Exercises to Avoid with Osteoarthritis of the Knee or Hip

Participation in sport is associated with a with a 20—40% reduction in all-cause mortality compared with non-participation. Exercise might also be considered as a fifth vital sign, according to the Lancet: http://goo.gl/gyxYf

Exercises to Avoid with Osteoarthritis of the Knee or Hip include:

- Running and jogging. The difference between how much force goes through your joints jogging or running, as opposed to with walking, is sometimes more than 10-fold your whole body weight
- Jumping rope
- High-impact aerobics
- Any activity where, at any time, you have both feet off the ground at once, however briefly (basketball, jumping)

Fortunately, that leaves a lot of activities that are OK for people with knee and hip osteoarthritis and that can help keep you mobile - see the list at WebMD.

Research Finds Exercise is Good for Arthritis (a Cleveland Clinic video):



References:

Knee and Hip Exercises for Osteoarthritis. WebMD.
Image source: OpenClipart.org, public domain.

How to avoid getting a 'Text Neck' - Cleveland Clinic video

The popularity of texting on cellphones and using mobile devices has triggered an increase in neck pain. Dr. Bang, DC, of Cleveland Clinic gives tips on the right way to hold your mobile device.

How to Avoid Dog Bites -- It's National Dog Bite Prevention Week

Dogs are the most diverse mammal species on the planet (http://buff.ly/1pxxt0k). They can vary in weight from 6 lb (3kg) to 200 lb (90kg) when fully grown and have widely differing body shapes and hair types.

Not surprisingly, dog-bite injuries in children (head and neck) peak in warmer weather. The family pet is to blame in 27% of cases, and pit bulls are most commonly involved.

Dog bites are the third leading cause of emergency room visits for children, and the majority of those bites are from a dog known by the child. The ASPCA's Director of Anti-Cruelty Behavior Research Dr. Katherine Miller discusses How to Avoid Dog Bites in this WSJ video:



Pay attention to the dog's body language

Put a safe amount of space between yourself and a dog if you see the following signals, that the dog is uncomfortable and might feel the need to bite:

tensed body
stiff tail
pulled back head and/or ears
furrowed brow
eyes rolled so the whites are visible
yawning
flicking tongue
intense stare
backing away

What to do if you think a dog may attack

Resist the impulse to scream and run away.
Remain motionless, hands at your sides, and avoid eye contact with the dog.
Once the dog loses interest in you, slowly back away until he is out of sight.
If the dog does attack, "feed" him your jacket, purse, bicycle, or anything that you can put between yourself and the dog.
If you fall or are knocked to the ground, curl into a ball with your hands over your ears and remain motionless. Try not to scream or roll around.

Here is a brief 3-minute summary from CNN with some practical tips how to prevent dog bites:



References:

How to Avoid a Dog Bite : The Humane Society of the United States http://buff.ly/1jTA6UO
How to avoid dog bites | Cesar Millan http://buff.ly/1gk2Gng
Dog-bite injuries in children peak in warm weather | Reuters http://buff.ly/1jTAhj4

How to avoid hidden sodium - a Johns Hopkins dietitian walks through the aisles of a grocery store with you (video)

Join Johns Hopkins registered dietitian, Arielle Rosenberg, as she walks through the aisles and offers suggestions on how to lower salt intake -- but not compromise flavor.

Cutting U.S. salt intake by just half a teaspoon (3 grams) a day would prevent up to 92,000 deaths, 99,000 heart attacks, and 66,000 strokes -- a benefit as big as smoking cessation. A 3-gm per day reduction in salt (1,200 mg of sodium) will result in 6% fewer new cases of heart disease and 3% fewer deaths.

The average U.S. man gets about 10.4 grams a day and the average U.S. woman gets about 7.3 grams a day.

77% of the salt in the American diet comes from processed food. Only 6% is shaken out at the table, and only 5% is sprinkled during cooking.

Once people cut back on salt -- whether or not they know they are doing it -- they begin to prefer less salt in their food. This happens in a matter of weeks.

References:

"Cutting Salt as Good as Quitting Smoking"

30 minutes is not enough - middle-aged need full hour of exercise to avoid gaining weight as they age

Prticipation in sport is associated with a with a 20—40% reduction in all-cause mortality compared with non-participation. Exercise might also be considered as a fifth vital sign, according to the Lancet: http://goo.gl/gyxYf

Middle-aged women need to get at least an hour a day of moderate exercise if they hope to ward off the creep of extra pounds that comes with aging.

According to JAMA, among women consuming a usual diet, physical activity was associated with less weight gain only among women whose BMI was lower than 25. Women successful in maintaining normal weight and gaining fewer than 2.3 kg over 13 years averaged approximately 60 minutes a day of moderate-intensity activity throughout the study.

Already, two-thirds of U.S. adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese.

Sheila Anderson, 50, works out at the fitness center three to four times a week, doing 45 minutes of cardiovascular training and a couple of hours a week of weight training.

"Does it strike me as too much?" she said of the finding. "Maybe. It sure is hard to fit in an hour each day. I could not come to the gym seven days a week," she said.

One hour per day of exercise is difficult to achieve. However, even 30 minutes is better than no exercise at all.



Dr. Michael Roizen, Cleveland Clinic Chief Wellness Officer, answers the question "How much exercise is enough?"

Three parts of exercise have been shown to be beneficial to health:

1. Moving the equivalent to 10,000 steps a day.
2. Resistance exercise for 30 minutes a week.
3. 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise.

References:

Hour of exercise may be too much for busy U.S. women | Reuters.

JAMA 2010;303[12]:1173-1179