Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · May 2012
ReviewAge-associated chronic diseases require age-old medicine: role of chronic inflammation.
Most chronic diseases--such as cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, arthritis, diabetes and obesity--are becoming leading causes of disability and death all over the world. Some of the most common causes of these age-associated chronic diseases are lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption. All the risk factors linked to these chronic diseases have been shown to up-regulate inflammation. ⋯ Although modern science has developed several drugs for treating chronic diseases, most of these drugs are enormously expensive and are associated with serious side effects and morbidity. In this review, we present evidence on how chronic inflammation leads to age-associated chronic disease. Furthermore, we discuss diet and lifestyle as solutions for age-associated chronic disease.
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Preventive medicine · May 2012
Comparative StudyThe effect of a school-based active commuting intervention on children's commuting physical activity and daily physical activity.
To investigate the effect of a school-based intervention called Travelling Green (TG) on children's walking to and from school and total daily physical activity. ⋯ TG has a little effect on walking to and from school. However, for total daily steps and daily MVPA, TG results in a smaller seasonal decrease than for children who do not receive the intervention.
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Laudable supportive advances have been made to improve the care of patients with the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) but no pharmacologic interventions are known to reduce the high mortality of this disorder once it is established. This commentary discusses some of the challenges that arise in preventing ARDS in at-risk individuals and the likely dependence of this approach on biomarker panels that can be done in real time.