eHealth Connection | Cooper University Hospital

Endurance exercise – jogging, bicycling, walking, and the like – can stop us from looking and feeling old, and might even help us live longer, or so a new study of mice suggests.

Published February 21 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study, conducted by researchers at McMaster University, Canada, found that premature aging in nearly every organ in the body was completely prevented in laboratory mice that ran on a treadmill three times a week for five months. Read the full story

Perhaps you’ve decided you want to start exercising to get physically fit. Maybe you want to ease or prevent chronic health conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, or maybe you want to lose that extra weight. Whatever your motivation, you have made a wise decision – you are going to exercise.

“This is an excellent first step,” said orthopedic specialist David B. Gealt, DO, of the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute. “For your next move, see your doctor.”

Carol Stratton, MSPT, CLT, ATC, Director of Sports Medicine Rehabilitation at the Cooper Bone and Joint Institute, agreed.

“We all know the importance of getting plenty of exercise. Being physically active reduces your risk for a host of diseases and increases your lifespan and quality of life.”

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A concussion is a brain injury. That’s exactly what health officials want all of us to understand. From infants to young adults to seniors, anyone who appears to have sustained a concussion is advised to be medically evaluated and monitored, to ensure the normal functioning of the brain.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a lack of proper diagnosis and management of concussion can result in serious long-term consequences, not the least of which is the risk of coma or death. While signs and symptoms of concussion can be noticeable immediately, they sometimes can take days or even weeks before they appear.

“It is important to understand that every concussion, no matter how mild, injures your brain,” said H. Warren Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Cooper Neurological Institute and Chief of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cooper.

Understanding Concussion

A concussion is a mild, traumatic brain injury – a disturbance of function of the nerve cells in the brain – caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head, or from a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth.

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Parents of children involved in athletics are advised to educate themselves and their children about head injury and concussion before the season begins.

“The diagnosis and treatment of concussions and their long-term effects on athletes continue to be an evolving discipline,” said R. Robert Franks, D.O., Assistant Director of Sports Medicine and Director of the Concussion Program at the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute.

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Parents of children involved in athletics would be wise to educate themselves and their children about head injury and concussion, according to physicians of sports medicine at Cooper.

“There is little education and understanding about concussions and what happens to athletes when concussions are sustained,” said R. Robert Franks, D.O., Assistant Director of Sports Medicine at the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute.

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