Struggle to lift five kilograms? Your health could be at risk, study finds
Scientists at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates have devised a simple test that they can say can predict an increased risk of developing a host of health problems in older adults. All you have to do is try to pick up a five-kilogram weight.
Article content
Struggle with that, they say, and you have a significantly higher risk of experiencing a lower quality of life, higher rates of depression, chronic lung diseases, hip fractures, joint disorders, high cholesterol, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, osteoarthritis and more.
Article content
Article content
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports under a no-nonsense title: 'The simple task of lifting five kilograms serves as a predictor of age-related disorders in old adults.'
Article content
Article content
The large-scale study involved 51,536 'geriatric adults' — that is to say 50 and older, a definition that may annoy some — from 14 European countries as well as Israel. It was a roughly even split between men and women, with about a third of the group aged between 60 and 69, another third between 70 and 79, and the rest younger or older. (About 4 per cent were 90 and above.)
Article content
Participants were asked to report if they had difficulty lifting five kilograms in 2013 — 80.5 per cent said they did not — and were then followed for several years to see which diseases developed among each group. For a given disease, participants were excluded if they already had it in the baseline year.
Article content
Take high blood pressure. In 2013, just under 60 per cent of the group were free of a diagnosis of high blood pressure. Of those, 21.5 per cent went on to develop it. But among the participants who had trouble lifting the weight when the study began, that number amounted to 26.2 per cent.
Article content
Article content
For hip fractures, the overwhelming majority (97 per cent) did not have one when the study started. But in the years that followed, 3.5 per cent of those who had trouble lifting the weight experienced a hip fracture, versus just 1.5 per cent of those who did not struggle with the weight.
Article content
Article content
Parsing the data between younger and older ages, the researchers found that men and women under 65 who had trouble lifting five kilograms were most at risk of developing depression, low quality of life, low hand-grip strength (which can also indicate risks of other diseases) and Alzheimer's.
Article content
For older men and women who struggled with the weight, risk of Alzheimer's dropped somewhat while the other three conditions remained top of list. But for almost every condition the researchers tracked, struggling to lift five kilograms at the start of the study was a clear indicator of greater risk at the end. The only diseases that didn't fit the pattern were cancer and diabetes, where risk did not change.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Tire particles, perfumes, metals? Extensive study of Toronto air looks at what we're breathing in
What's contributing to Toronto's air pollution? 1 hour ago Duration 1:59 Walking down Fort York Boulevard on a fresh, breezy afternoon, scientist Elisabeth Galarneau has no issue pointing out possible sources of air pollution. The manicured lawns and flower beds? A potential source of airborne pesticides. The nearby high-rise apartment buildings? A source of pollutants from both heating and cooling, not to mention the cleaners and personal care products being used inside — remnants of which could be circulating down at street level. Charcoal barbecues, restaurant stoves, fire pits, squealing tires, nearby highways? They all contribute to the air Torontonians breathe. Now, the first glimpse at an in-depth study conducted by Galarneau and over 100 other scientists looking at winter air quality in Toronto is shedding light on rarely-measured air pollutants across the city, such as microplastics, brake wear chemicals, and metals. "We've done this study to kind of look at the whole mixture of what people are exposed to in cities, as well as how that varies from neighbourhood to neighbourhood," said Garlarneau, who works for Environment and Climate Change Canada. Researchers 'didn't expect' to see AQHI exceeded As the principal investigator on the Study of Winter Air Pollution in Toronto, known by the acronym SWAPIT, Galarneau led a group, that included contributors from 11 universities, that collected air samples from across the city over six weeks from January to March 2024. Winter is a "typically understudied part of the year" that's known for having cleaner air than the smoggy summers, Galarneau said — making the early results of their work all the more surprising. "We thought we would see low concentrations" of pollutants, said Galarneau. Instead, they clocked a number of instances of pollutants heading into moderate or high risk levels on the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). "That air quality health index, I didn't expect to see it exceeded in the winter," she said. Another surprise? The degree of variation in air pollution depending on neighbourhood. Monitoring sites were placed across Toronto, from Pearson Airport in the west, York University to the north, and University of Toronto Scarborough in the east. One site was even perched on the CN Tower, 275 metres in the air. "Some pollutants are quite uniform across the city," Galarneau said. "But other ones are sometimes 40 times higher than the average depending where you're looking." The specifics of where air pollution is worse — and by what degree — will be revealed in the next year or so, when the study's peer-reviewed results are published in full. Looking for patterns To prepare for that publication, Galarneau and her colleagues will now begin a large-scale piece of detective work: determining where the pollutants are coming from, the health impacts for the people breathing them in, and the ways in which factors like income affect exposure. "The data set that we're producing here is going to help us to maybe see some patterns here in Toronto, and then expand that to other cities in Canada," she said. That forthcoming analysis on health impacts has drawn the attention of Jeffrey Brook, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, whose work on air pollution is cited by SWAPIT researchers. "How can it be that in places like Canada where generally our [transportation emission] levels are considered some of the lowest in the world, we can continue to see health effects?" he said. "That's a big mystery, not just for Canada, but for the world." Over in Mississauga, environmental activist Rahul Mehta also looks forward to seeing SWAPIT's results laid out in full. Mehta, who heads up an organization called Sustainable Mississauga, says poor air quality impacts him both at work, where he encourages newcomers to try active transportation, and personally, as he deals with allergies and mild asthma. "Knowing these risks … I think that's going to help us, it's going to protect us and it's going to then maybe empower us to demand some better regulations from government," he said. Toronto Public Health, which is a partner on the SWAPIT study, said that its results promise to be useful for exactly that reason, telling CBC Toronto in an email that the study outcomes will "provide valuable evidence to guide local policies and actions."
National Post
19 hours ago
- National Post
Hulk Hogan in hospital but not at death's door: Reports
Article content The Hulkster was feared to be on his deathbed following a report Wednesday by Tampa radio personality Todd Clem — better known as Bubba The Love Sponge — that the legendary wrestler allegedly was in hospital and 'might not make it.' Article content Article content 'I got some pretty reliable information … that there are phone calls being made to various family members about getting to town to come say your goodbyes,' Clem told his listeners. Article content Article content Clem added that Hogan is 'not doing well' and is 'not in good shape.' Article content Article content Article content However, it doesn't appear to be true, according to at least two reports. Article content According to TMZ, the 71-year-old Hogan — real name Terry Bollea — was hospitalized to address lingering neck and back issues from his days in the ring. Article content The celebrity news site reported last month that Hogan underwent successful neck surgery. Article content However, a separate report said the beloved wrestling icon recently underwent heart surgery and is recovering in hospital. Article content 'Hulk had pretty serious heart surgery a few weeks ago and was doing well afterward,' a source told US Weekly. 'It wasn't a near-death thing.' Article content Hogan has not addressed his health in recent days. Article content The wrestler has been promoting his Real American Beer in recent months after signing a multi-year partnership in January with WWE to showcase the brew at wrestling events. Article content View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hulk Hogan (@hulkhogan)
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
As death toll mounts, Gazans make life-risking journeys to seek food, aid
Social Sharing Like thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, kilometres-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother-of-four had to duck down and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the road as gunshots echoed nearby. "You either come back carrying [food] for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud. Or you go back upset [without food] and your children will cry," said Nawajha, 38, a resident of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. "This is life; we are being slaughtered, we can't do it anymore." In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations and international relief agencies, Gaza medics said. On Thursday, medics said at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of killings of people seeking food. The Israeli military said there were several attempts by "suspects" to approach forces in the area of Netzarim in a manner that endangered them. It said forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them, and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident. In an email, GHF criticized Gazan health officials, accusing them of regularly releasing inaccurate information. GHF said that Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor. It did not address questions about whether GHF was aware that such an incident had occurred. Women, children killed in separate Israeli strikes Thirty-nine people were killed, meanwhile, in separate Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 19 people in a tent in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added. Heba Ziada, 32, said her sister was killed in the strike on Al-Shati, which struck the entrance of a market in the refugee camp. "My sister was 14 years old. What did she do wrong?" Ziada told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife on Thursday. Another strike killed at least 14 people and damaged several houses in Jabaliya, in the north of the enclave, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on those attacks. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and fired warning shots to disperse people who approached areas where troops were operating, posing a threat. It said it was reviewing reports of casualties among civilians. Returning empty-handed after trying to find food Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through the new U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. Gaza's Health Ministry said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May. The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, which Hamas denies. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. WATCH | A number of Palestinians trying to reach Rafah aid site killed on Monday: 'We saw death': Palestinians describe violence near GHF aid sites on Monday 3 days ago Duration 1:10 At least 20 people were killed and 200 others wounded in Israeli fire near an aid distribution site in Rafah on Monday, according to medics. The deaths are the latest in mass shootings that have killed at least 300 Palestinians in the past several weeks, Gaza's Health Ministry says, as they try to access food through the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's distribution system. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct.7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and causing a hunger crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned Thursday that more than one million people were without adequate shelter in Gaza, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1. Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City, where she has been displaced and sheltering with her family. She and her sister have been camping by the road for the past 20 days. They say they try to force their way into the distribution site where trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off UN trucks. "[When] there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry," said Nawajha. "When we are for three, four kilometres or more on our legs... Oh my … our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off."
