HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU: Issue 31

SPRING 2019

HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4You

How to boost your energy 20 minutes with nature will lower your stress

The power of gratitude

Take a nap to improve high blood pressure

How older people feel younger Sugar worsens your mood

HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU: SERVING THE COMMUNITY FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS

Poor diet killed 11 million people A new study published in The Lancet says that poor diets killed 11 million people around the world in 2017. The study analysed nearly 20 years of dietary data from 195 countries.

Poor diets — which include too much of sugary drinks, trans fats and processed meats, and too light in whole grains and nuts — were associated with one in five deaths all over the world, mostly by contributing to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

For example, eating too much sodium — which is linked to high blood pressure and heart conditions — was the largest cause of diet-related death globally, the researchers found. But on the whole, “the main problem we see is the low intake of healthy food,” rather than high intake of unhealthy food said the study co-author Dr Ashkan Afshin of the University of Washington.

Aside from over-eating sodium and trans fats, most of the top dietary risk factors were related to not eating enough nutritious foods, including whole grains, nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables, polyunsaturated fats and legumes.

Vijay Rana Editor Health & Happiness 4 You

CONTENTS Spring 2019, Issue 31 5- The power of gratitude 6- Older people feel younger when in control of their life 7- Just 20 minutes with nature will lower stress 8- Eating more eggs may not be good for heart 9- Take a nap to improve high blood pressure 10- Feeling tired? How to boost your energy 12- Eating later in the day may increase your weight 13- Junk food may increase psychological distress 14- Walking backward can boot your memory 16- Sugar worsens your mood 17- 40 push-ups a day keeps heart disease away 18- Read books to children to improve their vocabulary

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Disclaimer: The information available in this magazine is for general awareness only. It is NOT a substitute for the knowledge and judgment of qualified medical experts. We make no warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of this information. Should you have any medical condition, you are strongly advised to consult a qualified health care professional. Views expressed by our contributors are their own and we take no responsibility for their views.

The power of gratitude

Say thank you and help your colleagues to get better sleep, less headaches and healthy eating

If you knew that expressing gratitude to a colleague would improve their life and yours, would you do it more often? A new study, "Gratitude reception and physical health," shows that being thanked more often at work predicted better sleep, fewer headaches and healthier eating, because it improved nurses' work satisfaction.

The study is done by Portland State University researchers -- business professor David Cadiz, psychology professor Cynthia Mohr, and Alicia Starkey, a recent Ph.D. graduate in psychology -- together with Clemson State University professor Robert Sinclair. It exhibits a positive relationship between expressed workplace gratitude, physical health and mental wellbeing.

Improving Self-Care in a Stressful Work Environment: The study involved a group of Oregon nurses, a profession that has a particularly high rate of burnout. Cadiz discusses the findings and how applying the research can have a significant impact on quality of life and job retention by preventing stress-related illnesses and disease.

"Nurses tend to have a thankless job. It's very physical, and they're often being screamed at by patients who are at their lowest. When nurses receive gratitude, it boosts them," Cadiz explains.

Many people inherently connect their identity to their job and feelings of appreciation within their roles.

Employers who understand and react to this can create positive social and economic change.

Gratitude is Good Business: From an organizational, policy and leadership perspective, Cadiz says that employers should create formal or informal opportunities for people to express gratitude. Including gratitude in a business plan is an essential step that many business leaders miss, and that omission can have financial consequences.

"Employees that receive positive feedback are healthier, and that can impact the bottom line," adds Cadiz. "Preventing headaches and other stress-related symptoms means fewer sick days, and, in this case, cuts down the cost of replacement nurses and overtime pay."

These small changes can have a dramatic fiscal impact over time, which can result in more staff, better pay rates and increased benefits.

The big takeaway -- express gratitude when you see someone doing a good job. A positive feedback loop impacts you and those around you, and can ultimately shape a healthier and happier community.

5 THE HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU

Older adults feel younger when they have control over their daily life

A recent study finds that older adults feel younger when they feel that they have more control over their daily lives, regardless of stress or health concerns.

However, stress and health -- not a sense of control -play a significant role in how old younger adults feel.

"We recently found that there are things older adults can do to improve their feelings of control in their everyday lives," says Shevaun Neupert, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University and coauthor of a paper on the work. "Now this study highlights how those feelings of control influence perceptions of age. The more control older adults think they have, the younger they feel."

For this study, researchers had 116 older adults, aged 60-90, and 107 younger adults, aged 18-36, fill out a daily survey for eight consecutive days. Study

participants were asked questions aimed at assessing their daily stresses, physical health, sense of control over their daily lives, and how old they felt.

"Everyone's sense of control fluctuates from day to day, or even over the course of a day -- that's normal," Neupert says. "We found that when older adults felt more in control, they also felt younger. That was true even when accounting for stress and physical health."

However, an individual's sense of control had no bearing on self-perceptions of age for young adults. But stress and adverse changes in health did make young people feel older.

"This highlights the importance of having older adults retain some sense of autonomy," Neupert says. "It's not just a nice thing to do, it actually affects their wellbeing."

Music works as painkiller: Scientists have found that music causes our brains to release a natural painkiller known as oxytocin and a feel-good chemical, dopamine.

Dopamine is essential for a healthy nervous system and strongly impacts emotional health. Music also affects or heart rate, breathing and pulse rate, as it stimulates blood flow. In addition, it lowers our cortisol levels, thus reducing anxiety, which is a common stimulant for neurological symptoms.

Just 20 minutes of contact with nature will lower stress

Taking at least twenty minutes out of your day to stroll or sit in a place that makes you feel in contact with nature will significantly lower your stress hormone levels.

That's the finding of a study that has established for the first time the most effective dose of an urban nature experience. Healthcare practitioners can use this discovery, published in Frontiers in Psychology, to prescribe 'nature-pills' in the knowledge that they have a real measurable effect.

"We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, but until now it was unclear how much is enough, how often to do it, or even what kind of nature experience will benefit us," says Dr. MaryCarol Hunter, an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan and lead author of this research. "Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol, you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature."

A free and natural stress-relieving remedy Nature pills could be a low-cost solution to reduce the negative health impacts stemming from growing urbanization and indoor lifestyles dominated by screen viewing. To assist healthcare practitioners looking for evidence-based guidelines on what exactly to dispense,

Hunter and her colleagues designed an experiment that would give a realistic estimate of an effective dose.

Over an 8-week period, participants were asked to take a nature pill with a duration of 10 minutes or more, at least 3 times a week. Levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, were measured from saliva samples taken before and after a nature pill, once every two weeks.

"Participants were free to choose the time of day, duration, and the place of their nature experience, which was defined as anywhere outside that in the opinion of the participant, made them feel like they've interacted with nature. There were a few constraints to minimize factors known to influence stress: take the nature pill in daylight, no aerobic exercise, and avoid the use of social media, internet, phone calls, conversations and reading," Hunter explains.

Nature will nurture The data revealed that just a twenty-minute nature experience was enough to significantly reduce cortisol levels. But if you spent a little more time immersed in a nature experience, 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking, cortisol levels dropped at their greatest rate. After that, additional de-stressing benefits continue to add up but at a slower rate.

7 THE HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU

Eating more eggs and dietary cholesterol had a higher risk of heart disease Cancel the cheese omelette.

There is sobering news for egg lovers who have been happily gobbling up their favourite breakfast since the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans no longer limited how much dietary cholesterol or how many eggs they could eat.

A large, new Northwestern Medicine study reports adults who ate more eggs and dietary cholesterol had a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause.

"The take-home message is really about cholesterol, which happens to be high in eggs and specifically yolks," said cocorresponding study author Norrina Allen, associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "As part of a healthy diet, people need to consume lower amounts of cholesterol. People who consume less cholesterol have a lower risk of heart disease."

Egg yolks are one of the richest sources of dietary cholesterol among all commonly consumed foods. One large egg has 186 milligrams of dietary cholesterol in the yolk.

Other animal products such as red meat, processed meat and high-fat dairy products (butter or whipped cream) also have high cholesterol content, said lead author Wenze Zhong, a postdoctoral fellow in preventive medicine at Northwestern. The study will be published March 15 in JAMA. The great debate Whether eating dietary cholesterol or eggs is linked to cardiovascular disease and death has been debated for decades. Eating less than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol per day was the guideline recommendation before 2015. However, the most recent dietary guidelines omitted a daily limit for dietary cholesterol. The guidelines also include weekly egg consumption as part of a healthy diet.

An adult in the U.S. gets an average of 300 milligrams per day of cholesterol and eats about three or four eggs per week. The new study looked at pooled data on 29,615 U.S. racially and ethnically diverse adults from six prospective cohort studies for up to 31 years of follow up. It found:

•

•

Eating 300 mg of dietary cholesterol per day was associated with 17 percent higher risk of incident cardiovascular disease and 18 percent higher risk of all-cause deaths. The cholesterol was the driving factor independent of saturated fat consumption and other dietary fat.

Eating three to four eggs per week was associated with 6 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease and 8 percent higher risk of any cause of death.

Should I stop eating eggs?

Based on the study, people should keep dietary cholesterol intake low by reducing cholesterol-rich foods such as eggs and red meat in their diet. But don't completely banish eggs and other cholesterol-rich foods from meals, Zhong said, because eggs and red meat are good sources of important nutrients such as essential amino acids, iron and choline. Instead, choose egg whites instead of whole eggs or eat whole eggs in moderation.

"We want to remind people there is cholesterol in eggs, specifically yolks, and this has a harmful effect," said Allen, who cooked scrambled eggs for her children that morning. "Eat them in moderation."

8 THE HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU

A nap a day keeps high blood pressure at bay

It seems that napping may do more than just reboot our energy level and improve our mood. New research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session found that people who took advantage of a midday snooze were more likely to have a noticeable drop in blood pressure compared with those who didn't nap.

"Midday sleep appears to lower blood pressure levels at the same magnitude as other lifestyle changes. For example, salt and alcohol reduction can bring blood pressure levels down by 3 to 5 mm Hg," said Manolis Kallistratos, MD, cardiologist at the Asklepieion General Hospital in Voula, Greece, and one of the study's coauthors, adding that a low-dose antihypertensive medication usually lowers blood pressure levels by 5 to 7 mm Hg, on average.

Overall, taking a nap during the day was associated with an average 5 mm Hg drop in blood pressure, which researchers said is on par with what would be expected from other known blood pressure-lowering interventions.

In addition, for every 60 minutes of midday sleep, 24hour average systolic blood pressure decreased by 3 mm Hg. "These findings are important because a drop in blood pressure as small as 2 mm Hg can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack by up to 10 percent," Kallistratos said. "Based on our findings, if

someone has the luxury to take a nap during the day, it may also have benefits for high blood pressure. Napping can be easily adopted and typically doesn't cost anything."

This is the first study to prospectively assess midday sleep's effect on blood pressure levels among people whose blood pressure is reasonably controlled, according to the researchers. The same research team previously found midday naps to be associated with reduced blood pressure levels and fewer antihypertensive medications being prescribed among people with very high blood pressure readings.

The study included 212 people with a mean blood pressure of 129.9 mm Hg. They were 62 years old on average and just over half were female. About 1 out of 4 participants were smokers and/or had Type 2 diabetes.

Researchers said the findings are further bolstered because patients had similar dipping blood pressure rates at night (natural drops during night time sleep), meaning that any reductions in ambulatory blood pressure were separate from this phenomenon and give greater confidence that reductions in ambulatory blood pressure could be due to daytime napping. Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure. Many don't know they have it because there are often no signs or symptoms; over time, high blood pressure increases the risk of both heart attack and stroke.

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Feeling tired? 4 simple ways to boost energy When I’m dragging and feeling tired during the occasional low-energy day, my go-to elixir is an extra cup (or two or three) of black French press coffee.

It gives my body and brain a needed jolt, but it may not help where I need it the most: my cells.

The cellular basis of being tired What we call “energy” is actually a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), produced by tiny cellular structures called mitochondria. ATP’s job is to store energy and then deliver that energy to cells in other parts of the body. However, as you grow older, your body has fewer mitochondria. “If you feel you don’t have enough energy, it can be because your body has problems producing enough ATP and thus providing cells with enough energy,” says Dr. Anthony Komaroff, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. You may not be able to overcome all aspects of age-related energy loss, but there are ways to help your body produce more ATP and replenish dwindling energy levels. The most common strategies revolve around three basic concepts: diet, exercise, and sleep.

Diet. Boost your ATP with fatty acids and protein from lean meats like chicken and turkey, fatty fish like salmon and tuna, and nuts. While eating large amounts can feed your body more material for ATP, it also increases your risk for weight gain, which can lower energy levels. “The excess pounds mean your body has to work harder to move, so you use up more ATP,” says Dr. Komaroff. When lack of energy is an issue, it’s better to eat small meals and snacks every few hours than three large meals a day, according to Dr. Komaroff. “Your brain has very few energy reserves of its own and needs a steady supply of nutrients,” he says. “Also, large meals cause insulin levels to spike, which then drops your blood sugar rapidly, causing the sensation of fatigue.”

Drink enough water. If your body is short on fluids, one of the first signs is a feeling of fatigue.

Although individual needs vary, the Institute of Medicine recommends men should aim for about 15 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids per day, and women about 12 cups (2.7 liters).

Besides water and beverages like coffee, tea, and juices, you can also get your fluids from liquid-heavy fruits and vegetables that are up to 90% water, such as cucumbers,

zucchini, squash, strawberries, citrus fruit, and melons.

Get plenty of sleep. Research suggests that healthy sleep can increase ATP levels. ATP levels surge in the initial hours of sleep, especially in key brain regions that are active during waking hours.

Stick to an exercise routine. Exercise can boost energy levels by raising energy-promoting neurotransmitters in the brain, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which is why you feel so good after a workout. Exercise also makes muscles stronger and more efficient, so they need less energy, and therefore conserve ATP. It doesn’t really matter what kind of exercise you do, but consistency is key. Some research has suggested that as little as 20 minutes of low-to-moderate aerobic activity, three days a week, can help.

When being tired needs a visit to doctor You should see your doctor if you experience a prolonged bout of low energy, as it can be an early warning of a serious illness. “Unusual fatigue is often the first major red flag that something is wrong,” says Dr. Komaroff. Lack of energy is a typical symptom for most major diseases, like heart disease, many types of cancer, autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, and anaemia Fatigue also is a common sign of depression and anxiety.

By Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch 10 THE HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU

Eating later in the day may be associated with obesity

Eating later in the day may contribute to weight gain, according to a new study to be presented Saturday at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in New Orleans, La. Previous studies have suggested that later timing of eating and sleeping are related to obesity, said lead author Adnin Zaman, M.D., of the University of Colorado in Denver, Colo. "However, few studies have assessed both meal and sleep timing in adults with obesity, and it is not clear whether eating later in the day is associated with shorter sleep duration or higher body fat," she said.

The study used three types of technology to record participants' sleep, physical activity and eating patterns.

"It has been challenging to apply sleep and circadian science to medicine due to a lack of methods for measuring daily patterns of human behaviour," Zaman said. "We used a novel set of methods for simultaneous measurement of daily sleep, physical activity, and meal timing patterns that could be used to identify persons at risk for increased weight gain."

The week-long study included 31 overweight and obese adults, average age 36. Ninety percent were women. They were enrolled in an ongoing weight-loss trial comparing daily caloric restrictions to time-restricted feeding, meaning they could only eat during certain hours of the day.

Participants wore an activPAL electronic device on their thigh. This device measured how much time they spent in physical and sedentary activities. They also wore an Actiwatch, which assesses sleep/wake patterns.

Participants were asked to use a phone app called MealLogger to photograph and time stamp all meals and snacks throughout the day.

The researchers found that on average, participants consumed food throughout an 11-hour timeframe during the day and slept for about 7 hours a night. People who ate later in the day slept at a later time, but they slept for about the same amount of time as those who finished eating earlier. Later meal timing was associated with a higher body mass index as well as greater body fat.

"We used a novel set of methods to show that individuals with overweight or obesity may be eating later into the day," Zaman said. "These findings support our overall study, which will look at whether restricting the eating window to earlier on in the day will lower obesity risk."

"Given that wearable activity monitors and smartphones are now ubiquitous in our modern society, it may soon be possible to consider the timing of behaviours across 24 hours in how we approach the prevention and treatment of obesity," Zaman said.

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Junk food is linked to severe psychological distress

A study has found that poor mental health is linked with poor diet quality -- regardless of personal characteristics such as gender age, education, age, marital status and income level.

The study, published Feb. 16 in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, revealed that California adults who consumed more unhealthy food were also more likely to report symptoms of either moderate or severe psychological distress than their peers who consume a healthier diet.

Jim E. Banta, PhD, MPH, associate professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and lead author of the study, said the results are similar to previous studies conducted in other countries that have found a link between mental illness and unhealthy diet choices.

Increased sugar consumption has been found to be associated with bipolar disorder, for example, and consumption of foods that have been fried or contain high amounts of sugar and processed grains have been linked with depression.

"This and other studies like it could have big implications for treatments in behavioural medicine," Banta said. "Perhaps the time has come for us to take a closer look at the role of diet in mental health, because it could be that healthy diet choices contribute to mental health."

Banta cautioned that the link found between poor diet and mental illness is not a causal relationship. Still, he said the findings from California build upon previous studies and could affect future research and the approaches that healthcare providers administer for behavioural medicine treatments.

In their study, Banta and his team reviewed data from more than 240,000 telephone surveys conducted between 2005 and 2015 as part of the multi-year California Health Interview Survey (CHIS).

The CHIS dataset includes extensive information about socio-demographics, health status and health behaviours and was designed to provide state wide approximations for regions within California and for various ethnic groups.

The study found that nearly 17 percent of California adults are likely to suffer from mental illness -- 13.2 percent with moderate psychological distress and 3.7 percent with severe psychological distress.

The study stated that the team's findings provide "additional evidence that public policy and clinical practice should more explicitly aim to improve diet quality among those struggling with mental health." It also stated that "dietary interventions for people with mental illness should especially target young adults, those with less than 12 years of education, and obese individua

Walking backward can boost your memory

Lost your car keys? Instead of retracing your steps, you might want to try walking backward to jog your memory.

A study published in the January issue of Cognition found that people who walked backward, imagined they were walking backward, or even watched a video simulating backward motion had better recall of past events than those who walked forward or sat still.

Why? That's still something of a mystery, says Dr. Daniel Schacter, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. It's possible that people associate going backward with the past and this somehow triggers a memory response. "We know it can't have anything to do with how they've encoded the information," says Dr. Schacter. After all, people weren't walking backward when they stored the memories tested in this study. It may take future studies to shed additional light on the issue.

"But I found the results intriguing," says Dr. Schacter.

forward or backward motion, or imagine walking forward or backward. The participants then answered questions related to the information they saw earlier.

In all cases, people who were moving backward, thought about moving backward, or saw a video depicting reverse motion were better able to recall the information they had been shown earlier, compared with those sitting still. In five of the six experiments, memory was better when people moved backward than when they moved forward. On average, the boost in memory lasted for 10 minutes after people stopped moving.

Improving memory recall

Dr. Schacter says backward motion could one day be added to existing techniques already in use to boost memory. Using backward motion could potentially augment the cognitive interview or be used as a separate technique, he says. One key question that remains to be answered, however, is whether the technique would Testing the effects of motion promote accurate recall of everyday events, says Dr. Researchers decided to test the effect of backward Schacter. "It's really too early to say whether there would movement on memory because numerous past studies be practical applications," he says. have found links between motion and memory. They The study authors said that future research will look to recruited 114 people to take part in six different memory uncover not only why this technique seems to improve experiments. In the experiments, they showed participants memory recall, but also whether motion-based memory a video of a staged crime, a word list, or a group of aids could help elderly adults or people with dementia. images. They then asked the participants to walk forward, 14 THE HEALTH & HAPPINESS 4 YOU walk backward, sit still, watch a video that simulated

Sugar worsens mood rather than improving it

Sugar does not improve mood and it can make people less alert and more tired after its consumption -- according to a new study by the University of Warwick, Humboldt University of Berlin, and Lancaster University.

The research team set out to examine the myth of the 'sugar rush': can sugar really put you in a better mood?

Using data collected from 31 published studies involving almost 1300 adults, Dr Konstantinos Mantantzis at Humboldt University of Berlin, Dr Sandra Sünram-Lea at Lancaster University, and Dr Friederike Schlaghecken and Professor Elizabeth Maylor in the University of Warwick's Department of Psychology investigated the effect of sugar on various aspects of mood, including anger, alertness, depression, and fatigue.

They also considered how factors such as the quantity and type of sugar consumed might affect mood, and whether engaging in demanding mental and physical activities made any difference. The researchers found that: •

• •

or whether people engage in demanding activities after taking it. people who consumed sugar felt more tired and less alert than those who had not. the idea of a 'sugar rush' is a myth without any truth behind it.

Professor Elizabeth Maylor commented, "We hope that our findings will go a long way to dispel the myth of the 'sugar rush' and inform public health policies to decrease sugar consumption."

Dr Konstantinos Mantantzis, who led the study, said, "The idea that sugar can improve mood has been widely influential in popular culture, so much so that people all over the world consume sugary drinks to become more alert or combat fatigue.”

Dr Sandra Sünram-Lea added, "The rise in obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome in recent years highlights the need for evidence-based dietary strategies to promote healthy lifestyle. Our findings indicate that sugar consumption has virtually no effect on mood, regardless of how much sugar is consumed sugary drinks or snacks do not provide a quick 'fuel refill' to make us feel more alert."

Your home is a hidden source of air pollution

Cooking, cleaning and other routine household activities generate significant levels of volatile and particulate chemicals inside the average home, leading to indoor air quality levels on par with a polluted major city, CU Boulder researchers have found.

What’s more, airborne chemicals that originate inside a house don’t stay there: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from products such as shampoo, perfume and cleaning solutions eventually escape outside and contribute to ozone and fine particle formation, making up an even greater source of global atmospheric air pollution than cars and trucks do.

The previously underexplored relationship between households and air quality drew focus at the 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where researchers from CU Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering presented their recent findings during a panel discussion.

In 2018, Vance co-led the collaborative HOMEChem field campaign, which used advanced sensors and cameras to monitor the indoor air quality of a 1,200-square-foot manufactured home on the University of Texas Austin campus. Over the course of a month, Vance and her colleagues conducted a variety of daily household activities, including cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner in the middle of the Texas summer.

While the HOMEChem experiment’s results are still pending, Vance said that it’s apparent that homes need to be well ventilated while cooking and cleaning, because even basic tasks like boiling water over a stovetop flame can contribute to high levels of gaseous air pollutants and suspended particulates, with negative health impacts.

To her team’s surprise, the measured indoor concentrations were high enough that their sensitive instruments needed to be recalibrated almost immediately.

“Even the simple act of making toast raised particle levels far higher than expected,” Vance said. “We had to go adjust many of the instruments.”

“Many traditional sources like fossil fuel-burning vehicles have become much cleaner than they used to be,” said de Gouw. “Ozone and fine particulates are monitored by the EPA, but data for airborne toxins like formaldehyde and benzene and compounds like alcohols and ketones that originate from the home are very sparse.”

“There was originally scepticism about whether or not these products actually contributed to air pollution in a meaningful way, but no longer,” de Gouw said. “Moving forward, we need to re-focus research efforts on these sources and give them the same attention we have given to fossil fuels. The picture that we have in our heads about the atmosphere should now include a house.”

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40 push-ups a day keeps heart disease away

Active, middle-aged men able to complete more than 40 push-ups had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes—including diagnoses of coronary artery disease and major events such as heart failure—during 10 years of follow-up compared with those who were able to do less than 10 push-ups during the baseline exam.

“Our findings provide evidence that push-up capacity could be an easy, no-cost method to help assess cardiovascular disease risk in almost any setting.

Surprisingly, push-up capacity was more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk than the results of submaximal treadmill tests,” said first author Justin Yang, occupational medicine resident in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study was published February 15, 2019 in JAMA Network Open.

This is the first known study to report an association between push-up capacity and subsequent cardiovascular disease outcomes. The researchers analysed health data from 1,104 active male firefighters collected from 2000 to 2010. Their mean age was 39.6 and mean body mass index (BMI) was 28.7. Participants’ push-up capacity and submaximal treadmill exercise tolerance were measured at

the start of the study.

Because the study population consisted of middleaged, occupationally active men, the results may not be generalizable to women or to men of other ages or who are less active, note the authors.

During the 10-year study period, 37 CVD-related outcomes were reported. All but one occurred in men who completed 40 or fewer push-ups during the baseline exam.

The researchers calculated that men able to do more than 40 push-ups had a 96% reduced risk of CVD events compared with those who were able to do less than 10 push-ups. Push-up capacity was more strongly associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease events than was aerobic capacity as estimated by a submaximal treadmill exercise test.

“This study emphasizes the importance of physical fitness on health, and why clinicians should assess fitness during clinical encounters,” said senior author Stefanos Kales, professor in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School and chief of occupational medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance. Other Harvard Chan authors include Costas Christophi and Dorothee Baur.

Strengthen your core muscles: Your "core" muscles are the ones in your back, sides, pelvis, and buttocks. Strengthening them improves balance and power and cuts down on belly fat. Doing basic movements like sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, squats, and lunges can reduce your risk of a bad fall and will help you in your other exercises, like running or swimming.

Read books to children to improve their vocabulary A 'million-word gap' for children who aren't read to at home Young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to, a new study found.

This "million word gap" could be one key in explaining differences in vocabulary and reading development, said Jessica Logan, lead author of the study and assistant professor of educational studies at The Ohio State University.

Even kids who are read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don't regularly read books with a parent or caregiver.

"Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school. "They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily," said Logan.

The study appears online in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and will be published in a future print edition.

Logan said the idea for this research came from one of her earlier studies, which found that about one-fourth of children in a national sample were never read to and another fourth were seldom read to (once or twice weekly).

The researchers collaborated with the Columbus Metropolitan Library, which identified the 100 most circulated books for both board books (targeting infants and toddlers) and picture books (targeting pre-schoolers).

kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old: Never read to, 4,662 words; 1-2 times per week, 63,570 words; 3-5 times per week, 169,520 words; daily, 296,660 words; and five books a day, 1,483,300 words.

"The word gap of more than 1 million words between children raised in a literacy-rich environment and those who were never read to is striking," Logan said.

The word gap examined in this research isn't the only type kids may face.

A controversial 1992 study suggested that children growing up in poverty hear about 30 million fewer words in conversation by age 3 than those from more privileged backgrounds.

Other studies since then suggest this 30 million word gap may be much smaller or even non-existent, Logan said.

The vocabulary word gap in this study is different from the conversational word gap and may have different implications for children, she said.

"This isn't about everyday communication. The words kids hear in books are going to be much more complex, difficult words than they hear just talking to their parents and others in the home," she said.

For instance, a children's book may be about penguins in Antarctica -- introducing words and concepts that are unlikely to come up in everyday conversation. "The words kids hear from books may have special importance in learning to read," she said.Logan said the million word Logan and her colleagues randomly selected 30 books gap found in this study is likely to be conservative. from both lists and counted how many words were in each Parents will often talk about the book they're reading with book. They found that board books contained an average their children or add elements if they have read the story of 140 words, while picture books contained an average of many times.

228 words.

This "extra-textual" talk will reinforce new vocabulary words that kids are hearing and may introduce even more With that information, the researchers calculated how many words a child would hear from birth through his or words. The results of this study highlight the importance of reading to children. Exposure to vocabulary is good for her 5th birthday at different levels of reading. They all kids. assumed that kids would be read board books through Ravneet Sawhney is the Director/ Ravneet Sawhney is their 3rd birthday and picture books the next two years, the Director/Proprietor of Modern Day Nursery in and that every reading session (except for one category) Hounslow. For more information visit: would include one book. www.moderndaynursery.com Based on these calculations, here's how many words

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