Spirit of Women magazine is a national publication presented to women by hospitals and their physicians. The magazine provides up-to-date, evidence-based healthcare information and promotes our hospitals as leaders in women's health excellence.
Issue link: https://spiritofwomen.epubxp.com/i/573970
5 w w w. s p i r i t o f w o m e n . c o m FA L L 2 015 S P I R I T O F W O M E N SHUTTERSTOCK H E A L T H C E N T R A L N E W S Exercise: It's all good Baby talking Speaking to a baby in a high- pitched baby voice is more likely to get his attention than if you use your normal adult voice, according to Canadian researchers. Babies, it seems, are more interested in hearing from other babies (or adults who imitate them) than from adults, suggests research in the journal Developmental Science. In a series of experiments, babies listened to a repeating vowel sound that mimicked those made by an adult woman or by another baby, while their attention spans were measured. Babies paid attention to the baby vowels almost 40 percent longer than the adult ones and showed their preference by smiling or moving their mouths as they listened. Researchers said that babies appreciate other baby sounds as a way to become aware of their own voices. • Playing for heart health Hearing about an acquaintance or celebrity suffering sudden cardiac arrest while playing sports may have you questioning the safety of vigorous exercise. But a new investigation of more than 1,200 adults ages 35 to 65 over a 10-year period showed that only 5 percent went into arrest while engaged in a sport. In addition, the survival rate of those who experienced a sudden cardiac arrest while exercising was significantly higher than for those who had a sudden cardiac arrest during other activities, according to a study in the journal Circulation. So don't let fear of heart trouble stop you from being active as long as your physician has given you the OK: Researchers suggest that the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risk of having a cardiac arrest. • A s long as you're active, the type of exercise you do to slim down doesn't matter as much as you might think, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiolog y. To test the effectiveness of different types of physical activity, researchers put 96 obese adults on a 22-week calorie-restricted diet and randomly assigned them to one of three exercise routines. One group did only endurance exercise, such as running; the second group was limited to bicep curls, bench presses and other strength-training exercises; and the third did a combination, which could include the treadmill, cycling, rowing machine and bench press. All three groups exercised for the same amount of time at the same level of intensity and all experienced positive results, including significant reductions in body weight, body mass index, waist circumference and total fat mass. Each group also had a significant increase in lean body mass, according to the research. • The benefits of gratitude Giving thanks can go a long way to improve the health of people with asymptomatic heart failure, reports research published in the journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice. Expressing gratitude, which involves noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of life, was linked to better mood, better sleep, less fatigue and less inflammation in a study of 188 adults diagnosed with asymptomatic heart failure. Patients in the eight- week study received regular clinical care for their heart conditions, but some members of the group also kept gratitude journals in which they listed three things they were thankful for on most days of the week. Those who kept the gratitude journals showed reductions in their circulating levels of several inflammatory biomarkers, along with better mood and sleep. •