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February 7, 2012

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Randy Griffith rgriffith@tribdem.com The Tribune-Democrat Tue Feb 07, 2012, 06:39 PM EST

JOHNSTOWN — I've got so much stuff for this Sunday's American Heart Month package, that some of the stories will spill over onto Monday. But I don't know what to leave out, or hold for the next week, so it looks like a double hit this week.

This week's package is about the heart disease itself: what causes it, how it develops, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated in Johnstown. It's exciting and challenging, but I'm not getting too stressed out over it – that's bad for the heart.

Actually, I'm pretty excited. It was a great interview this morning with Dr. Samir Hadeed at Conemaugh this morning, and I'm expecting what should be my last interview for this week's stuff any minute from Somerset. The growth and refinement of the local programs is incredible.

On the home front, you may have noticed I didn't mention any walking in yesterday's blog entry. That's because I fell down on the healthy-living job. I started earlier than usual, had church stuff after work that went longer than expected, and ate supper late. I'm sure I could have found a half hour, but I just didn't.

Sunday, my Lovely Bride and I had a nice walk around Moxham after our lunch in the Village Cafe. It's one of our favorite neighborhoods to explore. Today, I did a 35-minute lap of the Eighth Ward in conjunction with my interview at Hadeed's office, and then took the 18-minute long way from my car into the office, instead of the 6-minute short way.

Some may wonder (including one who commented on yesterday's blog post) why I'm not talking about going to the gym like I did last year, or at least doing some cardio workouts.

The answer is 23½ hours. Or more accurately “23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?” It's the title of an online video I was shown. It is one posted on YouTube by Dr. Mike Evans, is a family physician and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto.

His interest is in preventive medicine, and his video was introduced to me by Johnstown's leading prevention advocate, Dr. Matthew Masiello, director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Windber Research Institute.

Essentially, Evans says, if you spend 30 minutes each day walking, you will improve your health, including your cardiovascular health. He gives a lot of statistics, including a note that obese people who don't lose weight, but walk every day, will be healthier than obese people who are sedentary.

He wraps up by saying if you walk for 30 minutes a day, you still have 23 ½ hours to sleep, watch TV, drive a car and sit at a computer.

So can we find that 30 minutes? Today, I did. Yesterday, Not so much.

Here is a link to the complete blog:

Johnstown Health Care Beat

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