Category Archives: Healthy living

Measures of Cardiovascular Health

Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein-B, apolopoprotein-A1, For years, the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL-cholesterol) in blood serum has served as the go-to measure of cardiovascular disease risk. However, researchers have noted that LDL-cholesterol contains several constituents (small, dense vs. large, buoyant particles), which predict higher and lower risks for cardiovascular disease, respectively. More recently, researchers have…
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Treat Hypertension with Traditional Chinese Exercises

What are traditional Chinese exercises? Traditional Chinese exercises combine physical and mental techniques that feature breathing, body movements, breathing, and meditation. Examples include Tai Chi and Qigong, both of which have several versions. These exercises may be suitable for persons who can’t or won’t embrace more typical Western exercises such as jogging, running, or resistance…
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Walk Faster for Better Health

Walking speed: the sixth vital sign Walking speed predicts a host of health outcomes and it’s easily and reliably measured with minimal equipment and cost. Given the ability of walking speed to predict health, two physical therapy researchers called walking speed the sixth vital sign, accompanying the five routinely measured vital signs of blood pressure,…
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Improve Your Life with Gratitude

An expanded view of gratitude British researchers proposed a new model of gratitude. It extends the more limiting view of gratitude as a response of receiving help from others to a “habitual focusing on and appreciating the positive aspects of life.” Thus, gratitude is more of a trait and a general world view than simply…
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