If you have type 1 diabetes, you're at an increased risk for the bone disease osteoporosis. Since there's no cure, bone strengthening--particularly during adolescence, when 90 percent of bone mass is formed--is key to preventing future deterioration and fractures. For kids with type 1, there's good news: Researchers at the Griffith Institute for Health and Medical Research in Australia found that high-impact activities like jumping can increase bone strength in teens. Ninth-grade boys in their study who performed regular jumps, lunges, and hops before gym class improved their whole-body bone mass and lost more fat mass than a control group; the girl jumpers had improved hip and spine bone mass compared with controls.
Source: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, July 2008

Never Too Late

Even years after a stroke, walking on a treadmill helps both body and mind, recent research suggests. Stroke victims were divided into two groups, treadmill exercisers and stretching exercisers. Both groups performed their respective type of exercise for 40 minutes three times a week for 6 months. After 6 months, the walkers but not the stretchers had marked improvements in brain activity and cardiac capacity. These results may be due to the continuing ability of the brain to rewire itself long after the stroke event, an exciting prospect for doctors and patients.
Source: Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, Aug. 28, 2008

Life with Heart Disease

Time to get a move on: A study by scientists at the Montreal Heart Institute found that any type of physical activity, whether it's organized sports or a half-hour daily walk, reduces the risk of premature death for men and women with coronary heart disease
Source: American Journal of Cardiology, August 2008

Nature Versus Nurturing Exercise

Getting plenty of exercise can overpower a gene that predisposes a person to obesity, according to new data from an Amish population (a group whose isolated gene pool facilitates genetic research). Fat-friendly mutations to the gene, called the fat mass and obesity associated or FTO gene, are present in 30 percent of Caucasians and, on average, add 4 extra pounds. The researchers assessed the study participants’ mutation status, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity levels. Only those with low physical activity levels and the mutation had higher BMIs, while people in the highest activity strata were trim despite their genetic susceptibility to obesity. These findings, according to the authors, emphasize the importance of physical activity in combating the obesity epidemic, especially for those whose
genes put them at special risk.
Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, Sept. 8, 2008