If the five commonest modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease – high cholesterol concentrations, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and smoking – were eliminated in the United States, deaths from cardiovascular disease would be halved, a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine has found (Patel et al., 2015). Cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease… Read More
The value of ‘soft power’ versus ‘hard power’ is very much flavour of the month and is hotly debated. Below is a BMJ article that utilises the concept of soft power for the healthcare environment. The limitations of direct military intervention – or ‘hard power’ as politicians call it – for achieving foreign policy are… Read More
Research Paper Title Vis Medicatrix naturae: does nature “minister to the mind”? Abstract The healing power of nature, vis medicatrix naturae, has traditionally been defined as an internal healing response designed to restore health. Almost a century ago, famed biologist Sir John Arthur Thomson provided an additional interpretation of the word nature within the context… Read More
I think I can safely state that obesity can lead to diabetes, which in turn can lead to several other negative health issues. However, according to a recent study by Kiomourtzoglou and colleagues (2015) being obese and having type 2 diabetes can actually protect people against a few rare conditions. The population-based nested case-control study… Read More
Standing rather than sitting for two hours a day may have a positive effect on biochemical risk markers, including fasting blood glucose and lipid profile, a cross sectional study has shown (Healy et al., 2015). The participants were 698 Australian adults who wore activity monitors that judged posture and movement, for as long as seven… Read More
Bob Trenkamp, a teacher of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the President of the cardiac arrest and stroke charity Saving Lives, suggests that performing CPR with their hands may be too difficult for some people. He tells us that to compress the adult chest to the 2 inches (5cm) required to keep a heart pumping after… Read More
Research Paper Title Longitudinal Study of Body Mass Index in Young Males and the Transition to Fatherhood. Background Despite a growing understanding that the social determinants of health have an impact on body mass index (BMI), the role of fatherhood on young men’s BMI is understudied. This longitudinal study examined BMI in young men over… Read More
Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute 