If you swallow a piece of gum, it will stay in your stomach for seven years. Dropping food on the floor is okay to eat if it’s been less than five seconds. Cracking your knuckles is bad and can lead to arthritis and other joint problems. Do these sayings ring a bell? Maybe you’ve heard them growing up, or continue to hear them from kids, or adults, today. So, are these old-time sayings true? Here’s what experts and recent studies reveal.
If your everyday walks have become routine, consider incorporating breath work the next time you’re getting your steps in — and reap added benefits along the way.
In the same way elite athletes sometimes take a concentrated breath before shooting a foul shot or nailing a finale on the balance beam, the rest of us can benefit from focusing on our breath — even when doing something as simple as walking, said Michael Fredericson, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Stanford University and codirector of the Stanford Center on Longevity.
The co-director of the Stanford Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences dishes on the science (or lack therof) behind “falling back.”
Last spring, the Senate voted in favor of a bill called the Sunshine Protection Act. It would have made daylight saving time permanent in the United States, but it’s stalled out in the House of Representatives. We asked Stanford sleep medicine scientist Jamie Zeitzer about the pros and cons of changing our clocks.
“We can’t create more sunlight. There is a finite number of hours,” said Zeitzer. “The question is, do you want them to start earlier or extend slightly later in the day?”
Barbara Waxman speaks on how to grow old and grateful
The idea that a leaner body makes for a faster stride is common among distance runners. But it’s inaccurate and sets a dangerous ideal. Runners who are excessively lean are prone to injuries, infectious diseases, mental health problems and loss in bone density, said Michael Fredericson, MD, a professor of orthopaedic surgery who has served for decades as the Stanford University track team head physician. Female runners are more likely to suffer these effects, he noted.
During his career as the head team physician, Fredericson has seen so many athletes with problems related to low body weight — including bone stress injuries, menstrual irregularity and osteoporosis, or loss of bone density — he decided to study ways to prevent it.
Michael Fredericson, a practicing physician and director of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation division of Stanford University, tells TODAY.com that long-distance running is unique from other forms of cardio as it strengthens muscle fibers, “which makes your muscles increasingly fatigue-resistant,” he says. He adds that research also shows that first-time marathoners “experience beneficial reductions in blood pressure and aortic stiffness equivalent to approximately a four-year decrease in vascular age.”
Physical activity is a powerful medicine that can promote health and change the trajectory of aging. However, in the modern world, we have drifted away from incorporating physical activity into our lives. As the barriers to daily movement have gotten stronger, the burden to exercise has gotten greater. As scientists learn more about the pathways of disease, the causes of aging and the mechanisms by which exercise exerts its benefits, we can develop targeted exercise strategies that can slow (i.e. “hack”) the aging process. In this session, we will discuss how physical activity can slow aging and how different types and amounts of activity can optimize desired health and fitness outcomes.
“Once it gets to red, purple or maroon …it’s really not safe,” said Dr. Michael Fredericson, a Stanford sports medicine doctor. “The potential negative outweighs the positive at that point.”
There are lots of medicines to treat depression, and many people benefit from them. But new research points to effective ways to prevent it. Two new studies show that people who adopt healthy habits can significantly reduce the risk of depressive episodes. NPR’s Allison Aubrey reports.
Dr. Michael Fredericson, director of the PM&R Sports Medicine and co-director of the Stanford Center on Longevity at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said the way the study was conducted it was unclear if the people who exercised in the morning were “systematically different from those who exercise at other times in ways not measured in this study.”
“For example, people who exercise regularly in the morning could have more predictable schedules, such as being less likely to be shift workers or less likely to have caregiving responsibilities that impede morning exercise,” Fredericson said.