Every year we consider setting up resolutions for the coming year. Invariably, we do not keep to them. I am including a few options that are low key and could easily be included in your routine throughout the year and would help some part of your health.

We are going to start with good news. There is a myth that having sex can cause a heart attack. Following a study, lead researcher Dietrich Rothenbacher said: “It seems very unlikely that sexual activity is a trigger of heart attack.”

Having sex is no more strenuous than climbing two flights of stairs, doing moderate physical exercise or taking a brisk walk, say the researchers from Ulm University in Germany. In a questionnaire taken by 536 heart disease patients, only 0.7 per cent said they had had sex an hour before their heart attack, while 78 per cent reported they had not had sex for at least 24 hours prior to the attack.

Overall, nearly 15 per cent said they had had no sexual activity in the 12 months before their heart attack, and just 55 per cent said they had sex once or more times a week in the previous year (J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., 2015).

Try to stay happy. People who are happy and retain a positive attitude also have a healthier heart. This can be the difference between life and death for those who already have a heart condition.

Positive people live longer even after they have been diagnosed with a heart condition, say researchers who tracked the health and psychological outlook of more than 1,000 patients with coronary heart disease. They were more likely to still be alive five years later than those who had a negative outlook or suffered depression. A positive outlook was also demonstrated by a range of healthy lifestyle choices, such as more physical activity, better sleep and not smoking, said researchers at Penn State University.

Although there has been plenty of research showing how negative emotions and depression have harmful effects on health, the researchers reckon their study is one of the first to look at the health benefits of a positive frame of mind (Psychosom. Med., 2015).

Parkinson’s sufferers should carry out daily household chores to protect their motor skills. In fact, doing the washing up might even be better for them than formal exercise. These patients often become sedentary because of worries about balance and the risk of falls – but sitting around is the worst thing they can do, say researchers at the University of Michigan.

Instead, sufferers need to get into the routine of daily activity and movement, even if it is just doing household chores.

Parkinson’s sufferers should carry out daily household chores to protect their motor skills

Regular exercise can protect against the loss of motor skills, they say. They tested 48 Parkinson’s sufferers over a four-week period and checked their levels of dopamine, using PET (positron emission tomography) brain scans.

The participants did exercise or non-exercise physical activity, such as chores around the house, and those who carried out chores had better motor skills, irrespective of their levels of dopamine (Parkinsonism Relat. Disord., 2015).

Thirty minutes of exercise each day could keep asthma attacks away. Although the recommendation goes against the standard medical advice, new research has revealed that asthmatics who do daily gentle exercise – such as walking, riding a bike or yoga – are nearly three times less likely to have an attack than a sedentary sufferer.

Some medical practitioners advise asthmatics not to exercise in the belief that it causes shortness of breath and could trigger an attack. However, this research has found that exercise will not cause an attack as long as the sufferer takes medication beforehand and cools down afterwards. The exercise should not be strenuous. Any gentle activity for 30 minutes every day is enough to reduce the chances of an attack and improve asthma control by 250 per cent.

The researchers, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, interviewed 643 asthmatics, 245 of whom said they did no physical activity, presumably on the advice of their doctors. However, say the researchers, this also reflects the habits of the general population, of whom 45 per cent do not exercise (BMJ, Open Resp. Res., 2015).

Now on to food. I have written that carrots are good for your eyesight. In fact, all the colourful, carotenoid-rich vegetables, which also include spinach and sweet potatoes, can help protect against failing eyesight as we get older.

A major new study has found that carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by 35 per cent. AMD is the major cause of vision loss and blindness as we grow older.

Researchers made the discovery when they analysed the health and diets of 102,046 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study. The greatest protective effect was among those who ate the most carrots, tomatoes, spinach, oranges and other vegetables and fruit rich in carotenoids, which can be converted by the body into vitamin A.The foods are given their distinctive colouring by pigments. The two most beneficial carotenoids are lutein and zeaxyanthin, the researchers found (JAMA Ophthalmol., 2015).

kathryn@maltanet.net

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