GP Industries

Professional Edge Convention
On Friday September 7, the opening day of the eleventh Professional Edge Convention, industry professionals witnessed the presentation of one of the UK’s most prestigious awards; The Fitness Professionals Award 2001. This years deserving winner, Susie, has dedicated her life to the development and understanding of the relationship between medicine and fitness. She is known as the pioneer linking the medical profession and the fitness industry. Her specialisation is designing research and evidence based training programmes, focusing on physiological and psychological change in older people in response to exercise. Her current role is as the Senior Clinical Exercise Practitioner and Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Free and University College School of Medicine and the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust London. Susie’s goal is to provide continual education and professional understanding between the spheres of medicine and fitness.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a classification of depression that is sparked by a marked decline in exposure to daylight. Blood pressure, breathing patterns, glandular activity and other bodily functions all flow in a 24-hour pattern called a circadian rhythm. For some people, lack of sunlight changes the circadian rhythm and leads to symptoms associated with SAD.

The general consensus is that there is inconclusive proof of the cause of SAD. Recently, however, researchers have identified two genes that are believed to control the body's physiological cycle. The research also showed that reduced daylight may boost the production of melatonin, a sleep-related hormone released by the pineal gland in the brain - which has connections to signs of depression.

SAD is more common in colder and darker climates. A large majority of SAD-diagnosed people are women. Usually SAD is more diagnosed in younger folks than older ones with the average age being twenty-three.