(HealthDay News) -- The availability of pleasant, shopping-friendly locales is more likely to influence whether or not people walk regularly than factors such as traffic or crime, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, analyzed questionnaires filled out by 351 people. They were asked about their attitudes toward walking; how much they walked; whether there were paths, trails, parks or recreational facilities near their homes; and their thoughts about local neighborhoods and walking areas.
The team found that neighborhood aesthetics and the mix of retail stores were more important that local crime levels or traffic in terms of motivating people to walk.
The most surprising finding was the strong link between a person's intention to walk and actually doing it, if they had a good place to walk. In other words, if a person wanted to walk, having a good place to walk made it more likely to happen. However, a good place to walk had no impact if the person had no intention to walk in the first place.
The study is published in the November/December issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
"These findings are not going to translate into getting people to walk more," John Librett, an adjunct professor at Utah College of Health in Salt Lake City, said in a prepared statement. He was not involved in the study.
However, he said the findings should prompt community planners to consider how the design of neighborhoods and urban areas affects people's walking behavior. Redesigning old neighborhoods and creating new ones that promote walking is good for public health, Librett noted.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about the benefits of walking.
Senin, 06 November 2006
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Campaign Launched
(HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials on Friday launched a major campaign to increase awareness of chronic fatigue syndrome, an illness that has labored under an intense level of controversy.
"This disease has been shrouded in a lot of mystery. Sometimes people question if it's real or not real," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference. "We hope to help patients know they have an illness that requires medical attention and help physicians be able to diagnose the illness, and be able to validate and understand the incredible suffering that many people and their families experience in this context."
The campaign will consist of public service announcements, brochures, a "tool kit" for health-care professionals and a photo exhibit called "The Faces of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," which will travel to cities across the country throughout 2007.
"We hope this will be a turning point in the public's awareness of the disease as well as in health-care professionals' ability to diagnose and treat it," Kim McCleary, president and CEO of the CFIDS Association of America, said at the news conference.
"This launch is so important to increasing understanding of this illness," added Dr. Nancy Klimas, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "Historically, lack of credibility of this illness has been a major stumbling block."
According to Dr. William Reeves, of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, the level of impairment experienced by people with chronic fatigue syndrome is comparable to that of multiple sclerosis, AIDS, end-stage renal failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
One CFS patient, Adrianne Ryan, said that sometimes taking a walk or a shower was too much, and resulted in her collapsing for weeks afterwards. Ryan is a former marathoner.
Doctors still don't know what causes CFS or how to treat it successfully, but more than 4,000 studies over the past two decades show definite underlying biological abnormalities, said Dr. Anthony Komaroff, of Harvard Medical School.
"This is not an illness that people can imagine they have. It's not a psychological illness," he said. "That debate, which has raged for 20 years, should now be over."
Among other things, Komaroff pointed out, the brain hormone systems of people with CFS are different than those without the disease. Brain functioning is also impaired and cells' energy metabolism seems to be compromised.
Analyses of the activity levels of 20,000 genes in people with CFS have found abnormalities in genes related to the part of brain activity mediating the stress response, Reeves said.
Some 1 million Americans suffer from the disease. Women are affected at about four times the rate as men and non-white women are affected more than white women. The disease can affect any age and demographic but is most likely to strike when a person is 40 to 59 years of age.
According to a large study conducted in Wichita, Kans., only half of people with CFS have consulted a physician and only 16 percent have been diagnosed and treated, although studies have shown that those who get appropriate care early in the illness have better long-term results. A quarter of people with the disease were unemployed or receiving disability, with the average affected family foregoing $20,000 annually in income. That amounts to $9.1 billion in lost income and wages for the U.S. economy as a whole, the study found.
While there's reason to be happy with advances in the basic scientific knowledge of the disease, Klimas said she was less happy with advances in care. Over the past 20 years, she said, she has treated more than 2,000 people with CFS who were "angry and defiant, frustrated, trying to convince physicians, friends and families that this was a real illness."
"We need much more work to understand the biological underpinnings and translate this into clinical practice," she said. "At the same time, there are effective strategies we can use right now, treatments that do help and help significantly."
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on chronic fatigue syndrome.
"This disease has been shrouded in a lot of mystery. Sometimes people question if it's real or not real," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference. "We hope to help patients know they have an illness that requires medical attention and help physicians be able to diagnose the illness, and be able to validate and understand the incredible suffering that many people and their families experience in this context."
The campaign will consist of public service announcements, brochures, a "tool kit" for health-care professionals and a photo exhibit called "The Faces of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," which will travel to cities across the country throughout 2007.
"We hope this will be a turning point in the public's awareness of the disease as well as in health-care professionals' ability to diagnose and treat it," Kim McCleary, president and CEO of the CFIDS Association of America, said at the news conference.
"This launch is so important to increasing understanding of this illness," added Dr. Nancy Klimas, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "Historically, lack of credibility of this illness has been a major stumbling block."
According to Dr. William Reeves, of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, the level of impairment experienced by people with chronic fatigue syndrome is comparable to that of multiple sclerosis, AIDS, end-stage renal failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
One CFS patient, Adrianne Ryan, said that sometimes taking a walk or a shower was too much, and resulted in her collapsing for weeks afterwards. Ryan is a former marathoner.
Doctors still don't know what causes CFS or how to treat it successfully, but more than 4,000 studies over the past two decades show definite underlying biological abnormalities, said Dr. Anthony Komaroff, of Harvard Medical School.
"This is not an illness that people can imagine they have. It's not a psychological illness," he said. "That debate, which has raged for 20 years, should now be over."
Among other things, Komaroff pointed out, the brain hormone systems of people with CFS are different than those without the disease. Brain functioning is also impaired and cells' energy metabolism seems to be compromised.
Analyses of the activity levels of 20,000 genes in people with CFS have found abnormalities in genes related to the part of brain activity mediating the stress response, Reeves said.
Some 1 million Americans suffer from the disease. Women are affected at about four times the rate as men and non-white women are affected more than white women. The disease can affect any age and demographic but is most likely to strike when a person is 40 to 59 years of age.
According to a large study conducted in Wichita, Kans., only half of people with CFS have consulted a physician and only 16 percent have been diagnosed and treated, although studies have shown that those who get appropriate care early in the illness have better long-term results. A quarter of people with the disease were unemployed or receiving disability, with the average affected family foregoing $20,000 annually in income. That amounts to $9.1 billion in lost income and wages for the U.S. economy as a whole, the study found.
While there's reason to be happy with advances in the basic scientific knowledge of the disease, Klimas said she was less happy with advances in care. Over the past 20 years, she said, she has treated more than 2,000 people with CFS who were "angry and defiant, frustrated, trying to convince physicians, friends and families that this was a real illness."
"We need much more work to understand the biological underpinnings and translate this into clinical practice," she said. "At the same time, there are effective strategies we can use right now, treatments that do help and help significantly."
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on chronic fatigue syndrome.
Simple Steps Safeguard Diabetics' Feet
(HealthDay News) -- The estimated 20 million Americans with diabetes need to remember that simple foot care can reduce their risk of toe, foot or leg amputations, say experts at the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS).
People with diabetes are 10 times more likely to have a lower limb amputated than people who don't have the illness, which can cause poor blood circulation and nerve damage in the feet. This makes feet more vulnerable to ulcers, infections, deformities and brittle bones.
The ACFAS offers the following foot care tips for people with diabetes:
Inspect feet daily for injuries that could lead to dangerous ulcers.
Gently wash feet in lukewarm -- not hot -- water.
Moisturize feet but avoid the areas between the toes.
Never trim corns or calluses. Doing so can lead to serious infections.
Inspect the inside of shoes before you put them on.
At the first sign of trouble, see a doctor. Early treatment can prevent foot problems from worsening and reduce the risk of amputations.
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month in the United States.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about diabetes and foot care.
People with diabetes are 10 times more likely to have a lower limb amputated than people who don't have the illness, which can cause poor blood circulation and nerve damage in the feet. This makes feet more vulnerable to ulcers, infections, deformities and brittle bones.
The ACFAS offers the following foot care tips for people with diabetes:
Inspect feet daily for injuries that could lead to dangerous ulcers.
Gently wash feet in lukewarm -- not hot -- water.
Moisturize feet but avoid the areas between the toes.
Never trim corns or calluses. Doing so can lead to serious infections.
Inspect the inside of shoes before you put them on.
At the first sign of trouble, see a doctor. Early treatment can prevent foot problems from worsening and reduce the risk of amputations.
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month in the United States.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about diabetes and foot care.
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