A new study published this month in The Journal of Pain found that as little as a 10 percent reduction in body weight helps obese pain patients reduce chronic pain.
Several previous studies have shown that people who are obese tend to have higher levels of pain.
But pain related to obesity is usually associated with joint and weight-bearing body parts such as knees, hips and lower back.
The new study found that reducing body weight in obese patients can help improve not only joint pain but also abdominal, arm, chest and jaw pain.
Study participants also reported that weight reduction improved their mental health, energy and thinking.
In 2017, West Virginia had an adult obesity rate of almost 38 percent.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
A new study finds weight training might be better than cardio for older adults who are trying to slim down.
Researchers at Wake Forest University found that for adults in their 60s, combining weight training with a low-calorie diet better preserves necessary lean muscle mass that can often be lost through aerobic workouts.
The 18-month study looked at 250 overweight or obese adults over 60 years-old. Participants lost about 20 pounds when they combined diet and weight training, while retaining more muscle mass.
Meanwhile, those who combined diet and walking lost a lot of muscle mass – nearly 4 pounds.
The Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reported this year that West Virginia holds the highest obesity rate in the nation – at nearly 40 percent.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
Five states, including West Virginia, have adult obesity rates above 35%, according to the 2016 State of Obesity Report. American’s waistlines have been steadily increasing since data collection began in 1990, but the problem is particularly acute in the Southeast and Midwest.
“Approximately 38% of the adult population in West Virginia are obese, a very concerning percentage for an indicator of poor health and risk for diabetes, heart disease and another of other health concerns,” said John Auerbach, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. Trust for America’s Health is one of two groups, along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that produced the report.
“West Virginia was not the only state with an increase this year, there were three other states, but 45 states are following the trend that we’ve seen for the last year or two, which is a stabilization of the obesity rates,” he said.
Although we are seeing a stabilization of weight gain trends, he said, the rates across the country are much higher than they were a decade or two ago. Additionally, stabilization may be at risk.
“We have found that the programs that are helpful in states are in danger of being reduced in terms of their funding,” he said. “And those includes the Centers for Disease Control funding, which gives grants to West Virginia and other states to work on these issues and other issues as well as programs like WIC, Head Start and child and adult care food programs.”
Auerbach said the foundation believes it’s important not to lose ground on those programs. Rather, they should be funded more aggressively, particularly focusing on access to healthy food issues, including healthy school lunches.
But the most effective programs, he said, are those that integrate public and private sector efforts, including workplace involvement, federal funding, more activity and nutrition in the school day and better infrastructure for walking and biking.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
Weight gain, even among those who aren’t overweight, can causes dangerous changes to the heart, new research from the University of Texas Medical Center has found.
Researchers found that as little as a five percent increase in weight – or 6.5 pounds for a 130-pound woman, 7.5 pounds for a 150-pound man – can result in the heart getting bigger and thicker, which makes it harder for the heart to work efficiently. Thicker heart walls also reduced the amount of space the heart has to pump out blood. Thicker hearts can lead to heart failure.
More than 70 percent of West Virginians are overweight or obese. The researchers found that regardless of the weight people start at, gaining weight damages the heart and losing weight improves the heart. But the most important thing to consider is not to gain weight, says the researchers, especially through middle age when people tend to gain a pound or two a year.
Researchers reviewed more than 1,200 MRI images of patients’ hearts before and after seven years. The report was published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have tried to figure out why patients with diabetes have higher rates of hospitalization and readmission than the rest of the population and what can be done to prevent it.
They examined data from more than 340,000 patients over a nearly six-year period. The authors found that patients with diabetes are initially admitted to the hospital for pretty much the same wide range of reasons that everyone else is, but after the initial condition had been stabilized, almost 11 percent of diabetes patients would be back in the hospital within 30 days. Of those, about 3 percent were being treated for high or low blood sugar – regardless of the initial condition.
Younger patients, ages 18-44, were twice as likely to be readmitted for severe high or low blood sugar than older patients. And readmission for severe high or low blood sugar was a strong indicator for another episode of readmission.
Almost 15 percent of West Virginia adults have diabetes.
Researchers think the best way to prevent readmission in these high-risk cases is to invest in good outpatient care, support and education.
The study was published this month in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
There’s a group based in Jefferson County, West Virginia focused not only on improving health and wellness but also on incorporating the local community and history into that health experience.
How Does Running Impact Our Health?
West Virginia is one of the top four states in the nation where the obesity rate makes up more than 35 percent of the adult population; that’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, between 2011 and 2015, the obesity rate in both West Virginia adults and high school-aged kids increased by 3 percent.
But in Jefferson County there’s a group trying to combat those numbers by hosting events focused on running.
Dr. Mark Cucuzzella is a professor of Family Medicine at West Virginia University, a runner, and the force behind the Freedom’s Run Series of Events.
Cucuzzella’s spring race was held last Saturday. It was a rainy, cold morning, but still hundreds of people came out for the Harpers Ferry Half Marathon, 5k, and Kids Run.
Cucuzzella started his running series eight years ago, in part, to help encourage healthy living and exercise in West Virginians.
“Physical activity is just good for your brain, good for your body, does good for everything,” Cucuzzella explained.
“Really, if we’re gonna tackle obesity, we’ve gotta look at what people are eating and what we’re feeding folks,” he noted.
History in the Race
There’s another theme to Cucuzzella’s races that he hopes will help get people out and moving – and that’s by incorporating the local Civil War history in the courses, and, at the same time, help boost tourism in the state.
“If you talk to people, they’ve come from all over the country, because this is a special place,” he said, “There’s history on almost every step of this course. This goes through Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, by John Brown’s Fort, pretty much touches every area of Harpers Ferry Park, and historic Bolivar, so they get to see things from the Civil War era.”
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
(left to right) Dubem, Ike, & Uche Akunyli. The Akunyli family is originally from Nigeria but moved to Frederick, Maryland two years ago. Dubem ran in Saturday’s Kids Run, and Uche ran in the 5k.
Of the 658 registered runners from Saturday’s event, 68 percent were from 23 other states and Canada. Some of the racers traveled from far away, but some live closer like Dubem Akunyli who lives in Frederick, Maryland.
Akunyli ran in the Kids Run, which is one mile, and he says he loves visiting Harpers Ferry.
“It’s really cool, and it’s really cool about knowing about John Brown and his raid, so it’s very interesting here, and it’s really nice, like with the trees, and all of the mountains,” Akunyli said.
Cucuzzella says a big part of his spring race is that any child under 17-years-old can run for free.
“Running is a sport that’s accessible to the entire world, in developed and developing countries. There should be no barriers to letting a kid line up and run, and some of the best runners in the world have been raised, you know, with countries where the gross domestic product would be less than our entire state of West Virginia,” he noted, “Running is the way out for a lot of kids.”
Community Involvement
The local community also plays a large role in Cuccuzzella’s races. Restaurants, coffee shops, and others come out on race day to provide food and drinks. Local groups volunteer their time to cheer on the racers and help with registration.
Even the medallions awarded to the runners who participated in the Harpers Ferry Half Marathon and the Freedom’s Run in the fall are made locally.
That local potter is Joy Bridy. She lives in Shenandoah Junction, which is a few miles from Shepherdstown.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Local potter Joy Bridy presses wet clay into a mold that says, “Freedom’s Run.” She also made the 500 medallions for the “Harpers Ferry Half Marathon.”
Bridy says it’s an honor to be part of the races, and she hopes by awarding handmade medals, it adds a little something extra.
“I think that it makes the race a unique experience, and people are looking for authenticity and unique experiences that really reflect the place where they’re going,” Bridy said, “so being able to run the C&O Canal and run up through Antietam, the battlefields, it really gives you a sense of where you are, and I think for West Virginia, we are in a very unique area, especially this panhandle; it’s not like anywhere else in the state, and it’s not really like Maryland or Virginia either, so we have a really unique, little place here.”
Bridy made 500 medallions for the Harpers Ferry Half Marathon. She will make 1500 for the Freedom’s Run. Bridy makes each medallion by hand and says making them is her “own marathon.”
Even though only a third of Saturday’s racers were West Virginia residents, Dr. Mark Cucuzzella hopes as his race series enters its ninth year, it will spark even more community involvement and continue to promote health in the state.
The 26.2 mile Freedom’s Run will be held on September 30, 2017.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
