New study shows more time walking means less time in hospital

TheConversation: In my practice as a GP, I have been impressed by a few energetic and active 80 year olds who remain in good health while many their age have succumbed to various chronic diseases. So in 2005, when the University of Newcastle established a large community based health study of people aged 55 to 80, I made sure we recorded the participants’ physical activity in detail. A decade later, we can report the influence of physical activity on the need for hospital care as published in the Medical Journal of Australia today.

When it comes to Fitbit’s 10,000 steps, one size doesn’t fit all

TheConversation: The rise of wearable fitness technology is something of a paradox. The surge in popularity of devices that monitor the amount of exercise you do suggest more people than ever are interested in maintaining regular fitness regimes. Just witness the success of the company behind fitness tracking bracelet Fitbit, which investors have just deemed worth US$4.1bn (£2.6bn) after it floated on the stock market. Yet this comes at a time when physical inactivity has reached levels of global pandemic proportion.

A quicker walk back?

Scimex: Return leg of a round trip seems to take less time than the outward journey when recalled in hindsight, even if the actual time taken to travel each way is identical. This assertion has been experimentally confirmed by Japanese scientists using videotaped journeys. They found that people only estimated the return journey as being shorter when they recalled the length after the journey and not at the time of the event - suggesting that it is the feeling of time in retrospect that changes, rather than our immediate perception of time. People reflecting on a roundtrip walk estimated that the return trip took less time than the outward trip, according to a study published June 10, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ryosuke Ozawa from Kyoto University, and colleagues.

Walking, simple exercises improve balance

Mayo Clinic: Health Letter covers why older adults sometimes struggle with balance and offers strategies to move with more confidence.
With age, some of the systems involved in balance and stability change. Vision can decline. Depth perception is reduced, and night vision might be more difficult. Changes can occur in the way the muscles respond to nerve signals, and a decline in physical activity can result in loss of muscle strength. Reduced speed and muscle power can make it harder to respond to situations that affect balance. Exercises to strengthen and maintain balance can help older adults live more actively and move more confidently. A big benefit is reduced risk of falls, a leading cause of injury in older adults.

Walking groups come out trumps for boosting overall health without side effects

British Medical Journal. UK: Joining a walking group is one of the best and easiest ways to boost overall health, with virtually no side effects, suggests an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Benefits include reductions in blood pressure, body fat, total cholesterol and depression risk.