Biking to work perfect way to get exercise, commute
One of Denmark’s most famous sons was storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. He authored “The Little Mermaid,” “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” His tales always delight children and adults alike, probably because they make everyone feel smart and empowered.
Not far from Mr. Andersen’s old haunts, researchers at the University of Copenhagen recently conducted a study that’ll help you feel smart and empowered. Published in the International Journal of Obesity, it reveals that if you struggle to find time to exercise, bicycling to work can effectively reduce stress and trim you down. In the study, previously inactive people who biked to work (an average of 8.6 miles per day) reduced their fat mass by about 10 pounds, compared to inactive folks.
The biking group also showed significantly lower levels of stress.
It helps to live in a place like Copenhagen, where bicycling is a respected part of the culture. But if you can’t bike to work, we suggest biking AT work.
Dr. Mike has long been an advocate of his treadmill desk, and now there are a slew of pedal-at-your-desk products available. Google “desk bike” and see what pops up!
If you don’t think those bike rides will do the trick, the study also found that overweight people can trim down and lose fat just as effectively as biking to work by doing other moderate exercise during leisure time. So be assured, at your desk or to and from work, you can pedal your way to a younger RealAge.
Diversify your sports
What do football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax and NBA championship player and coach
Pat Riley have in common? They all played multiple sports. Jim Brown played lacrosse, basketball and ran track at Syracuse University; Sandy Koufax played basketball and baseball at the University of Cincinnati; and basketballer Pat Riley was drafted as a wide receiver by the Dallas Cowboys. These elite athletes are living proof that playing multiple sports in your youth can keep you in your chosen game longer and in better health.
And that’s confirmed by a recent study titled “The Effects of Playing Multiple High School Sports on National Basketball Association Players’ Propensity for Injury and Athletic Performance,” which focused on 237 athletes. Researchers from University of California San Francisco found that those players who participated in several sports before turning pro were less likely to have major injuries (25 percent vs 43 percent) and were able to play more years than even the best of their single-sport peers.
For parents of highschool athletes, the message is loud and clear:
■ Encourage your child to play multiple sports.
■ Follow the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics and avoid single-sport specialization until your teen is 15 to 16.
■ Encourage your young athletes to take at least three one-month breaks from their sport during the year. They can remain active in other activities during this time.
■ Young athletes who take one to two days off per week decrease chances of injury.
Question: I’ve had chronic joint pain for years. Unfortunately, I can’t take ibuprofen anymore because it messes with my guts. I tried a couple of creams that contain something called arnica and discovered that they provide relief! Should I be wary of them? Are they Food and Drug Administration-approved? — Jack B., Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Answer: If you want to find an alternative to ibuprofen, trying a cream or gel-based remedy containing Arnica montana (the FDA does not regulate such herbal products) might be right for you. Careful, though — it’s liver toxic and can be poisonous if ingested orally.
Generally, arnica is sold as a homeopathic cream or gel to treat joint and muscle pain and to resolve bruising. Because there isn’t a lot of solid research backing its effectiveness, its benefits often are written off as a placebo effect. We say, if arnica cream or gel works for you, then it works for you. And emerging science may explain how.
Back in 2011, Dr. Russ Greenfield appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show” to talk about homeopathic remedies for pain. One of the favorites (Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen use it) was arnica. As the docs explained, the idea behind homeopathic remedies is that they use very small, diluted amounts of a substance to alert your body to a problem like inflammation, and then nudge the body to fix things on its own. And just recently, a study sponsored by a company that makes homeopathic products and the University of Verona in Italy was published in Plos One. It suggests that topical arnica may switch gene expression on and off, and mobilize cells in the skin to ease inflammation and promote wound healing.
In the meantime, before you use it, check with your doc. You may have adverse reactions even to small amounts of some topical pain relievers (especially if they contain salicylates) if you’re taking aspirin, blood thinners or other meds.
Q: I had a hip replacement, and the pain meds that were prescribed gave me hives and a rapid heartbeat. I’ve had those pills twice before (5 mg oxycodone) and never had a bad reaction. Can you suddenly become allergic to a pain pill? — Katherine F., St. Louis
A: That’s a more complicated question than you might expect it to be. There are anecdotal reports that some folks (maybe 1 in 10,000) develop hives or rashes from the additives, like dyes (especially Yellow Dye No. 5) and other inactive ingredients that coat pills, or from the active ingredients in over-thecounter medications and prescription drugs. Doctors who have encountered such reactions and seen them go away when a medication was discontinued or switched to another brand are becoming more vocal about this risk. As Dr. Robert Swerlick, an Emory University dermatologist who has been exploring this issue for years, told The New York Times, just because there is absence of proof doesn’t mean that there’s proof of absence (of a reaction).
Also, it can be hard to pinpoint the cause of hives if they’re from a medication; unlike with a severe food allergy, these reactions can take hours or even days to erupt.
As for opioids, an article in U.S. Pharmacist explains that when it comes to them, people can have either an allergic reaction (rare) or what’s called a pseudoallergic response. Pseudoallergies, too, can cause flushing, itching, sweating, hives and/or mild hypotension, but it turns out they’re triggered by responses of mast cells in your skin, not by immunoglobulin circulating in your blood (that’s where allergies arise). And it’s thought that as many as 90 percent of patients who are told they have an opioid allergy do not; it’s a pseudo-allergy.
So have your doc take a look at the full range of ingredients in your pain medication so that you can pinpoint what might be the cause of your hives and rapid heartbeat.
Then discuss pain-management alternatives such as massage and physical therapy.