CPR.COM

Do Brain Trainer Games Work?

tim — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:37:58 +0000

A friend has looked for ways to improve his memory capacity and cognitive response, and thought that brain trainer games and software might work. As we get older, our brains decline in operating speed and performance. He’s been playing brain trainer games at Lumosity, which advertise that their subscription game service will “improve your brain health and performance”.

Brain Trainer Games Study Results

Scientific American covered a 2009 review of brain trainer games Brown University of 20 software studies that the results “underwhelming”. The most highly reviewed paper by the Mayo Clinic tested the Brain Fitness Program by Posit Science. While the 8-week brain trainer program worked, improving working memory and processing speed, the result was a mere 4% better than the control group that just watched educational documentaries.

Activity and Diet are the Best Brain Trainer Games

The article concludes that the best brain trainer is physical health and social activity are the best brain trainers. Several studies have shown a link between physical activity and cognition. An 8 year study of older women at the University of California found that the most active women had a 30% lower risk of cognitive decline, and that the amount of physical activity, not speed, was related to cognition. The study’s author concluded that, regarding activity, “a little was good but even more was better“.

Diet and Cognitive Function

Several studies have shown how diet affects cognitive function. Two studies linked a Mediterranean diet, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables, grains, olive oil, beans and nuts, water, some seafood and wine, and less dairy, meat and sweets, and, in the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, also includes being physically active and social dining, with a lower rate of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Finally, a UCLA study linked traditional brain games, like crossword puzzles and brainteasers, may play a role along with fitness, diet and stress reduction. Unfortunately, this study doesn’t appear to have included a group that only did behavior modification to establish whether brain trainer games worked in this case.

(Photo: A Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Ann Larie Valentine‘s photo stream)

How to Reduce the Risk of a Heart Attack

tim — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:49:48 +0000

The Wall Street Journal published an article about how to reduce the risk of a heart attack entitled “The Guide to Beating a Heart Attack”. It’s well known that most of the risk of a heart attack is associated with factors that are within a person’s control, including cholesterol, blood pressure, physical activity, smoking and diet. The decisions you make with regards to what you eat and and do and medicine you take can trump your genetic disposition, which plays a part in about half of cardiac arrests.

10 Minutes of Exercise Reduces Heart Attack Risk by 50%

The eye opener of this article is its exercise recommendations. Most of us don’t exercise enough – or at all – because we can’t find the time to get in the recommended 30 minutes a day, which can reduce your risk of heart attack by 70%. The surprising news is that a study by the Mayo Clinic found that only 10 minutes a day of exercise will reduce the risk of a heart attack by 50%.

Everyone can find 10 minutes in even the busiest day for a short walk.

While researchers say that 30 minutes of exercise a day should be your goal, even a small amount of daily exercise, as simple as a 10 minute walk, can reduce the risk of a heart attack.

Read the entire article in the Wall Street Journal here.

(Photo: A Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Asela Jayarathne‘s photo stream)

Boston Marathon Hands Only CPR Instructional Video

tim — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:38:16 +0000

The Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the Boston Marathon, produced a “hands only” CPR instructional video. The Boston Marathon will be held on April 16th, and creating awareness of hands only CPR may save lives of participants and viewers.

Cardiac arrest happens at races more frequently at than you’d expect, but the long race puts stress on the hearts of even healthy athletes. The BAA includes cardiac wellness medical advice for its runners. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, among the 31 cases that had complete clinical data, researchers found that the 8 survivors had received CPR from a bystander. Of the 23 who died, only 10 received CPR.

This video isn’t as entertaining, perhaps, as the hands only CPR instructional videos that feature actors like Ken Jeong or Vinnie Jones, but its no-nonsense approach will tell you what you need to know if you see a runner collapse to the ground during the race:

Go to the runner. Don’t assume that someone else will.
Tap the runner on the shoulder, speak loudly and determine whether the runner is unconscious.
If the person is unresponsive, have someone call 911. It’s better to have someone else call 911 so you can start compression right away.
If the runner isn’t breathing, start chest compressions. Watch the video for complete information about each step.

Anyone who has a cardiac arrest at this year’s Boston Marathon will be closer than ever to assistance. Not only will 1,000 Boston Marathon runners and volunteers receive training in hands only CPR, including seeing the instructional video, on the weekend before the race, but the marathon will have 28 medical stations and roving volunteers every half-mile with portable defibrillators, or AED devices.

5 Reasons to Learn CPR

tim — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:49:01 +0000

Here are 5 really good reasons to learn CPR:

You might save someone’s life.
You may save the life of someone close to you. 80% of cardiac arrests happen at home.
You’ll be smarter. By the end of your class, you’ll know more than you did when you started.
You’ll be more confident. You’ll know exactly how to react when someone is having a heart attack.
You get to use cool life-saving technology. Part of CPR training now includes how to operate an automatic electronic defibrillator. Most states require an AED device in all public places; in time of need, you may be the only person in the room who knows how to operate it.

These are the reasons that I decided to learn CPR.

(Photo: A Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Anita Hart‘s photo stream)

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Produce in Season in April

tim — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:00:15 +0000

Late winter/early spring in the northeast means a smaller selection of root vegetables, mostly from storage, at the market. The following vegetables and produce are in season in April in the Northeast US:

Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Turnips

(Photo: A Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Elena Gaillard‘s photo stream); Source

Statins and Cholesterol: New Drug May Enhance or Replace Statins

tim — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0000

Recently, I wrote about the negative side effect of statins on memory. Researchers announced a new drug, early in the clinical testing stages, that may enhance the cholesterol-lowering benefits of statins or replace them entirely. The new drug is an antibody called REGN727. REGN727 works by blocking the action of a protein produced in the liver that limits the amount of bad cholesterol, or LDL, that the liver can remove from the bloodstream.

Early testing on nearly 200 test subjects with high cholesterol indicates that REGN727 can reduce levels from 40% to over 70% when used alone or in conjunction with statins; statins on their own can reduce cholesterol levels from between 20 to 60%. Like statins, it is expected that patients will require continuous use of REGN727 to maintain lower cholesterol levels.

(Photo: A Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from El Alvi‘s photo stream)

Statins and Memory Loss: The Tradeoff With Anti-Cholesterol Medication

tim — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:08:06 +0000

In a recently released advisory notice, the FDA acknowledged a relationship between statins and memory loss, something many patients taking anti-cholesterol drugs and their doctors already knew. Specifically, the notice advised that “cognitive impairment, such as memory loss, forgetfulness and confusion, has been reported by some statin users”.

Tara Parker-Pope writes in the New York Times Well blog about users of the drugs, the symptoms they’ve experienced, and some ways to remedy, including lowering one’s dosage or replacing statin therapy with exercise and improved diet.

Statins are a class of medicine prescribed to lower cholesterol levels by blocking the action of a chemical in the liver necessary for creating cholesterol. By reducing cholesterol levels, statins lower the risk of angina, heart attacks and strokes.

Statins are sold under several different brand names, including Lipitol, Crestor, Lescol, Pravachol, Vytorin, and Zocor. Lipitor was the top-selling prescription drug for several years until 2010; Pfizer lost its exclusive patent on the drug in 2011.

Hands Only CPR Video with Ken Jeong

tim — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:51:12 +0000

Awareness of hands-only CPR is being raised through a series of clever ads starring well-known personalities. Earlier this year, the British Heart Foundation released an instructional video aimed at British audiences starring actor, soccer star Vinnie Jones.

The American Heart Association originally released their hands-only CPR video starring Ken Jeong in 2011. Ken Jeong is not only an American actor, starring in the movie “Hangover” and TV show “Community”, but also a trained physician. The video is funny, instructive and memorable, and a great way to get the word out about hands-only CPR.

As of this date, the Ken Jeong video has been seen over 750,000 times on YouTube.

Benefits of Hands Only CPR

The medical and CPR community promotes hands-only CPR to the public using short videos starring well-known personalities. Hands-only CPR offers several benefits: it’s easy for bystanders with limited or no training to do when being given instruction by an emergency dispatcher; can be performed when a face shield isn’t available; and maintains constant blood flow during the critical first few minutes of cardiac arrest. Recent research indicates that hands-only CPR may be more effective than traditional CPR consisting of chest compression plus assisted breathing, because it helps maintain constant blood flow without rescue breath interruption.

Performing hands-only CPR is simple:

Call 911 (or 999 in the UK)
Start chest compressions, at least 2 inches deep, to the beat of the Bee Gee’s Stayin’ Alive, until help arrives or the victim recovers.

Fine-tuning the Web Site at CPR.COM

tim — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:49:43 +0000

Based on feedback from our readers and analysis of our traffic, we’ve implemented some small changes to the design of this site.

To free up real estate at the top of each page, we removed the infrequently used ‘boxes’ that highlighted older articles, just under the main menu.
Since many visitors are looking for information on where to sign up for a CPR training class, we added a simple ‘splash’ page that includes quick links to the AHA and Red Cross sites. Bypass the splash page for now by going directly to www.cpr.com/articles.

We’ll keep an eye on feedback and traffic to analyze these changes and whether they affect how people use our site.

Find a CPR Class in Chicago

tim — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:50:22 +0000

Chicago CPR Now is a well-reviewed CPR training service and provides an online class finder tool and class calendar to find a CPR class in Chicago. Their classes provide American Heart Association Heartsaver certified CPR/AED (and optionally First Aid) training, are about 4 hours long, and cost $45.

Couples Day Discount

Chicago CPR also offers a discounted ‘Couples Day’ when 2 people can sign up for a class for $72 instead of the full $90 fee.

Contact Chicago CPR Now for More Information

For more information on classes, pricing, or for more information, go to their web site or e-mail at info@chicagocprnow.com.