During the holidays, overeating and New Year’s resolutions cause many people to think about weight loss. Focusing on physical activity for weight loss can reap great benefits. If you find a place for physical activity in your life, other healthy habits will likely follow.

Researchers have found that people who take walks during their lunch break consume fewer calories for lunch and typically eat healthier foods. A quick 20-minute walk can enhance metabolism and burn 111 calories (based on a 160 pound person walking a 20-minute mile). The walk may boost energy levels and help people feel healthy.

Experimenting with different types of exercise can be a fun way to shed excess pounds. Enrolling in a class such as karate, yoga, or dance is a good way to get active. Also, taking up a fun hobby, such as paint ball or golf, can be a great way to get outside and burn calories. If you have extra cash left over from the holidays, investing in a jump rope, hula hoop, or trampoline can also be a creative way to incorporate physical activity into your day.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), regular physical activity helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscles, reduces the risk of developing obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseas, and decreases feelings of depression and anxiety and promotes psychological well-being.

Despite the proven benefits of physical activity, more than half of American adults do not get enough physical activity to provide health benefits. A quarter of adults are not active at all during their leisure time. The CDC states that adults should strive to meet either of the following physical activity recommendations:

• Engage in moderate-intensity physical activities for at least 30 minutes on 5 or more days of the week (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/American College of Sports Medicine)

         OR

• Engage in vigorous-intensity physical activity 3 or more days per week for 20 or more minutes per occasion (Healthy People 2010)

Researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center released a report last week stating that high-dose chemotherapy (followed by a stem-cell transplant to rebuild the immune system) after surgery may not extend the lives of breast cancer patients. Experts discovered that women who received this aggressive treatment had a few extra cancer-free months, but that they ultimately did not survive any longer than women who never underwent this surgery.

I was surprised by the results. I was expecting some subsets of women to show some survival benefit. Many studies had been suggesting that there were some patients, such as young patients and women with triple negative cancer (cancer cells that lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone or HER2, which makes them difficult to treat with drugs) that would benefit. But our analysis shows that's not true, said Berry. 

The therapy involves multiple steps beginning with the extraction of bone-marrow stem cells from the patient prior to surgery. After the tumor has been removed, the patient is given very high doses of chemotherapy, and then re-infused with their stem cells, which restore immune cells destroyed by the chemotherapy. According to the study, these ultra-high doses of chemo are extremely toxic. Many of the 20,000 women who have received the treatment in the U.S. have died from the toxicity.

The study consisted of 15 trials (6,200 patients) and included women with all types of breast cancer at the beginning stages of disease. Each woman had tested positive for cancer in lymph nodes upon surgery. None of the women in the study had been diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized (spread) to anywhere else in the body.

High-dose chemotherapy was very popular in the 1980s and 1990s when many doctors believed that high doses of chemotherapy was better following cancer surgery. Although it was painful for patients, oncologists believed that high chemo levels would ultimately benefit patients by destroying any cancer cells that could still be in the body.

During this festive holiday season, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reminds us to stay safe and keep those around us safe by not allowing drinking or drugged driving. The month of December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month and the NHTSA cautions drivers to not let holiday parties get out of hand, to pour lightly, serve plenty of food, and not be afraid to take the keys from a friend who has had too much to drink.

• An alcohol-related motor vehicle crash kills someone every 31 minutes and non-fatally injures someone every two minutes (NHTSA 2006).
• In 2005, 16,885 people died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, accounting for 39% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States (NHTSA 2006).
• Most drinking and driving episodes go undetected. In 2005, nearly 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (Department of Justice 2005).
• Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes are the single greatest cause of death for every age group from 6 through 33 years of age (National Commission Against Drunk Driving).
• Nearly 80% of all occupants killed in alcohol related traffic crashes were not wearing seat belts (National Commission Against Drunk Driving).

Over the last few weeks, we have seen ice, rain, and snow storms devastate many areas of the United States; preparation is one of the best ways to combat winter weather problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers free winter weather and safety updates at http://www.emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/. This site contains information regarding emergency supply lists, winter storm preparation, indoor and outdoor safety, and loss of power preparation.

This week, winter weather warnings and advisories were posted due to a cold front that stretched from Texas to New Hampshire. According to CNN, roads were treacherous and more than a half-million homes and businesses lost power from the Plains into parts of the Northeast due to ice and freezing rain. To prevent injuries from winter weather, the CDC suggests equipping your car with the following emergency supplies:

• Cell phone; portable charger and extra batteries
• Shovel
• Windshield scraper
• Battery-powered radio (and extra batteries)
• Flashlight (and extra batteries)
• Water
• Snack food
• Extra hats, coats, mittens
• Blankets
• Chains or rope
• Tire chains
• Canned compressed air with sealant (emergency tire repair)
• Road salt and sand
• Booster cables
• Emergency flares
• Bright colored flag; help signs
• First aid kit
• Tool kit
• Road maps
• Compass
• Waterproof matches and a can (to melt snow for water)
• Paper towels