What’s the secret behind living to be 100 years old? Not a healthier lifestyle, apparently.

People who live to be 95 or older are no more virtuous than anyone else in terms of diet, exercise or smoking and drinking, according to researchers at Yeshiva University.

The researchers said results from a new study indicate that “nature,” or genes, may be more influential than “nurture,” or lifestyle, in terms of longevity.

After comparing centenarians, or people who live to be 100 years old, to the general elderly population, the researchers found no significant differences in BMI, smoking habits, physical activity or diet.
And for the most part, the lifestyles in both groups were not particularly healthy. For example, neither group was very likely to attempt a low calorie-diet, while a significant portion of both groups drank alcohol every day. About half of each group engaged in some kind of regular exercise.

One difference, the researchers found, was that centenarians had lower rates of obesity than the general elderly population, though they were equally as likely to be overweight.

Previous research has identified that centenarians may have certain gene variants that exert positive physiological effects such as causing significantly elevated levels of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol, and the researchers said this new study indicates there may be more, unidentified longevity-related genes that buffer against the harmful effects of an unhealthy lifestyle.

However, the researchers stressed that while these genes may protect centenarians from bad habits, healthy lifestyle choices remain critical for the majority of the population in terms of health benefits and lifespan.

As a final question, the researchers asked why the centenarians themselves believed they had lived so long. The majority cited family longevity (33 percent) while 20 percent believed physical activity played a role. Other answers included positive attitude, busy or active life, less smoking and drinking, good luck and religion.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

A new study bucks traditional medical advice to simply “lose weight” in order to stave off diabetes.  According to the results of the study, increasing muscle mass may also lower a person’s risk of developing pre-diabetes symptoms.

UCLA researchers found that higher muscle mass (relative to body size) was related to better insulin sensitivity and lower risk of pre-diabetes as well as full-blown type 2 diabetes.

“Our findings represent a departure from the usual focus of clinicians, and their patients, on just losing weight to improve metabolic health,” said the study’s senior author, Preethi Srikanthan, MD.

“Instead, this research suggests a role for maintaining fitness and building muscle,” Srikanthan added. “This is a welcome message for many overweight patients who experience difficulty in achieving weight loss, as any effort to get moving and keep fit should be seen as laudable and contributing to metabolic change.”

According to the researchers, this means that doctors should be monitoring muscle mass as well as changes in waist circumference and BMI in regards to diabetes risk.  It also suggests a wider range of exercise interventions may be available in order to prevent diabetes.

The study was published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

A new study from Wake Forest researchers looks at not only how likely it is for a person to suffer a heart attack, but whether or not there are certain risk factors that will make that person more likely to die of a heart attack.

“For some people, the first heart attack is more likely to be their last,” said lead researcher Elsayed Soliman, M.D., director of the Epidemiological Cardiology Research Center at Wake Forest Baptist. “For these people especially, it is important that we find ways to prevent that first heart attack from ever happening because their chances of living through it are not as good.”

The researchers reported they were able to identify certain traits, such as hypertension, race, body mass index and other factors that can be identified by an electrocardiogram (ECG), that can be predictive of dying from a heart attack rather than living through it.

Specifically, these risk factors include:

Ethnicity – Black people, compared to nonblack, were more likely to die from a heart attack, though they were less likely to develop coronary heart disease

Hypertension and heart rate – High blood pressure and heart rate were predictive of death

BMI – People with extremely high and extremely low BMIs were more likely to die from a heart attack

Soliman hopes his study will be useful to doctors for identifying patients who are at-risk for dying suddenly.  By using these markers, doctors can intervene early and possibly save more lives.

In the United States, between 230,000 and 325,000 people die from heart attacks every year, according to researchers. Most of these sudden deaths are caused by coronary heart disease.

“Since sudden cardiac death usually occurs before patients ever make it to the hospital, there is very little that can be done to save them,” Soliman said. “Identifying specific predictors that separate the risk of sudden cardiac death from that of non-fatal or not immediately fatal heart attacks would be the first step to address this problem, which was the basis for our study.”

The study was published in the journal Heart.

Results from a new study indicate that obese women may actually be able to lose weight during pregnancy without harming themselves or their babies.

In fact, the weight loss  could reduce the women’s risk of needing a cesarean section.

While the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an advisory panel to the U.S. government, says that obese women should gain 11 to 20 pounds during pregnancy – which is less than the 25 to 35 pound gain they recommend for normal weight-women – researchers have criticized the panel for not considering different levels of obesity.

In this study, Dr. Marie Blomberg found that severely obese women (those with a BMI of 40 or higher) may benefit from losing weight.

The results of the study indicate that severely obese women who lose weight, rather than gain the recommended amount, have less need for C-sections and are less likely to deliver large newborns.

Personally, I totally agree with the study and incorporate its logic into my own practice. I think other practicing obstetricians should definitely take note of the findings.

Severely obese women with BMIs greater than 40 should have minimal or no weight gain during pregnancy, providing that they continue to eat a balanced diet necessary to maintain a healthy baby and a healthy mother.

The whole mythology of pregnancy weight gain fixed on just a number has been overturned, and now obstetricians should rightfully focus on the initial weight of an expecting mom and decide the best course of action from there.

Mapping out balanced diet and exercise program for these women, as long as there are no other risk factors present, is essential in reducing or even eliminating problems during pregnancy.

One recent survey of Americans on body image found that more than half of all men and women would rather lose their job than gain an extra seventy-five pounds. And nearly 20 percent of the population would give up, or consider giving up, 20 IQ points to have the perfect body.

Obviously, weight and the way we are perceived is an important factor in our daily lives. It’s not surprising then that dieting is on the minds of so many people these days, particularly as people get on in their forties, when the metabolism begins to slow and the pounds begin to add up. So which diet is best? I’ll tell you.

First, let’s look at some of the big blockbuster diets that have appeared over the past decade or so—the South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, and so on. Each one of these diets has simply incorporated a different method of teaching you about nutrition in order to get you to lose weight. Each one gives you something to focus on, a behavior to motivate you, which is great because, after all, to lose weight you have to change your thinking.

But if you look at the fundamentals, the underlying theme of each diet is calories. Whether you do Atkins, South Beach, or Dr. Phil, it’s really all about calories.

When reviewed carefully, most diets are really nothing more than low-calorie nutrition plans disguised by clever marketing gimmicks. Scientific-sounding “facts” and hocus-pocus “research” are just ornaments on the diet tree. Diet-plan marketers go to great lengths to explain how their diet can work for everyone, or claim that it is carbohydrate intake or fat intake—or whatever the bad intake of the day is—that’s the culprit.

However, the bottom line is that the only way to lose weight is to have a caloric deficit, which occurs only when you burn more calories than you consume.

The average American today consumes 300 more calories per day today than did the average American of 30 years ago. Today’s average American also burns 260 fewer calories each day due to increased automation, technology, and sedentary occupations. Put those numbers together, and it becomes rather obvious why America’s waistline is growing at an alarming rate.

Check Your BMI

The BMI can tell you if you are underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. Adults 20 years old and older can calculate their BMI with this formula:

BMI = your weight/pds divided by height/in x height/in x 703

You are UNDERWEIGHT, if your BMI is below 18.5.

You are of NORMAL WEIGHT, if your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

You are OVERWEIGHT, if your BMI is between 25.0 and 29.9.

You are OBESE, if your BMI is 30.0 or more.

So here is Dr. Manny’s Freedom Diet. If you really want to lose weight, you have to do two things: eat fewer calories and burn more calories. This is not an optional “either/or” plan but an “and” plan. Of course, the calories you eat should be healthy calories. That’s all. Eat less. Exercise more. It really is that simple.

Fight obesity. Spread the word.

Exercise

People spend an enormous amount of time trying to find the perfect exercise, and while they’re doing that, their clock is ticking. Any physical activity is great, though the best kinds of exercise for you are those like walking, swimming, running, hiking, and skiing—all of which have a “global” impact on your body and mind.

Most important, you should stick to the exercise of your choice and do it regularly. If you adhere to those two principles, you’re going to burn calories, feel better, improve your metabolism, and benefit your health.

Any activity you do during the day—from climbing stairs, to housecleaning, to watching TV—will, of course, burn calories. But those activities don’t provide the necessary continuity, and I think the essence of getting into shape and having a good metabolism has to do with a continuity of exercise.

In other words, it’s better to burn 120 calories a day, seven days a week, doing your favorite exercise, for example, than to burn 800 calories doing the housework once a week. It’s the exercise regimen that has an impact on your health, not necessarily the intensity.

Burn, Baby, Burn

Estimated number of calories burned per minute based on an individual weighing about 150 pounds:

Sitting: 1

Talking on phone: 1

Sleeping: 1

Driving: 2

Housework: 3

Cooking: 3

Washing dishes: 3

Stretching: 4

Sex (active): 5

Walking (3 mph): 5

Calisthenics (moderate): 5

Ballroom dancing (fast): 6

Gardening: 6

Swimming (moderate): 7

Aerobics (low impact): 7

Hiking: 7

Jogging: 8

Stair step machine: 8

Bicycling (12 to 14 mph): 10

Basketball (full court): 12

Running (10 mph): 20

To easily calculate how many calories you burn in a day, go to www.healthstatus.com and click on “Calculators” then “Calories Burned.”

It is also very important to drink adequate amounts of fluid when you exercise. You need to drink about a half cup of water for every fifteen minutes of vigorous exercise. People think that muscle cramps during exercise are caused by a shortage of electrolytes, but that’s not true. You get muscle cramps because of water loss and dehydration. Drink that water!

Body mass index, which most people use as a way of measuring body fat, may soon give way to a new, more accurate method that relies on measurements of height and hip circumference, WebMD reported.

“The body mass index (BMI) does not accurately represent the amount of [body] fat,” said researcher Richard Bergman, Keck Professor of Medicine at the University of California’s Keck School of Medicine.  It also has difficulty taking muscle – which is heavier than fat, but healthy – into account.

The new measure is called body adiposity index (BAI) and works well for Hispanic and African-American populations, but more research is needed to determine its accuracy for whites and other ethnic groups.

According to Bergman, the problem with BMI is that people only get a relative number assessing body fat.  With the new BAI, the number people get is the actual percentage of fat and is more accurate.

However, while BMI ought to be improved, tBAI also exhibits limitations, said Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist at the American Council on Exercise, who reviewed the method.

The study was published in the journal Obesity.

Click here to read more from WebMD.