Aislinn Antrim, Associate Editor

Although many new college students are aware of the “freshman 15” weight gain, new research suggests that implementing healthy habits early in the school year could help counteract the weight gain.

According to researchers at the University of Georgia, students typically gain approximately 8 lbs over the course of their first year of college, with approximately 3 lbs expected during the first semester. Although this is significantly less than the “freshman 15” misnomer suggests, exercising regularly and making healthy diet choices could help avoid it, according to the investigators.

, found that vigorous physical activity was almost nonexistent among first-year students at a public university used for the research. The study authors defined “vigorous” activity as the kind of exercise that increases the heart rate and releases sweat.

Researchers tracked more than 100 students and measured things such as physical activity, body mass index (BMI), motivation to exercise, and how friends and family viewed their exercise habits. Researchers also examined whether university services influenced students’ activity levels.

At the beginning of the study, only 2 out of every 5 students were meeting recommended levels of activity as set by the American Heart Association (AHA). According to a press release, the AHA recommends that all adults participate in 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of intense exercise.

Despite their findings at the beginning of the study, the researchers noted that moderate physical activity, such as walking across campus or biking at a casual pace, did not change significantly from when students were in high school. Some students even increased their levels of moderate activity.

The study followed students throughout their first semester at school, and found that by the end of the semester, approximately 70% of the students reported no vigorous physical activity at all. This was in stark contrast to the beginning of the semester, when just 40% of students said they were not exercising hard enough to start panting.

“You have to be really motivated to engage in that level of activity,” said lead study author Yangyang Deng, a graduate student in the Mary Frances Early College of Education, in the press release. “In high school, there are many opportunities to be involved in sports, but those disappear for many students in college.”

As a result of this lack of physical activity, study participants saw modest but significant increases in BMI. By the end of the semester, the students added an average of just over 3 lbs. Although this is relatively small, the study authors noted that 3 lbs per semester can add up over the course of 4 years.

Interestingly, the researchers found that neither meal plan status nor on- or off-campus living significantly impacted weight gain; however, whether participants had physical exercise did have a substantial impact.

Students reported being aware of recreational activities at the student fitness center, and the availability of intramural sports and fitness classes had a positive effect on students’ physical activity levels. Having friends who exercised and supported their efforts to work out also increased the levels of vigorous physical activity.

“Vigorous physical activity most often occurs because of something like playing on a sports team, or if you’re really motivated to achieve a goal, like running a marathon,” said study author Sami Yli-Piipari, PhD, associate professor in the College of Education, in the press release. “You have to be really motivated to push yourself to that limit where you really are working hard to get those health benefits that come from that level of activity.”

From an institutional perspective, the authors said promoting healthy cooking classes, exercising courses, or other resources could positively impact students’ health. Students who want to increase their fitness levels should consider signing up for intramural sports teams, group exercise classes, or sessions with a personal trainer, according to the study authors.

“The students’ increased BMI is obviously a concern, but we should really focus on a more holistic view of health, especially increasing moderate and vigorous activity for students,” Deng said in the press release. “Establishing these good exercise habits now can have lifelong benefits.”

Beeson L. Weight gain isn’t inevitable when you start college. University of Georgia Today; August 24, 2021. Accessed September 22, 2021. 

https://news.uga.edu/weight-gain-isnt-inevitable-when-you-start-college/

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By the end of the first semester, almost 70% of students participating in the study reported no vigorous physical activity at all.



Implementing Healthy Habits Early Can Prevent Freshman Weight Gain for College Students

Maintaining good hydration throughout life could reduce the risk of developing heart failure, according to researchers at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Recommendations for adequate hydration range from 1.6 to 2.1 liters for women and from 2 to 3 liters for men. However, surveys from around the globe have found that many people do not meet even the lower end of these recommendations, as measured by serum sodium. According to the NHLBI, when individuals drink less water, the concentration of serum sodium in the body increases. The body then attempts to conserve water, which activates processes that contribute to the development of heart failure.

“Our study suggests that maintaining good hydration can prevent or at least slow down the changes within the heart that lead to heart failure,” said study author Natalia Dmitrieva, PhD, in the press release. “The findings indicate that we need to pay attention to the amount of fluid we consume every day and take action if we find that we drink too little.”

In the study, researchers examined whether serum sodium concentration in middle age can predict the development of heart failure 25 years later. They also investigated links between hydration and thickening of the walls in the left ventricle—called left ventricular hypertrophy—which is a precursor to heart failure diagnosis, according to the NHLBI.

These analyses were performed in 15,792 adults who were included in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Participants were between 44 and 66 years of age at the time of recruitment and were evaluated over 5 visits until 70 to 90 years of age.

Participants were then divided into 4 groups based on their average serum sodium concentration at study visits 1 and 2. Group 1 had concentrations between 135 and 139.5 mmol/l; group 2 had concentrations between 140 and 141.5 mmol/l; group 3 had concentrations between 142 and 143.5 mmol/l; and group 4 had concentrations between 144 and 146 mmol/l. For each group, the investigators then analyzed the proportion of individuals who developed heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy at visit 5, which occurred 25 years later.

According to the study, higher serum sodium concentration in midlife was associated with both heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy at visit 5, even after adjusting for other factors related to the development of heart failure, such as age, blood pressure, kidney function, blood cholesterol, blood glucose, body mass index, sex, and smoking status.

“It is natural to think that hydration and serum sodium should change day to day depending on how much we drink on each day,” Dmitrieva said in the press release. “However, serum sodium concentration remains within a narrow range over long periods, which is likely related to habitual fluid consumption.”

Specifically, every 1 mmol/l increase in serum sodium concentration during midlife was associated with 1.2 increased odds of developing left ventricular hypertrophy and 1.11 increased odds of developing heart failure. The risks for both left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure between 70 and 90 years of age began to increase when serum sodium concentration exceeded 142 mmol/l in midlife.

“The results suggest that good hydration throughout life may decrease the risk of developing left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure,” Dmitrieva said in the press release. “In addition, our finding that serum sodium exceeding 142 mmol/l increases the risk of adverse effects in the heart may help to identify people who could benefit from an evaluation of their hydration level. This sodium level is within the normal range and would not be labelled as abnormal in lab test results but could be used by physicians during regular physical exams to identify people whose usual fluid intake should be assessed.”

Drinking sufficient water could prevent heart failure. News release. European Society of Cardiology; August 24, 2021. Accessed September 9, 2021. 

https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Drinking-sufficient-water-could-prevent-heart-failure

When the body attempts to conserve water, it activates processes that contribute to the development of heart failure.

Research Suggests Hydration Could Prevent Heart Failure

A computational evaluation of drug delivery devices, such as inhalers, has found several ways that they can be improved, according to research published in 

By damaging environmental conditions in highly populated areas around the world, increased air pollution has exacerbated health risks for patients with pulmonary diseases, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the study authors. Many of these patients rely on pressurized metered-dose inhalers or drug powder inhalers to receive their medications, although these devices do not always optimally deliver the treatments.

“[Inhalers’] efficacy remains a great concern as only one-third of the total drug reaches the affected regions of the lungs,” said study co-author Suvash C. Saha, PhD, from the University of Technology Sydney, in a press release. “As a result, the drug loss and cost of the treatment become higher.”

To understand the efficacy of these systems, the researchers said predicting aerosolized or powdered drug deposition in the lungs is essential. To investigate this, the research team created a computational model to evaluate where improvements can be made.

They presented the findings in a realistic human lung model, according to the press release. Using computational fluid dynamics, the study found that more drug particles are deposited in the right bronchi than in the left, which is curved because of its proximity to the heart. The findings suggest that the drugs should contain smaller-sized particles to enable their reach in the distal bronchi.

“At higher flow rates, inertial impaction is found to be responsible for deposition of drug particles in the upper portion of the airways but with lesser availability of drug particles in the distal region of the airways,” said co-author Akshoy Ranjan Paul, PhD, in the press release. “Additionally, at lower flow rates, there is not enough momentum to carry particles to the distal region. As a result, there should be an optimum flow rate [to achieve] maximum reach of drug particles in the distal region.”

Computational Evaluation of Drug Delivery Reveals Room for Inhalers Improvement. News release. 

; August 10, 2021. Accessed August 25, 2021. 

https://publishing.aip.org/publications/latest-content/computational-evaluation-of-drug-delivery-reveals-room-for-inhalers-improvement/

Researchers found that more drug particles are deposited in the right bronchi than in the left bronchi, which is curved because of its proximity to the heart.

Evaluation of Inhaler Drug Delivery Finds Room for Improvement

A 5-minute breathing exercise can lower blood pressure just as well as increased aerobic exercise or pharmaceutical treatments, according to researchers at the University of Colorado (UC) Boulder.

Journal of the American Heart Association,

 provides the strongest evidence yet that high-resistance inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) could help aging adults lower their blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular disease., according to the authors. The study noted that 65% of American adults over 50 years of age have above-normal blood pressure, yet fewer than 40% meet recommended aerobic exercise guidelines.

“There are a lot of lifestyle strategies we know can help people maintain cardiovascular health as they age. But the reality is, they take a lot of time and effort and can be hard for some people to access,” said lead author Daniel Craighead, PhD, an assistant research professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology at UC Boulder, in a press release. “IMST can be done in 5 minutes in your own home while you watch TV.”

IMST was developed in the 1980s as part of an effort to help strengthen the diaphragms of critically ill patients with respiratory diseases. The exercise involves inhaling vigorously through a hand-held device that provides resistance.

It was initially recommended as a 30-minute-per-day regimen at low resistance, but researchers have been testing whether a more time-efficient protocol could also have benefits for cardiovascular health, cognitive ability, and athletic performance. This shorter protocol involves 30 inhalations per day at high resistance, done 6 days per week.

For their study, researchers recruited 36 otherwise healthy adults between 50 and 79 years of age with above normal systolic blood pressure. Half of these patients did high-resistance IMST for 6 weeks, whereas the other half did a placebo protocol in which the resistance was much lower.

After 6 weeks, researchers found that the high-resistance group saw an average 9-point decrease in systolic blood pressure. This reduction generally exceeds reductions achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days per week and is equal to the effects of some medications used to lower blood pressure, according to the study authors. Even 6 weeks after they stopped doing IMST, this group maintained most of that improvement.

“We found [that] not only is it more time-efficient than traditional exercise programs, but the benefits may be longer lasting,” Craighead said in the press release.

The treatment group also saw a 45% improvement in vascular endothelial function and a significant increase in levels of nitric oxide, which is key to the dilation of arteries and the prevention of plaque buildup. Nitric oxide levels naturally decline with age, according to the study.

Furthermore, the research team noted that inflammation and oxidative stress markers were significantly lower in the group that did IMST for 6 weeks, suggesting a lower risk of heart attacks. They also found that those in the IMST group completed 95% of the sessions, which is a significantly higher adherence level than physical exercise.

“We have identified a novel form of therapy that lowers blood pressure without giving people pharmacological compounds and with much higher adherence than aerobic exercise,” said senior author Doug Seals, PhD, a distinguished professor of integrative physiology at UC Boulder, in the press release. “That’s noteworthy.”

The practice may be especially beneficial for postmenopausal women, according to the study. Earlier research found that postmenopausal women who are not taking supplemental estrogen do not reap as many benefits from aerobic exercise programs as men when analyzing vascular endothelial function. The new study, however, found that IMST improved it just as much in women as in men.

“If aerobic exercise won’t improve this key measure of cardiovascular health for postmenopausal women, they need another lifestyle intervention that will,” Craighead said in the press release. “This could be it.”

5-minute breathing workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugs. News release. UC Boulder; June 29, 2021. Accessed August 11, 2021. 

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2021/06/29/5-minute-breathing-workout-lowers-blood-pressure-much-exercise-drugs

The practice may be especially beneficial for postmenopausal women, who do not reap as many benefits from aerobic exercise programs as men in analyses of vascular endothelial function.

Study: Breathing Exercise Lowers Blood Pressure As Well As Exercise, Medications

New research points to 4 reasons that clean environments and hygiene may not negatively impact childhood immunity against allergic diseases, according to investigators at University College London.

The “hygiene hypothesis” has been popular for many years and theorizes that early childhood exposure to some microorganisms help provide protection against allergic diseases by strengthening the immune system. However, the researchers said there is a related view that suggests that modern society is too hygienic, meaning young children are less likely to be exposed to these microorganisms.

“Exposure to microorganisms in early life is essential for the ‘education’ of the immune and metabolic systems,” said lead author Graham Rook, MD, BA, MB, in a press release. “Organisms that populate our guts, skin, and airways also play an important role in maintaining our health right into old age. So, throughout life we need exposure to these beneficial microorganisms, derived mostly from our mothers, other family members, and the natural environment.”

Researchers aimed to reconcile the conflict between necessary cleanliness and exposure to microorganisms for the immune system. According to the press release, they identified 4 factors that suggest cleanliness and immune system development are not mutually exclusive.

Firstly, the authors found that the microorganisms in a modern home are typically not the ones needed for immunity. They added that vaccines significantly help to develop the immune system in addition to providing protection from infections, so exposure to pathogens is less necessary than it would be without vaccines.

Research has also confirmed that the microorganisms found in natural outdoor environments are vital for immune health, so cleaning indoor spaces and personal hygiene have no impact on exposure to natural microorganisms.

Finally, more recent research has found that links between home cleaning and allergies are often not caused by the removal of organisms, but rather by exposure of the lungs to cleaning products. The chemicals in many cleaning products cause lung damage, which encourages the development of allergic responses, according to the study authors.

“So cleaning the home is good and personal cleanliness is good, but, as explained in some detail in the paper, to prevent spread of infection it needs to be targeted to hands and surfaces most often involved in infection transmission,” Rook said in the press release. “By targeting our cleaning practices, we also limit direct exposure of children to cleaning agents.”

Rook concluded that exposure to family members, outdoor environments, and vaccines provide all of the necessary microorganism exposure for childhood immune system development. Exposures such as these are not in conflict with hygiene and cleaning practices.

Being clean and hygienic need not impair childhood immunity. News release. University College London; July 5, 2021. Accessed August 5, 2021. 

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/jul/being-clean-and-hygienic-need-not-impair-childhood-immunity

Researchers seek to reconcile the conflict between necessary cleanliness and exposure to microorganisms for the immune system.

Research Suggests Cleanliness Does Not Negatively Impact Childhood Immunity

The first step to address mild to moderately elevated blood pressure and cholesterol in otherwise healthy adults should be advising them to sit less and move more, according to a new scientific statement published in 

An estimated 21% of adults in the United States have systolic blood pressure between 120- and 139-mm Hg, or diastolic blood pressure between 80- and 89-mm Hg, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Both of these values are abnormally high and meet the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/AHA High Blood Pressure Guideline criteria for lifestyle-only treatment for elevated blood pressure.

Similarly, the scientific statement authors estimated that 28% of adults in the United States have an LDL cholesterol score above 70 mg/dL and otherwise meet criteria for low risk of heart disease or stroke. This patient population would meet the 2018 ACC/AHA Cholesterol Treatment Guidelines criteria for lifestyle-only treatment, which includes increased physical activity, weight loss, improving diet, smoking cessation, and moderating alcohol intake.

“The current American Heart Association guidelines for diagnosing high blood pressure and cholesterol recognize that otherwise healthy individuals with mildly or moderately elevated levels of these cardiovascular risk factors should actively attempt to reduce these risks,” said Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD, FAHA, chair of the statement writing group, in a press release. “The first treatment strategy for many of these patients should be healthy lifestyle changes beginning with increasing physical activity.”

Increasing physical activity has been shown to result in clinically meaningful reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, typically with an average reduction of 3- or 4-mm Hg. Similar improvements have been seen with blood cholesterol, according to the press release. The statement emphasized research demonstrating that physically active people have a 21% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 36% lower risk of death from cardiovascular diseases compared to those who are not physically active.

According to the AHA, a “prescription” for increased exercise includes several steps. Health care providers should screen patients about their physical activity at every interaction, whether by asking a few questions or by having patients use a wearable device. Health professionals should also provide ideas and resources for supporting patients to improve and sustain regular physical activity.

Importantly, providers should help patients find activities that they enjoy and should provide ideas for early success in order to optimize the patient’s chances of implementing a life-long change. Similarly, encouraging and celebrating small improvements and increases in physical activity, such as walking more or taking the stairs, can keep patients motivated.

“Even small initial increases of 5 to 10 minutes a day can yield health benefits,” Gibbs said in the press release.

To improve overall health, the US Department of Health and Human Services 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that individuals participate in either a cumulative 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity weekly, in addition to 2 or more strength training sessions each week.

“In our world where physical activity is increasingly engineered out of our lives and the overwhelming default is to sit—and even more so now as the nation and the world is practicing quarantine and isolation to reduce the spread of coronavirus—the message that we must be relentless in our pursuit to ‘sit less and move more’ throughout the day is more important than ever,” Gibbs concluded.

“Prescription” to sit less, move more advised for mildly high blood pressure & cholesterol [news release]. American Heart Association; June 2, 2021. 

https://newsroom.heart.org/news/prescription-to-sit-less-move-more-advised-for-mildly-high-blood-pressure-cholesterol?preview=9fe0

Health care professionals can help patients improve mild to moderate hypertension and elevated cholesterol by encouraging them to find activities they enjoy and celebrating small improvements.