January 3, 2001 [Volume 2, Issue 1]

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In this issue of To Your Health:

• The Secret to Living Longer
• St. John's Wort: Effective Treatment for Depression
• When Exercise Goes Away, Fat Comes to Stay
• Anger Predicts Coronary Artery Disease

Jogging is easy to do (at least in theory), and millions of people make it a daily or near-daily part of their exercise routine. In the past several decades, the number of jogging races and sheer numbers of joggers have increased dramatically, prompting this study on the potential long-term benefits of the popular activity. Published in the British Medical Journal, the study utilized data drawn from the Copenhagen City Heart Study on cardiovascular disease. Nearly five thousand men with no prior history of heart problems attended two examinations five years apart, at which time they were asked whether or not they jogged regularly.

At the initial examination, 4.7% of the men said they jogged on a regular basis; 2.1% were still actively jogging five years later. In the five years between examinations, 2.3% of the study group started jogging. Men who reported jogging at both examinations had a substantially lower risk of death by any cause compared with men who reported jogging at neither or at only one examination.

So lace up those shoes and begin the journey toward longevity today! A wealth of evidence supports the role of exercise in maintaining health and wellness. Make sure you and your loved ones participate in consistent, moderate exercise as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. And to learn more about the value of exercise, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/sports.html.

Reference: Schnohr P, Parner J, Lange P. Mortality in joggers: population-based study of 4,658 men. British Medical Journal, Sept. 9, 2000: Vol. 321, pp602-603.

St. John's Wort: Effective Treatment for Depression

Written records document the use of Hypericum perforatum, otherwise known as St. John's wort, as early as the Middle Ages. Some accounts trace its use back to the ancient Greeks, who purportedly utilized extracts of the flowering plant as a treatment against demonic possession.

Today, millions of depression sufferers are turning to St. John's wort to relieve their condition, and for good reason. Witness the results of a study that appeared in the September 2, 2000 issue of the British Medical Journal. Three hundred and twenty-four patients with mild-to-moderate depression received 250 mg of pharmacy-grade St. John's wort extract or 75 mg of imipramine, (one of the most commonly prescribed tricyclic antidepressants) twice daily.

After six weeks of treatment, St. John's wort and imipramine were deemed equivalent in terms of their effect on depression symptoms, with a subscale of the depression rating scale indicating a significant advantage for St. John's wort. Patients also tolerated St. John's wort and reported fewer adverse reactions than patients taking the prescription medication.

Some countries utilize St. John's wort to treat depression more frequently than other well-known depression medications such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. As the results of this study suggest, they may be on to something. Talk to your doctor about the potential benefits of St. John's wort and other herbal extracts.

Reference: Woelk H. Comparison of St. John's wort and imipramine for treating depression: randomized controlled trial. British Medical Journal, Sept. 2, 2000: Vol. 321, pp536-39.

To learn more about herbs and botanicals, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/herbs.html.

When Exercise Goes Away, Fat Comes to Stay

OK, let's figure out what's wrong with this picture: You come home from a long day's work, plop down on the couch, and spend the evening motionless save for the workout your fingers get flipping through stations with the remote. On a certain level, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the picture - you deserve to relax and recline after your daily labors. But if it becomes a nightly habit, you're probably not spending enough time on an important component of health and wellness: exercise.

Considerable evidence points to consistent physical activity as a means of preventing obesity and its related complications, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. The exact cause of obesity remains elusive in the vast majority of cases, although the results of this study from the Annals of Internal Medicine point to inadequate exercise as a culprit.

Researchers examined 970 healthy female twins and found that physical activity (or lack thereof) predicted total-body and central abdominal fat. These results were maintained when considering other potential contributors to obesity, such as age, diet, smoking, socioeconomic status, and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The authors also emphasized that these benefits were apparent even in subjects with a strong genetic preponderance toward obesity.

Your doctor of chiropractic can provide you with more information on the benefits of consistent exercise and outline and diet and fitness regimen suitable to your needs.

Reference: Samaras K, Kelly PJ, Chiano MN, et al. Genetic and environmental influences on total-body and central abdominal fat: the effect of physical activity in female twins. Annals of Internal Medicine, June 1999: Vol. 130, No. 11, pp873-82.

Learn more about exercise and fitness on line at https://www.chiroweb.com/tyh/sports.html.

Anger Predicts Coronary Artery Disease

It's never healthy to keep your stress bottled up inside, but all the evidence suggests that a slow simmer is almost always safer than a raging boil. Anger, especially anger manifested in bouts of uncontrollable rage or fury, can do serious damage - and not just to household items or innocent bystanders.

The results of a study involving 12,986 men and women (45-64 years old at baseline) provide evidence that anger may predict coronary heart disease (CHD). As part of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, participants completed a trait anger scale assessing relative anger/rage; clinical examinations at baseline and follow-up assessed the incidence CHD and associated heart conditions.

High levels of anger contributed to an increased risk of CHD and other coronary events, including acute myocardial infarction (MI) and fatal CHD. Specifically, the investigators noted a three times greater risk for people with the greatest difficulty controlling their anger compared to those with the least difficulty.

The moral to this story: We all get frustrated and angry sometimes, but how we release or "control" our anger can make a big difference. It might mean the difference in staying healthy instead of suffering from heart disease. For more information, talk to your doctor. You can also find information on line at https://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/general/wellness/index.html.

Reference: Williams JE, Paton CC, Siegler IC, et al. Anger proneness predicts coronary heart disease risk: prospective analysis from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Circulation 2000: Vol. 101, pp2034-39.

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