When The "Experts" Are Wrong

The lazy days of late August has given me time to catch up on reading. There are two articles that I've recently read that I feel are important to share with you.


The first one was sent to me by my certifying body, American Council on Exercise (ACE). http://www.acefitness.org/article.aspx?CMP=EMC-ProNews_0809&itemid=2804


This article is a rebuttal to the cover story of the August 9, 2009 issue of Time magazine, which featured an article entitled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.” ACE's chief science officer, Dr. Cedric A. Bryant, writes up summary of some of the most misleading assertions made in this highly publicized article, as well as the American Council on Exercise’s response to these assertions. What I found even more interesting is the link on the sidebar to the follow-up statement written by the executive director at Pennington Biomedical Research Center: http://www.pbrc.edu/News/Featured_Stories/Story.asp?id=17. Here he writes, "...I feel compelled to offer a correction to a story that drifted off course to the conclusion that exercise is not useful for weight loss and weight management."


I hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did.

 The second article I read was from the Science Times, which comes in the NY Times every Tuesday. This is one of my favorite sources of health and wellness updates. The article entitled, "Weight Lifting May Help To Avert Lymph Problem" comes from August 18, 2009 and can also be found here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/.


[Side note: Judy V.-your healthy cookie rocked! You'll love the article on this site entitled "Let Them Eat (Healthier) Cake." http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/let-them-eat-healthier-cake/#more-10981 This includes recipes too!


Olivia F. and my other friends who love to run: check out the Run Well Training Tool. http://health.nytimes.com/run-well/start]


This article reports that just last week The New England Journal of Medicine reported on a study of 141 breast cancer patients who had lympedema (painful swelling that can occur near the site where lymph nodes have been removed or damaged by radiation). After years of telling women after breast cancer surgery not to lift anything heavier than 15 pounds, the researchers found that women in their study who started a slow, progressive program of weight lifting actually had significantly fewer flare-ups than the women who restricted their activity. Doctors are now reevaluating everything they tell their clients about lymphedema.

 Bottom line is that you know your body best. You know when something doesn't feel right. This doesn't mean to ignore doctors' orders, but perhaps if you're not happy with what the doctor is prescribing, a second opinion is in order.

 I want to hear what you think on this topic. Tell me and the Body by Kelly community about your experiences with misinformation from a health professional.