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Resistance exercise such as weight training affects blood vessels differently than aerobic exercise and offers other cardiovascular benefits, finds a new study.

Researchers at the Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., compared blood vessel (vascular) responses to two types of moderate-intensity workouts: three sets of 10 repetitions of eight resistance exercises and 30 minutes of aerobic cycling.

There were significant differences in the vascular responses to the two types of exercises. Resistance exercise produced greater increases in blood flow to the limbs, while aerobic exercise reduced arterial stiffness, but without an increase in blood flow.

Resistance exercise also led to a longer-lasting decrease in blood pressure after exercise, compared to aerobic exercise.

“Resistance exercise may offer greater benefits from the increases in blood flow to active muscles and could be implemented as a companion to an aerobic training program,” wrote study leader Scott R. Collier, of Appalachian State University, and colleagues in a press release.

They said their findings support previous research showing that resistance exercise has unique effects on blood pressure and limb blood flow.

“The present study indicates that an acute bout of resistance exercise shows many favorable cardiovascular benefits and should therefore be considered as part of a daily exercise training program,” the researchers concluded.

The study appears in the November issue of Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

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Starting Tuesday, June 28, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ban on drop-side cribs will take effect.  The cribs, which allow parents to lower one side of the crib for easier access, are responsible for 150 suffocation and strangulation deaths between 2007 to 2010.

• Ban drop-side construction altogether, requiring instead that cribs have fixed sides.
• Require that mattress supports are stronger.
• Improve the strength of the crib slats.
• Require that crib hardware be more durable and less likely to fail.
• Make crib safety testing more rigorous.

• Families should not sell or donate a drop-side crib, even if it has been been fitted with immobilizing hardware.  Disassemble and discard the crib instead.
• Parents can see if their particular drop-side crib has been recalled, and request a free hardware kit to immobilize the drop-side.
• Some manufacturers may consider offering incentives or partial refunds for drop-side cribs, though they are not required by law to do so.
• If you have a drop-side crib and are unable to purchase a new crib, check your crib’s hardware frequently, do not use the drop-side function, and check regularly to see if your crib has been recalled.

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Men and women who get just six hours of sleep each night during the workweek will need more than the weekend to recover from the cumulative effects of this mild sleep deprivation, a new study revealed. Researchers also found that women are better able to cope with and recover from this kind of sleep loss than men. In the study, researchers installed 34 people, with an average age of 25 years and no sleep problems, in a sleep lab for 13 nights. There, they periodically measured sleepiness and performance. Participants were allowed to sleep eight hours a night for the first four nights to assess their typical functioning. For the next six nights, however, they were allowed to sleep only six hours a night, followed by three “recovery” nights of 10 hours of sleep each night. The study’s findings revealed that after a week of sleep restriction, two nights of extra sleep are not enough to fully reverse the adverse effects of the sleep loss. Men and women showed both significantly decreased performance on psychomotor tests, as well as subjective and objective sleepiness. Women recovered better than men, however, the study pointed out. The researchers said the gender differences were linked to slow wave, or deep sleep, considered the restorative potion of sleep.

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Step No. 1: Eat toast for breakfast
Skipping carbs may harm your memory. A Tufts University study found that folks who eliminated carbohydrates from their diets performed worse on memory-based tasks than those who included them. Why? Your brain cells need carbs, which are converted in your body to glucose, to stay in peak form, says study co-author Robin Kanarek, PhD, professor of psychology at Tufts. Pick whole grains and other complex carbs—they’re digested more slowly, so they deliver a steadier stream of glucose. Grab a whole-wheat muffin or slice of toast with a scrambled egg and cup of berries for a breakfast that’ll jump-start your gray matter.

Step No. 2: Take a kickboxing class before work
Exercise increases the blood flow to your noggin, bringing much-needed oxygen and glucose for fuel, explains Sandra Aamodt, PhD, co-author of Welcome to Your Brain. In fact, you can learn vocabulary words 20% faster if you try to memorize them after doing an intense workout rather than a low-impact activity, suggests a study in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Up the ante even more by taking a dance or kickboxing class—anything that requires you to remember a routine.

Step No.3: Change the font on your morning memo
Is Times New Roman your go-to? Try using a different, slightly difficult-to-decipher font—it’s been shown to improve your long-term retention, according to research published in the journal Cognition. Focusing on a new font may make your brain’s processing center work a little harder, upping your recall. Change to Comic Sans Italicized (the font used in the study) for a quick fix that you may not notice but your brain will.

Step No. 4: Do a Web search during lunch
Spending an hour a day looking online for something you’re interested in (like researching spots for your next vacation) may stimulate the part of your frontal lobe that controls short-term memory, according to a recent study from the University of California, Los Angeles. “The neural circuits involved in decision-making, visual-spatial, and verbal skills become very active when you do an Internet search,” explains Gary Small, MD, lead author of the study. Don’t just mindlessly surf, though: If it’s too easy, Dr. Small says, it won’t be effective. (Facebook won’t do the trick!)

Step No. 5: Eye your parking spot
Always forget where you parked your car? When you stop at the grocery store to pick up your dinner, try this exercise: Get out of your car, notice where you’re parked, then move your eyes side-to-side every 1/2 second for 30 seconds while standing in place. Practicing this simple eye movement may increase your long-term memory by up to 10%, say researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University in England. “That little extra boost might be just what’s needed to help you recall an important piece of information,” says Andrew Parker, PhD, the study’s lead author.

Step No. 6: Drink a little with dinner
While being a heavy tippler can lead to memory loss, a new study finds that drinking in moderation may actually lower your risk for memory problems. In an analysis published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, participants who downed seven or fewer alcoholic drinks total per week had the lowest risk for cognitive impairment, compared with women who didn’t drink at all and those who imbibed more. Researchers believe alcohol’s anti-inflammatory properties may be the reason. Or it could be that people who drink moderately also tend to lead a healthier lifestyle. Cheers to that!

Step No. 7: Floss before bed
It’s good for your smile—but it may also do wonders for your mind. When you don’t floss, your gums become inflamed, making it easier for bad bacteria to enter your bloodstream, explains Jonathan B. Levine, DMD, an associate professor at New York University and author of Smile! Once in the bloodstream, the bacteria can cause inflammation throughout your body, including in the brain, which can lead to cognitive dysfunction. So floss daily (twice is ideal) to keep the absentmindedness away.

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Just five cups a day could be enough to make your ears play tricks on you, according to researchers. In an experiment, volunteers who had consumed ‘high levels’ of caffeine thought they were listening to Bing Crosby singing White Christmas even though the song was not being played. In the tests, 92 volunteers were asked to listen to a constant fuzzy sound known as white noise. Professor Simon Crowe, of La Trobe University in Melbourne, said: ‘We also told them that within the white noise there may be parts of the song White Christmas and if you hear it, press a button. ‘We didn’t include White Christmas in the white noise but found that more people who were very stressed and had high levels of caffeine thought they heard the song. ‘The combination of caffeine and stress affect the likelihood of an individual experiencing a psychosis-like symptom.’ The team from the university’s School of Psychological Sciences found that five cups of coffee a day was enough to trigger this.

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Older people who regularly exercise at moderate to intense levels may have a 40% lower risk of developing brain damage linked to ischemic strokes, certain kinds of dementia and mobility problems. New research published Wednesday in the journal Neurology says the MRIs of people who exercised at higher levels were significantly less likely to show silent brain infarcts — caused by blocked arteries that interrupt blood flow and are markers for strokes — than people who exercised lightly. Until now, studies have shown exercise helps lower blood pressure, bad cholesterol and insulin levels, all risk factors for strokes causing brain damage. Treating those conditions is helpful, but often brain damage from multiple infarctions is not reversible.

Research reported by The American Urological Association shows that lemonade is an effective way to slow the development of new kidney stones for past sufferers.

   One of the factors that form kidney stones is when the urine doesn’t contain enough stone-preventing substances. Citrate, which is naturally found in lemon juice, is one of those substances. When made into low-sugar or sugar-free lemonade, lemon juice increases the amount of citrate in the urine to levels known to inhibit kidney stone development. Lemonade also helps patients pass a lot of urine. But lemonade isn’t the sole factor in preventing kidney stones. It’s only part of a stone preventing diet.

   When hydrating this summer, consider replenishing your fluids with low-sugar or sugar-free lemonade…your kidneys will thank you!

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When shopping for window coverings that will go in a home with small children in it, the one sure way to keep little ones safe is to go cordless.

Given the number of deaths of infants and toddlers who strangled in the cords of blinds and shades, it’s the only option recommended by the industry and by safety advocates. About 500 serious injuries and deaths have been documented over the past decade or so.

“There are no acceptable alternatives with cords at this point,” says Linda Kaiser, who founded Parents for Window Blind Safety after one her toddler twins was strangled.

Tens of millions of window coverings have been recalled in recent years, including two unprecedented industry-wide recalls, over concerns that infants and toddlers are at risk of strangulation.

The window covering industry has been offering retrofit kits to help make existing corded blinds and shades safer, but every model that has a looped cord carried the risk of turning into a deadly noose. Nearly every shade made more than a decade ago is likely to have at least the dangerous inner cord — and many of those still for sale today have them too.

“There are millions of products on store shelves that are just as dangerous as they were 10 years ago,” Kaiser said.

If you’re not going to replace all your blinds, then retrofitting needs to be done to window coverings. For some models it’s a relatively simple and effective process, such as removing the cords from Roman shades and holding them in place with clips.

The kits that are provided for free by the industry, which involve clipping loops in cords or mounting a tension device to a wall to prevent the danger of sagging cords, might lessen the danger, but Kaiser’s group believes still leaves considerable risk.

Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said progress has been made and more needs to be.

“We’re trying to mitigate the hazard as best we can going backwards and eliminate the risk going forward,” said

The government, safety advocates, and the industry have been working to reach a consensus on rules that would dictate how shades and blinds will be made so that even corded models would be safer, by preventing access to the cords.

“We are not pushing for cordless (blinds) across all revisions to the standards,” Wolfson said. “We want this industry to survive and to also have safer products that don’t have exposed cord loops.”

It is easier today to find cordless options. In fact, most of the major manufacturers, including Levolor, Hunter Douglas, and Bali, offer a considerable number of cordless options.

Some use a wand rather than a cord or chain to open and close or to change the position of the slats on blinds. Others are spring-loaded and go up and down when the bottom rail is pulled. Some Roman shades come with an option to remove the cords and instead use clips to hold the shades open.

Compared side by side with similar corded models, cordless can cost more, although there are some cordless window coverings now on the low end of the price spectrum. They can also be less convenient to use.

Parents for Window Blind Safety warns that some supposedly cordless Roman blinds still have dangerous cords in the rear, so check out the blinds before buying them to make sure they do not have any visible cords or chains.

The group also warns that even blinds with safety features and modifications, including breakaway cords, shortened cords, wind-up devices, and tension devices, cannot be relied upon to provide a safe environment for a young child. In a series of videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/pfwbs), Parents for Window Blind Safety graphically demonstrates how easily each of those methods can fail, particularly when a toddler is involved. Even a single cord, absent the loop normally associated with the deaths, is shown turning deadly.

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It’s unbelievable how close kids can get to the animals here. In Wallaroo Station, the zoo’s four-and-a-half-acre Australian-themed children’s area, kids can brush a goat’s fur, feed birdseed lollipops to parakeets, and walk down a path as kangaroos and wallabies hop in front of them. They can ride on a llama or, in another part of the zoo, a camel — which makes the pony treks seem almost trite. In Lowry’s expanded Safari Africa exhibit, your family can climb up on a platform to offer one of the giraffes a snack. “Kids squeal in delight when the giraffe sticks out its 18-inch-long tongue to snatch a cracker,” says Craig Pugh, acting director. Other cool animals that your children can feed: a white rhino, stingrays, and lorikeets.
Since Lowry Park is the only zoo in the country with an accredited preschool and kindergarten on-site, the staff is especially comfortable fielding questions from families. When your little kids need a break from the animal action, head to the playground or one of five rides including a kiddie coaster. And if you need to relax or nurse, there’s even a “mommy stop,” a shaded area with benches and child-size picnic tables.