| From left to right Susan Tumbleston, Mayor Loretta Clawson, Dr. Chuck Dumke, and Jodi Cash witness the signing of the Exercise is Medicine Proclamation for the month of May for Boone, North Carolina. |
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has endorsed a national program entitled Exercise is Medicine Month. Dr. Chuck Dumke, representing the Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science at Appalachian State University, requested that the Town of Boone declare May as Exercise is Medicine Month, and the proclamation was signed on April 30, 2008. One objective of the program is to encourage citizens to engage in physical activity for the health benefits it brings, and to encourage physicians to "prescribe" exercise to their patients during office visits. Able patients are advised to participate in at least 30 minutes of physical activity and 10 minutes of stretching and light muscle training five days a week. The Governor's Office has been requested to designate May as Exercise is Medicine Month for the State of North Carolina. For more information and to learn more about the program, please visit www.exerciseismedicine.org.
EXERCISE SCIENCE RECIPIENT OF DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN GRADUATE EDUCATION
By Jodi Hartley
The graduate degree program in Exercise Science in the Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science at Appalachian is this year’s recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education.
The Dean’s Award recognizes one graduate program at the University for superb performance each academic year. It is selected by a campus-wide committee recommended by the deans.
“Exercise Science was the first to win this award when it was created,” said Dr. Edelma Huntley, dean of the Cratis D. Williams Graduate School. “It is very fitting that the program has won again. It shows sustained excellence, and they join a very small group having won this award twice since it began in 1992-93.”
Programs are judged by regional, national, and international involvement of outstanding graduate faculty in the program; awards won by the program; awards won by students in the program; student presentations at regional and national meetings; publications with graduate students as sole or first authors; successful general recruiting efforts and/or successful recruiting efforts to achieve a diverse student population; external funding for faculty or student research; support from the department or deans for student travel; and outcome information.
The Exercise Science program prepares qualified professionals for employment in athletics programs, exercise/fitness centers, hospital wellness programs, corporate fitness programs, rehabilitation centers, and allied health areas focusing on exercise physiology, biomechanics, physical therapy, medicine, chiropractic medicine and research. The Master of Science program offers three concentrations: research, clinical/cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and strength and conditioning.
The program has seen an impressive number of regional and national presentations by its students. In addition, its faculty has received a record number of externally funded research project dollars, enabling graduate and undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience in applied research. This research has allowed faculty to be more cutting edge in the classroom as well.
"This award reflects the hard work and diligence of the entire Exercise Science faculty,” said Dr. Paul Gaskill, chair of the Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science. “Through the additional efforts of graduate program director Dr. Chuck Dumke and Exercise Science program director Dr. Harold O'Bryant, one of the finest Exercise Science graduate degree programs in the country has been developed. Given the number of outstanding graduate programs here at Appalachian State University, it is a true honor to be chosen for this award.”
Graduates of the Exercise Science program have seen great success, attending top-notch institutions for terminal degrees, establishing their own businesses and working in the field.
Appalachian professor receives $180,000 NIH grant to study ways to protect against heart attack
John C. Quindry, an assistant professor in Appalachian State University’s Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science, will spend the next two years studying the role short-term exercise plays in protecting the heart muscle during a severe heart attack.Quindry has received an $180,000 Academic Research Enhancement Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct the study.
“In the United States, where we have become very sedentary and our diets have become inappropriate, heart disease is the No. 1 killer,” Quindry said. “My ultimate goal is finding ways to protect against heart attack.”
Quindry is expanding research he and others conducted during his postdoctoral work at the University of Florida. That research showed that just three consecutive days of moderate exercise protects against the damaging effects of a heart attack for up to two weeks when compared to non-exercised hearts.
He now hopes to learn more precisely how exercise triggers a change in the heart muscle that protects it should a heart attack occur. “Heart cells don’t die as frequently in an exercised heart during a heart attack as a sedentary heart,” Quindry explained.
“The heart muscle cells, just like cells throughout the body, have a limit to what they can do,” he said. “During a heart attack, those cell resources are put to the test. The component I want to test is specific to the mitochondria, the power-energy generating component of the cell.”
Graduate and undergraduate students will assist Quindry with his research. The students will be able to develop biochemistry and applied physiology skills. “This research really integrates a lot of their undergraduate and graduate curriculum in one event,” he said.
Quindry said results of his research could translate rather quickly to a clinical application. “Exercise is certainly not the only way to turn on this component of the protected heart. If a physician has a patient who is likely to suffer a heart attack and is unable to exercise, the patient could be given a drug to turn on this component of the heart and preserve the heart muscle against EKG abnormalities or cell death should a heart attack occur,” he said.
“It is pretty phenomenal how much protection can be afforded with three days of exercise and how long the beneficial effects last relative to the mild physical demands of exercise,” Quindry said. “The take-home message is that everyone should exercise most days, and a little bit goes a long way for health. But we realize not everyone cares about exercise, or can exercise. Maybe we can take the knowledge from this study and apply it in some novel way that will benefit people beyond the realm of physical fitness.”
