Staying Healthy Archive

Here's why you should add kettlebells to your workouts.

Once considered trendy gym equipment, kettlebells now rank among the most versatile, go-to exercise tools.

Kettlebells look like a ball or bell with a handle on top. They vary in weight from 5 to 30 pounds or more. While they can function similarly to dumbbells, kettlebells have some distinct advantages. Unlike dumbbells, for example, kettlebells have an offset center of gravity.

In the journals

Eating a cup of blueberries every day may help your blood pressure, suggests a new study. The results, published online Feb. 16, 2019, by The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, found that consuming 200 grams of blueberries (about one cup) daily can improve blood vessel function and decrease systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading).

Researchers recruited 40 healthy men and randomly gave them either a drink containing 200 grams of whole wild blueberries or a control drink (which looked and tasted much the same) every day for a month. The team also monitored the men's blood pressure as well as the flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery in their upper arms. This measures how the artery widens when blood flow increases and is a marker of reduced cardiovascular disease risk.

Ask the doctors

Q. I have seasonal allergies and I'm thinking about getting allergy shots to control them. But I hate shots and would prefer the sublingual treatments. Are these treatments considered equally safe and effective?

A. The short answer to your question is yes. Sublingual allergy treatments, which are small doses of allergens administered as tablets or liquid drops under the tongue, are considered safe and effective compared with allergy shots.

Ask the doctors

Q. I don't need to lose weight, so I don't exercise very often, but I maintain a healthy diet. Could my lack of exercise lead to health problems?

A. Exercise is essential for good health — even if you're not overweight. This point is illustrated by a recent study, published March 1 in The American Journal of Cardiology. It found that 30% of normal-weight people who were sedentary had the same risk of heart attack and stroke as people who were overweight. In short, just being at a healthy weight didn't necessarily ensure that someone was in good health. In addition to having a higher risk of serious cardiovascular events, some inactive but normal weight people were also more likely to have labored breathing during exercise and a larger-than-recommended waist circumference, compared with normal-weight adults who exercised regularly.

Research we're watching

Many people skimp on sleep during the week and try to make up for lost time on the weekend. But a study published February 28 in Current Biology shows this strategy won't necessarily reverse the ill effects of sleep deprivation on your body.

The study, conducted in a sleep lab, tested the health effects of three sleep strategies over a two-week period. Participants in one group were allowed to sleep up to nine hours a night. Those in a second group were limited to five hours a night. People in the third group slept five hours nightly during the week, but were allowed to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday.

Research we're watching

If you're healthy and don't have a history of cardiovascular disease, daily low-dose aspirin is no longer recommended as a preventive measure, says a new guideline released by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. The risks of internal bleeding and other side effects outweigh the benefits of aspirin in this group.

The new guideline, which was based on numerous recent studies, does not apply to people who have had a heart attack or stroke or who have undergone a bypass procedure. The recommendation to take low-dose aspirin therapy in this group is unchanged.

Research we're watching

If your hair has been thinning, an infusion of your body's own plasma may help grow it back, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

A number of recent studies show that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is successfully regrowing lost hair. This includes a 2018 study in the International Journal of Women's Dermatology that found the technique was beneficial in treating androgenetic alopecia, a type of genetically and hormonally driven hair loss that affects as many as 35% of women by age 60.

There are lots of dubious claims and mysterious ingredients, but yes, by trapping water, moisturizing can help with dry skin.

Dry skin by itself isn't a medical worry, although serious cases can result in cracks and fissures that invite infection and inflammation. The real issue is discomfort — dry skin can be sore, tender to the touch, and often itchy (although not all itchy skin is dry). There's also the red, rough, scaly appearance lamented in many advertisements for moisturizers.

This is one problem that hasn't suffered from lack of attention: there are dozens of creams and lotions for dry skin. They are sold as moisturizers, which is more of a marketing term than a medical or scientific one. Indeed, routine skin care is a realm where there's little science to be found. Well-controlled studies of ingredients are few and far between. Companies keep information about ingredients proprietary and are careful to limit claims for what the products do to stay within FDA rules.

Q. My family has squabbled about oats for some time. Some members say that to get the biggest health benefit from oats you need to eat them raw, at room temperature, and moistened with water. Others say they should be cooked. Does cooking take something beneficial out of oats? Can you bring us some peace at breakfast time?

A. Eating a bowl of raw oats "moistened with water" doesn't sound all that appetizing. And I am not sure it makes sense from a nutrition perspective. Normal cooking takes little away from oats. In fact, cooking helps release some nutrients that your body can't extract from raw oats.