Owning a car and TV may raise your risk of a heart attack.

Leisure time and on-the-job physical activity is associated with less likelihood of a hearrt attack. A 52 country case-control study involving more than 10,000 individuals has revealed, after controlling for confounding factors, that both light and moderate activity reduced the risk of acute mycardial infarction (MI) compared to sedentary individuals. Researchers also found that owning a car, a radio/stero and a TV were associated with higher MI rates.

PostiveTip: Put a stop to sedentary living--become active and avoid the coronary care unit!

Physical activity may ward off Alzheimer's.

Encouraging results from brain researchers at Washington University reveal that physical activity may delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's in individuals who are genetically predisposed to it. In a small, obeservational study (does not prove cause and effect) of people at a single study center who carried a specific genetic risk (APOE epsilon-4) were able to wipe out their excess risk by meeting the American Heart Association excercise recommendations, even after adjusting for confounding factors.

The 10 minutes you spend watching this could be invaluable.

A lot of health misinformation and bald-faced lies circulate on the internet, so it is a pleasure to be able to recommend a very clever, informative, and entertaining presentation by Mike Evans, MD of the University of Toronto. It is called, 23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health? Hit the link to enjoy.

PositiveTip: Invest 10 minutes in watching this presentation, then practice the simple principles each day.

Playing with your children is a natural tool to build resiliency.

Play is an important part of growing up healthy. It contributes to the social, emotional, cognitive and physical well-being of children. The American Academy of Pediatrics has expressed concern that when academic achievement is emphasized over recess and regular physical activity, children living in poverty may have the most to lose.

PositiveTip: Participate in playful, physical activities with your children to help them become tomorrow's productive citizens.

Fitness alone curbs all-cause and CVD deaths.

Middle-aged men who maintained or increased their fitness over 11 years experienced 30% and 40% reductions, respectively, in cardiovascular disease deaths and all-cause mortality--even without losing weight. When fitness declined during the study period, risk of dying increased.

PositiveTip: What are you doing to stay fit? Make at least 30 minutes of physical activity a part of your life every day.

If you are over 50, Uncle Sam wants you to be physically active!

"You are never too old to increase your level of physical activity," says Richard Hodes, MD, director of the National Institute on Aging. His agency has introduced a campaign to encourage sedentary older adults to make physical activity a part of their daily lives. Go4Life is designed to help you fit physical activity into your daily routines. The website is a plethora of valuable stories, information, exercise options, answers to common questions--even a free exercise guide and DVD.

PositiveTip: Invite a friend to become physically active with you. You can help each other stick with it.

Exercise outdoors improves vitamin D levels and fitness.

Regular exercise, both moderate and vigorous, contributes to healthy hearts. Harvard researchers have found those who do vigorous exercise for three or more hours per week reduce their heart attack risk by 22%. This study also suggests it may be due in part to exposure to sunshine and the resulting increased vitamin D levels.

PositiveTip: Enjoy the double benefit of outdoor physical activity: Higher vitamin D levels and better fitness!

Regular exercise stimulates new cell growth in vertebral discs in rats.

Swedish investigators reported at the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) Conference that in rats, one hour of exercise daily on a treadmill increased new cell growth in the vertebral discs compared with rats just allowed their usual activities. This is encourging news as regular daily exercise may help prevent disc related problems.

PositiveTip:  Regular physical activity can improve the function of the whole body--and back.  Did you get yours today? 

A lifetime of even light exercise protects from PAD.

PAD (peripheral arterial disease) is a problem getting a lot of media attention today. A study of 1381 patients already at high-risk for atherosclerotic disease found that inactive people were almost twice as likely to have PAD as those who reported the most active lives (25.6% vs. 13.7%, p=0.001). Even light activity such as a regular evening stroll was found to be protective.

PositiveTip: Get off the couch and go for walk or some other form of physical activity daily.

Teen lifestyle habits increase chronic headaches.

Researchers in Norway found that teenage lifestyle habits are associated with recurring headaches. Lack of physical activity, smoking, and having excess weight significantly increased the incidence of headaches. Risk was even higher if a teen had more than one of these habits.

PositiveTip: Exercising, not smoking, and keeping weight in the normal range can help prevent headaches.