Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Rheumatology / 10.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31138" align="alignleft" width="144"]Dorothy D. Dunlop Ph.D. Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Institute for Public Health and Medicine Center for Healthcare Studies Chicago, IL 60611 Dr. Dorothy Dunlop[/caption] Dorothy D. Dunlop Ph.D. Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Institute for Public Health and Medicine Center for Healthcare Studies Chicago, IL 60611  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  
  • We know is being active is good for health.
  • Good evidence supports the current federal guidelines of doing 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week to prevent serious conditions such as heart disease
  • But only 1 in 10 older US adults with arthritis in their lower limb joints (e.g., knees) meet federal physical activity guidelines
  • Inadequate physical activity is a major public health concern because It can lead to poor function, which threatens a person’s ability to live independently.
These issues motivated our study to investigate the minimum time commitment needed to improve function (or sustain high function) for adults with lower joint osteoarthritis.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, JAMA / 09.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31030" align="alignleft" width="125"]Gary O’Donovan, Ph.D. Research Associate: Exercise as Medicine School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine Loughborough University Dr. Gary O’Donovan,[/caption] Gary O’Donovan, Ph.D. Research Associate: Exercise as Medicine School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine Loughborough University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study was inspired by the classic Harvard University study of weekend warriors. It was a privilege to work with Professor I-Min Lee, one of the authors of the classic study. Our study was much larger than the classic study. With greater statistical power, we found that, compared with inactive adults, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, and cancer mortality risks were significantly lower in weekend warriors who performed the recommended amount of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity in one or two sessions per week. Our study extends the classic study by showing that the benefits of the weekend warrior physical activity pattern are much the same in men and women.
Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, Exercise - Fitness, PLoS / 31.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_30866" align="alignleft" width="146"]Michelle Kho, PT, PhD</strong> Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Rehabilitation and Knowledge Translation Assistant Professor School of Rehabilitation Science McMaster University Dr. Michelle Kho[/caption] Michelle Kho, PT, PhD Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Rehabilitation and Knowledge Translation Assistant Professor School of Rehabilitation Science McMaster University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients who survive the ICU are at risk for muscle weakness and can experience physical functional disability lasting 5 to 8 years after the ICU. From a study conducted in Belgium, patients who were randomized to receive cycling after being in ICU for 2 weeks walked farther at ICU discharge than those who did not. Other research supported physiotherapy starting within days of starting mechanical ventilation to improve functional outcomes. Our CYCLE research program combines these 2 concepts – Can we start cycling very early in a patient’s ICU stay, and will this improve functional outcomes post-ICU?
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Exercise - Fitness, Lifestyle & Health / 12.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_30507" align="alignleft" width="161"]Bernard M Duvivier Department of Human Biology and Movement Science NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre Maastricht, the Netherlands Dr. Bernard M Duvivier[/caption] Bernard M Duvivier  Department of Human Biology and Movement Science NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre Maastricht, the Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings? Response: The health benefits of exercise have been well established but sitting is a risk factor for health, independent of exercise. As many people with type 2 diabetes don’t like to exercise we investigated whether replacing sitting time with light-intensity activities (standing and light walking) is equally effective to exercise when energy expenditure is comparable. Our results suggest that for people with type 2 diabetes, light-intensity activities (light walking and standing) can be an alternative to exercise to improve glucose regulation. In addition we showed that too much sitting has negative effects on insulin sensitivity which could not be fully compensated by 1 hour of exercise per day.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Frailty, JAMA / 06.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_30249" align="alignleft" width="200"]Maayan Agmon, PhD The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies University of Haifa Haifa, Israel Dr. Maayan Agmon[/caption] Maayan Agmon, PhD The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies University of Haifa Haifa, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: To address the issue of functional decline during and post hospitalization . Up to 40% of older adults decline in their function at the time of hospitalization and acute illness. Most part of this functional decline is not explained by illness itself. So far, we know that in-hospital mobility is a protective factor but how much walking is required to prevent this decline has yet to be determined.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 03.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bjarne M. Nes, PhD K.G. Jebsen Center for Exercise in Medicine, Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It is well known that cardiorespiratory fitness is an important predictor of future cardiovascular disease risk. Still, fitness levels are rarely measured in clinical practice, likely because of costly and time-consuming procedures that requires quite a lot of training. Therefore, we wanted to test the ability of a simple estimation of fitness, from a so-called non-exercise algorithm, to identify individuals at high and low risk of cardiovascular mortality. We tested fitness alone and in combination with traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and family history of heart disease and diabetes, among 38,480 men and women from the Nord-Trondelag Health Study in Norway. We found that estimated fitness strongly predicts premature deaths from all causes and that traditional clinical risk factors added little above and beyond fitness in terms of predicting risk.
Author Interviews, BMJ, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 30.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_30012" align="alignleft" width="133"]Dr. Emmaneul Stamatakis PhD, MSc, BSc Associate Professor | NHMRC Senior Research Fellow Charles Perkins Centre, Prevention Research Collaboration School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School The University of Sydney Dr. Emmaneul Stamatakis[/caption] Dr. Emmaneul Stamatakis PhD, MSc, BSc Associate Professor | NHMRC Senior Research Fellow Charles Perkins Centre, Prevention Research Collaboration School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School The University of Sydney MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We examined the association between participation in different sports and risk of death during subsequent decade in a large sample of >80k adults aged 30 and over who lived in Scotland and England between 2994 and 2008 . We found the following significant reduction in risk of dying from all causes among participants compared with non-participants: cycling 15%, aerobics 27%, swimming 28%, racquet balls 47%; there was no significant reduction in mortality for running/jogging and football/rugby. We also found the following significant reduction in risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases: aerobics 36%, swimming 41%, racquet balls 56%; there were no significant reduction in mortality for running, cycling and football/rugby. Results in both cases were adjusted for the potential confounders: age, sex, chronic conditions, alcohol drinking and smoking habits, mental health, obesity, education level, doctor-diagnosed CVD, cancer, weekly volume of other physical activity besides the sport (including walking and domestic activity.
Author Interviews, Emory, Exercise - Fitness, Geriatrics, Heart Disease, Lifestyle & Health / 18.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_29745" align="alignleft" width="150"]Vasiliki Georgiopoulou MD MPH PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) Emory University School of Medicine Dr. Vasiliki Georgiopoulou[/caption] Vasiliki Georgiopoulou MD MPH PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) Emory University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although existing evidence suggests that more exercise capacity is associated with lower risk of CV disease and death, we don’t know whether more exercise capacity would lead to lower risk for heart failure also. This would be especially important for older adults, who are the group with the highest risk to develop heart failure. We used the data of a cohort study to test this association. The exercise capacity was evaluated by a walking test that is easy to perform – the long-distance corridor walk test. We observed that older adults who were able to complete the test had the lowest risk to develop heart failure and the lowest mortality rates, when compared with those who were not able to complete the test and those who could not do the test for medical reasons. We also observed that changes in exercise capacity 4 years later did not predict subsequent heart failure or mortality – perhaps because less fit older patients had already developed heart failure or had died.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, Lifestyle & Health / 31.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_29297" align="alignleft" width="157"]Ulrik Wisløff, PhD Professor, Head of K.G. Jebsen Center for Exercise in Medicine Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway Dr. Ulrik Wisløff[/caption] Ulrik Wisløff, PhD Professor, Head of K.G. Jebsen Center for Exercise in Medicine Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prolonged time spent sedentary on a daily basis is detrimental for general health and is associated with increased risk of developing and dying from lifestyle related diseases such as cardiovascular disease – even in those following todays advice for physical activity given by health authorities worldwide. Number of hours spent inactive tend to increase with increased age. A person’s fitness level is regarded the best predictor of future health. We tested, in older adults (aged 70-77 years old) whether meeting physical activity recommendations and/or having high age-specific fitness level attenuated the adverse effect of prolonged sedentary time on cardiovascular risk factor clustering. Main finding was that high age-specific fitness level fully attenuated the adverse effect of prolonged sedentary time on clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, independent of meeting the physical activity recommendation in older adults.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition / 18.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_28972" align="alignleft" width="152"]Andrew Reynolds Department of Human NutritionUniversity Otago Dunedin New Zealand Andrew Reynolds[/caption] Andrew Reynolds Department of Human NutritionUniversity Otago Dunedin New Zealand MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Current guidelines for people with type 2 diabetes are to undertake activities such as walking for at least 150 minutes a week, or 30 minutes a day. When to walk in the day is not specified. We thought it reasonable that walking after meals would improve blood sugars more so than a walk where the timing was unspecified. Our randomised controlled trial considered exactly this, a prescription to walk as per the guideline of 30 minutes a day and a prescription to walk for 10 minutes after each meal. Our participants were free-living, but wore accelerometers to record their movement, and continuous glucose monitoring systems to observe their blood glucose levels. We found that post-meal blood sugar levels dropped 12 per cent on average when the participants followed the walking after meals advice compared to walking at any time of the day. Most of this effect came from the highly significant 22 per cent reduction in blood sugar when walking after evening meals, which were the most carbohydrate heavy, and were followed by the most sedentary time.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, OBGYNE / 12.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_28794" align="alignleft" width="180"]Prof. Kari Bø PhD Norwegian School of Sport Sciences Oslo, Norway Prof. Kari Bø[/caption] Prof. Kari Bø PhD Norwegian School of Sport Sciences Oslo, Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background is that more and more female elite athletes continue to exercise into their 30s and beyond and more want to become pregnant and some to continue to compete at the same level after giving birth. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: To date there is little scientific knowledge on elite athletes and others who perform strenuous exercise (eg women in the military) during pregnancy and after childbirth and we therefore have to be cautious when recommending intensity levels of both endurance and strength training exercise. However, given the knowledge we have now.
  • Elite athletes planning pregnancy may consider reducing high impact training routines in the week after ovulation and refraining from repetitive heavy lifting regimens during the first trimester as some evidence suggests increased miscarriage risk.
  • There is little risk of abnormal fetal heart rate response when elite athletes exercise at <90% of their maximal heart rates in the second and third trimesters.
  • Baby birthweights of exercising women are less likely to be excessively large (>4000g) and not at increased risk of being excessively small (<2500g).
  • Exercise does not increase the risk of preterm birth.
  • Exercise during pregnancy does not increase the risk of induction of labour, epidural anesthesia, episiotomy or perineal tears, forceps or vacuum deliveries.
  • There is some encouraging evidence that the first stage of labour (before full dilatation) is shorter in exercising women.
  • There is also some encouraging evidence that exercise throughout pregnancy may reduce the need for caesarean section.
Author Interviews, Duke, Exercise - Fitness, Lancet / 06.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Aarti Sahasranaman, PhD Duke-NUS Gradaute Medical School Singapore MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: More than half of adults in developed countries do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity. Despite the popularity of activity trackers as a tool for motivating and monitoring activity levels, little research exists on whether they can help people lead healthier lives, or if financial incentives could encourage people to wear them for longer and achieve higher fitness levels. One in ten US adults owns an activity tracker but research suggests that about a third of people abandon them within 6 months of purchase.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JACC, Pediatrics / 03.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. James McKinney MD MSc FRCP(C) Division of Cardiology University of British Columbia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the leading medical cause of death in young athletes. Sporting activity may predispose athletes with underlying cardiovascular conditions to develop life threatening ventricular arrhythmias during physical exercise. Despite being a relatively rare event, the death of a young healthy person is a tragic event that is difficult to comprehend. The prevalence of an underlying cardiovascular disorder in young athletes that predisposes to SCD is approximately 0.3%. Sudden cardiac death is often the first clinical manifestation of an underlying cardiovascular condition; up to 80% of athletes are previously asymptomatic. Pre-participation screening is the systematic practice of medically evaluating athletes for the purpose of identifying (or raising suspicion of) abnormalities that could provoke sudden death. There is agreement amongst sporting and medical bodies that athletes should undergo some form of pre-participation screening. An Achilles’ heel of screening is the significant number of false-positive screens that require subsequent costly secondary testing to rule out disease. Prevention of sudden cardiac death among athletes is a common goal, however the optimal strategy for its achievement is uncertain.
Author Interviews, Dental Research, Exercise - Fitness / 27.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sonia Julià-Sánchez, PhD Universitat de Barcelona MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Over the last few years, a growing interest has focused on the potential correlation between the stomatognathic system and the body balance. While this relationship is still a subject for debate, it is well known that sensory information contributes differently on the postural control regulation depending on the conditions of the surface area. Therefore, we hypothesized that dental occlusion may contribute differently on the body balance control depending on the stability condition (stable versus unstable) and that influence might be more evident in fatigue conditions due to reorganization of the sensory information sources. In the current study we aimed to determine whether: (i) dental occlusion influences body balance in stable and unstable surfaces, and (ii) the influence of dental occlusion on the balance control comes strongly into effect under fatigue conditions. Our results showed that dental occlusion influenced balance control, at unstable level, both at rest and fatigue condition. However, when measuring at stable level, the influence of dental occlusion only reached significance in fatigue condition.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Karolinski Institute, PLoS / 26.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_28165" align="alignleft" width="200"]Maléne Lindholm, PhD Karolinska Institutet Dept. of Physiology & Pharmacology Stockholm Sweden Dr. Maléne Lindholm[/caption] Maléne Lindholm, PhD Karolinska Institutet Dept. of Physiology & Pharmacology Stockholm Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It is well known that exercise training provides marked health benefits and can prevent and treat a broad set of diseases. Therefore, a deeper understanding and characterization of the molecular processes behind training adaptation is essential for human health. This study aimed at exploring the effects of endurance training on the human skeletal muscle transcriptome (activity of all genes) and investigate the possible presence of a muscle memory of training. To do this, the healthy volunteers in this study first trained only one leg, 4 times per week for 3 months. After 9 months of detraining, the subjects then came back and trained both legs in the same way as during the first training period, thus one leg was then previously well-trained and one previously untrained. This meant that each individual was their own control, as both legs have the same genome, experience the same stress, diet etc. Only the training status differed.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 06.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_21730" align="alignleft" width="125"]Richard Moon, MD, CM, MSc, FRCP(C), FACP, FCC Medical Director, Hyperbaric Center Professor of Anesthesiology Department / Division Anesthesiology / GVTU Division Medicine / Pulmonary Duke University School of Medicine Dr. Richard Moon[/caption] Richard Moon, MD Professor of Anesthesiology Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For several years we have been investigating the causes of immersion pulmonary edema (IPE, also known as swimming-induced pulmonary edema or SIPE). We determined that during exercise while immersed in cold water pulmonary artery and wedge pressures of individuals who are SIPE-susceptible are higher than normal. This demonstrated that SIPE is a form of hemodynamic pulmonary edema. It is certainly plausible that SIPE could cause death, and indeed a few fatal cases had been reported in the medical literature, mostly in scuba divers. After reading of deaths in young, apparently fit and healthy triathletes we hypothesized that some of these deaths were probably due to  swimming-induced pulmonary edema . It is easy to diagnose SIPE in a living individual, using a stethoscope or chest x-ray/CT. However, since almost anyone who dies from any cause, particularly if attempted resuscitation has occurred, will have pulmonary edema at autopsy. Before concluding that death has occurred due to SIPE, other clues are therefore necessary.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, OBGYNE / 29.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_18222" align="alignleft" width="180"]Katrine M. Owe PhD Department of Psychosomatics and Health Behaviour Norwegian Institute of Public Health Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women's Health Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet OSLO, Norway Dr. Katrine Owe[/caption] Katrine M. Owe, PhD Domain for Mental and Physical Health Norwegian Institute of Public Health OSLO, Norway Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women's Health Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet Oso, Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The rising cesarean delivery rates in developed countries are of great concern. Given the many adverse consequences of repeated cesarean deliveries for both mother and child, identifying factors associated with the decision to perform the first cesarean is important. Growing evidence show that regular exercise during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and excessive birth weight, all of which are highly correlated with having a cesarean delivery. Results from previous studies examining the relationship between pregnancy exercise and mode of delivery, are inconsistent. Small sample size, not population-based, reporting crude estimates, and not powered to study cesarean delivery, are common methodological limitations in previous studies.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JACC / 19.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_27190" align="alignleft" width="170"]Antonio Pelliccia, MD, FESC Chief of Cardiology Institute of Sport Medicine and Science Rome Dr. Antonio Pelliccia[/caption] Antonio Pelliccia, MD, FESC Chief of Cardiology Institute of Sport Medicine and Science Rome MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The awareness of the relevant role of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) as cause of athletic field events and the refined Task Force (TF) criteria for the diagnosis of the disease have prompted a large scientific interest and triggered a vast scientific literature on this issue. Indeed, the recent observations by Heidbuchel and La Gerche based on data from a selected group of ultra-endurance athletes, suggesting that strenuous, chronic endurance exercise may ultimately cause, per se, RV dysfunction have further stimulated the need to define the characteristics and limits of training-induced RV remodelling. At present, however, no studies have assessed the characteristic of physiologic right ventricular remodelling as derived from a large population of highly-trained athletes, including a sizeable number of women and comprising a broad spectrum of summer and winter Olympic sport disciplines.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Pain Research / 15.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_26123" align="alignleft" width="133"]Romy Lauche, PhD Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM) Faculty of Health | University of Technology Sydney Dr. Romy Lauche[/caption] Romy Lauche, PhD Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM) Faculty of Health | University of Technology Sydney MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Many people are affected by persistent or recurrent neck pain. So far the only intervention with real benefit is exercise therapy, independent of the type of exercise used. Despite the fact that musculoskeletal disorders including back and neck pain have been found predictive of Tai Chi use, no study to date has investigated its potential in the treatment of chronic non-specific neck pain. Our study found that 12 weeks of Tai Chi significantly reduced neck pain intensity, and improved quality of life, however no differences were found between Tai Chi and conventional neck exercises. Both interventions were well tolerated, and participants were satisfied with either intervention.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Orthopedics / 13.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marcos Muñoz Jimenez University of Jaén MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Barefoot running has become very popular in recent years and remains a hotly debated topic among runners. The debate about the pros and cons of barefoot running is current. Many coaches consider barefoot training to have an effect on muscle strength and to be important for performance and for preventing injuries. The main objective of this study is to determine what changes in foot strike, inversion-eversion and foot rotation are produced after a 12-week programme of barefoot running with progressive volume at the end of the athletes daily training session. Our data support that a 12-week programme of barefoot running training, applied by progressively increasing the volume of barefoot running, causes significant changes to foot strike patterns with a tendency towards midfoot strike, regardless of running speed.
Author Interviews, CDC, Exercise - Fitness, Occupational Health / 03.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_25773" align="alignleft" width="130"]Caban-Martinez, DO, PhD MPH, CPH Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Environment & Public Health Associate Director, Miami Occupational Research Group (MORG) Director, Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Lab Dr. Caban-Martinez[/caption] Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, DO, PhD MPH, CPH Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Environment & Public Health Associate Director, Miami Occupational Research Group Director, Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Lab University of Miami MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Obesity remains one the largest public health burdens in the United States. Strategies that support healthy nutrition, physical activity and well-being are needed to achieve our national goals of Healthy People 2020. Opportunities for physical activity in the workplace are limited. As our U.S. economy moves from a blue-collar manufacturing enterprise to an increasingly service and information producing workforce, sedentary behavior at the worksite has unfortunately increased. Long work hours seated, short paths to printing or conference room meetings can be leading to increased overweight and obesity workforce trends documented in the U.S. population. Our University of Miami, occupational health and safety research team(www.CabanMartinezLAB.com) developed and evaluated a Walking Meeting (WaM) protocol for white-collar job site using input from thought leaders, key stakeholders, and the scientific and grey literature. We pilot tested the feasibility, acceptability and implementation of the WaM protocol in small group of white collar workers at a large university center. We found that converting just one seated meeting per week at work into a walking meeting increased the work-related physical activity levels of workers by 10 minutes. This increase in physical activity also supports the American Heart Association's recommendations of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity for adults, or about 30 minutes each weekday.
Author Interviews, Education, Exercise - Fitness / 28.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_25601" align="alignleft" width="157"]Peter Krustrup PhD Professor of Team Sport and Health Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports Copenhagen Centre for Team Sport and Health University of Copenhagen, Denmark Dr. Peter Krustrup[/caption] Peter Krustrup PhD Professor of Team Sport and Health Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports Copenhagen Centre for Team Sport and Health University of Copenhagen, Denmark Dr. Krustrup discusses ideas formulated in the Copenhagen Consensus Conference 2016: children, youth, and physical activity in schools and during leisure time. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A desire to improve children’s and youth’s health, well-being and social inclusion motivated researchers at University of Copenhagen, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports to gather 24 international top level researchers from a variety of academic disciplines at a consensus conference in Denmark on 4-7 April 2016. The aim of the Copenhagen Consensus Conference in 2016 was to reach an evidence-based consensus within the four themes: 1) Physical activity in children and youth: Fitness and health. 2) Physical activity in children and youth: Cognitive functioning 3) Physical activity in children and youth: Engagement, motivation and psychological well-being 4) Physical activity in children and youth: Social inclusion and physical activity implementation strategies.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Exercise - Fitness, University of Pittsburgh / 21.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr-Andrea-M-KriskaDr. Andrea M. Kriska PhD MS Professor, Department of Epidemiology Graduate School of Public Health Pittsburgh, PA 15261 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Kriska:  The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) was a well administered national research study primarily supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK) that demonstrated that lifestyle intervention with weight loss and physical activity goals can prevent type 2 diabetes in diverse, high risk US adults. The importance of physical activity in preventing diabetes development in the DPP until now was thought to be due to its role in achieving weight loss and weight maintenance but activity was not considered a strong key factor alone. The lifestyle group had a significantly greater increase in physical activity and decrease in weight than the other two groups. They also had a 58% decrease in diabetes incidence compared to the control group. The successful decrease in T2D held across all age, sex, baseline BMI and ethnicity/race subgroups. Despite the fact that the lifestyle intervention was then offered to all participants, in the follow-up years, the lifestyle participants still maintained a lower cumulative diabetes incidence that could not be explained by differences in weight loss.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 27.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gregory Garrett, BS. MA. Doctoral Research Assistant School of Public Health Texas A&M Health Science Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sedentary behavior in office environments is greatly contributing to obesity, increased body discomfort, and possible reductions in employee productivity. Sit-stand desks have been implemented to aid in reducing sedentary behavior, however employers are concerned that benefits may not offset the initial cost of implementation. In this study, employees with stand-capable workstations were compared to traditional seated employees on an objective measurement of productivity in a call center. The employees were monitored for 6 months and those with the stand-capable workstations were ~46% more productive per hour than their seated counterparts. Additionally, 75% of those with the stand-capable desks reported a significant decrease in body discomfort.
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Colon Cancer, Exercise - Fitness, JAMA / 26.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_24523" align="alignleft" width="167"]NaNa Keum Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Nana Keum[/caption] NaNa Keum, ScD| Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Nutrition Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MA 02115 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: While general health benefits of physical activity are well-known, evidence on its specific benefits on cancer endpoints is limited and physical activity guidelines for cancer prevention lack details in terms of the optimal dose, type and intensity of physical activity. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: We found that the optimal exercise regime to prevent overall digestive system cancers may be to accumulate 30 MET-hours/week of physical activity primarily through aerobic exercise and regardless of its intensity.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 24.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_24640" align="alignleft" width="129"]Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA 90407 Dr. Deborah Cohen[/caption] Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA 90407 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Cohen: An extensive infrastructure of neighborhood parks supports leisure time physical activity in most U.S. cities; yet, most Americans do not meet national guidelines for physical activity. Neighborhood parks have never been assessed nationally to identify their role in physical activity. We visited a representative sample of 174 parks in 25 cities across the United States and assessed their use as well as local park management policies. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Dr. Cohen: We found that nationwide, the average neighborhood park of 8.8 acres averaged 20 users/hour or an estimated 1,533 person hours of weekly use. Park use was higher in parks that were larger and had more facilities and that were in neighborhoods with a higher population density and lower percentage of households in poverty. Walking loops and gymnasia each generated 221 hours/week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Seniors represented 4% of park users, but 20% of the general population. Programming and marketing were associated with 37% and 63% more hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity/week in parks, respectively. The lower use of parks in low-income than in high-income neighborhoods was largely explained by fewer supervised activities and marketing/outreach efforts.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 02.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_23950" align="alignleft" width="220"]Thijs M.H. Eijsvogels, PhD Department of Physiology Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, The Netherlands Dr. Thijs Eijsvogels[/caption] Thijs M.H. Eijsvogels, PhD Department of Physiology Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, The Netherlands  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Eijsvogels: Regular exercise training is known to reduce the risk for future morbidity and mortality in the general and athletic population. For this purpose, national guidelines recommend to exercise 150 min/week at a moderate intensity or 75 min/week at a high intensity. Recent studies explored the dose-response relationship between weekly exercise volume and cardiovascular health and reported a potential U-shaped association, suggesting that high exercise volumes may attenuate the beneficial health effects. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between lifelong exercise dose and the prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity in a physically active population. Therefore, we collected data in 21,266  participants of the Nijmegen Exercise Study.
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 14.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_22504" align="alignleft" width="135"]Pei-JieChen, Ph.D. Professor of Exercise Science, President of Shanghai University of Sport Dr. Pei JieChen[/caption] Pei-JieChen, Ph.D. Professor of Exercise Science, President of Shanghai University of Sport MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Pei-JieChen: Traditional Chinese exercises (such as Tai Chi, Qigong, Baduanjin) have been used for 2000 years with great contributions to human health, which are increasingly popular around the world. And traditional Chinese exercise is a low-risk, promising intervention that could be helpful for improving quality of life and depression in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).However, there appears to be no consensus agreement that traditional Chinese exercises (TCEs) could be effective for CVDs. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese exercise for patients with CVDs. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Dr. Pei-JieChen: The pooling revealed that TCEs could decrease systolic blood pressure by 9.12 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 5.12 mmHg. Patients performing traditional Chinese exercises were also found superior compared with those in the control group in terms of triglyceride, six-minute walk test, Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire results, SF-36 physical function, and Profile of Mood States depression.
Aging, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 02.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_22264" align="alignleft" width="100"]Dafna Merom, PhD School of Science and Health University of Western Sydney Penrith New South Wales Australia Dr. Dafna Mermon[/caption] Dafna Merom, PhD School of Science and Health University of Western Sydney Penrith New South Wales Australia Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Merom: It is well established that moderate-intensity physical activity can reduced the risk of having cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet we know very little about the CVD benefits  that is associated with specific activity type. Considering that different types of physical activity challenge muscular-skeletal, neurological and cardio-respiratory systems differently, and that they involves different levels of psychosocial or cognitive demands, one may expect that different types of PA/sport may have differential relationships with health. Previous research found that frequent dancing protected against dementia, to a larger extent than walking. Since  cardiovascular disease and dementia share similar risk factors we hypothesised that dancing will also protect against CVD, even more than walking given the multi-dimensional nature of dance; Dance integrate physical, cognitive, emotional and social elements in its execution. We found that light-intensity dancing as well as light-intensity walking were not protective against  cardiovascular disease mortality. However, dancers who were at least slightly out of breath or sweaty had 46% lower risk of Cardiovascular death. Compared to fast walkers, dancing further reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 21%.”