NationStates Jolt Archive

From the dept of the bleeding obvious:
Climbing stairs can prolong life
Taking the stairs instead of the lift at work could save your life, claim Swiss researchers.

Banning the use of lifts and escalators led to better fitness, less body fat, trimmer waistlines and a drop in blood pressure, a study of 69 people found.

This translates to a 15% cut in the risk of dying prematurely from any cause, calculate the University of Geneva team.

The results were revealed at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.

Before the study, the 69 participants had what the researchers described as a sedentary lifestyle, meaning they did less than two hours of exercise or sport each week and climbed fewer than 10 flights of stairs each day.

Over the 12 weeks of the study, the volunteers, who were hospital employees at the university, were asked to use the stairs exclusively at work instead of taking the lift.

On average, the number of flights of stairs - classed as climbing up or down one storey - rose from five per day to 23.

After the three months of the trial, tests showed they had better lung capacity, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements.

Their weight, body fat and waist measurements also dropped, and their capacity for doing aerobic exercise improved.

Taken together, this equates to a 15% reduction in the chances of dying young, say the investigators.

Lead researcher Dr Philippe Meyer, said: "This suggests that stair climbing can have major public health implications."

He said the findings now needed to be confirmed with larger studies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7591311.stm

whoah! A study found that making people do a little bit of exercise every day made them fitter and healthier?! what are the odds?
I love how he says further studies are needed - further grants to my department are needed is what he really means.
How is this still news, and still a topic to be studied? If they haven't figured out by now that doing a little exercise > doing none they really haven't much of a clue and one does wonder why they're still splashing about in the gene pool polluting it.

Any other pointless studies you've heard about?

http://seedlings.wordpress.com/1990/01/01/study-confirms-most-studies-confirm-the-obvious/

I also read elswhere that breathing helps prolong life?

And water is wet.

Clearly we should ban anyone under 45 from using lifts. They could put a lock on them and only give keys to older people.

In other news, Generalísimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

I also read elswhere that breathing helps prolong life?

And water is wet.

...and yet people still take the lift.

Convenience conquers all.

So then you all knew instinctively exactly how much benefit there would be from this specific change in habits?

I think quantifying the effect was more the point of the study than finding out if it had (positive) effects.

Any other pointless studies you've heard about?Oh, plenty.
Like, they measured the strength of gravity. Thing fall down, we already knew that, duh!
And people calculated the diameter of the earth. It was pretty obvious it was round, so why bother?
etc

Oh seriously now, haven't we stopped funding idiotic research like that yet? no need to research the painfully obvious.

So then you all knew instinctively exactly how much benefit there would be from this specific change in habits?
Damn, I wanted to be the first one to point this out.
Anyone could guess that taking the stairs would be better for you, but then they'd use an elevator anyway because they wouldn't think it would be that much. I've always used the stairs anyway because elevators and escalators make me nervous, but others might benefit from this.

...and yet people still take the lift.

Convenience conquers all.

Not if you have an irrational fear of lifts it doesn't.

So then you all knew instinctively exactly how much benefit there would be from this specific change in habits?

yep
what, you don't have innate knowledge of the quantitative effects of everything you do? weirdo.

And yet my cigarette at the top of the stairs cancels it all out...c'est la vie. Of course, I don't smoke that often so maybe I still get a 1-2% lower chance of dying young.

And water is wet.

Unless it's frozen.

Or evaporated.

A British University (can't remember wich one) recently funded an investigation in too what men find atractive - conlclusion = Big boobs, thin waste, medium hips. It cost £50,000.

Of course walking up the stairs is good for you. Now, if we could only study the effects of going down the stairs while carring a lose-stitch bag of marbles and eating a banana.

So then you all knew instinctively exactly how much benefit there would be from this specific change in habits?
does this really matter?
Do you know what a "15% cut in the risk of dying prematurely from any cause" actually means and how exactly that would translate to your good self?
I've no idea what it means, but I do know that taking the stairs rather than lift or elevator is better for me. Do I really need a study to tell me this?

Oh seriously now, haven't we stopped funding idiotic research like that yet? no need to research the painfully obvious.

Actually, we should research everything, even the seemingly painfully obvious, because what we think is painfully obvious might be very wrong.

Unless it's frozen.

Or evaporated.

Then it's not water.

Actually, we should research everything, even the seemingly painfully obvious, because what we think is painfully obvious might be very wrong.

They used to think that when people went ice skating, the friction between the blade and the ice produced heat and caused the ice to briefly melt under the weight of the skater. Now they know it can't work that way, and no one's quite sure what makes skates glide on ice, except that ice itself seems to possess the property of slickness.

Think of all the times your dad told you that whole line about dispersed weight and friction and heat and thin layers of water, and it was all lies. All lies!

A British University (can't remember wich one) recently funded an investigation in too what men find atractive - conlclusion = Big boobs, thin waste, medium hips. It cost £50,000.They got more out of the study than that; they have 3D models of the ideal body type. That means in a few years all computer animated women may be optimized for attraction. That's worth millions right there.

Then it's not water.Sure it is, it's still H2O.

And people calculated the diameter of the earth. It was pretty obvious it was round, so why bother?
What? No, it's not obvious, it's just what you've been told in school and read in government-approved textbooks. And the calculation is fake. There is conclusive proof that the Earth is flat, actually.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za13.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za07.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za11.htm

This is just the tip of the massive iceberg of proof of Earth's planar shape.

I wonder how many people die from falls down stairs. *rubs chin thoughtfully*

What? No, it's not obvious, it's just what you've been told in school and read in government-approved textbooks. And the calculation is fake. There is conclusive proof that the Earth is flat, actually.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za13.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za07.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za11.htm

This is just the tip of the massive iceberg of proof of Earth's planar shape.A pancake is planar, but it's also round. So there. Pictures from space make it very clear the earth is as round as a pancake; rounder in fact.

I wonder how many people die from falls down stairs. *rubs chin thoughtfully*

More than die in elevator accidents.

Sure it is, it's still H2O.Water is liquid H2O, not solid or gaseous.

Water is liquid H2O, not solid or gaseous.I disagree.
Water is water regardless of what state it's in. Frozen water is still water, and so is evaporated water.
Water==H2O

Otherwise you couldn't say that water was found on Mars, just because it didn't happen to be in liquid form. You calling NASA a bunch of liars ? :tongue:

I disagree.
Water is water regardless of what state it's in. Frozen water is still water, and so is evaporated water.
Water==H2O

Otherwise you couldn't say that water was found on Mars, just because it didn't happen to be in liquid form. You calling NASA a bunch of liars ? :tongue:I disagree.:p

I was thinking of a witty reply but thought of this: didn't NASA announced they found water-ice on Mars, as oppposed to methane-ice?:tongue:

NASA didn't only find water on Mars, they even found it on the Moon! And yes, it's frozen water. But hey, water is water.

And water is wet.

But do bears shit in the woods?

We'll find out, next time on "Captain Obvious!" Same Obvious Channel, Same Obvious time! :D

A British University (can't remember wich one) recently funded an investigation in too what men find atractive - conlclusion = Big boobs, thin waste, medium hips. It cost £50,000.

I dunno, I actually like small breasts, and a more tomboyish look myself.

I wonder how many people die from falls down stairs. *rubs chin thoughtfully*

Not that hard to fall down the stairs, and split your skull open. There's a reason your brain is encased in bone. It sucks at surviving severe trauma.

Not that hard to fall down the stairs, and split your skull open. There's a reason your brain is encased in bone. It sucks at surviving severe trauma.

It does!?!?:eek2:

Well, that would explain a lot of things that have happened to me recently...;)

It does!?!?:eek2:

Well, that would explain a lot of things that have happened to me recently...;)

Hey, hit the Cerebellum hard enough and you can disable someone.

Hey, hit the Cerebellum hard enough and you can disable someone.
Why do you think I'm dictating this post to my dog telepathically? :tongue:

yep
what, you don't have innate knowledge of the quantitative effects of everything you do? weirdo.

I think Llewdor can do that...

I think Llewdor can do that...

yeah well Ayn Rand can do it twice.

Conan O'Brien:
Some scientists conducted a study which showed that women are more articulate than men. Well, all I have to say to those scientists is: DUHHHH-uhh-UHHH!

Conan O'Brien:
Some scientists conducted a study which showed that women are more articulate than men. Well, all I have to say to those scientists is: DUHHHH-uhh-UHHH!

the funny thing about Conan O'Brien is..he went to Harvard.

Otherwise you couldn't say that water was found on Mars, just because it didn't happen to be in liquid form. You calling NASA a bunch of liars ? :tongue:

As if that was the worst thing about them. Not only are NASA liars, they're the leaders of a massive ring of Satan-worshipping cults of aerospace barons.

Conclusive proof is here:
http://theflatearthsociety.net/forum/index.php?topic=379


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/dogplatter/boeing666.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/dogplatter/Lockheed_Satan.png

Why do you think I'm dictating this post to my dog telepathically? :tongue:

Quite simple, my dear lad. Narcotics. Lots and lots of narcotics.

I dunno, I actually like small breasts, and a more tomboyish look myself.
That's because you're in denial about your true sexuality. But don't worry - your secret is safe with us.