Mountain living good for heart, study fi nds

“Mountain living good for heart, study finds

People at higher altitudes have better cardiovascular health
Updated: 7:11 p.m. ET March 14, 2005LONDON -

If you want to live longer and lower the risk of heart disease, a move to the mountains may help.

Research by scientists in Greece shows that mountain dwelling is good for the heart and longevity. People living at higher altitude have lower odds of dying from heart disease than those closer to sea level, even if they have factors that could increase their risk.

“Residence in mountainous areas seems to have a 'protective effect' from total and coronary mortality,” said Dr. Nikos Baibas of the University of Athens.

He and his colleagues suspect that the increased exercise from walking up mountainous terrain gives the heart a good workout and enables it to cope with lower levels of oxygen.

The researchers studied the health records and death rates of 1,150 Greeks who lived in three villages nears Athens over 15 years. One village was 1,000 yards above sea level and the other two were in low-lying areas.

Although men and women living in the mountainous village had higher blood pressure rates and other risk factors than people in the other villages, they had a lower rate of death from heart disease and other causes after a 15 year follow-up.

“The contrast was more evident among men than among women,” Baibas added in a report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Heart disease is one of the world’s top killers. Smoking, high blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels, being overweight or obese and a family history of the illness increase the odds of developing the disease.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7181902/”

“Well duh. ;-)”

“i live at 5300', however, if they bottled cholesterol, i'd eat it.”

“Conference aims to cut Wyoming's suicide rate, now No. 1 Associated Press

CHEYENNE - Mental health professionals and others gathered here to try to reduce Wyoming's suicide rate, currently the highest in the nation.

Statistics from the American Association of Suicidology show that in 2002, the most recent year for which statistics were available, 105 people in Wyoming took their own lives, or a rate of 21 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people.

"We need to do something about that," Laramie police Sgt. Dave Smith said Tuesday at a gathering of the Wyoming Suicide Prevention Coalition. "We don't want to be Number 1."

Smith said suicide was the second-leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 24 in Wyoming. Many of those deaths were preventable, he said, but people often ignore the warning signs because they don't like to talk about suicide.

"The stigma has to go away," Smith said. "Suicide is preventable."

Wyoming's first lady, Nancy Freudenthal, said alcohol abuse is a major contributor to the suicide rate.

Psychologist John Sanford said children as young as 10 years should start learning about suicide prevention.”

“The thing that struck me about Wyoming last summer as we drove thru it was the isolation. Thousands and thousands of acres of dry land with very few dwellings.
Beautiful landscapes and no people.”

“Good, Country Livin', and other myths

Suicide rates were lowest in some highly urban areas (New Jersey, New York, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) and highest in the relatively rural states (Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and New Mexico).
Data source: NVSS, compiled by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.”

“I live at 4,782.

:)”

“If you're not suicidal, then, mountain living - along with brown beer and red wine make you live longer.

Hey, we're not doing it for fun, eh?”

“As a sociologist, I wonder how the isoloation and the lack of access to resources comes into play compared to more metro. areas? Not only across the nation but also within the state.”

“4782? Roam you forgot the street name ;)”

“Chi-mark, I lived in Pheonix for a few years and that was the only time I wanted to kill myself. I prefer isolation. I fell out of place in the big city. Can you help.”

““I live at 4,782.

:)”
Roam Around
8:24:55 AM
3/15/05


that's uh, er, FEET (above sea level)”