Figure above depicts vasoconstriction occurring with uninterrupted sitting caused by elevated norepinephrine levels released by oxidative stress. Nitric oxide generated by physical activity or shear stress created by Gentle Jogger® produces vasodilation as depicted on the right side.

In healthy, pain-free populations, a single bout of aerobic or resistance exercise typically leads to exercise induced hypoalgesia (EIH), a generalized reduction in pain and pain sensitivity that occurs during exercise and for some time afterwards. But it may be unchanged or, in some cases, even increased in response to exercise. (Rice et al Exercise induced hypoalgesia in pain-free and chronic pain population, J Pain 2019). In contrast, central and peripheral nervous system NO from eNOS and nNOS produce more consistent pain relief. NOSs most likely inhibit norepinephrine-induced pain and stiffness due to vasoconstriction produced by television viewing, hypertension, fibromyalgia osteoarthritis and opioid addiction.

About 4 of 5 large US employers offer wellness programs as part of their employees’ health benefits. The goals are admirable, viz., support employees in changing health behaviors that reduce their risk for certain chronic conditions and enable those with existing conditions to manage them more effectively. Such programs typically include health assessments and biometric screening to quantify risk factors; education and coaching for lifestyle behavior modification (e.g., tobacco cessation, physical activity promotion, stress reduction, and weight management); and less often chronic disease management. These programs are based upon the assumption of producing health and economic benefits which might lower medical care spending to lower the cost of employer-sponsored insurance premiums. Further, healthier employees should be less likely to miss work due to illness and be more productive while at work. Stronger employee engagement, reduced turnover, and improved profitability are other perceived goals.

The total cost of a wellness program is between $150 and $1200 per employee per year depending upon options an employer wants to include. Many wellness vendors offer a comprehensive wellness program that uses a proprietary wellness platform which costs between $3 and $7.5 per employee per month ($36 -$90/ year). These usually include a mobile app and website that provides a health risk appraisal, incentive management, online resources, culture change, wellness campaigns and team challenges, and integration of fitness devices.

But do all these benefits lead up to the hype? A rigorously conducted wellness program offered to a large workforce over an 18-month period, included 8 sequentially delivered modules instructed by dietitians, each of 4 to 7 weeks in duration, covered topics such as engaging with the health care delivery system, nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep, and weight management. Employees who completed a given module received a financial incentive (e.g., $25 gift card) Approximately 35% of employees completed at least 1 module, and among those who did, the mean number of completed modules was 3.7 of the 8.

No statistically significant differences of wellness measures were detected between the employees in the control and wellness treated group at the end of the 18 months. Similarly, there were no significant differences in medical care spending, productivity, performance or utilization (Song et al: Effect of a workplace wellness program on employee health and economic outcomes, JAMA 321:1491-1501, 2019). These disappointing results might have been related to the brevity of the trial or to dilution of participant interest in the wellness activities owing to choices of too many modules [Keep it Simple Stupid!]. Perhaps corporate wellness programs should focus on cost-effective means to mitigate a limited number of lifestyle diseases and conditions that can be accomplished mainly in the home rather than the workplace. One such home wellness technology is the Gentle Jogger® as addressed in Blog #5: What do Television Viewing, Hypertension, Fibromyalgia and Opioid Addiction have in Common?

Physical inactivity is a higher adverse risk to health than omission of an exercise regimen as recommended by the American Heart Association of at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity). This relates to the much greater time expended on sedentary activity than fulfilling exercise goals.

Overall, young adults spend about 12 hours per day sedentary (physically inactive) whereas elderly adults remain sedentary even much longer. The major sedentary activity for American adults in the United States is television viewing, constituting about 5 hours per day with lesser times for viewing a computer screen, riding in a transportation vehicle, and dining at a table, In large population studies, prolonged sitting time increases risk of hypertension, diabetes type 2, heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, and premature mortality. The negative health outcomes of increased sitting time add risk to health separate from the positive effects of physical activity.

Since physical inactivity is a major contribution to most non-communicable diseases and conditions, adapting a lifestyle of breaking up uninterrupted sitting every 20 minutes or so by bouts of walking for a few minutes is an obvious solution. Unfortunately, this method has not been widely utilized owing to the psychological resistance of humans to behavioral change no matter what the consequences. One might acknowledge that the “urge to sit” is part of a human’s make-up and attempts to reduce excessive sitting must incorporate sitting as a component of its remedy, an attribute of the Gentle Jogger®.

Prolonged sitting poses a risk to health because it promotes pooling of blood in the lower extremities that reduces friction from blood flowing over the inner lining (endothelium) of blood vessels thereby creating “endothelial dysfunction.” This lowers the level of key molecules produced by the body that prevent narrowing of blood vessels which in turn leads to accumulation of tissue-destructive, free oxygen radicals. The body movement produced by the Gentle Jogger® helps prevents this situation. It allows one to sit without guilts while watching television or a computer screen as effortless movements are received.

In Dr Harold Paz’s thought-provoking essay “Academic Medicine’s Critical Role in the “Third Curve” of Health Care [Academic 91:613, 2016], he noted the shift from a physician-centric to a patient-centric paradigm that optimizes health and wellness to create more healthy days for more patients. This shift addresses the rising costs of health care, drives quality, and offers new and innovative forms of access by creating a holistic wellness experience for patients. It engages all five determinants of health, e.g., 1) lifestyle, 2) quality care, 3) environment, 4) supportive relationships, and 5) genetics/heredity.to offer the value proposition of improved care. As quickly as health care has moved from Curve I (fee-for-service) to Curve II (population health), Paz indicates that there is a growing switch to a new form of consumer-directed health care, or the “third curve of health care (Curve III).”

While the first two curves look at health from a provider and business perspective, the third curve places the individual in the center of a health ecosystem. New resources and tools will enable each individual to take more ownership and hopefully become more likely to adhere to care plans, as well as more empowered to take charge of his or her well-being. These new tools and resources, such as mobile apps, telemedicine, home health care and wellness innovations, urgent care centers, and other technologies should improve patient health. In this context, the Gentle Jogger®, an innovative, wellness device is poised to play a major role as an aid to a healthy lifestyle by limiting physical inactivity.

By 2025, there will be a shortage of 90,000 physicians. While shortages generally predict increased demand, Paz believes that in Curve III things could take a different turn. Nature abhors a vacuum, and inevitably new solutions to the shortage will emerge, from new technologies to a broadened scope of practice across the health professions. This will give rise to the development of new pathways to improve health, further accelerating the move to a more patient-centric ecosystem. If the old physician-centered model of health care is in transition, and the impact of technology and analytics is growing, future health care practitioners need to embrace this change and function effectively in the world of consumer-driven health and wellness care.

Economy class is the lowest passenger travel class of seating in air travel, rail travel, and sometimes ferry or maritime travel. Rows of increasingly close together, narrow seats with restricted leg room produce immobility that hampers rising from seats to “stretch”. This poses a risk for blood clots in the legs and their travel to the lungs requiring anticoagulant drugs, often hospitalization and sometimes fatality, obviously not an economical benefit to health.

Watch Video On Link Below:

Gentle Jogger® Operating on Moving Train Video

Prevention Sackner Wellness Products with a tag line of Movement is Everything® is in process of fabricating a low cost, Air Travel model of its flagship, Gentle Jogger® product, called Gentle Jogger AT® that fits underneath the seat in front of the passenger’s seat. Powered by an electrical outlet in the seat or by battery, it effortlessly produces mobility as seen in the video.