Ann Smith’s exercise program of long, slow stretching is getting older adults off the couch and back in motion
No pain, no gain is out, says Ann Smith, former dance teacher turned exercise guru.
Long, slow stretching is taking its place as the workout of choice, particularly for older adults who may be more interested in easing the aches or arthritis and increasing daily mobility than building muscles or working up a sweat at the gym.
The continuous stretching that comes from the centre of the body and works outward — "stretching that every classical dancer trains with" Smith says — is the exercise philosophy she’s been promoting since she published Stretch Exercise, the first of four books, in 1969. It’s been demonstrated in three videos released since the late nineties: Stretch Exercise with Ann Smith (also marketed as Stretching for Seniors) in 1997, Moving to Mozart (1999) and Rise and Shine (2001) in which she showed viewers how just a few minutes of stretching right out of bed in the morning could do more than just work out the kinks.
Her newest product — Inhale, Exhale, Stretch and Move — just released on DVD, follows the format that’s been embraced by her followers and medical experts alike.
"Her exercise is what’s next for the baby boomers," says Dr. Christine Northrup, a obstetrician and gynecologist who promotes a holistic mind-body approach to women’s wellness.
The new DVD, described on Smith’s website as "a complete system to maintain a healthy lifestyle," demonstrates how just 10 minutes a day of slow motion, weight-bearing, aerobic, isometric exercise can alleviate the effects of debilitating conditions from arthritis to depression and from fibromyalgia to lung disease. It’s also subtitled for the hearing impaired.
For more information or to order go to annsmithvideos.com.
Wanted: lower blood-pressure levels
On the frontier of aging Canadians’ health, hypertension is one of the bad guys. And the Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP) is bringing out the big guns to counter it.
A growing global health challenge, high blood pressure is anticipated to affect 1.56-billion people worldwide by 2025, an increase of 60 per cent from the year 2000, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.
Patients and their doctors must work together in order to bring this problem under control and prevent devastating repercussions such as heart disease and stroke, says the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
There’s a two-fold problem — an increasing number of Canadians suffering elevated blood pressure, and inadequate management of the condition.
"Poor dietary habits, physical inactivity and the resulting obesity, coupled with an aging population, are fueling an unprecedented increase in the rates of high blood pressure," says foundation spokesman Dr. Sheldon Tobe.
Annual recommendations by CHEP, released last month, for the first time include patient-friendly guidelines in an effort to encourage people to be more involved in their own care. The recommendations include suggestions for physicians and lifestyle alterations for patients.
Doctors are being encouraged to simplify the management process by prescribing medications taken once a day and suggesting to patients that they take them on a regular schedule associated with other daily routines. One of the biggest management problems is adherence to a medication program.
"A significant proportion of patients stop taking their drugs within a year, which leaves the door open to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease or other serious complications," says Dr. Norm Campbell, who was appointed last month to the new position of Canadian chair in hypertension prevention and control.
Physicians are also advised to encourage patients to be more involved in their treatment through regular self-monitoring practices.
Lifestyle modifications, considered a major cornerstone of successful management of the condition, include:
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adopting a diet low in salt and high in fruits and vegetables;
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increasing physical activity levels to 30 to 60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (walking, jogging, cycling, swimming) four to seven days a week;
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weight loss for overweight individuals, since obesity is recognized as a key factor in the growing rate of hypertension;
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reduction in alcohol consumption for those who have more than two drinks a day; and
o quitting smoking, given that smoking increases the risk of many health problems including heart disease.
More information on these recommendations can be found on-line at heartandstroke.ca and hypertension.ca, along with the Heart and Stroke Foundations e-tool for assessment at heartandstroke.ca/bloodpressure. To date, more than 87,000 Canadians have logged onto that site to take the assessment.
Gender may affect cancer diagnosis
Better lung function, even in the face of disease, may be putting women at greater risk of lung cancer.
New research, published last month in CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, shows that a significant proportion of women newly diagnosed with lung cancer showed normal results on pulmonary function tests.
Furthermore, significantly less women than men have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, referring to chronic lung conditions such as asthma and emphysema) long considered a key risk factor for the cancer.
"These findings suggest that the susceptibility patterns among women may be different, compared with men," says Dr. Raghu Loganathan, who with colleagues at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York conducted the gender-comparative study.
"Understanding the role that gender has in the development of lung cancer may help identify more advanced screening methods and new approaches to preventive care," adds Dr. W. Michael Alberts, president of the college of chest physicians.
Loganathan says the results indicate that doctors should not rely on one risk factor, such as presence of COPD, to determine likely candidates for lung cancer. They should equally consider other established risks such as age (over 50 years), history of smoking and exposure to other cancer-causing agents at home and in the workplace.
The study looked at 151 men and 143 women newly diagnosed with lung cancer and found that 72.8 per cent of the men had COPD, compared with 52.4 per cent of women. The rate was slightly higher — 74.8 per cent and 57.3 per cent respectively — among patients who were smokers.
