Physical Activity In Corona Virus

The COVID-19 pandemic means that many of us are staying at home and sitting down more than we usually do. It’s hard for a lot of us to do the sort of exercise we normally do. It’s even harder for people who don’t usually do a lot of physical exercises.

But at a time like this, it’s very important for people of all ages and abilities to be as active as possible. WHO’s Be Active campaign aims to help you do just that - and to have some fun at the same time.

Remember - Just taking a short break from sitting, by doing 3-4 minutes of light intensity physical movement, such as walking or stretching, will help ease your muscles and improve blood circulation and muscle activity.

Regular physical activity benefits both the body and mind. It can reduce high blood pressure, help manage weight, and reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and various cancers - all conditions that can increase susceptibility to COVID-19.

It also improves bone and muscle strength and increases balance, flexibility, and fitness. For older people, activities that improve balance help to prevent falls and injuries.

Regular physical activity can help give our days a routine and be a way to stay in contact with family and friends. It’s also good for our mental health - reducing the risk of depression, cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia - and improve overall feelings

How much physical activity is recommended for your age group?

WHO has recommendations on the amount of physical activity people of all ages should do to benefit their health and wellbeing.

Infants under 1 year of age

• All infants should be physically active several times a day.

• For those not yet mobile, this includes at least 30 minutes in prone position (tummy time), as floor-based play, spread throughout the day while awake.

Children under 5 years of age

• All young children should spend at least 180 minutes a day in a variety of types of physical activities at any intensity

• 3-4-year-old children should spend at least 60 minutes of this time in moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity

Children and adolescents aged 5-17 years

• All children and adolescents should do at least 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity

• This should include activities that strengthen muscle and bone, at least 3 days per week

• Doing more than 60 minutes of physical activity daily will provide additional health benefits

Adults aged over 18 years

• All adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity throughout the week.

• For additional health benefits, adults should increase their moderate-intensity physical activity to 300 minutes per week, or equivalent.

• For developing and maintaining musculoskeletal health, muscle-strengthening activities involving major muscle groups should be done on 2 or more days a week

• In addition, older adults with poor mobility should do physical activity to enhance balance and prevent falls on 3 or more days per week.

Sourch- https://www.who.int/news-room/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat-coronavirus/healthyathome/healthyathome---physical-activity

Women to Raise Awareness and Improve Heart Disease Care in world

Heart disease has long been considered a man's disease, but nothing could be further from the truth. Women and men develop heart disease at nearly equal rates, and believe it or not, more women than men die from heart disease each year. Both genders are at risk, and men and women of all ages can develop cardiovascular disease. In men, the disease typically presents earlier, while women often develop heart problems a bit later in life.

February is Go Red for women month, and today is National Wear Red Day. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the U. S. – second only to all types of cancer combined. While most women worry about their risk of dying from breast or uterine cancer, the greatest risk to their health is heart disease. Heart disease in women can be more difficult to diagnose since symptoms are sometimes different; instead of chest pain and shortness of breath, women may present with fatigue, feelings of dread or flu-like symptoms.

The vague nature of symptoms in women can make it difficult for both patients and doctors to recognize the presence of disease – which can lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Due to these delays, women often don't get timely therapy and are at risk for more complications related to heart disease. In fact, women who have heart attacks are more likely to die when compared to men with the similar disease. While we've made significant progress in the recognition and treatment of heart disease in the last decade, we still have a long way to go. That's why in February, we pause to recognize the plight of women with heart disease.

In the last decade, health care professionals have begun to recognize that women are significantly under-treated and under-served when it comes to heart disease. In addition to the fact that health care providers often don't recognize the symptoms in women, treatment in women overall is not as aggressive. Men are much more likely to be treated with urgent cardiac catheterization – a procedure designed to open blocked heart arteries that cause heart attacks.

However, 95 percent of adult women have at least one risk factor for heart disease – and almost half of women are not aware of the risks. While 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer (and the majority of American women get routine screening for breast cancer), 1 in 3 women will die from heart disease; consider that one woman dies every 80 seconds from a heart-related illness.

What are the Risk Factors for Heart disease in Women?

The risk factors for heart disease are similar in men and women. They produce inflammation (known to increase the risk for heart and blood vessels disease) and can cause blood vessels to become stiff, hardened and filled with fatty plaques. Ultimately, these changes can result in heart attack and stroke. Women must make sure they "know their numbers" in order to carefully assess their individual risk. Risk factors you can help manage include:

While we cannot impact our genetics, all women can take control of other modifiable risk factors. In fact, a woman's greatest risk may be the lack of awareness.

What Factors Contribute to the Under-Treatment of Women?

There are multiple reasons women tend to be under-treated and under-served. Some are societal, and some are individual and quite complex, but all can be addressed and impacted.

Women often put the needs of others – family, children, and spouse – ahead of their own, putting off preventative care. Many women don't recognize their risk and often don't take their symptoms seriously. In addition, many women have multiple roles and have increased pressures to succeed in all aspects of their lives – as a workplace professional, as a wife and mother, and as a caregiver for older parents.

What can Women Do to improve Their own Heart Health?

It's critical that all women become engaged in their own healthcare. Know your risks for heart disease – family history, high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. Then, once you've identified your risk for disease, work with your health care provider to modify risk and improve your health. Each woman must take control of her own cardiac health in order to change the statistics for heart disease in women in the future. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy body weight through regular exercise can significantly impact your risk, for example. And Type 2 diabetes, which is directly related to the development of heart disease, can be reversed by reducing body weight to optimal levels. High blood pressure can be treated with medications, and in many cases, weight loss can also eliminate high blood pressure. While both genetics and lifestyle contribute to the development of high cholesterol, a combination of drug therapy and exercise and diet can impact risk.

Ultimately, it's important we continue to advocate for the women in our lives – our mothers, our spouses, our sisters and our children. We must continue to educate one another and work to make sure health care providers are more equipped to recognize and treat heart disease in women. Finally, we must produce more research into heart disease and women, which will help provide insight into how better to treat women and improve survival.

It all starts with you. Wear red today, and show your support in the fight to eliminate heart-disease-related deaths in women.