nails, which is why your dermatologist may be the first doctor to notice that you have heart disease. If you know what to look for, you can also find warning signs of heart disease on your skin and nails. The following pictures show you what to look for.
-
- Swelling in your feet and lower legs
What it may be telling you: Your heart isn’t working properly.Many diseases of the heart cause fluid to build up in your feet and lower legs. As the fluid builds up, you may see swelling, which can extend as far as the upper legs and groin.
Medical name: Edema (medical term for swelling)
- Swelling in your feet and lower legs
-
- Blue or purple color on your skin
What it may be telling you: You have a blockage in a blood vessel.
When you’re extremely cold, your skin can turn blue (or purple). If an area of your skin is blue (or purple) when you’re warm, that’s can be a sign your blood isn’t getting enough oxygen. The patient in this photo has a condition known as blue toe syndrome, which happens when one or more blood vessels are blocked.
Without treatment, the lack of oxygen can cause the skin and underlying tissue to eventually die.
Medical name: Cyanosis (refers to the bluish color on the skin)
- Blue or purple color on your skin
-
- Blue or purple netlike pattern on your skin
What it may be telling you: You have a blocked artery.Some people see this pattern on their skin when they feel chilly. When their skin warms up, this pattern disappears. It’s also possible to see this pattern when taking certain medications. If one of these is causing the netlike pattern, it’s usually nothing to worry about.
This netlike pattern can also be a sign of a disease called cholesterol embolization syndrome, which occurs when small arteries become blocked. The blockage can lead to damaged tissues and organs, so it’s important to see a doctor to find out whether you have an undiagnosed disease.
Medical name: Livedo reticularis (medical term for the netlike pattern)
- Blue or purple netlike pattern on your skin
-
- Yellowish-orange, waxy growths on your skin
What it may be telling you: You have unhealthy cholesterol levels.If you see yellowish-orange growths on your skin, you may have deposits of cholesterol under your skin. These painless deposits can appear in many areas, including the corners of your eyes, lines on your palms, or the backs of your lower legs.
If you notice these growths on any area of your skin, see your doctor. You may need cholesterol testing or another medical test. Unhealthy cholesterol levels require treatment, which can prevent life-threatening heart disease. Getting your cholesterol levels under control may also help clear the growths on your skin. If the growths don’t clear, a board-certified dermatologist can treat them.
Medical name: Xanthelasma (cholesterol deposits on the eyelids), Xanthoma (cholesterol deposit found elsewhere on the skin)
- Yellowish-orange, waxy growths on your skin
-
- Clusters of waxy bumps that suddenly appear on your skin
What it may be telling you: You have skyrocketing cholesterol levels or diabetes.
The sudden appearance of these bumps can look like a rash, warts, or a contagious skin condition called molluscum contagiosum. These bumps are actually fatty deposits of cholesterol caused by extremely high levels of triglycerides (type of cholesterol) in the blood.Treatment is essential to lower the triglycerides and treat any serious medical conditions, such as heart disease caused by the high cholesterol levels.
Medical name: Eruptive xanthoma (refers to the sudden appearance of many fatty deposits of cholesterol)
- Clusters of waxy bumps that suddenly appear on your skin
-
- Nails curve downward and the ends of your fingers are swollen
What it may be telling you: You may have a heart infection, heart disease, or lung problem.
For many people, these signs are harmless. That said, if your fingers and nails look like this, it’s best to find out if you may have a medical condition, such as lung disease or a heart problem.
Medical name: Clubbing (term describes the downward turned nails and swollen fingers)
- Nails curve downward and the ends of your fingers are swollen
-
- Red or purple lines under your nails
What it may be telling you: Most people who see these lines under their nails have injured the nail in some way. If you cannot remember injuring your nail, you may want to see your doctor. These lines can be a sign of heart disease or another condition.When it’s a sign of heart disease, people tend to have symptoms, such as high fever and a weak or irregular heartbeat.
Medical name: Splinter hemorrhage (line often looks like a splinter stuck under the nail)
- Red or purple lines under your nails
-
- Smooth, waxy lumps on your skin
What it may be telling you: You have protein deposits in your heart or another organ.
These waxy lumps can appear anywhere on the skin. They often indicate that there’s an abnormal buildup of protein in an organ, such as your heart. If protein builds up in the heart, it’s hard for the heart to work properly.
Medical name: Nodules of systemic amyloidosis (“nodule” means lump and amyloidosis refers to the type of protein that has built up)
- Smooth, waxy lumps on your skin
-
- Painful lumps in your fingers, toes, or both
What it may be telling you: You have an infection in your heart or blood vessels.If you have a heart infection known as infective endocarditis, these painful lumps can develop in your fingers, toes, or both places. The lumps can last for a few hours to several days.
While the lumps go away on their own, patients need treatment for the infection. Because this infection is caused by bacteria, antibiotics can often treat it. Sometimes, surgery is also necessary.
Medical name: Osler nodes. A doctor named Osler discovered the connection between a patient having these lumps, which are now called Osler nodes, and a heart infection.
- Painful lumps in your fingers, toes, or both
-
- Brownish (or reddish) discoloration, usually on your sole(s) or palm(s)
What it may be telling you: You have an infection in your heart or blood vessel.
The spots that developed on the bottom of this patient’s foot are also a sign of a heart infection called infective endocarditis. Unlike Osler nodules, these spots are painless. These spots will clear without treatment, usually in a few days or weeks. The infection requires treatment.
Medical name: Janeway lesions, which are named after an American doctor, Theodore Caldwell Janeway.
- Brownish (or reddish) discoloration, usually on your sole(s) or palm(s)
-
- Non-itchy rash (flat spots with slightly raised edges) and fever
What it may be telling you: You have rheumatic fever.
If your child develops strep throat, treating it quickly is important. When it’s not treated quickly, other medical problems can develop. One such problem is rheumatic fever. While this seldom happens in the United States today, rheumatic fever is common in developing countries.
When a child has rheumatic fever, it can lead to lifelong heart disease. Rheumatic fever is a leading cause of heart disease in children.
Medical name: Erythema marginatum (name of the rash shown in this picture)
- Non-itchy rash (flat spots with slightly raised edges) and fever
- Rash and cracked, swollen lips that often bleed
What it may be telling you: A child has Kawasaki disease.
When a child has a rash, fever, and extremely dry lips that may crack and bleed, Kawasaki disease is a likely cause. This disease, which affects the blood vessels, usually develops in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years of age.
While Kawasaki disease may go away on its own within 12 days without treatment, it can lead to serious side effects, such as heart disease.
Medical name: Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (another name for Kawasaki disease)
Other signs that appear on the skin and can be a warning sign of heart disease, include:
- A gray ring around the colored part of your eye
- Changes to your tongue, such as it swelling and turning red as a strawberry
- Discolored skin
If you notice any of these signs, make an appointment to see your primary doctor and try to stay calm. The sign could be harmless, but it’s important to get it checked out. Heart disease is easier to treat when found early.
Images
1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10: Used with permission of the American Academy of Dermatology National Library of Dermatologic Teaching Slides.
2, 3, 4, 9, 12: Images used with permission of Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology:
- (2 and 9) J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009; 60(1):1-20.
- (3) J Am Acad Dermatol. 1999;41:842-4. (Fig 2)
- (4) J Am Acad Dermatol. 2017;77:728-34. (Fig 3A)
- (12) J Am Acad Dermatol. 2013;69:501.
11: Image used with permission of DermNet NZ. Last accessed May 11, 2018.
References
Hirschmann JV and Raugi GJ. “Blue (or purple) toe syndrome.” J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009; 60(1):1-20.
Khanna N, Roy A, et al. “Janeway lesions: an old sign revisited.” Circulation. 2013; 127(7):861.
Misin A, Di Bella S, et al. “Image of the month: ‘Diagnostic hands’: Janeway lesions.” Clin Med (Lond). 2017; 17(4):373-374.
Uliasz A and Lebwohl M. “Cutaneous manifestations of cardiovascular diseases.” Clin Dermatol. 2008; 26(3):243-54.
Source:
Vote for anyone on 2020 except Trump
Elizabeth Warren tells a story of corruption. Bernie Sanders lectures on inequality. Joe Biden has a case for why Trump must be voted out first and foremost. O’Rourke, even before this latest gambit, wanted his campaign to be a voyage of discovery. “I want to be the leader for this country that we need right now, and that we do not have,” he said on Thursday. But desire alone isn’t a political project.
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Medical debt in the USA
Medical debt in the USA
America is the only industrialized nation in the world with personal medical debt. In fact, medical debt is the #1 cause of consumer bankruptcy in the country. Rising healthcare costs and endless bills are leaving families with nowhere to turn. Medical
costs cause a serious financial problem for 26% percent of American adults each year (NPR/Harvard 2016) and 40% of Americans have lingering medical bill problems or outstanding medical debt (Commonwealth Fund, 2011). For families already under the stress of illness, medical bills are devastating. In addition to amplifying stress and mental health issues, there is the very real possibility of wage garnishment, eviction, foreclosure, and bankruptcy.
Facts about medical debt
- 42.9 million Americans have unpaid medical bills, which creates an adverse impact on debtor patients, physicians, and hospitals (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
- Six in 10 of both insured and uninsured people say they have difficulty in paying other bills as a result of medical debt. Over a third were unable to pay for food, heat or housing because of medical bills. (Kaiser Family Foundation & New York
Times) - Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults under age 65, or 116 million people, had medical bill problems or debt, went without needed care because of cost, were uninsured for a time or were under insured — insured but had high out-of-pocket
medical expenses or deductibles relative to income. (Kaiser Family Foundation & New York Times) - Medical debt contributes to more than 60 percent of the bankruptcies in the U.S. Until satisfied, debt lingers on a person’s credit report to negatively impact their ability to buy a home, get a loan or even gain employment. (The American Journal
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Exercise induces changes in skeletal muscle to purge the blood from toxins
In a new study in mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that exercise training induces changes in skeletal muscle that can purge the blood of a substance that accumulates during stress and is harmful to the brain. The study is being published in the journal Cell.
“In neurobiological terms, we actually still don’t know what depression is. Our study represents another piece in the puzzle, since we provide an explanation for the protective biochemical changes induced by physical exercise that prevent the brain from being damaged during stress,” says Mia Lindskog, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet.
It was known that the protein PGC-1a1 (pronounced PGC-1alpha1) increases in skeletal muscle with exercise, and mediates the beneficial muscle conditioning in connection with physical activity. In this study researchers used a genetically modified mouse with high levels of PGC-1a1 in skeletal muscle that shows many characteristics of well-trained muscles (even without exercising).
These mice, and normal control mice, were exposed to a stressful environment, such as loud noises, flashing lights and reversed circadian rhythm at irregular intervals. After five weeks of mild stress, normal mice had developed depressive behaviour, whereas the genetically modified mice (with well-trained muscle characteristics) had no depressive symptoms.
“Our initial research hypothesis was that trained muscle would produce a substance with beneficial effects on the brain. We actually found the opposite: well-trained muscle produces an enzyme that purges the body of harmful substances. So in this context the muscle’s function is reminiscent of that of the kidney or the liver,” says Jorge Ruas, principal investigator at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet.
Convert a substance formed during stress
The researchers discovered that mice with higher levels of PGC-1a1 in muscle also had higher levels of enzymes called KAT. KATs convert a substance formed during stress (kynurenine) into kynurenic acid, a substance that is not able to pass from the blood to the brain. The exact function of kynurenine is not known, but high levels of kynurenine can be measured in patients with mental illness.
In the current study, the researchers demonstrated that when normal mice were given kynurenine, they displayed depressive behaviour, while mice with increased levels of PGC-1a1 in muscle were not affected. In fact, these animals never show elevated kynurenine levels in their blood since the KAT enzymes in their well-trained muscles quickly convert it to kynurenic acid, resulting in a protective mechanism.
“It’s possible that this work opens up a new pharmacological principle in the treatment of depression, where attempts could be made to influence skeletal muscle function instead of targeting the brain directly. Skeletal muscle appears to have a detoxification effect that, when activated, can protect the brain from insults and related mental illness,” says Jorge Ruas.
350 million people affected
Depression is a common psychiatric disorder worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 350 million people are affected.
The current study was funded by grants from the AstraZeneca-Karolinska Institutet Integrated Translational Research Centre, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Petrus and Augusta Hedlund Foundation, Stockholm County Council, Karolinska Institutet’s Strategic Research Programme in Diabetes, the Swedish Brain Foundation, the Swedish Diabetes Association, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Swedish Research Council, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Åhlén Foundation and the Åke Wiberg Foundation, among others.
Menopausal hormone therapy use and risk of primary liver cancer
Primary liver cancer occurs less commonly among women than men in almost all countries.
This discrepancy has suggested that hormone levels and/or exogenous hormone use could have an effect on risk, although prior studies have reached inconsistent conclusions. Thus, the current study was conducted to examine the relationship between menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use and development of liver cancer. A nested case-control study was conducted within the United Kingdom’s Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Controls were matched, at a 4-to-1 ratio, to women diagnosed with primary liver cancer between 1988 and 2011. A second match, based on whether the cases and controls had diabetes, was also conducted. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for associations of MHT with liver cancer were estimated using conditional logistic regression adjusted for known risk factors.
In the overall match, 339 women with liver cancer were matched to 1318 controls. MHT use was associated with a significantly lower risk of liver cancer (ORadj=0.58, 95%CI=0.37–0.90) especially among users of estrogen-only MHT (ORadj=0.44, 95%CI=0.22–0.88) and among past users (ORadj=0.53, 95%CI=0.32–0.88). Among the matched cases (n=58) and controls (n=232) with diabetes, the odds ratios were similar to the overall analysis (ORadj=0.57, 95%CI=0.09–3.53), but did not attain statistical significance. In the current study, MHT use, especially estrogen-only MHT use, was associated with a significantly lower risk of liver cancer. These results support the need of further investigation into whether hormonal etiologies can explain the variation in liver cancer incidence between men and women.
Alcohol: women vs men
Alcohol: WOMEN VS. MEN
How often women tend to drink and what happens to their bodies when they do is
different when compared to men.
- Self-report surveys of men and women in the United States show that alcohol
use is more prevalent among men than women. - Men are more likely than women to become alcohol dependent.
- Binge drinking (i.e., consumption of five or more drinks per occasion on 5 or
more days in the past month) is most common among women ages 18 to 25. - Among racial groups, women’s drinking is more prevalent among whites,
although black women are more likely to drink heavily. - Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men.
- Women generally have less body water than men of similar body weight, so that
women achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood after drinking equivalent amounts of alcohol. - Women DO appear to eliminate alcohol from the blood faster than men.
- This finding may be explained by women’s higher liver volume per unit lean
body mass, because alcohol is metabolized almost entirely in the liver. -
Ability to Dilute Alcohol
- WOMEN: Average Total Body Water: 52%
MEN: Average Total Body Water: 61% -
Ability to Metabolize Alcohol
- WOMEN: Have a smaller quantity of dehydrogenase, an enzyme that breaks down
alcohol.
MEN: Have a larger quantity of dehydrogenase, which allows them to break down
the alcohol they take in more quickly. -
Hormonal Factors, Part 1
- WOMEN: Premenstrual hormonal changes cause intoxication to set in faster during
the days right before a woman gets her period.
MEN: Their susceptibility to getting drunk does not fluctuate dramatically at certain
times of the month. -
Hormonal Factors, Part 2
- WOMEN: Alcohol increases estrogen levels. Birth control pills or other medicine with estrogen increase intoxication.
MEN: Alcohol also increases estrogen levels in men. Chronic alcoholism has been
associated with loss of body hair and muscle mass, development of swollen breasts
and shrunken testicles, and impotence.
Source: NIAAA
Source: http://www.factsontap.org