“Dogs can be a great motivator for physical activity,” study author Mathew Reeves, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Michigan State University in East Lansing, told MedlinePlus. “People who walk their dogs, walk more. They walk about an hour longer each week,”  added Reeves, who is also a vet.

Of the 6,000 people, who participated in the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, 41 percent owned a dog. Of those, nearly two-thirds reported walking their dog for at least 10 minutes at a time. The remaining one-third didn’t regularly walk their dogs. Overall, the dog owners were 69 percent more likely to partake in leisure-time physical activity than the non-dog owners.

If you’re now thinking of getting a dog for exercise, consider that the survey found that smaller dogs led to shorter walks, younger dogs afforded more exercise. The dog-as-exercise regimen proved especially helpful for folks 65 and older, and those earning $20,000 a year or less.
Read more here.

Running feet, runny nose

If you ran in yesterday’s Tobacco Road Marathon (congratulations to Chapel Hill’s Kipyegon Kirui for 2:24:27 first-place finish) and woke up today with itchy eyes, runny nose and congestion, there’s a reason: Turns our you’re more susceptible to allergies after running 26.2 miles.

A study of 150 runners from last year’s London Marathon found that one-in-three suffered allergy-induced symptoms following the spring race. Such symptoms are common after a race, but were thought to be the result of infections taking advantage of a run-stressed immune system. Blood tests of the London runners found the presence of immunoglobulin E antibodies, a sign of an allergic reaction. Only 8 percent of the runners were taking meds for allergies.

“These post-event sniffles might seem minor, but there are clear risks that people could go on to develop exercise-induced asthma and airway inflammation,” cautioned Dr. Paula Robson-Ansley, who lead the team conducting the study. In short: Don’t be so quick to write off those post-race sniffles.

Read more here.

Photo: Astro helped George Jetson keep trim.

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At the time, I thought I was pulling a fast one (in addition to saving my sanity). But according to a study published in the Jan. 12 online edition of the European Heart Journal, I was actually SAVING MY LIFE!

Sorry for the all-caps drama. But for someone whose butt was glued to a chair from 8 to 5, those short breaks, it turns out, were staving off The Big One down the line.

The study arose out of scientific curiosity about the fact that people in developed countries tend to spend more than half their day seated and the fact that heart disease is the No. 1 cause of premature death in the United States and Europe. Could there by a relationship, researchers wondered? Four years (2003-2006) and 4,800 male and female study participants later, the study concluded that indeed there was. Further, the study found that even if you religiously hit the gym before or after work, but don’t get up from your desk during the workday, you still had a higher risk for heart trouble down the line.

“Even if you exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, what you do for the rest of the day may also be important for your cardiovascular health,” Genevieve N. Healy, of the Cancer Prevention Research Centre at in the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland in Herston, Australia, told the online MedlinePlus. “This research suggests that even small changes to a person’s activity levels [as little as standing up regularly] might help to lower cardiovascular risk. These changes can be readily incorporated into the person’s day-to-day life. Stand up, move more, more often, could be used as a slogan to help get this message across.”

So the next time Mr. Dithers whines that he couldn’t find you at your desk, look him square in the eye and ask why he wants to see you keel over from a heart attack at your desk. Or, if you really want to appeal to his base instincts, ask why he wants to see you under the care of a heart specialist, on pricey subscription drugs, running up the tab on the company health plan.

Enjoy your new health breaks.

For details ion the study, go here.

Photo: Run! RUN! (Or at least get up once an hour and take a five-minute stretch.)

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