A new study confirms the widespread belief that athletes can tolerate more pain than other people, a finding that may hold clues for managing pain in the general population.German researchers reviewed 15 studies that included a total of more than 550 athletes and more than 330 people with normal activity levels.

Gretchen Reynolds writes the New York Times’ “Phys Ed” column and has been a devotee of physical exercise — particularly running — for decades. In her work, she’s discovered that while inactivity can drastically shorten the healthy lifespan, most of the benefits of working out don’t require hours of effort or marathon-type training.

"Diet and exercise" is a phrase that goes hand-in-hand with losing weight. But what you eat or drink before, during and after your workout is key to the weight loss process. Whether you run marathons, bike to work or walk around your neighborhood a few times a week – if you really want to optimize your workout, it’s time to check in on your diet.
 

Don't become a couch potato just because your doctor's prescription for physical therapy has run out. The American Council on Exercise suggests how to transition from physical therapy to a regular exercise regimen: Make a commitment to staying physically active and fit; make sure you don't slip into a sedentary lifestyle. Ask your therapist questions about safe follow-up exercises.

Lower back pain often fades fairly quickly, but it may stubbornly linger to some extent for months or more, a new study finds. "The clear good news is that if you seek care for your back pain, you do improve pretty quickly, and some folk do a lot better than others," said Christopher G. Maher, at researcher at the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, Australia, who worked on the study.

Wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI) report very high rates of wheelchair breakdowns - and the problem is getting worse, suggests a study in American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (AJPM&R), the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists, AJPM&R is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

You shouldn't stop exercising during the summer months, just because the mercury has jumped to uncomfortable heights. But you should take precautions to protect yourself against heat-related illness. The American Council on Exercise offers these guidelines: Drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise. Don't exercise as vigorously as you normally do, especially during the first few days of hotter weather.

People who receive treatment for chronic and acute low-back pain show significant improvement in the first six weeks, but may still have some pain and disability after one year, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from 33 studies that included more than 11,000 patients to learn more about how treatment affects low-back pain.

A new study from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University has found that, at time of death, individuals with dementia are more likely to be living at home than in a nursing home. This contradicts the commonly held view that most individuals with dementia in the United States eventually move to nursing homes and die there.

Obama's healthcare goals have been controversial at best, and although anti-smoking campaigns and other public health and safety awareness drives have been successful, it's always somewhat dubious when government starts creating grand plans and lofty goals. The insulin treatment is particularly important, as Alzheimer's has been linked to diabetes.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. On Tuesday, the Obama Administration announced the launch of the National Alzheimer’s Plan, with the goal of finding effective ways to prevent and treat the devastating effects of dementia by 2025. “This is a strong plan that promises important progress when implemented,” Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, said in a statement.

The federal government unveiled its National Alzheimer’s Plan to find effective ways to prevent and treat dementia and Alzheimer’s by 2025. The plan’s scope became clearer as news broke of federal funding for an unprecedented drug trial: participants who are genetically guaranteed to get Alzheimer’s but do not yet have symptoms will receive medication intended to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Early research suggests that if a 6-month old baby has "head lag," or weak head and neck control, it may be an early sign of autism or another language/social developmental delay. The test is simple – babies who are lying on the floor are pulled up into a sitting position. If the baby's head is not moving forward as you pull the baby up, it's a sign of weak head and neck control.

Not too long ago, Janis Hoskins was lying in a hospital bed, unable to speak or move her right side. But inside, she was mustering her strength. “I’m a fighter,” said Hoskins, a south Surrey resident who had a stroke last August. “The physiotherapist at Royal Columbian Hospital saw that spark in me. He pushed me so that he could build me up to send me to Eagle Ridge for intensive rehab.”

Researchers report that a new DNA test may be able to spot an increased risk of autism in children as young as 6 months old.The genetic screen, called ARISk, is designed for babies and toddlers who have a sibling with autism, a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and repetitive behaviors. Studies have shown a strong genetic basis for autism.

One in three children with an older sibling who has an autism spectrum disorder, or problems with social interaction and communication, shows signs of developmental delay or autism-related behaviors by the age of 3 years. It is clear that the younger siblings of a child with an ASD may face challenges even if they are not themselves identified with an ASD."

A study published in Respiration has found that a protein--called HSP27--could be a blood biomarker for COPD, which would help doctors detect and diagnose the condition earlier. And early treatment of COPD could make a difference in quality of life. Early detection and treatment will not stop the progression of the disease, but it can slow it down, offering COPD patients a better quality of life for many years.

Smoking rates among American teens and young adults fell between 2004 and 2010, but too many of them still light up. The rate of current cigarette use among U.S. teens decreased from nearly 12% in 2004 to about 8% in 2010 and dropped from nearly 40% to about 34% among young adults. The average national retailer rate of illegal sales of tobacco products to underage youth is down to 9.3%

How can I manage asthma around smoke?  I am currently having trouble managing my asthma because of the brush fires that are around my neighborhood. Do you have any advice for management when there is a trigger you cant control? That's one of the things that's kind of crappy about having asthma:  there are certain things beyond your control.

Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.Viral respiratory infections are common during childhood. IFN-gamma helps fight viruses by stopping them from replicating.

Patient education and medication compliance contributed to a 74 percent drop in the number of patients with life-threatening asthma admitted to the intensive care unit at University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, researchers report. Their review of 30 years of hospital data focused on patients with severe asthma who didn't respond to standard inhalers.

Can a healthy diet help you breathe easier? Some research says…yes. But there are also a lot of unproven dietary strategies touted help manage allergies and asthma. What works? What doesn’t? Find out here. (Of course, if you have allergies or asthma, you should always follow the advice of your health care provider.) What natural solutions have you tried to prevent asthma or allergies?

"Can eating high fat foods trigger asthma?" American's love Big Macs, Whoppers, French fries, onion rings and deep fried chicken.  These are convenient foods that are simply delicious.  Yet the old saying goes, "If it tastes good, it's probably not good for you." Now we already knew such high-fat foods are bad for your heart. Yet new evidence suggests they may also be bad for your lungs.

For patients with COPD, acupuncture may help relieve shortness of breath during activity, Japanese researchers suggest. COPD is a progressive lung condition that makes it hard to breathe; it is commonly caused by smoking or exposure to other toxins. It is an ancient Chinese practice, involves the insertion of thin needles into certain points on the body to boost health and well-being.

The Response to Intervention Model was officially recognized in 2004 and the prominent implementation of the "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001. It is an educational strategy that has slowly gained momentum in schools across the country. Professional development and methodical accountability are becoming more widespread, with the advent of recent technological advances.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have obtained new evidence that at least some persistent stuttering is caused by mutations in a gene governing not speech but a metabolic pathway involved in recycling old cell parts. It provides the first evidence that mutations affecting cellular recycling centers called lysosomes play a role in causing some people to stutter. Genetic clues to stuttering were first identified in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010.

It's "M" Week at our school! Last week's post was chocolaty and low in sugar. This week's post was just as chocolaty however it does not cut calories. This is a delicious and easy treat to make at school or at home! M&Ms can be substituted with any candy to honor the letter or theme of the week at your school! Don't forget to SING! The little ditty MOMMY MAKES ME MASH MY M&Ms is a wonderful way to practice saying the /m/ sound.

The Auburn University Montgomery Speech and Hearing Clinic has a new home to improve diagnostic services for clients from the River Region to Guatemala.The clinic has moved to its new address at 7177 Halcyon Summit Drive across Taylor Road from AUM’s main campus. The clinic provides services for children and adults with speech and hearing issues. The audiology area includes two hearing booths and two hearing aid fitting rooms.

An Elm Grove company that offers online speech learning for children said Wednesday it has raised $300,000 of funding from angel investors. SpeechTails Inc. raised the money from Angels on the Water Fund and individual angel investors earlier this year, said Patrick Walters, the company's chief executive officer and an investor in the company.

RWH Technology has released an update for SpeakColorsHD, a speech therapy app designed to help children with special needs learn how to speak simple sentences using colors and photos of objects. The update includes more types of sentences, the ability to use your own photos, support for iPad retina display, an improved default male voice and a new, female default voice.

People of all ages and cultures gesture while speaking, some much more noticeably than others. But is gesturing uniquely tied to speech, or is it, rather, processed by the brain like any other manual action? What's next for the researchers? "We're interested in how other types of visual inputs, such as eye gaze, mouth movements, and facial expressions, combine with hand gestures to impact speech processing.

Symptoms of autism can be difficult to recognize in very young children, especially in mild cases or in instances when a child has other mental or physical conditions. The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke mentions these possible early symptoms of autism. No pointing or babbling by age 1, or the absence of saying single words by age 16 months.