Médecine sportive

With the sumptuous food and treats available during the holiday season, it's easy for us overdo it - even while we are adopting a New Year's resolution to lose weight and be active. "Making a resolution to lose weight today is an important first step to a long and healthy life," said Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week in order to maintain and improve optimal health. This recommendation is especially important for older Americans, who can be less likely to fulfill this requirement, yet are more at risk for chronic diseases associated with aging.

Weight bearing exercise during adolescence seems to be the best for maintaining bone strength in older life, indicates a small study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The research team assessed the impact of exercise between the ages of 12 and 18 on preserving bone strength in later life among 46 women. The women were all aged from 52 to 73, and had already gone through the menopause.

Muscle fatigue is ubiquitous among moving animals, including humans. Despite over 100 years of research, in vivo changes in muscle dynamics during exercise are not well understood. Here we show that whole-body fatigue in helmeted guinea fowl (resulting from running on an inclined treadmill) causes gastrocnemius muscle force to become highly variable. This likely represents a key mechanism underlying decreased stability commonly associated with fatigue.

America's fixation on low carb diets has been shown to be ineffective over the long term for dieters however study results released today suggests it may have harmful effects on brain function as well. The study out of Tufts University focused on women aged 22 to 55 engaging in low carb diets similar to the Atkins Diet. Participants were found to have significantly diminished memory scores than the control groups consuming a normal diet.