As an addendum to my last post related to the health hazards of excess sitting, a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine added more evidence that excessive sitting is a risk factor for mortality. Using survey data from 54 countries, the researchers analyzed the association between time spent sitting more than three hours a day and mortality. They found thatContinue reading “Sitting is killing us, again”
Category Archives: Physical activity
Sitting is the new smoking
Alternatives to the traditional desk chair have become popular as increasing evidence shows that prolonged sitting increases heart failure risk and disability risk and shortens life expectancy. A review found that sitting time was independently associated with poor health outcomes regardless of physical activity. Alternatives to sitting have become a new industry: A new Cochrane review of 20 studies of sitting-alternatives showedContinue reading “Sitting is the new smoking”
Personalized preventive medicine
Much research and media attention have focused on personalized medicine. The National Cancer Institute defines personalized medicine as “a form of medicine that uses information about a person’s genes, proteins, and environment to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease.” Although this definition includes prevention, much of the focus of personalized medicine has been on treatments, with aContinue reading “Personalized preventive medicine”
Will prevention ever be sexy?
As a pediatric emergency medicine provider, many of the reasons patients show up in the Emergency Department are related to symptoms–a fever, cough, rash, ache, nausea, runny nose, diarrhea, etc. What is this causing it? What will make it go away as soon as possible? A commentary on NPR’s Shots series notes that, often, despiteContinue reading “Will prevention ever be sexy?”
Football and head injury in youth
Today’s NY Times op ed from pathologist Bemmet Omalu “Don’t Let Kids Play Football”, compares the sport to public health menaces including tobacco smoke, asbestos and fetal alcohol exposure. The stance he takes is far more extreme than even the American Academy of Pediatrics’ position on tackle football among youth, which reviewed the evidence andContinue reading “Football and head injury in youth”
