The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| World’s oldest ever man dies aged 116 Posted: 12 Jun 2013 08:48 AM PDT  Oldest living man, Jiroemon Kimura. — AFP pic TOKYO, June 12 —The world's oldest person and the oldest man ever to have lived has died of natural causes aged 116, officials in Japan said Wednesday. Jiroemon Kimura, who was born in 1897, died in hospital early Wednesday morning "from old age", an official in Kyoto's Kyotango city said in a statement. Kimura, who was from Kyotango, was hospitalised in early May suffering from pneumonia. A few days ago doctors noted that his condition was worsening, Kimura was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person in December 2012, after a woman from the United States died at the age of 115. That month he also broke another record when he was verified as the oldest man ever to have lived, after reaching the age of 115 years and 253 days. However, he was well off the all-time record set by French woman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, making her the longest living person in history. Kimura, who was born the same year as American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, celebrated his 116th birthday in April, receiving a pre-recorded video greeting from Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The centenarian had seven children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grand children and 15 great-great grandchildren, and worked at a post office for about 40 years. After retiring he took up farming which he continued to do until the age of 90. He did not smoke and only ate until he was 80 percent full, the local official told AFP. Kimura's motto in life was "to eat light and live long," the official added. The mayor of Kyotango will pay his respects at Kimura's house while the city hall will prepare a place for a book of condolences, the official said. "I heard a wake will be tomorrow and a funeral the day after tomorrow," he said. "Mr. Kimura was popular among residents so we expect many people to visit to sign condolences," he added. Encouraged by Kimura and 94 other people in Kyotango who will this year be 100 years old or more, the 60,000-strong city, together with 36 other municipalities, is planning to launch a research project to examine their diets and find the secrets of their longevity. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| To cut diabetes risk, walk after every meal, says study Posted: 12 Jun 2013 08:43 AM PDT  Taking a 15-minute walk after every meal can reduce your risks of type 2 diabetes, a new study finds. — shutterstock.com picNEW YORK, June 12 — If you're at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a small new study suggests taking a 15-minute walk after every meal to curb a "risky rise" in blood sugar, although researchers say larger trials are needed to confirm results. Blood sugar spikes after meals. In young, fit people, insulin helps drive that sugar, or glucose, into muscle cells and the liver, where it's stored for energy. But the system is less efficient as we get older, and leaving too much glucose in the blood can lead to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular damage. While prior research already confirms that exercise, including 45-minute daily walks, can reduce your risks for type 2 diabetes, researchers wanted to see if shorter walks could also be as beneficial, especially for older inactive people. Researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in the US found that three short post-meal walks were as effective at reducing blood sugar over 24 hours as a 45-minute walk of the same easy-to-moderate pace. Moreover, post-meal walking was significantly more effective than a sustained walk at lowering blood sugar for up to three hours following the evening meal, the researchers said. The study is published June 12 in Diabetes Care. "These findings are good news for people in their 70s and 80s who may feel more capable of engaging in intermittent physical activity on a daily basis, especially if the short walks can be combined with running errands or walking the dog," said lead study author Dr. Loretta DiPietro. "The muscle contractions connected with short walks were immediately effective in blunting the potentially damaging elevations in post-meal blood sugar commonly observed in older people," she said. DiPietro and her colleagues recruited 10 people age 60 and older who were inactive and at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Participants completed three randomly ordered exercise protocols spaced four weeks apart. Each protocol comprised a 48-hour stay, with the first day serving as a control period. On the second day, subjects engaged in either post-meal walking for 15 minutes after each meal or 45 minutes of sustained walking performed at 10:30 am or 4:30 pm. All walking was performed on a treadmill at an easy-to-moderate pace. Participants ate standardized meals and their blood sugar levels were measured continuously over each 48-hour stay. Findings showed that the best time to take a post-meal walk is after the evening meal, which is often the largest of the day and high post-dinner blood sugar is a strong determinant of excessive 24-hour glucose levels, the researchers said. While most people eat a large meal either at lunch or at dinner and then take a nap or watch television, DiPietro says this is the "worst thing you can do." She adds: "Let the food digest a bit and then get out and move." Still, she adds that because of the small size of the study, results need to be confirmed with larger trials that include more people. — Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan