| Vol.
I, No. 8 | Gardening
/ Memorial Day | May
18th, 2001 |
Health
& Medicine
Vital Signs
. Vital
Signs:
Heart Rate Formula Misses a Beat, Heavy Metals
& Autism ... and more
- Heart rate formula misses a beat...
.
 An
April 24th article in the Health section of The New York Times
challenged one of the sacred cows (sacred tofu's?) of the fitness world...
the maximum heart rate formula. This formula, created by Dr. William
Haskell in 1970, establishes maximum heart rate as 220 minus a person's
age. It is the basis of most aerobic fitness programs. Most
trainers and instructors encourage people to work at specific percentages of
their maximum heart rate, depending on fitness goals. "Some heart
monitors built into exercise machines even shut the machines down if an
exerciser exceeds 90 percent of the predicted maximum," the article
reports. But it turns out, that predicted maximum is often
wrong.
.
Personal trainers and
exercise instructors design fitness programs around the maximum heart rate,
often telling people to wear heart rate monitors and then to exercise at 80
to 90 percent of the maximum in brief spurts to build aerobic capacity and
at 65 percent to 75 percent to build endurance. "I've kind of laughed
about it over the years," Dr. Haskell is quoted in the Times
article. It "was never supposed to be an absolute guide to rule
people's training, but it's so typical of Americans to take an idea and
extend it beyond what it was originally intended for."
.
More
serious than how much people are sweating at health clubs is how the formula
is used in cardiology stress tests. If cardiologists use the formula and
stop the test at the predicted maximum, they may be stopping before
eliciting the very warning signs they're testing for. How quickly
heart rate drops after exercise is the important factor in assessing heart
health. The article reports, "In three recent studies, Dr. Lauer
and his colleagues found that people whose rates fell less than 12 beats
within a minute after they stopped exercising vigorously had a fourfold
increased risk of dying in the next six years compared with those whose
heart rates dropped by 13 or more beats.
. - Heavy
metals and autism
.
The
cause or causes of autism have yet to be established, but several theories
have been explored and publicized.. These include the theory that childhood
vaccines cause autism in some children; the theory that pollutants in
the environment trigger autism in sensitive children, even in utero;
the theory that faulty metabolism causes abnormal nerve cell development.
.
A
May 11 article from Reuter's Health Service reports a study by the
Pfeiffer Center in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric
Association. This study found abnormal level of the metals zinc and
copper in the blood of children on the autism spectrum. The study
concluded that these levels suggest a malfunction of metallothionein, a
protein partly responsible for nerve cell development, detoxification of
heavy metals from the body and immune response.
.
Dr.
William Walsh, of the Pfeiffer Center told Reuters, "We've
discovered that this protein metallothionein doesn't work The
disorder seems to be a distinctive feature of autism. It's possible
that this metallothionein may be a primary cause of autism."
.
Other
researchers in the field responded to this study with skepticism, since
previous research on copper and zinc in people on the autism spectrum was
inconclusive. Dr. Jonathan Pomeroy, associate professor of psychiatry
at State University of New York at Stonybrook and director of the Cody
Center for Autism, warned, "Individuals with autism have a range
of abnormalities in their neurochemistry. It would be unexpected if
one consistent finding explains the whole syndrome."
.
Autism
seems to be on the increase from one in every 2,500 children in the 1970's
to as much as one in every 250 children today, further complicating the
search for causes. Until fairly recently, it was believed that certain
approaches to parenting caused the disorder and parents of children on the
autism spectrum were saddled with unfounded blame as well as the challenge
of helping their children.
. - Laurels
for green tea
The
modest, unfermented tea leaf continues to gain fame for its medicinal
properties. Considered to be a powerful antioxidant with the
possibility of helping to prevent tumor growth, it has been found to reduce
the dangerous effects of ultraviolet rays on the skin. A study
published in the March 2001 Journal of the American Academy of
Dermatology found that extracts from green tea applied to the skin
reduced the number of sunburn cells when the skin was exposed to ultraviolet
rays. The researchers, from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland,
also found that there was less genetic damage in skin cells treated with
green tea. This genetic damage is thought to be a prerequisite for the
development of skin cancer. In a German study, non-sugar chewable
candies made with green tea extracts were found to reduce gum inflammation.
In both studies, catechins and polyphenols were the green tea
components used. Many other medicinal uses of green tea are
currently being researched including its potential ability to lower blood
pressure, to lower cholesterol and to boost the immune system
... and it tastes delicious!
. *******
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