Walk this way: Pick up the pace to stay healthy

When Steven Tyler and Aerosmith first crooned the anthem “Walk This Way,” they were appealing to teenagers’ unrequited — and then requited! — desires. But for kids, teens, young adults and seniors, the true key to happiness and good health is to walk THIS way: quickly!

A new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reveals that if you up your pace to a sweaty, aerobic stride, you fight off cardiovascular disease more effectively. Over the two years of this study, walking at an average pace ( just under 3 miles an hour; but not slow) for at least 150 minutes a week reduced participants’ risk of all-cause mortality by 11 percent. However, up that pace to 3.1 to 4.3 miles per hour, and you’ll slash your risk by 24 percent. If you’re older than 60, you will reduce your risk of death from any and all cardiovascular causes by 53 percent (average-pace walkers reduce their risk by 46 percent).

Want to walk faster? Start with interval walking, combining five minutes of average pace with two minutes of brisk/fast pace; repeat four times. As that becomes comfortable, decrease time spent at average pace and increase the brisk pace. Your goal? Sustained fast pace for 30 minutes. And as you walk …

■ Maintain good posture; don’t move your arms too vigorously, or too little.

■ Gaze at the ground about 20 feet ahead of you, not down.

■ Tighten your core; breathe from your diaphragm.

■ Push off your toes, land on your heels. Don’t use ankle or hand weights.

Why new guidelines for colorectal screening?

Diagnosed in 1992 with colon cancer, Pope John Paul died 12 years later at the age of 84. Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with the disease in 1985 and died in 2004 at 93. But these days it’s younger folks who are increasingly at risk for colorectal cancer.

A study in the Journal of the American Cancer Institute has found that folks born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the risk of rectal cancer compared with people born around 1950, when risk was lowest. They also found that people younger than 55 are 58 percent more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease than older people, “largely due to delayed followup of symptoms, sometimes for years.” But why are younger folks more at risk than ever before? Processed foods, added sugars, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of highfiber veggies and fruits.

So, there are new guidelines for colorectal cancer screening — if you’re of average risk.

■ Start regular screening at age 45 and continue through the age of 75.

■ People ages 76 through 85 should make a decision with their medical provider about whether to be screened. After 85, it’s not needed.

If you and/or your family have a history of colorectal cancer, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, certain hereditary conditions, or you’ve had radiation to the pelvis or belly, you may need more frequent and diverse screenings.

And start screening yourself today for risky habits, like eating red meat and egg yolks! You’re never too young to start that!

Stick with medications under FDA supervision

Question: Congress passed a “Right to Try” bill, which means that people who are terminally ill can try new drugs without Food and Drug Administration approval. That’s a good thing, right? — Joseph B., Columbus, Ohio

Answer: No, it’s not a good thing (except, we say, perhaps in extreme cases). And more than 100 medical and consumer organizations say so too! A doctor’s oath is to do no harm, and this bill turns a particularly vulnerable part of our population into human guinea pigs. Without the oversight of the Food and Drug Administration, experimental drugs and therapies can inflict terrible harm.

The backers of this bill (Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn and Matthew Bellina, Right to Try Act of 2017) claim that it provides a pathway for folks with life-threatening medical issues who have run out of treatment options to access experimental medications and procedures.

But the opponents of this bill — the American Cancer Society, the Cancer Action Network, American Society of Clinical Oncology and many other medical groups — expressed strong opposition in an open letter to the House speaker and the minority leader of the House of Representatives. They pointed out that “creating a secondary pathway for accessing investigational therapies outside of clinical trials … removes FDA approval and consultation, and would not increase access to promising therapies for our patients …” They also said:

■ The FDA approves more than 99 percent of requests for access to investigational therapies for over a thousand patients each year who face life-threatening conditions.

■ Because all clinical trials have well-maintained records, researchers are able to develop important dosing and safety improvements as the trials progress. Remove that info from a patient, and you threaten his or her wellbeing, instead of improving it. The Right to Try bill removes FDA safeguards that would protect patients from the potential harm of unproven and unsafe therapies.

So what to do? To find a clinical trial that pertains to a specific condition go to clinicaltrials. gov. To apply for access to an investigational therapy, Google “expanded access FDA” and read all the materials.

As for the “right to try”? It may be a benefit if you or a loved one is in the 1 percent who do get turned down for access to an investigational therapy and have no hope of survival.

Q: Why, when I am outside for a summer barbeque, do I attract 10 times more mosquitoes than everybody else? — Johnny D., Nashville, Tennessee

A: Lots of folks ask that question, and we have a few possible answers. But first, put on some insect repellant! According to Sharecare.com spokesman Dr. Clifford Bassett, 40 percent of you don’t even use it! That’s a big mistake. Not only does insect repellant ward off skeeters, it also repels ticks, jiggers and black flies (nosee-ums). The most effective insect repellants are the ones with 30 percent or more DEET or picaridin. If you don’t want to use DEET (no studies have shown adverse effects), natural repellants such as lemon, eucalyptus and geranium oils also are effective.

That said, about 20 percent of you may be a member of that quick-to-itch subgroup for several reasons.

■ You’re a big target. Larger people, whether obese or pregnant, exhale more CO2, which is one way mosquitoes target you.

■ You use alcohol.

Any alcohol you have at the BBQ can make you more of a target, perhaps because of increased body temperature or sweat.

■ You eat specific cheeses. Eating cheeses like Limburger can attract mosquitos to you.

■ You sweat. Mosquitoes are attracted to the chemicals found in perspiration.

You have type O blood. One study revealed that Aedes albopictus (one strain of mosquitoes) are 83.3 percent more likely to land on people with type O than people with type A, B or AB blood.

Solutions? Stick with spraying DEET on long pants, sleeves and any areas where your skin is exposed. Consumer Reports tested clothes treated with the insecticide permethrin and found that none of them was foolproof, plus the EPA classifies permethrin as a likely human carcinogen. The You Docs, Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are the authors of“YOU: Losing Weight.” Want more? See “The Dr. Oz Show”on weekdays at 4 p.m. on WPBF-Channel 25. Have a question? Go to www.RealAge.com.