Healthful Lifestyle Linked to Lower Death Rate in Parkinson’s Disease
In the largest prospective study yet on the subject, researchers followed 1251 participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study who developed Parkinson’s Disease. (JAMA Netw Open, Aug 19, 2022;5(8):e2227738). The average age at diagnosis was 73.4 years. During the 32-34 years of follow up, 942 patients died. They found that compared with those who had the worst before-and-after lifestyles, those with the healthiest eating and exercise regimens prior to diagnosis reduced their all-cause death rates by 49 percent.
Tony Siragusa, Genetic Obesity and Heart Attacks
Tony Siragusa, nicknamed “the Goose,” was a defensive tackle for 12 seasons and a major player in the 2001 Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning team. He also played for the Indianapolis Colts. From 2003 to 2015, he was Fox Sports’ sideline reporter for National Football League games. He also hosted several television shows. He died on June 22, 2022, from what appeared to be a heart attack that may have been associated with recent extensive weight loss (down from well over 400 pounds to 360 pounds).
Physical Activity and Longevity
Four interesting studies supporting the benefits of physical activity have appeared in recent medical journals.
Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Soviet President Who Advocated Peace
Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union before its break-up in 1991. He supported Marxist–Leninist Communism but moved towards social democracy in his later life. From his early thirties onward, he suffered from diabetes that caused him to be hospitalized many times for various complications of the disease. His diabetes caused kidney failure that required several years of dialysis.
Gale Sayers, Dementia from Head Trauma
Gale Sayers is considered by many as possibly the greatest halfback ever. He was probably the fastest player in the National Football league and had run 100 yards in a very fast 9.7 seconds.
Helen Reddy and Addison’s Disease
Helen Reddy was an Australian-American singer, actress, and activist who won the Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist in the 1974 American Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the 1970s, three of her songs reached #1 and 15 singles were on the top 40 of the Billboard Hot-100 list. Reddy is best remembered for “I Am Woman,” which sold more than a million copies, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1972, and earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Suspected Carcinogens in Some Sunscreens
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its 2022 annual Guide to Sunscreens, which found that 75 percent of more than 1,850 sunscreen products evaluated either offered poor skin protection from the sun, or contain ingredients that may harm your health or increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun’s harmful rays, Only 25 percent of the products met EWG’s standards for adequate protection and did not contain harmful ingredients such as oxybenzone that is an endocrine disrupter.
Olivia Newton-John and Breast Cancer
Olivia Newton-John was a British-Australian singer, actress, and activist, most famous for starring with John Travolta in the 1978 musical film Grease, whose soundtrack is still today one of the world’s best-selling albums. Her recordings have sold more than 100 million records, and she won four Grammy Awards. In 1992, at age 44, she was first diagnosed with breast cancer.
Don’t Straighten Your Knees While Running or Cycling
Always try to keep at least a slight bend in your knee when you run or ride a bicycle. When you run, you are supposed to land on each foot with a partially-bent knee. Otherwise you transmit the shock of your foot hitting the ground directly onto your knees, hips and back. Straightening your knees when you pedal markedly increases risk for knee pain by increasing the force on your joints.
Artificial Sweeteners Can Change Your Gut Bacteria
A study from Israel found that two artificial sweeteners, saccharin and sucralose, significantly raised blood sugar levels in healthy adults. Transferring their colon bacteria to mice caused the mice to suffer the same elevations in blood sugar. Artificial sweeteners can harm you by altering the bacteria in your colon (Nutrition Today, May 6, 2021;56(3):105-113). Some artificial sweeteners may cause inflammation, a condition in which your own immune system, which is supposed to kill invading germs, stays active all the time to attack you