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Physical, Mental, And Overall Health Benefits Of Regular Exercise - How Exercise Improves Health

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Es muy malo para la respiración

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Tobacco is a killer. People who smoke or use other forms of tobacco are more likely to develop disease and die earlier than are people who don't use tobacco.

If you smoke, you may worry about what it's doing to your health. You probably worry, too, about how hard it might be to stop smoking. Nicotine is highly addictive, and to quit smoking - especially without help - can be difficult. In fact, most people don't succeed the first time they try to quit. It may take more than one try, but you can stop smoking.

Take that first step: Decide to stop smoking. Set a quit date. And then take advantage of the multitude of resources available to help you successfully quit smoking.

Visit Nicotine Dependence Center

Show references

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Tobacco is a killer. People who smoke or use other forms of tobacco are more likely to develop disease and die earlier than are people who don't use tobacco. If you smoke, you may worry about what it's doing to your health. You probably worry, too, about how hard it might be to stop smoking.

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ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
Marathoners are the thoroughbreds of high-performance runners, but even the draft horses of the running world - slow and steady joggers - improve their health. A study out this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that even five to 10 minutes a day of low-intensity running is enough to extend life by several years, compared with not running at all. It shows that the minimal healthy "dose" of exercise is smaller than many people might assume.

But if your favorite activity is a brisk walk in the park or a quick game of tennis, the research has implications for you, too. "There is no question that if you are not exercising and if you make the decision to start - whether it's walking, jogging, cycling, or an elliptical machine - you are going to be better off," says cardiologist Dr. Aaron Baggish, the associate director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and an accomplished runner himself

Take five to stay alive

The new study focused on a group of more than 55,000 men and women ages 18 to 100. About a quarter of them were runners. Over 15 years, those who ran just 50 minutes a week or fewer at a moderate pace were less likely to die from either cardiovascular disease or any cause, compared with those who didn't run at all.

The study suggests a relatively low entry level for the benefit of jogging, but it is not a prescription. "A little bit is good but a little bit more is probably better," Dr. Baggish says. A 2013 study in Denmark suggested that the "sweet spot" for maximum longevity is up to 2.5 hours of running a week.

Although running can trim away some of your existing risk of cardiovascular disease, it doesn't entirely eliminate it. The combined effect of lifestyle, diet, and family history still contribute to your lifetime risk.

"There is no question that the fitter you are and the more exercise you do, the longer you live and the better your quality of life," Dr. Baggish says. "But it doesn't confer immunity."

Feeling better

This study used preventing death to measure the benefit of running, but it's not the most typical reason for running. "Many dedicated long-term runners do not run because they want to live longer," Dr. Baggish notes. "They run because it makes them feel better on a daily basis. There is a mood elevating, quality-of-life benefit that comes from being a regular exerciser."

For regular runners, the cost of feeling good can be strains and sprains, so Dr. Baggish advocates for the value of what he calls "active rest." His rule of thumb, not supported by any specific research, is that it's a good idea to spend 25% of exercise time over the course of a year running at a lower level of intensity or doing other activities like swimming or biking.

"The body responds to training, but to preserve that benefit over the long haul there needs to be active periods of recovery," Dr. Baggish says. "Pulling back allows the body to repair and heal."

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Running for health: Even a little bit is good, but a little more is probably better - Harvard Health Blog

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ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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duerma por ocho horas cada noche

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A good night's sleep is incredibly important for your health.

In fact, it's just as important as eating healthy and exercising.

Unfortunately, there's a lot that can interfere with natural sleep patterns.

People are now sleeping less than they did in the past, and sleep quality has decreased as well.

Here are 10 reasons why good sleep is important.

Poor sleep is strongly linked to weight gain.

People with short sleep duration tend to weigh significantly more than those who get adequate sleep ( 1, ).

In fact, short sleep duration is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity.

In one extensive review study, children and adults with short sleep duration were 89% and 55% more likely to develop obesity, respectively ().

The effect of sleep on weight gain is believed to be mediated by numerous factors, including hormones and motivation to exercise ().

If you're trying to lose weight, getting quality sleep is absolutely crucial.

SUMMARY
Short sleep duration is associated with an increased risk of weight gain and obesity in both children and adults.

Studies show that sleep-deprived individuals have a bigger appetite and tend to eat more calories.

Sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones and is believed to cause poor appetite regulation (, ).

This includes higher levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite, and reduced levels of leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite ().

SUMMARY
Poor sleep affects hormones that regulate appetite. Those who get adequate sleep tend to eat fewer calories than those who don't.

Sleep is important for various aspects of brain function.

This includes cognition, concentration, productivity, and performance ().

All of these are negatively affected by sleep deprivation.

A study on medical interns provides a good example.

Interns on a traditional schedule with extended work hours of more than 24 hours made 36% more serious medical errors than interns on a schedule that allowed more sleep ().

Another study found that short sleep can negatively impact some aspects of brain function to a similar degree as alcohol intoxication ().

On the other hand, good sleep has been shown to improve problem-solving skills and enhance memory performance of both children and adults (, , ).

SUMMARY
Good sleep can maximize problem-solving skills and enhance memory. Poor sleep has been shown to impair brain function.

Sleep has been shown to enhance athletic performance.

In a study on basketball players, longer sleep was shown to significantly improve speed, accuracy, reaction times, and mental well-being ().

Less sleep duration has also been associated with poor exercise performance and functional limitation in older women.

A study in over 2,800 women found that poor sleep was linked to slower walking, lower grip strength, and greater difficulty performing independent activities ().

SUMMARY
Longer sleep has been shown to improve many aspects of athletic and physical performance.

Sleep quality and duration can have a major effect on many health risk factors.

These are the factors believed to drive chronic diseases, including heart disease.

A review of 15 studies found that people who don't get enough sleep are at far greater risk of heart disease or stroke than those who sleep 7-8 hours per night ().

SUMMARY
Sleeping less than 7-8 hours per night is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Experimental sleep restriction affects blood sugar and reduces insulin sensitivity (, ).

In a study in healthy young men, restricting sleep to 4 hours per night for 6 nights in a row caused symptoms of prediabetes ().

These symptoms resolved after one week of increased sleep duration.

Poor sleep habits are also strongly linked to adverse effects on blood sugar in the general population.

Those sleeping less than 6 hours per night have repeatedly been shown to be at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (, ).

SUMMARY
Sleep deprivation can cause prediabetes in healthy adults in as little as 6 days. Many studies show a strong link between short sleep duration and type 2 diabetes.

Mental health issues, such as depression, are strongly linked to poor sleep quality and sleeping disorders.

It's been estimated that 90% of people with depression complain about sleep quality ().

Poor sleep is even associated with an increased risk of death by suicide ().

Those with sleeping disorders like insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea also report significantly higher rates of depression than those without ().

SUMMARY
Poor sleeping patterns are strongly linked to depression, particularly for those with a sleeping disorder.

Even a small loss of sleep has been shown to impair immune function ().

One large 2-week study monitored the development of the common cold after giving people nasal drops with the cold virus ().

They found that those who slept less than 7 hours were almost 3 times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept 8 hours or more.

If you often get colds, ensuring that you get at least 8 hours of sleep per night could be very helpful. Eating more garlic can help as well.

SUMMARY
Getting at least 8 hours of sleep can improve your immune function and help fight the common cold.

Sleep can have a major effect on inflammation in your body.

In fact, sleep loss is known to activate undesirable markers of inflammation and cell damage.

Poor sleep has been strongly linked to long-term inflammation of the digestive tract, in disorders known as inflammatory bowel disease (, ).

One study observed that sleep-deprived people with Crohn's disease were twice as likely to relapse as patients who slept well ().

Researchers are even recommending sleep evaluation to help predict outcomes in individuals with long-term inflammatory issues ().

SUMMARY
Sleep affects your body's inflammatory responses. Poor sleep is linked to inflammatory bowel diseases and can increase your risk of disease recurrence.

Sleep loss reduces your ability to interact socially.

Several studies confirmed this using emotional facial recognition tests (, ).

One study found that people who hadn't slept had a reduced ability to recognize expressions of anger and happiness ().

Researchers believe that poor sleep affects your ability to recognize important social cues and process emotional information.

SUMMARY
Sleep deprivation may reduce your social skills and ability to recognize people's emotional expressions.

Along with nutrition and exercise, good sleep is one of the pillars of health.

You simply cannot achieve optimal health without taking care of your sleep.

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A good night's sleep is incredibly important for your health. In fact, it's just as important as eating healthy and exercising. Unfortunately, there's a lot that can interfere with natural sleep patterns. People are now sleeping less than they did in the past, and sleep quality has decreased as well.

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Key facts

In 2022, 57% of the global population (4.6 billion people) used a safely managed sanitation service.

Over 1.5 billion people still do not have basic sanitation services, such as private toilets or latrines.

Of these, 419 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water.

In 2020, 44% of the household wastewater generated globally was discharged without safe treatment (1).

At least 10% of the world's population is thought to consume food irrigated by wastewater.

Poor sanitation reduces human well-being, social and economic development due to impacts such as anxiety, risk of sexual assault, and lost opportunities for education and work.

Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as typhoid, intestinal worm infections and polio. It exacerbates stunting and contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Overview

According to the latest WASH-related burden of disease estimates, 1.4 million people die each year as a result of inadequate drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene. The vast majority of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries. Unsafe sanitation accounts for 564 000 of these deaths, largely from diarrhoeal disease, and it is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma. Poor sanitation also contributes to malnutrition.

In 2022, 57% of the global population (4.6 billion people) used a safely managed sanitation service; 33% (2.7 billion people) used private sanitation facilities connected to sewers from which wastewater was treated; 21% (1.7 billion people) used toilets or latrines where excreta were safely disposed of in situ; and 88% of the world's population (7.2 billion people) used at least a basic sanitation service (2).

Diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths among children aged under 5 years, 395 000 in the year 2019.

Open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. The countries where open defection is most widespread have the highest number of deaths of children aged under 5 years as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and big disparities of wealth.

Benefits of improving sanitation

reducing the spread of intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause suffering for millions;

reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition;

promoting dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls;

promoting school attendance: girls' school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate sanitary facilities;

reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance;

potential safe recovery of water, nutrients and renewable energy from wastewater and sludge; and

potential to increase overall community resilience to climate shocks, for example through safe use of wastewater for irrigation to mitigate water scarcity.

Benefits of improved sanitation extend well beyond reducing the risk of diarrhoea. These include:

A WHO study in 2012 calculated that for every US$ 1.00 invested in sanitation, there was a return of US$ 5.50 in lower health costs, more productivity and fewer premature deaths.

Challenges

In 2013, the UN Deputy Secretary-General issued a call to action on sanitation that included the elimination of open defecation by 2025. The world is on track to eliminate open defecation by 2030, if not by 2025, but historical rates of progress would need to double for the world to achieve universal coverage with basic sanitation services by 2030. To achieve universal safely managed services, rates would need to increase five-fold.

The situation in urban areas, particularly in dense, low income and informal areas, is a growing challenge as sewerage is precarious or non-existent, space for toilets is at a premium, poorly designed and managed pits and septic tanks contaminate open drains and groundwater and services for faecal sludge removal are unavailable or unaffordable. Inequalities are compounded when sewage discharged into storm drains and waterways pollutes poorer low-lowing areas of cities. The effects of climate change - floods, water scarcity and droughts, and sea level rise - is setting back progress for the billions of people without safely managed services and threatens to undermine existing services if they are not made more resilient.

Wastewater and sludge are increasingly seen as a valuable resource in the circular economy that can provide reliable water and nutrients for food production and recovered energy in various forms. In fact, use of wastewater and sludge is already commonplace, but much is used unsafely without adequate treatment, controls on use or regulatory oversight. Safe use that prevents transmission of excreta-related disease is vital to reduce harms and maximize beneficial use of wastewater and sludge.

In 2019 UN-Water launched the SDG6 global acceleration framework (GAF). On World Toilet Day 2020, WHO and UNICEF launched the State of the world's sanitation report laying out the scale of the challenge in terms of health impact, sanitation coverage, progress, policy and investment and also laying out an acceleration agenda for sanitation under the GAF.

WHO response

In 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right and called for international efforts to help countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking-water and sanitation. Sustainable Development Goal target 6.2 calls for adequate and equitable sanitation for all and target 6.3 calls for halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse.

As the international authority on public health, WHO leads global efforts to prevent transmission of diseases, advising governments on health-based regulation and service delivery. On sanitation, WHO monitors global burden of disease (SDG 3.9) and the level of sanitation access and wastewater treatment (SDG 6.2, 6.3) and analyses what helps and hinders progress (SDG 6a, 6b and GLAAS). Such monitoring gives Member States and donors global data to help decide how to invest in providing toilets and ensuring safe management of wastewater and excreta.
References

1. UN Habitat and WHO, 2021. Progress on wastewater treatment - Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.3.1. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva.

2. Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: special focus on gender. New York: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), 2023. https://washdata.org/reports/jmp-2023-wash-households

WHO works with partners on promoting effective risk assessment and management practices for sanitation in communities and health facilities based on evidence and tools including WHO guidelines on sanitation and health, safe use of wastewater, recreational water quality and promotion of sanitation safety planning and sanitary inspections, and through communities of practice such as RegNet and the sanitation workers initiative. WHO also supportscollaboration between WASH and health programmes where sanitation is critical for disease prevention and risk reduction including neglected tropical diseases, cholera, polio and antimicrobial resistance, and environmental surveillance of pathogens.Aspects of climate resilience are incorporated in all WHO sanitation guidance documents.

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Sanitation fact sheet provides key facts and information on benefits of improving sanitation, challenges and WHO response

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What would happen if you didn’t drink water? - Mia Nacamulli

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Stress management: Learn why you feel stress and how to fight it.