Tag Archives: dementia

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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Enrich Your Life to Prevent Dementia

Mentally stimulating activities and risk of dementia Higher levels of daily intellectual activities predict lower risk of dementia. But do people with greater intellectual activities also embrace other healthy behaviors, such as increased physical activity, eating a better diet, and not smoking, which could account for the lower risk of dementia? Researchers addressed this question…
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Handgrip Strength

Late-life disability Disability in old age can severely compromise quality of life. Research indicates that decreased muscle strength may lead to disability and functional limitations. Could handgrip strength serve as an easily measured and valid predictor of disability in old age? Researchers used data from the Honolulu Heart Program and the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study to…
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The Perils of Passive Sitting

How much do Americans sit? We Americans sit a lot. A new study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 2001 – 2016 to find out just how much. Not counting sitting while at work, in 2001 the average American adult spent 5.5 hours per day watching TV or videos or…
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