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Laughter Is the Best Therapy for Happiness and Healthy Life Expectancy
Published in Goh Cheng Soon, Gerard Bodeker, Kishan Kariippanon, Healthy Ageing in Asia, 2022
Tetsuya Ohira, Masahiko Ichiki
We conducted a randomized interventional study to investigate the effect of the laughter program on blood glucose levels. Twenty-seven community residents aged 60 years or older were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group, and the intervention group received 120 minutes of laughter therapy (a program that combines watching rakugo, comedy, etc., with mild exercise) for 10 weeks. The results showed that hemoglobin A1c, an indicator of diabetes control, improved significantly in the intervention group compared with that in the control group (Hirosaki et al., 2013). There was also an improvement in bone density and subjective health perception. Hence, it was suggested that laughter may improve the control of diabetes in the long term. Conversely, a study of 17 healthy subjects on the possibility that laughter may improve vascular endothelial function, an indicator of early atherosclerosis, reported a significant improvement in vascular endothelial function after viewing a comedy video for 60 minutes compared with viewing a documentary video (Sugawara, Tarumi and Tanaka, 2010). However, few studies, including this one, have been conducted on the long-term effects of other lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis, and therefore, future reports are expected.
Natural Medicine
Published in Dilip Ghosh, Pulok K. Mukherjee, Natural Medicines, 2019
Lifestyle diseases are posing an ever-increasing challenge owing to the unhealthy sedentary lifestyle and habits. Epidemic outbreaks are becoming a larger threat with mutant pathogens creating challenges to healthcare and public healthcare systems. Diseases such as cancer and HIV are posing serious threats to human society, in spite of major developments in medical science (Figure 32.1). Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are posing a serious threat in containing infectious diseases.
Lifestyle
Published in Miranda Thurston, Key Themes in Public Health, 2014
In the public health field, lifestyle has been conceptualized, operationalized and defined in two contrasting ways. The ‘lifestyle model of disease’ emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century as a consequence of the increasing role played by epidemiology in public health (Hansen and Easthope, 2007). Large-scale cohort studies such as the Framingham study (initiated in 1948 in a small town in Massachusetts, USA) identified several (lifestyle) behaviours that were associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. Smoking, lack of exercise and over-eating (specifically saturated fat) were established as ‘risk factors’ and CVD was defined as a ‘lifestyle disease’. The premise of the lifestyle model is that diseases are the result of unhealthy clusters of behaviours and disease prevention requires behaviour change (or lifestyle modification). Definitions based on this model tend to emphasize individual behaviours or habits viewed as intentionally chosen by individuals. A particular feature of public health policy in a number of countries in recent years has been an emphasis on lifestyle diseases and risk factor modification.
COVID-19: quarantine, isolation, and lifestyle diseases
Published in Archives of Physiology and Biochemistry, 2023
Heena Rehman, Md Iftekhar Ahmad
A central feature of the management of all the lifestyle diseases is regular physical activity. The physical activity is classified into four principal types, namely – stretching, strengthening (bone and muscles), and aerobics. Physical activity facilitates improvement in insulin sensitivity, uptake of glucose by muscles, and control over sugar. People with prediabetes are suggested to engage in 60 min of aerobic activity daily. Physical activity is the best approach for the management of weight. Weight loss can be achieved by combining restricted energy and physical activity. Regular physical activity helps in reducing abdominal obesity (Kim and Lee 2009), leading to changes in insulin resistance and blood pressure. Since the quarantine has resulted in restricted outdoor movements. Several other ways can be incorporated which helps in energy expenditure such as taking stairs instead of elevator (Blamey et al. 1995), walking while talking on the phone, and raking the leaves instead of using the blower. The ancient Chinese practices such as Qi gong and Tai chi helps in controlling the muscles (Jahnke et al. 2010). Dancing is another way of maintaining a healthy body which includes both the ballroom dancing and aerobic dancing. Jumping rope helps in burning extra calories and is categorised in aerobic activities.
Adherence to physical activity in a workplace setting – A qualitative interview study
Published in Cogent Medicine, 2019
Thomas Viskum Gjelstrup Bredahl, Rasmus Soelbjerg Christensen, Just Bendix Justesen, Jeanette Reffstrup Christensen
The correlation between obesity and being overweight and a wide range of lifestyle diseases, such as coronary and cerebrovascular diseases, type-2 diabetes and numerous types of cancer, has been well established (Knight, 2011; Varbo et al., 2015). Furthermore, sedentarism has an influence on obesity and being overweight and increased all-cause mortality (Knight, 2011). Dregan, Stewart, and Gulliford (2013) also found a correlation between cardiovascular risk factors and accelerated cognitive decay (Dregan et al., 2013). Choice of lifestyle has an influence on physical and cognitive functionality and accordingly has a potential effect on a wide range of aspects, including work-life balance (Christensen, Kongstad, Sjogaard, & Sogaard, 2015). Furthermore, studies show that physical exercise can lower the risk of long-term illness in employees by increasing the physical capacity of their bodies (Christensen et al., 2011, 2015). Promoting the health of employees will therefore potentially benefit the government, the workplace and the individual (Andreasen, Falk, & Nielsen, 2009; Gram et al., 2014). Due to the risk factors above, health interventions targeting employees’ physical activity seem a plausible employer tool to help employees with low productivity or high absence from work (Cancelliere, Cassidy, Ammendolia, & Cote, 2011; Christensen et al., 2015). Underlining the fact that the workplace can be an important arena for health promotion, national statistics show that as many as, 2.7 million Danes had a full-time job in the second quarter of 2016 (Denmark’s statistical database, 2016). Therefore, the workplace seems an optimal space for workplace physical activity (WPA) and for reaching a large proportion of the population and furthermore, those in need of health promotion.
Physical activity levels and self-determined motivation among future healthcare professionals: Utility of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2)
Published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 2019
Rebecca Mahony, Catherine Blake, James Matthews, Grainne O’ Donnoghue, Caitriona Cunningham
Many lifestyle diseases are largely preventable through modifying unhealthy behaviors, (Ford et al., 2009), including physical inactivity (World Health Organization, 2016). The World Health Organization (2010) recommends health sector leadership for the promotion of physical activity. Facilitating healthcare professionals (HCPs) to drive physical activity (PA) promotion requires integration of relevant behavior change theory and related skill acquisition opportunities in healthcare professional curricula (Lobelo, Steinacker, Duperly, and Hutber, 2014; Zenzano et al., 2011).