Exercise can not only buy you a fit body but also a better memory. A new study has revealed that physically fit people tend to have a bigger hippocampus, which is responsible for the formation and storage of new memories as well as for spatial navigation.

Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh have found that fitness increases hippocampus size, which in turn improves spatial memory, making it easier to record information about one’s environment and its spatial orientation and consequently ensuring the convenience of navigation around a familiar city.

Previous studies have depicted that the volume of hippocampus can be increased by exercising its spatial skills and its memorizing abilities. Cabbies in London are known to have a larger hippocampus than other citizens, and experienced cabbies have it bigger than the new ones. Constantly making use of the memory-making skills of hippocampus can also help it grow; study of German medical students revealed that their hippocampus got larger, while studying for finals.

Studies in the past have shown that exercise increases hippocampus size and spatial memory in rodents, but scientists have demonstrated for the first time that exercise can affect hippocampus size and memory in humans.

In the new study, researchers measured the cardiorespiratory fitness of 165 adults (including 109 females) between 59 and 81 years of age. After measuring their hippocampus, the volunteers were given a test of spatial memory. Later, their aerobic fitness was measured by VO2 max.

The scientists found a “triple association” – physical fitness was associated with a larger hippocampus, which in turn was related with better spatial memory.

Hippocampus is a brain structure inside the medial temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex, which known to shrink with age, causing small but significant cognitive decline. However, the rate of its deterioration is different among individuals.

“The higher fit people have a bigger hippocampus, and the people that have more tissue in the hippocampus have a better spatial memory,” said University of Illinois professor Art Kramer, who led the study along with Pittsburgh psychology professor Kirk Erickson.

“Basically, if you stay fit, you retain key regions of your brain involved in learning and memory,” said Erickson.

SOURCE: THE MED GURU

You know you feel better after a good laugh and laughter has long been associated with happiness and emotional release, but studies now suggest that a good gut-busting can also be good for your health. In fact, there is growing evidence suggesting that laughter boasts a wide range of health and fitness benefits, including everything from stress relief to blood flow.

Seriously, no joke intended … studies have found that laughter therapy is a viable form of cardiovascular exercise, powerfully working the body’s heart and lungs in the same fashion that a rowing machine or exercise bike might work.

Take stress for example. We know untreated stress is a precursor and risk factor for many disease processes including high blood pressure, heart disease, and various cancers. However, laughter really can elevate your mood and diminish the potential ill effects of a stressful or depressing day and help alleviate anxiety too. What’s more, scientists say that the body can’t actually differentiate between real and fake laughter so if you’re feeling down, a fake chuckle could still trigger feelings of happiness and hormones in your brain and help reduce potential illness.

Laughter also burns calories. As well as relieving stress, laughter offers an even better punch, it burns excess calories. Early research suggests that a strenuous, one-minute laugh can burn as many calories as 10 minutes on a rowing machine or bike. And if you laugh a lot, remember 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of fat.

Laughing has also been shown to boost blood flow. Studies have found that laughing can raise the flow of blood in the body by as much as 22 percent, because the heart and lungs work harder to supply oxygen to key muscles. As well as boosting blood flow, relaxed arteries also help regulate blood pressure at normal levels.

Need more convincing? How about a healthy immune system? Laughing has been linked to strong immune system function as well. While it may be too soon to tell if we can stop taking our vitamins, help is at hand if you’re willing to lighten and not take everything quite so seriously. A quick dose of laughter can significantly boost the immune system of even the most resistant skeptics. Research has found that the body’s level of killer cells, essential in attacking viruses and cancers, increase significantly after a good giggle. In contrast, these killer cells are reduced during lengthy periods of stress. So if you want to stay healthy and free of disease, it might be time for you to laugh.

SOURCE: NEWS-PRESS.COM

The NeuroActive Bike is the world’s first exercise equipment that works out both the body and the brain. This fitness bike combines a solid cardio workout with a fun brain-training program designed to increase memory and cognitive function to offer your readers a better body and a sharper mind, all at the same time.

Users of the NeuroActive Bike may select from 22 brain-stimulating exercises that train different parts of the brain, including: memory of names and faces, 3D visuo-spatial skills, concentration, word naming and arithmetic. As they pedal, they manipulate a wireless mouse to interact with the computer and complete the NeuroActive Program, the only brain-fitness program that uses an advanced artificial intelligence and a series of word problems and visual exercises to train the entire brain and sharpen 16 cognitive functions – more than any other brain program on the market.

Unlike simple brain games, NeuroActive is developed by doctors and based on scientific research that proves that brain-training exercises increase cognitive function by 20%, improve processing speed and memory and sharpen the brain so that it performs as well as it did at its peak.

To keep both the mind and the body in top shape, Dr. Bergeron, the president of Brain Center America, recommends three to four 20-minute sessions per week on this unique fitness equipment, which he says is more entertaining and rewarding than the typical alternative for those using cardio equipment, watching TV or reading magazines.

SOURCE: EMAXHEALTH.COM

A bottle of wine (or two), an order of calamari, a nice filet, and of course, chocolate cake. Sounds like the perfect romantic, candlelit dinner, right? Not necessarily. These romantic dinners could be doing more harm to your body than good for your relationship.

Laura Delcore, Leawood senior, says some of her favorite evenings with her boyfriend, Patrick, are spent dining at The Eldridge. However, these dinners can make it a challenge for her to maintain a slim physique. When Delcore started dating Patrick a year ago, she wondered if her health habits would have to take a backseat to their relationship. Delcore is not alone in her struggle to balance healthy eating and exercise with her relationship.

According to The Obesity Society, young women in romantic relationships gained an average of 15 pounds over five years and men saw similar upward trends.

Your partner’s health habits can have a large influence on your diet and exercise routine, too. “Oftentimes our behavior is shaped by the people around us,” says Jenny Prohaska, M.A. in clinical psychology. “When one member of the relationship is more sedentary than the other, the lazy person influences the more active.”

Students in relationships may have a hard time finding activities to do together that are healthy. In the beginning of Andrew Wank’s relationship, the Leawood senior says he tried to impress his girlfriend, Kristen Conway, by taking her out to dinner and to movies. Both found it hard to continue their healthy diet and exercise habits with meals at restaurants and movie popcorn every weekend.

“I transferred from a school where my only focus was tennis. When I came here, I no longer played a sport and I spent more time with her so I got away from diets,” Wank says.

However, as a beauty pageant competitor, it was not a choice for Conway to let her diet and exercise go. Being in the pageants kept Conway motivated and showed how the trend of conforming to your partner’s habits can work both ways.

This fall, Conway suggested they make a commitment to having a healthier relationship. “We both had to be ready to do it for ourselves before we could do it for each other,” Conway says.

Since then, Conway and Wank spend time going on walks, playing tennis and cooking dinner for each other. It is a far cry from the fat-laden meals and hours spent in front of the TV that consumed their relationship before. Cori Colombe, holistic health counselor with Your Wellness Connection, says this is a perfect example of how to resolve a diet-related relationship issue.

Colombe says communication is the key. She says people have a hard time understanding when their partner says “ugh, I’m fat … ” Colombe says it is much more effective to say you want to be healthier or have more energy. From there you can find things you would enjoy together, such as yoga, golf, tennis and the gym.

Some suggestions for maintaining a healthy and fit romantic relationship include taking up a new sport together, parking farther from dinner or exploring new, healthy recipes at home. Colombe recommends going back to what made you happy as a child—being outside, playing sports, or playing a simple game of tag.

No one is saying you have to throw those romantic dinners out the window, just modify them. In the end you will be a happier and healthier couple.

SOURCE: KANSAN.COM

Drug-resistant staph infections are more common in Illinois hospital patients than previously thought, according to new data from the Illinois Hospital Association.

But medical centers may not be to blame: The overwhelming majority of hospital patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, were already infected before being admitted, the data suggests.

The findings highlight how prevalent the drug-defying bacteria have become in Illinois communities as well as the importance of measures to stem the spread of infections.

For its latest snapshot, the association relied on expanded diagnostic data reported by hospitals in 2008. Also last year, medical centers screened all intensive care and “at risk” patients for MRSA under a new state law.

During the first nine months of 2008, the association documented 19,428 MRSA cases in hospitals, a 147 percent rise from 7,845 cases during the same period the prior year. The increase was largely due to better reporting by medical centers.

Just 5.3 percent of infected patients contracted MRSA during their hospital stay, according to nine months of 2008 data analyzed by the association. That’s much lower than the 23 percent figure reported nationally by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control in 2007, and the reasons for the disparity remain unclear.

There was also good news Tuesday about the effort to prevent the spread of infections within medical centers, both locally and nationally.

The Illinois Hospital Association found that hospital-acquired MRSA infections declined in each of the first three quarters of 2008. Hospitals’ efforts to screen patients for the bacteria, take precautionary measures with those infected and improve cleaning regimens are likely factors in the decline, said Patricia Merryweather, a senior vice president with the association.

Nationally, researchers from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association that MRSA bloodstream infections in intensive-care patients dropped dramatically from 2001 to 2007.

The infections commonly develop when catheters known as central lines are inserted in major blood vessels, providing an opportunity for bacteria to migrate into the bloodstream.

Efforts under way to address the problem include sterilizing the area where the catheter is to be inserted; stressing hand hygiene; making sure medical personnel wear gowns, gloves and masks, and draping patients to minimize the chance of germs invading the site.

When Johns Hopkins physician Peter Pronovost asked Michigan hospitals to follow a checklist of precautionary measures when inserting central lines in intensive-care-unit patients, all catheter-related bloodstream infections were eliminated within three months, according to a well-known 2006 study.

This week, the Illinois Hospital Association is announcing a new voluntary initiative to bring the Pronovost checklist to intensive-care units in hospitals across the state.

SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Swimmers at crowded public beaches are likely to bring home more than a bit of sand in their bathing suits, according to U.S. researchers, who said as many as one in three swimmers may be exposed to contagious staph bacteria.

They said people who swim in subtropical marine waters have a 37 percent higher risk of being exposed to staph bacteria, including an antibiotic resistant staph known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

“We think that people are the instruments for bringing their organisms into the water and leaving it behind,” Dr. Lisa Plano of the University of Miami told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago on Friday.

“I don’t know if that is the only source. The bacteria may still be in the sand left over from other people, but we haven’t studied that. These are things we plan to do in the future.”

People who have open wounds or are immune compromised have the greatest risk of infection, she said.

In one experiment with more than 1,000 bathers on a popular Florida beach, people spent 15 minutes dunking themselves in the sea, then bringing sea water back with them in a jug.

They then tested the water for staph and MRSA and found 37 percent of the samples contained staph, and 3 percent of those contained MRSA.

“I don’t think you should fear going to the beach,” Plano said, particularly if they take a few simple precautions.

She recommends people shower before going to the beach, to keep from depositing their own germs into the water. And she suggests they shower once they leave, to wash off any pathogens.

“If you don’t go into the water with a gaping wound, you should be fine,” Plano said.

SOURCE: REUTERS.COM

Are you ready to share more of your location information with Google (NSDQ: GOOG)? If so, Google’s My Tracks software for Android will let cyclists, hikers, and joggers record their routes and share them with others.

Last week, Google announced Latitude, a product that allows friends to share their location information so they may see one another on a map.

Google’s My Tracks takes the same idea and wraps it around the idea of improving fitness and the community of those who like to share their fitness activities.

My Tracks is only for the Android-based HTC G1 at the moment.

According to Dylan Casey, product manager and former professional cyclist, “My Tracks records tracks of outdoor activities using the phone’s built-in GPS. It shows these tracks on a map and presents live statistics, including an elevation profile. And here’s the best part: it lets you easily share your activities with friends and the world using Google Maps, as well as archive your training history with Google Docs.”

Not only will you have a way to record your circuit, but you’ll be able to share it with friends who may enjoy that particular road, path, or route.

It offers a bunch of tools and capabilities. With My Tracks, you can record and visualize GPS tracks while running, hiking, biking, skiing — or any other outdoor activity; get live statistics, such as total/moving time, (average) speed, distance, and elevation profile; send performance statistics to Google Docs to build a training history; and mark places and describe activities for others to discover via Google Maps.

SOURCE: INFORMATION WEEK

Michelle Cabral was ready for another night of fun with her friends.

But she wasn’t at a club. She was inside a school cafeteria in a quiet neighborhood preparing to teach an exercise class.

“It’s almost like you’re going out with a bunch of friends to go clubbing, but you don’t have to worry about the cigarette smoke or the crazy men coming over to you,” Cabral joked.

If all this sounds a bit odd, you don’t know Zumba.

The Latin-influenced fitness program has been gaining popularity for the past year or so in the county, with classes sprouting up at a host of local gyms, community centers, and through the county’s Recreation and Parks Department, which also offers children’s Zumba.

Cabral is currently teaching three classes through the department, including the one that met Wednesday at Piney Orchard Elementary School in Odenton.

Long after students had departed for the day, more than 30 women clad in sweats filed into the cafeteria and got ready to salsa, merengue and mambo their way to better bodies. Zumba is a kind of hybrid of Latin dancing and traditional aerobics, with an emphasis on the dancing to create a fun, fast-paced fitness environment.

“I think it’s great for the mind, body and soul,” Cabral said. “It just feels so good.”

So good, in fact, that dietitian Nicole Mazur is thinking about getting certified to teach classes herself. She’s in her third session with Cabral.

“I love the energy,” Mazur said. “I think it’s the music in combination with the dance.”

It’s also an alternative to “boring” workouts on the treadmill or other more traditional cardio work at the gym, she explained.

“They don’t go fast,” she added. “Here, the music and energy keeps you going. You don’t even feel like you’re exercising. This is the first class I’ve ever looked forward to coming to.”

Anne Raup, a Piney Orchard resident who was standing nearby, said the 45-minute session seems like it takes 10 minutes. The intensity shows up in perspiration. “I never, ever sweat when I exercise,” she said. “But (with) this, I’m drenched in five minutes.”

Cabral, whose outfit included black exercise pants and a white tank top that said “Zumbalicious,” taught the class from the stage at the end of the cafeteria. Several times during the night, she invited a couple participants to join her onstage. Even the initial warm-ups looked like a dance, albeit a bit slower than the ones that followed.

“It’s the moves,” said Rosie Neely of Annapolis. “You get to shake it up a little bit. I’ve always done dance (and) I’ve always done aerobics. But now, I get a combination of both.”

It’s probably safe to say Melinda McArdle is more at home with Zumba than most instructors.

She teaches it in the basement of her Annapolis home, which is equipped with a sports court. Three times a week, McArdle holds houlong Zumba sessions in the space. She also teaches at a couple local fitness clubs as well.

“The biggest thing about Zumba is that it’s fun and easy to follow,” McArdle said. “I think a lot of people are intimidated when you say ‘dance.’ Most people have a very negative opinion of themselves and their dance ability. (But) if you can breathe, you can dance.”

And like Cabral, she starts off classes slowly, building to the more intense and involved routines. She coaxes her students along, but also realizes different people have different skill sets.

“(It’s) fun … and nonjudgmental,” said Tracy Exarhakis of Annapolis, who smiled continuously during the class. “There’s no expertise required.”

Terry Sindler, also of Annapolis, said the comfortable atmosphere also contributes to the classes’ appeal. “The camaraderie keeps you going and giving a little extra,” she said.

“This is more friendly,” added Jan Funkhouser of Edgewater, who has lost 25 pounds since September, thanks to Zumba and a nutrition plan.

Although a few men have been known to attend Zumba classes, it’s definitely a rarity. Raup’s explanation is that men might be a bit embarrassed by the amount of hip shaking involved in the routines.

“It’s too bad more men don’t feel comfortable doing it,” she said.

Added McArdle, “It’s movement that’s so far out of the box for men.”

There wasn’t too much time in either class to ponder the issue further, though, because the music had started. “I want to see big legs,” McArdle said over the thumping rhythm. “Go for the gusto. Dance like your life depended on it.”

And the women did, as sweat beaded on their foreheads and their expressions grew more determined. At the end of the session, everyone looked like they’d worked out hard, yet all were happy.

“It puts a smile on your face,” McArdle said. “It’s a mood lifter — and that’s worth the price of admission.”

SOURCE: MARYLAND GAZETTE

Confectionery companies say not all chocolate is created equal, and research has shown sipping cocoa and eating dark chocolate in moderation can be beneficial to cardiovascular functions.

Cocoa and dark chocolate are among the most concentrated sources of flavanol antioxidants, said Dr. David Katz, associate professor of public health at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and director of the Prevention Research Center, in Derby, Conn.

Hershey funded a study at Yale University’s Prevention Research Center measuring human subjects’ blood pressure before and two hours after eating two servings (74 grams) of the company’s extra dark chocolate.

Yale University used ultrasound technology and sophisticated measurements to assess the effects of eating high-cacao-content dark chocolate, Hershey’s Extra Dark, on the arterial function of 45 moderately overweight adults.

The findings in the study that came out in July 2008 demonstrated improvements in blood pressure, as well as the ability of blood vessels to dilate and increase flow, a key indicator of cardiovascular health, after eating dark chocolate, according to Hershey research. The research showed Hershey’s Extra Dark chocolate had a positive impact on blood pressure and blood vessel function.

“The dark chocolate tested in this trial improved blood pressure and arterial function. This clearly suggests that dark chocolate isn’t just good — it’s good for you!” Katz said in a news release.

Most cocoa-containing products contain natural flavanol. Generally, the higher the concentration of cocoa, the more flavanol in a product, according to the Hershey Web site. Dark and baking chocolates tend to be much higher in flavanol content than milk chocolate, due to higher cocoa content in the product.

“Our dark chocolate is formulated with 60 percent cacao,” said Jody Cook, spokeswoman at Hershey Company.

“There are a lot of studies out there and a lot more coming out that show there are health benefits to especially dark chocolate,” Cook said.

Mars, Incorporated conducted a two-part study on the effects of cocoa flavanol in adults with type-2 diabetes, said Whitney Williams, spokeswoman for Mars.

The company found that drinking a cocoa flavanol-rich beverage, made with the company’s cocoapro cocoa, can have a positive impact on blood vessel dysfunction in adults with type-2 diabetes, she said.

The study was conducted on men and women between the ages of 50 and 80 years old with established and stably-treated type-2 diabetes, according to research provided by Mars.

“What research is showing us is that cocoa flavanol plays an interesting role in the body,” said Emily Korns, communications manager and registered dietitian for Mars Health and Nutrition.

“It actually helps to improve blood vessel function. It helps the blood vessel walls expand and lets blood flow through more freely,” Korns said.

Cocoa flavanol has a lot of health benefits in terms of heart disease and high blood pressure, and even in diabetes, Korns said.

“So whenever you include cocoa flavanol in your diet, it can have an improvement in blood vessel functions,” she said.

Dove uses a patented process called Cocoapro on its dark chocolate, Korns said. The company starts the process by choosing beans that initially have a high cocoa flavanol content, she added.

“We treat them (cocoa beans) very, very gently throughout the whole chocolate production process,” she said. “We know the end product of our Dove dark chocolate retains those cocoa flavanols that are naturally occurring anyway.”

Williams at Mars recommends trying the company’s new Dove Promises Blackberry Caramel Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate, Dove Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Almond Hearts or Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Hearts. Visit www.dovechocolate.com for more information.

Ron Boyadjian, co-owner of Criterion Chocolates in Eatontown, says his shop sells an array of chocolate and milk chocolate gifts for Valentine’s Day.

The shop sells all kinds of gifts including little dark chocolate hearts, heart pops, dark chocolate heart-shaped boxes and various other dark chocolate novelties.

“In 2008 dark chocolate probably gained a lot more popularity,” Boyadjian said. “It has been on the uprise for a while.”

Criterion’s dark chocolate sales have risen 35 to 40 percent in recent years, gaining most of its popularity in 2008, Boyadjian said. However, milk chocolate is still a favorite for customers buying Valentine’s Day chocolates.

“Years ago, people found dark chocolate to be more on the bitter side. Now it’s more of the mainstream since people’s tastes have changed,” he said.

SOURCE: APP.COM

Brian Christie is wearing an Old Guys Rule surfing T-shirt, but the University of Victoria neuroscientist knows that one of the best ways to keep his brain young is to exercise.

It has only been a decade since scientists discovered that brain cells could be increased and made more active through exercise, not just lost through disease–and Christie was part of that groundbreaking research team at the Salk Institute in California. Granted, the studies were on mice.

He’s still looking at ways to help regenerate neurons in the adult brain and isn’t waiting for the research on humans.

“Exercise creates new cells and changes old cells for the better,” says Christie, who bikes or runs two kilometres to and from UVic each day.

“Even if you’re diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, if you exercise, the progression of your disease will slow considerably. As little as 20 minutes of brisk exercise three times a week–if you just do that, it re-ally produces a lot of benefits.”

Backing that is a 2008 study by Dr. Jeffrey Burns of the University of Kansas that found only one-fourth the brain shrinkage in fit people with Alzheimer’s disease compared to less-fit participants.

Abnormalities in new brain-cell growth and connections are linked to Alzheimer’s, major depression and schizophrenia. It’s especially important because brain volume and the production of new neurons decline with age.

SOURCE: CANADA.COM