Emphasis in this study by researchers in Spain was on walking, the most common form of physical activity. (more…)

Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

During the Endocrine Society meeting, researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City presented the results of a comparison of aerobic training (eg, walking) vs resistance training (eg, weights). (more…)

Researchers in Australia and the US investigated the association between the change in daily step count and adiposity and insulin sensitivity. (more…)

Not in children and adolescents according to this review by researchers at The University of Sydney, in Australia. (more…)

Researchers from the University of Leicester, in the UK put the pedometer through its paces.

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Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK looked at the potential combined impact of 4 health behaviors. (more…)

Dr. James Levine from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota has reviewed the evidence. Here are the benefits. (more…)

 Here are the results of a Cochrane review of non-drug options in advanced stages of malignant and non-malignant diseases. (more…)

The OsteoArthritis Research Society International (OARSI) is a nonprofit scientific professional organization that promotes research in osteoarthritis. (more…)

Get out your MP3 player if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

As the researchers from the University of Hamburg state in their ivory tower way, “Auditory distraction might… serve as an intervention for the reduction of dyspnea [difficulty breathing] during exercise in this patient group.” (more…)

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch has published recommendations to lower the risk of fractures due to osteoporosis.

I supplemented their recommendations with references. (more…)

Pedometer-based walking programs — even without going on a diet — result in modest weight loss. (more…)

Dr. Don Goldenberg from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts has a video and print slide program on Medscape that reviews evidence-based treatments for fibromyalgia.

The emphasis is on drugs, but more interesting is his support for a combined drug/CAM approach to treatment. (more…)

There’s a need, but no well-documented evidence.

Researchers from the Miami VA Medical Center in Florida have complied a detailed review. (more…)

It’s controversial, but Dr. Steriani Elavsky, assistant professor of kinesiology at Penn State University, claims that a walking or yoga program can have a positive effect — including fewer hot flashes — in women in menopause.

Here is an article about the study and here is the abstract.
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A pram is a baby carriage and an abbreviation of “perambulator” — a person who tours on foot.

Anyway, pram walking is popular in Australia as a way for groups of women with postpartum depression to go out with their babies, get some exercise, talk, and hopefully make progress to resolve their depression. (more…)

Although walking has health benefits, 80% of American adults report walking only 10 minutes at a time at least 1 day per week.

From Medscape, here’s what works to get them moving. (more…)

You won’t be surprised to learn that pain of longer duration and greater impairment make children more willing to use CAM.

But which CAM options do they choose? (more…)

Physiotherapy (or physical therapy) is defined as the treatment of disease by physical exercise, massage, or other manipulative body-based methods — not drugs. Wikipedia has a good overview.

Cochrane has judged the evidence. (more…)

It’s the eternal argument: How do we get the benefits while minimizing the risks?

For those of us in middle age, I think this article at USNews.com by Helen Hobson brings reason to the debate. (more…)