Q: How much exercise do I need each week? 
Everyone seems to believe that eight hours of sleep is required by everyone. That’s not true because we are all different in our sleep requirements. The need for a certain number of hours of sleep is partly inherited. It could be a condition such as depression, heart disease or cancer that causes some to sleep more than others. Afternoon is a normal time to feel less energetic due to the circadian rhythms of sleep. In a week there is an amount of sleep each of us needs When we deprive ourselves of some of that sleep during a few days of the week the body then needs to catch up that deficit.
Insomnia may be what is robbing you of sleep. Ask yourself if it takes more than 30 minutes to fall asleep at night. Do you awake at night and then have trouble getting back to sleep? If these problems continue for a few nights than you will have sleep deprivation. Insomnia can be helped by sleeping earlier, sleeping later or maybe a nap will help.
Depression will change one’s sleep patterns. If you have persistent feelings of hopelessness or a consistent decrease in energy perhaps you should be evaluated to determine if the cause of not getting enough sleep is depression.
Also, bed wetting can deprive you of sleep. If so, you should contact a physician.
Thyroid irregularities may also be the culprit. There is a blood test that measures the TSH levels to determine if one has an overactive thyroid that is stealing away their sleep
One of the hot topics in health news is Stem Cells being used in research.
It has been believed that the human heart is unable to repair itself after a heart attack or injury, causing one to need life cover. New research refutes that belief. Because stem cells can be rejected as a foreign body by ones immune system, stem cells were taken from the bone marrow of a mouse to be implanted in the heart of the same mouse. A heart attack was induced to the mouse and the stem cells were introduced directly in the heart.
There was significant improvement in heart functioning. This successful experiment is a precursor to trials of human subjects which are planned to begin within a year.
A company called Advanced Cell Technology that is based in Worcester Mass has taken stem cells and turned them into beating heart cells. . They are also trying to create transplantable patches for repairing large areas of heart damage.
Advanced Cell Technology has as its focus to produce young cells for the treatment of cell degenerative diseases. They use nuclear transfer (cloning) technology to produce healthy cells or tissue of any type with an identical match to the patient’s own DNA. A patient’s immune system would reject cells if they were not developed in this way. Their technology with stem cells regenerates the cell life span, which thereby makes “young” cells available for aging patients.
Many of the risk factors in heart disease can be eliminated or changed by making lifestyle changes. Some risk factors such as family history or age cannot be changed. However reducing or changing certain behaviors can affect cardiovascular disease. Smoking (even a hookah) is the number one cause of cardiovascular disease. Smoking lowers the good cholesterol and degenerates arterial health. Smoking combined with birth control pills increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Obesity is a major risk factor in heart disease. Women especially who have a lot of fat around the waist are more at risk than those who carry the fat on the hips. About 1/3 of the women in the US are considered obese, and use of a fat binder would help with that. Also, beneficial to overweight women would be diet pills.
Physical inactivity is a significant risk factor for heart disease. Studies have shown that regular exercise (such as using multi gyms) reduces cholesterol levels, lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes and increases arterial health. As little as 30 minutes per day of exercise, 3 times per week has proven to be beneficial.
Cholesterol levels are also important predictors of cardiovascular disease or health. Cholesterol levels can be improved by diet, exercise and cholesterol-lowering medications.
High blood pressure makes the heart work harder, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney disease. It speeds up hardening of the arteries. Blood pressure can be controlled with diet, exercise, vitamin supplements and medicines.
One of the companies that makes a statin says in their television add “sometimes eating right and exercising is not enough to lower your cholesterol” Eating right and proper exercise (including the use of weight sets) will always be the corner stone to stave off many diseases but for many it is not enough. Many ground breaking studies show that these statins do bring very low levels to LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. arterial plaque will slightly diminish and inflammation can drop dramatically.
The lower inflammation levels accomplished by statins may be one of the most important reasons since inflammation in the body is a precursor to cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and a host of other diseases where inflammation plays a role.
A 45% lower risk of colon cancer was found in a study presented in June 2004 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
LDL levels were reduced by 20 points below the 100mg/d level recommended by the American Heart Association in a Cleveland Clinic Study in 2004.
In June of 2004, the American Diabetes Associate advised that the 16 million diabetics over 40 should consider statins even if they have normal cholesterol.
The various studies in the year have made this a drug of preference for patients. Persuasive evidence is now in after a full year of study in 2004 that statins are safer, more effective, and have more clinical applications than even aspirin.
