On October 12, 2024, the Life Underwriters Association of the Philippines (LUAP) and the Insurance Commission (IC) is set to host the biggest gathering of life insurance companies and the general public through its LIFEST: InsuRUNce 2024, a night run that will be held at Bridgetowne Destination Estate in Pasig City. 

Held in its second year, LUAP Insurance Festival or LIFEST is being held to commemorate the Life Insurance Consciousness Week, per Proclamation No. 1059, which declares the first week of October for the said observance. 

“We recognize the importance of the general public being able to be aware of the benefits of life insurance, which is the main reason why we have partnered with LUAP for this activity this year,” said Atty. Reynaldo A. Regalado, Insurance Commissioner. “We believe that LUAP, together with us at the Insurance Commission, have the leverage and influence to gather and unify life insurance companies in a significant activity such as this one.”

The LIFEST: InsuRUNce 2024 is a night run that includes three categories: pet run, kiddie run, and a regular fun run for running enthusiasts. Each category will be inclusive of a race shirt, race bib, and goodie bag. For the 3Km, 5Km, and 10Km run, additional glow sticks and neon socks will be provided. Pet and kiddie run will only cover 1Km. The run is open to the public via RaceYa: https://register.raceya.fit/event/lifest-2024. 

Awards and prizes will be provided for the 1Km Kiddie Run, 3Km, 5Km, and 10Km categories: Medals for top 3 male and female and a Top Senior runner for the 10Km category. For the 1Km Pet Run, the awards that will be provided will be: Best Dressed Award, Most Glamorous Dog, and Best Instagram Post. 

“As an association composed of life insurance companies in the country, we at LUAP have seen collaboration beyond company colors. LUAP Insurance Festival or LIFEST is a testament of our commitment to foster camaraderie among financial advisors no matter what their company colors are,” said Nonna Medina, 2024 LUAP National President. “For the second year, we want financial advisors to take a breather, have fun, and celebrate life.”

Registration to the fun run will end on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

Young people who vape perform worse than non-vapers in tests designed to measure their capacity for exercise, according to a study presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Vienna, Austria. The research also showed that the performance of young vapers was similar to that of young smokers.

The study adds to growing evidence that long-term use of vaping is harmful and challenges the idea that vaping could be a healthier alternative to smoking.

The research was presented by Dr Azmy Faisal, senior lecturer in cardiorespiratory physiology in the department of sport and exercise sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He said: “Previous research has shown that vaping is linked to lung inflammation and damage, and harmful changes to the blood vessels. Although, some research suggests that vaping could be used to cut back or quit smoking, we don’t yet know what longer-term vaping use does to our bodies.”

The study included 60 people in their 20s who all had normal lung function according to spirometry testing. Twenty were non-smokers and non-vapers, 20 had been vaping for at least two years and 20 had been smoking for at least two years.

Each person took part in an incremental exercise test on a static bike. This is the gold-standard for testing physical ability and how well a person copes with exercise, looking at their heart, lungs, and muscles’ responses at harder and harder levels until they reach their maximum. They were also given blood tests and an ultrasound scan to analyse how well their arteries were functioning.

On average, the group of young vapers had lower ‘peak exercise capacity’ (186 watts) than the group who did not vape or smoke (226 watts) but similar capacity to the group of smokers (182 watts). This is a measure of the maximum amount of physical exertion that a person can achieve. At peak exercise, vapers and smokers were also less able to consume oxygen on average (2.7 litres per minute and 2.6 litres per minute) compared to the non-smoking non-vaping groups (3 litres per minute).

Both vapers and smokers showed signs that their blood vessels were not working as well as the non-smoking and non-vaping group, according to the blood tests and ultrasound scans. The smokers and the vapers were more out of breath, experienced intense leg fatigue and had higher levels of lactate in their blood, a sign of muscle fatigue, even before they reached their maximum level of exercise.

Dr Faisal said: “In this study, we looked at a group of young people with no apparent signs of lung damage. Among the people who had been vaping or smoking for at least two years, we saw important differences in how well they coped with exercise. The smokers and the vapers had measurably excess breathing while using the exercise bikes. They found it harder to breath, their muscles became more fatigued, and they were less fit overall. In this regard, our research indicated that vaping is no better than smoking.”

Dr Filippos Filippidis is Chair of the ERS Tobacco Control Committee, a reader in public health at Imperial College London and was not involved in the research. He said: “Vapes are being sold cheaply and in a variety of flavours to appeal to young people. As a result, we’re seeing more and more young people take up the habit without knowing what the long-term consequences could be to their health.

“Although it’s always a challenge to know if the associations we find in these studies are causal or a result of some other systematic differences between groups, people who vape need to be aware that using these products could make them less fit and able to take part in exercise. Doctors and policymakers also need to know about the risks of vaping, and we should be doing all we can to support children and young people to avoid or quit vaping.”

Pregnancy-related hypertension has already been proven to lead to a number of negative health outcomes later in life, including more bothersome menopause symptoms like hot flashes, the risk of dementia, kidney problems, and stroke. A new study suggests it can also lead to cardiovascular disease during menopause. Results of the study were presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society in Chicago, USA.

In the new study involving nearly 400 women with a mean age of 81.6 years, researchers sought to assess the association between a self-reported history of preeclampsia or eclampsia, gestational hypertension, and gestational diabetes with cardiovascular outcomes in postmenopausal women.

What they found is that a self-reported history of gestational hypertension was associated with cardiovascular disease. Women with preeclampsia or all three adverse pregnancy outcomes also had a numerically higher prevalence of heart disease, but it did not meet the standards of statistical significance. No association was found between gestational diabetes and heart disease.

“Future research based on a larger sample size is needed to better understand the role adverse pregnancy outcomes may have in cardiovascular disease development and risk stratification,” says Marie Tan, lead author from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.

More detailed results will be discussed at the 2024 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society as part of the presentation entitled “The association between adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular disease in menopausal women: results from a cross-sectional analysis.”

“Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of mortality in women and it’s important to study any new risk factors” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society. “Although future research is still needed, studies like this are important and remind us to thoroughly discuss a patient’s health history, including any complications or adverse outcomes during pregnancy.”