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Can Gardening Improve Your Health? During the past decade, we have witnessed unprecedented advances in medical knowledge and technology. For example:

Weed Away Your Weight Spring and summer gardening can be a great whole-body workout to shed extra winter weight. Weight-bearing activities such as digging and lifting can build muscle, and aerobic activities such as raking, mowing and hoeing can burn calories. A 180-pound person will use 202 calories during 30 minutes of digging, spading and tilling.* Even 30 minutes of cutting the grass on a riding mower burns 101 calories. Other calorie burners include:*

Raking (30 minutes) 162
Planting trees (30 minutes) 182
Trimming shrubs, manually (30 minutes) 182
Laying sod (30 minutes) 202
Weeding (30 minutes) 182
Turning compost (30 minutes) 250

As with any exercise, it's important to warm up and stretch before you begin gardening or yard work. Vary your activities to avoid overusing specific muscles. To prevent back injuries, bend from the knees when you rake and hoe or when you lift heavy objects such as bags of potting soil.

You'll also want to protect yourself from excess sun exposure. Wear a hat and use a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. Drink adequate fluids to avoid becoming dehydrated, and retreat to someplace cooler if you feel yourself getting overheated.
Dr. Dennis Lee, founder of MedicineNet.com offers these suggestions:

Dig for Your Bones

There's even more good news for green thumbs. According to a 2000 University of Arkansas study that compared many forms of exercise, yard work is most significant for preventing osteoporosis in women age 50 and older. Researchers compared yard work to bicycling, aerobics, dancing and weight training. Yard work and weight training were the only two activities shown to be significant for maintaining healthy bone mass.

The Fruits of Your Labor

The best part of gardening may be the edible rewards. A summer's bounty of fruits and vegetables contains fiber that may reduce your risk for colon cancer, as well as antioxidants and phytochemicals that may reduce your risk for heart disease and some cancers. Fruits and vegetables are also low in fat, which can help with weight loss. The American Dietetic Association recommends that adults get at least three to five servings of vegetables, and two to four servings of fruits each day.

*Source: National Gardening Association, www.nationalgardening.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content, www.aracontent.com, e-mail: info@aracontent.com

How about follow-up care?

Arriving at an accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment often takes time and may require repeated visits and tests. Be patient and communicate with your doctor. Here are some suggestions:

What are the treatment options for a heart attack?

1. Do not stop prescribed medications on your own, even if your symptoms have resolved. If your prescription runs out, ask your doctor whether you should obtain a refill.

2. If the prescribed treatment is not helping you, or is causing side effects, inform your doctor right away. He/she may have to rethink the diagnosis and/or change the treatment.

3. If the doctor cannot offer you a firm diagnosis or help you with your symptoms despite repeated visits, it is OK to ask for another opinion. Most doctors will be glad to help their patients solicit second opinions or specialty consultations.

4. Always ask your doctor about your test results. Never assume that everything must be fine if you do not hear from the doctor's office.

5. Inform your doctor if you are using alternative medicine or non-prescription remedies because some of these remedies may interact with your prescribed medications.

6. Educate yourself with credible and authoritative medical information. Increasing your own knowledge about the characteristics of your particular condition, your medications, and their side effects can benefit you, your family, and your doctor. Information about your condition may be provided by your doctor. You can also find valuable information on the Internet. Be certain to look for credible Web sites.

For more information on MedicineNet.com, write to David Sorenson, MedicineNet.com, 903 Calle Amanecer, Ste 300 San Clemente, CA 92673. Call (949) 940-6500 or e-mail: david.sorenson@medicinenet.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content, www.aracontent.com, e-mail: info@aracontent.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dennis Lee, M.D. is a practicing Gastroenterologist in Southern California. With an interest in disease prevention and patient education, he is one of the founders of MedicineNet.com - a publisher of 100% doctor-produced medical information. Over the past four years, MedicineNet.com has focused on content creation by 60+ physicians from a variety of disciplines across the United States. The Company's network of U.S. board-certified physician writers and scientists provides free, proprietary, easy-to-read, in-depth medical information for consumers in a user-friendly, interactive format. The MedicineNet.com Web site can be found at www.medicinenet.com.

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