Healthy-Steps and seniors

Healthy-Steps, Moving You to Better Health with the Lebed Method, a therapeutic exercise and movement program with wonderful music designed to help you thrive! Offering wellness programs for everyone and offering seniors a better quality of life both physically and emotionally while improving overall wellness, range-of-motion, balance, strength and endurance. Our program focuses on memory, prevention of falls, decreasing depression, improving quality of life at the same time as bringing back fun and enjoyment through exercising.

Each year, hospitals see thousands of older patients for broken hips due to falling. Balance exercises can help you avoid injuries from falls and keep your seniors independent and mobile. Healthy-Steps new Study published in the Administrative Nursing Journal showed that our program helped prevent seniors falling improves balance and gait!

The National Institute on Aging believes that, "when older people lose their ability to do things on their own, it doesn't happen just because they have aged. More likely it is because they have become inactive."

Each week, more than 30,000 Americans over the age of 65 are seriously injured by falling, and nearly 250 die from their injuries, according to the NSC. (National Council of Safety) Of those who do survive falling, 20-30 percent experience debilitating injuries that affect them the rest of their lives. Falling is also the leading cause of injury, and the leading cause of injury-related death, for both men and women 75 and older.

Patricia A. Miller is an occupational therapist and occupational therapy professor at Columbia University. She has found that when the elderly fear falling down, they often restrict their own mobility. The less physical activity they get, the worse their condition gets.
Beyond the risk of falling, a lack of physical activity can also lead to instances of long-term depression. The medicines used to treat the symptoms of depression can further complicate issues, making falls more likely.
Gait disturbances are the underlying conditions that make walking difficult. They can be caused by a number of things including anxiety, visual impairments and defects, neurodegeneration of the brain’s motor cortex, taking medicines that cause dizziness, and consuming alcoholic beverages. Researchers have estimated that anxiety is a cause for as much as 85% of gait disturbances.

Alzheimer’s and exercise/ for your information only
There is no proven way to prevent Alzheimer's disease, but a new Seattle-area study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that regular exercise can protect the brain -- and even improve cognitive performance -- in older adults showing signs of mental decline.
The Seattle study, funded by the Alzheimer's Association and the Department of Veterans Affairs, is one of the first randomized clinical trials showing that exercise is a source of brain protection, said Dr. Jeffrey Kaye, director of the Layton Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Oregon Health & Science University,
A report from the Alzheimer's Association predicts that 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's disease in the United States — that translates to one out of every eight. For us "baby boomers," this is frightening to say the least.
Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Alzheimer's Research Center at the Mayo Clinic, said on ABC: "Regular physical exercise is probably the best means we have of preventing Alzheimer's disease today, better than medications, better than intellectual activity, better than supplements and diet."

I have been researching the dance movements and the music I use with Dementia and Alzheimer’s as I see such wonderful improvement in the people at Cascade week after week and I wanted to know exactly why this was happening. They smile, laugh and seem to know the movements better and better each week.

‘For Dementia and Alzheimer’s patients Memory begins to fade as the patients slide toward that dark abyss, but the last thing that goes — the last bit of memory — is their ability to remember music. Music is effective for maintaining and improving active and social, emotional and cognitive results. A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one's mind in Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, such as physical exercise can keep the body fit. Dancing increases cognitive acuity at all ages. It is obvious that dancing is a physical activity and stimulates the brain and improves muscle coordination.’

Seniors benefit with Healthy-Steps program

Jean Krampe, a Healthy-Steps instructor, knew that mobility and balance are two of the main reasons seniors fall, and she wanted to find a way to change these factors. Through her doctoral studies at MU's Sinclair School of Nursing, she found that dancing was becoming a popular therapy method.
She landed on Healthy-Steps, a dance-based therapy and movement program.
Although the program had been used to treat people with chronic illnesses, Krampe was the first to apply Healthy-Steps to people 65 and older and conduct studies on its effects. Her studies had positive results, showing that seniors would come to the activity and move during the sessions. Results also showed trends toward improving gait and balance.
Seniors reported they tremendously enjoyed the program, Krampe said. The results were so positive that the sessions are going to become a regular part of the activities at an Assisted Living center. Jean Krampe wanted to help stop older people from falling, so she taught them a new way to dance.
Krampe knew that mobility and balance are two of the main reasons seniors fall, and she wanted to find a way to change these factors. Through her doctoral studies at MU's Sinclair School of Nursing, she found that dancing was becoming a popular therapy method. She landed on Healthy-Steps, a dance-based therapy and movement program.
Although the program had been used to treat people with chronic illnesses, Krampe was the first to apply Healthy-Steps to people 65 and older and conduct studies on its effects. Her studies had positive results, showing that seniors would come to the activity and move during the sessions. Results also showed trends toward improving gait and balance.
Krampe, now an assistant professor at St. Louis University School of Nursing, introduced Healthy-Steps to the residents of an independent living facility in Columbia, as part of her dissertation project.
“It’s going to take a multitude of interventions to help reduce falls,” Krampe said, “and this is one that may have some evidence going forward.”
Krampe participated in a gerontology nursing conference this month in Columbia. This included a Healthy-Steps exhibit and a demonstration of the dance therapy.
“Regardless of what your physical state is, you can participate in this,” she said. “This is exactly what our nursing home residents need. If you can move your head side to side, you can participate.”
Socialization is an important for residents of nursing homes. They can get bored and lonely, and anything people can do to spice up their lives helps.
Before introducing the program to Columbia, Krampe did a pilot study in 2008 with the Alexian Brothers Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, in St. Louis. The study was small, with 11 people, but went well. She received an Alexian Brothers Ministry Grant to fund her training so she could lead future programs.
“I wanted to learn the theory behind it so I could know a lot more than just what I was told about it,” Krampe said.
Each class began with the song "Tiny Bubbles." During the song, the group blew bubbles so they could start breathing deeply before starting the movement part of the class.
After the warm up, the class did dances that were specially choreographed to be done sitting or standing. Participants cooled down with sharing time and a sing-a-long to “I Hope You Dance.”
“I landed on this particular type of dance because it works so well with older people,” Krampe said. “I knew I’d use a method that would be safe and not harmful to them.”
Building from the past
Sherry Lebed Davis, president of Healthy-Steps, who is based in Lynnwood, Wash., said Krampe’s research is vital to the senior community.
“If you can take a program that will significantly change seniors’ quality of life and extend their time to live, why wouldn’t you?” she said.
Davis and her two brothers founded the program. In 1980, their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and after going through surgery, she had severe loss of range of motion and went into a depression.
Davis started as a professional dancer and became a dance movement therapist. Her two brothers were, and still are, OB-GYN physicians and surgeons. With these backgrounds, they developed the Lebed Method, now called Healthy-Steps.
“It was put together to help people get better emotionally and to relieve depression, stress and anxiety,” Davis said. “It was put together to help people improve their balance, range of motion, strength, flexibility and their transition of steps.”
The first program started at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia where Davis’ mother had surgery. The surgeon wanted every breast cancer patient in his hospital to go through the program, Davis said.
After People magazine published a story about the method in 2000, Healthy-Steps went international and was applied to other diagnoses. More than 900 hospitals in 14 countries use the program, along with other facilities around the world, like wellness centers, assisted living centers and cancer centers.
The method has been used to improve the well being of people with chronic illnesses and other conditions. For people with lymphedema, a swelling anywhere in the body, Healthy-Steps helps reduce fluid build-up through the movements.
For seniors, Healthy-Steps helps prevent falls by focusing on certain movements that increase gait and balance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-third of adults age 65 and older will fall each year, and two million will be treated in emergency departments for fall injuries that can be detrimental to their health.

- Being physically active while pregnant may help women gain a little bit less weight, according to a new review of recent research.
Pooling the results of 12 studies, researchers in Munich, Germany, found that women who exercised while pregnant gained an average of 1.3 fewer pounds than women who didn't.

That alone is probably not much of an incentive for women who are considering exercising while pregnant, but there are other reasons to do it, said Dr. Michael Kramer of McGill University in Montreal who reviewed the findings for Reuters Health.

Research shows that exercise can have positive effects on mood and insulin sensitivity in people overall, and appears to have no negative effects on women during pregnancy, noted Kramer, who is also scientific director of the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Exercise can also help women maintain their pre-pregnancy conditioning.

"Women who have been physically active can continue, and women who haven't can start," Kramer said. "But they shouldn't expect major outcomes for them or their baby."

Women who are pregnant need to exercise and many cannot do the programs out there for them. That is why Healthy-Steps maternity program fits the bill. go to www.gohealthysteps.com and click 'find a class' you will love it!

Chronic disease impacts almost 90% of Americans over 65 years of age (the most expansive portion of our population), and is a significant cause of distress for those younger, as well. Fortunately, and as foundationajly developed, Healthy Steps minimizes the risk of complications associated with exercise and Chronic Illnesses.

Chronic disease is classified as an infirmary lasting more than 3 months that cannot be prevented by vaccines or cured by medications or surgery, nor do they disappear. Chronic disease can often be controlled but not cured!

Chronic diseases are associated with persistent and unremitting symptoms dependent on their etiology (cause), including, but not certainly limited to fatigue, wheezing, pain, coordination issues, and edema of all types. It can be associated with any bodily component: skeletal, body fluid and organ; it is categorized as a disease, disorder or injury and may be single system or multi-system based; it may be stable, worsening or improving but never resolving.

Medical literature has demonstrated that appropriate exercise programs, such as in Healthy Steps, aides not only in the treatment of Chronic Illnesses, but on its prevention. Such programs can significantly impact the risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, pulmonary disease, arthritis and developmental skeletal disorders, fluid disorders, diseases of unknown etiology, obesity, and diabetes.

Appropriate exercise, as modeled in the Healthy Steps Program, is associated with conditioned aerobics; warm up and cool down activities, movements that are associated with passive stretch, stabilized flow, slow and steady activities; tone based exercises, structured rest conditions and avoidance of trauma and avoidance of overuse conditions.

In summary, Chronic Illnesses are becoming so frequent that it is changing our population pool for all exercise programs. Appropriate exercise for this population is critical both for prevention and treatment and Healthy Steps is such an appropriate program for all Chronic Illness patients

Please visit us to find a class at www.gohealthysteps.com and click 'find a class'. Also visit our store and purchase one of our 'at home' DVDS.

Exercise and Cancer

(HealthDay News)

People undergoing cancer treatment traditionally have been told to rest as much as possible and avoid exertion, to save all their strength to battle the dreaded disease.
But a growing number of physicians and researchers now say that people who remain physically active as best they can during treatment are more likely to beat cancer.
The positive evidence for exercise during and after cancer treatment has piled so high that an American College of Sports Medicine panel is revising the group's national guidelines regarding exercise recommended for cancer survivors.
The panel's conclusion: Cancer patients and survivors should strive to get the same amount of exercise recommended for everyone else, about 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Resistance training and stretching also are recommended.
"Exercise is so important for cancer patients, but so many doctors and health professionals are concerned about safety issues -- is it safe for people undergoing treatment to exercise?" said Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity at the American Cancer Society. "And this group has decided that yes, it is. These guidelines really help lay some of those issues to rest. This clearly delineates that it is safe and it is feasible and we should be recommending exercise for cancer patients."
The new guidelines stand as an important sea change in cancer treatment, said Kathryn Schmitz, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a researcher at the university's Abramson Cancer Center, who presented the guidelines at a meeting this past summer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
"The exercise guidelines for all Americans stand for cancer patients undergoing treatment," Schmitz said. "This is a landmark statement because the guidelines up to this point have been, 'Take it easy, don't push yourself.'"
But that's changed, she explained. "Not only is exercise safe, but it has a number of benefits for cancer patients during treatment," she said.
The top benefit is a better chance of survival. Exercise seems to make the body better able to withstand the withering effects of such cancer treatments as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

"Evidence is promising that exercise may make cancer treatment more effective,"

This is why Healthy-Steps is the perfect class for you. Easy, fun to do and our medical studies show it helps increase energy, decrease depression and increase Quality of Life. Please go to www.gohealthysteps.com and then click find a class. Put in your zip code and find a class near you. You can also purchase our DVD in our store. Do it today and feel better!

Exercise while you are pregnant

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Being physically active while pregnant may help women gain a little bit less weight, according to a new review of recent research.
Pooling the results of 12 studies, researchers in Munich, Germany, found that women who exercised while pregnant gained an average of 1.3 fewer pounds than women who didn't.

That alone is probably not much of an incentive for women who are considering exercising while pregnant, but there are other reasons to do it, said Dr. Michael Kramer of McGill University in Montreal who reviewed the findings for Reuters Health.

Research shows that exercise can have positive effects on mood and insulin sensitivity in people overall, and appears to have no negative effects on women during pregnancy, noted Kramer, who is also scientific director of the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Exercise can also help women maintain their pre-pregnancy conditioning.

"Women who have been physically active can continue, and women who haven't can start," Kramer said. "But they shouldn't expect major outcomes for them or their baby."

Healthy-Steps has a wonderful Maternity program and Juzo supplies garments for pregnant women! email us today for information at info@lebedmethod.com

It was indeed a pleasure presenting the lecture on "Exercise in Pregnancy" on the lovely Navigator of the Seas cruise ship.

The program reviewed American College of OB/GYN recommendation and contraindications for exercise during pregnancy and post-partum. The Healthy Steps program was presented based on these recommendations both in lecture form and then by completely reviewing the practical performance of these exercising steps.

Though the presentation and the course was fully educational and fun, I must mention the tremendous experience of jointly participating in a presentation with my brother and our talented and lovely sister. With that being said, there was a strong feeling from those attending this most rewarding conference that we all walked away with more experience and knowledge to aid our patients with the Healthy Steps Program.

See you all next time around.
?Dr Joel Lebed

Seniors Wellness and Fitness

Hello,

Interested in what works for our senior population for exercise they can do without failing?

DID YOU KNOW?
Each year, hospitals see thousands of older patients for broken hips due to falling. Balance exercises can help you avoid injuries from falls and keep your seniors independent and mobile. Healthy-Steps new Study published in the Administrative Nursing Journal showed that our program helped prevent seniors falling improves balance and gait!

The National Institute on Aging believes that, "when older people lose their ability to do things on their own, it doesn't happen just because they have aged. More likely it is because they have become inactive."

Each week, more than 30,000 Americans over the age of 65 are seriously injured by falling, and nearly 250 die from their injuries, according to the NSC. (National Council of Safety) Of those who do survive falling, 20-30 percent experience debilitating injuries that affect them the rest of their lives. Falling is also the leading cause of injury, and the leading cause of injury-related death, for both men and women 75 and older.

Patricia A. Miller is an occupational therapist and occupational therapy professor at Columbia University. She has found that when the elderly fear falling down, they often restrict their own mobility. The less physical activity they get, the worse their condition gets.
Beyond the risk of falling, a lack of physical activity can also lead to instances of long-term depression. The medicines used to treat the symptoms of depression can further complicate issues, making falls more likely.
Gait disturbances are the underlying conditions that make walking difficult. They can be caused by a number of things including anxiety, visual impairments and defects, neurodegeneration of the brain’s motor cortex, taking medicines that cause dizziness, and consuming alcoholic beverages. Researchers have estimated that anxiety is a cause for as much as 85% of gait disturbances.

Alzheimer’s and exercise
There is no proven way to prevent Alzheimer's disease, but a new Seattle-area study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that regular exercise can protect the brain -- and even improve cognitive performance -- in older adults showing signs of mental decline.

Now knowing what you do is exercise important to our aging senior population? You bet it is. Healthy-Steps has a study out this year, showing our program helps prevent seniors from falling improves balance and gait! It was voted number 1 study of the year by South West Airlines Magazine/ Spirit. If you would like to see this study, go to our website www.gohealthysteps.com and then go to the drop down program. When you see the drop down 'news and media' click that and a search box will open. In the box put the word 'study' and all our studies will come up along with the Senior study. OR just email me for a copy at sld@lebedmethod.com

In my next blog I will tell you why our program is so very special.