Posts Tagged Obesity
Obesity: It’s a Bigger Problem Than You Might Think
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on January 7, 2013
Many Americans know that obesity is a problem in the United States both for adults and for children. In addition, this is the time of year when we all start to think about how things went (or grew) last year and what we want to do better during 2013.
Have you decided that you are going to lose weight, eat better, exercise or any combination of these? If so, good luck and I hope that the gym membership and healthy food in the fridge gets put to good use! If you can stick to it for 3 weeks you may have a chance to really establish a good habit.
Knowing that obesity is a problem for so many of us isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that many people are unaware of how many ways being overweight or obese impacts their health. A recent poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates that although most of us know obesity is related to heart disease and diabetes we are unaware of other serious effects including:
- Higher risk of cancers of the colon, breast, protate and uterus
- Greater difficulty locating tumors
- Arthritis – the vicious cycle of gaining weight makes it more difficult to exercise and shed pounds which helps to improve arthritis
- Infertility
- High blood pressure and high cholesterol
- Respiratory problems such as sleep apnea and asthma
If more Americans were aware of the additional risks of being overweight or obese, it might motivate them to work harder to shed excess weight. It is not only about looks but about the ability to live a longer, healthier life. Since now is the perfect time to jump on the health bandwagon you should start with a baseline of your current health with blood tests for cholesterol, blood pressure and overall heart health, along with your weight and measurements so you can create a picture of where you want to be and what changes or improvements you’ll need to make to reach your goals. According to the survey most people support posting nutritional information in restaurants so as this information becomes available we need to take advantage of it. The majority of Americans are against any government restrictions including food taxes and restrictions on what we are able to buy. This means it is up to each of us to make the right choices for so many reasons!
Written by www.labtestingnow.com
Managing Blood Sugar – The Diabetics Ongoing Struggle
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on November 8, 2012
Have you been diagnosed with diabetes? If you are like many diabetics, you are discovering (or have already found) that maintaining a steady blood sugar level is easier said than done. November is American Diabetes Month and worth our attention because this disease is one of the largest health issues our country currently faces. An estimated one in three Americans will develop diabetes by 2050 if we don’t make major changes to our 
lifestyles. If you have already been diagnosed with Type 1 as a child or young adult or Type 2 as an adult, the prevention information isn’t much use to you. I already have it so what do I do now? Your doctor has most likely already discussed diet and exercise with you and, if you are overweight, suggested that you need to lose some. Based on current research studies here are some tips:
- Follow your doctor’s advice and lose some weight. Even though recent studies, specifically one conducted by Look AHEAD subsidized by the National Institutes of Health, are now showing that losing weight may not affect your risk of having a stroke or a heart attack, the benefits to you from even small amounts of weight lose are huge: Improved hemoglobin A1c readings (which look at average blood sugar levels for the past three months), better blood pressure numbers, better fitness and, less medication required to control the diabetes. Overall, losing weight is one of the best things you can do for yourself if you are overweight, whether or not you have diabetes.
- Tight Control: This method as described by the American Diabetes Association is not for everyone and should be followed in conjunction with advice and supervision from your doctor. The intent is to keep your blood sugar levels as close to non-diabetic levels as possible. There are risks of hypoglycemia and weight gain, but this method can prevent or control the onset or progress of complications from diabetes, providing you with additional years of healthy, active life.
- Frequent testing of your blood glucose level. Even if the tight control idea is too much for you, consider testing your blood sugar more often. This is a step in the right direction and, in conjunction with weight loss and exercise, can help you control your blood sugar better by letting you know where you stand before you eat and two hours after eating. Getting a hemoglobin A1c test every few months will also let you know how you are doing and help you make adjustments.
If you are pre-diabetic or obese and worried about the possibility of developing diabetes you may want to consider drinking black tea. Studies are showing a very high correlation between a low incidence of diabetes and the consumption of black tea.
Controlling your diabetes, however you choose to do it, is key to preventing many of the devastating complications of diabetes such as amputations and blindness. There is no doubt that managing your blood sugar is difficult, time consuming and an overall hassle, but the rewards are extremely high.
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Does This Mean I Don’t Have to Lose Weight?
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on August 10, 2012
An interesting study has been released in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that obese people who contract diabetes live longer than normal weight people who develop the disease! What’s up with this? So now, if I have diabetes, I don’t have to worry about losing weight? Not so fast. As always, the results aren’t clear cut and the researchers are trying to determine what the results mean for how people with diabetes 
should react. The study followed 2,600 people who developed diabetes during the study. 12% of them were of normal weight. 2.8% of the normal weight participants died during the study while only 1.5% of the obese participants died. The study controlled for age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking, which are all factors for heart disease. The death rate was twice as high for lean diabetics than for their obese peers. Normally, heart disease is linked to obesity, which is causing some head scratching among the researchers, although this “Obesity Paradox” has been seen in other diseases.
It appears that there may be something about being obese that protects the heart or it could be that those who are of normal weight and develop diabetes have other things going on that causes their higher mortality. The findings apply to a growing segment of the population and will make it more confusing for doctors who are treating the lean diabetes patient. Controlling blood sugar and exercising will still be key for controlling diabetes but losing weight may not be as important. The next step in studies like this may shed more light on how to handle the “Obesity Paradox” as some researchers have dubbed it. Doctors will want to watch normal weight people who contract diabetes more carefully as they are at a higher risk of death, but what should they tell them that they haven’t already been telling diabetic patients? If you have diabetes, you’ll want to follow this study and others like it carefully, along with all the other monitoring of blood sugar, cholesterol, and weight that you are already tracking.
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Saving Your Life: Diabetes Prevention
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on November 8, 2011
Do you know anyone who has diabetes? Does it seem like a minor hassle, not a big deal to watch your sugar intake? Children who need to prick their fingers every day and watch every bite they take might make us think about the high price paid by those with diabetes. This high price is now also paid by adults who have developed diabetes type 2. But, if they had thought about it before blowing off exercise and gaining weight, would it have made a difference in their lifestyle? I would like to think so. And so would the American Diabetes Association. The ADA’s Diabetes 
Awareness Month this year is focusing on how individuals can make a difference, both in their own lives and in their communities. Their “Stop Diabetes” campaign includes taking a pledge to stop diabetes in your own life and a test on Facebook to determine your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Most of us assume that if we don’t have it we don’t have to worry about diabetes but there may be some facts that you didn’t know about diabetes:
- Every 17 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes.
- Diabetes costs $174 million per year in the US.
- 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes by the year 2050 unless we all take action to stop diabetes.
Diabetes isn’t just the well known “prick your finger and inject yourself with insulin” disease. It is the leading cause of kidney failure and blindness and can increase your risk for heart disease and other infections. Many organizations are providing discounted diabetes tests this month in honor of Diabetes Awareness Month including Fasting Glucose to indicate diabetes, Hemoglobin A1c which can identify prediabetes and determine if current diabetes is well controlled and a Diabetic Urinalysis test which indicates how well your kidneys are functioning.
Do your part this month: get yourself tested, look at your risk of contracting diabetes type 2 and do what you need to do to prevent diabetes in yourself, your family and your community. We can save ourselves a lot of money and the pain and misery of living with diabetes, but only if we take action today.
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Using Food Stamps at Farmer’s Markets…A Step in the Right Direction
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on August 3, 2011
Much of the obesity in people in the lower income bracket has been blamed on the lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their neighborhoods. Inexpensive food found in many inner city stores tends to be high in fat and calories, so it’s easy to get and does nothing to improve your health, other than filling your belly. The state of Massachusetts has found one solution. Until the late 
1990s people could use food stamps at local farmers’ markets to purchase locally grown, fresh fruit and vegetables. Although there was a stigma to using the food stamps, it was possible to do. When the government changed the process, so that the money is put on an EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) debit card, the option of buying food at farmer’s markets virtually disappeared. Most farmer’s markets are cash-only operations.
In 2009, the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources used funding from the Department of Transitional Assistance to help make farmers’ markets more SNAP-friendly (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Although there is a cost to the farmers’ markets of $700 plus a $35 per month fee, more and more markets are taking advantage of the program. People using debit cards, or the SNAP EBT cards, can pull money out in wooden coins to be used at the food stalls. The SNAP coins are a different color but the difference is subtle enough to not draw attention to them and allows SNAP users to purchase food or food producing plants with their coins. Over 90% of these farmers’ market shoppers use the machine, not cash, making it easier for everyone to shop there.
I applaud Massachusett’s efforts to help our less advantaged to buy healthier, fresher food. This is definitely a step in the right direction for reducing obesity and improving everyone’s health, therefore saving us all tax dollars. I hope that other states take notice and follow Massachusett’s lead in the fight against obesity and disease.
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What You Should Really Be Worrying About…It’s Not Cancer
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on July 22, 2011
The Big “C” scares most of us. The horror stories abound and we’re always trying to figure out how to avoid it…cancer. But it is more likely that you’ll have a stroke or heart attack due to cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is the number one killer in the US. Treatments once you’ve gotten the disease have improved significantly. Cardiac stents and pacemakers extend life and have radically 
altered cardiovascular medicine, but treatment is never as good as prevention. If you reduce your Body Mass Index (BMI), exercise and eat better your risk is reduced and long term health prospects much brighter.
A new AP-LifeGoesStrong.com survey shows that amazingly few people are worried about strokes! Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability and death. Once you have a stroke you may no longer be independent, requiring a spouse or adult child to bear the burden of caring for you. Women specifically have a one on three chance of having a cardiac event as opposed to a one in eight chance of developing cancer. Monitoring your cholesterol level and stroke risk with a standard lipid test or a PLAC test can show you how much of a difference you will need to make in order to improve your health and avoid strokes and heart attacks. So yes, put on your sunblock to avoid skin cancer and eat your greens to prevent colon cancer, but watch your diet and your weight to protect your heart first.
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Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: There May Be A Surgical Option
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on June 24, 2011
Type 2 diabetes continues to rise in the United States and the sad fact is that approximately 90% of type 2 diabetes is caused by obesity. In most people, obesity and therefore, type 2 diabetes, is completely preventable through diet and exercise. The ability to reverse or improve type 2 diabetes is as simple as reversing obesity. 
The problem with that solution is that many Americans aren’t able to do that without serious intervention, namely gastric bypass or gastric banding surgery. A study conducted by Dutch researchers and published in the Archives of Surgery reported that a type of gastic bypass surgery known as Royx-en-Y or RYGB reversed type 2 diabetes in 83% of the participants and gastric banding surgery reversed type 2 diabetes in 62%.
Glucose serum testing can clearly identify diabetes and assist in diabetes maintenance and a Vertical Auto Profile (VAP) test can pinpoint risk factors and markers for Metabolic Syndrome or prediabetes. Changing your diet, losing weight and beginning an exercise program can prevent or even reverse the disease. Knowing that you are at risk, either through testing or being overweight or obese can give you the opportunity to change your life and avoid medication, constant monitoring and serious diabetes complications. Yes, surgery could take care of your obesity and your diabetes, but so could a sensible approach to eating and a walk around the block every day.
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It’s Not the Weight, It’s the Spare Tire
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on May 3, 2011
BMI or Body Mass Index has long been used as a determinant of whether someone should lose weight and how much a person’s risk is increased for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). New research appears to show that it’s the amount of belly fat that is the real culprit in increased CVD risk. 
So it’s time to lose that spare tire, even if you’re not overweight or obese. Belly fat is beginning to be regarded as not just unsightly, which it is, but also dangerous. A study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and led by Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, MD, found that central obesity was associated with a higher risk of mortality while a higher BMI was inversely associated with mortality. This fits with some studies that have shown that increasing body mass has been protective.
Why is belly fat a problem and can you lose this type of fat specifically? The first is easier to answer, although not completely understood. Metabolically, it is believed that belly fat is more active, meaning that it produces more changes in cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. The problem with focusing on BMI is that the distribution of body fat isn’t identified, so the “skinny fat person” isn’t identified. It isn’t clear from the research why belly fat causes these changes. Conversely, why an increase in overall body mass is protective, known as the Obesity Paradox, isn’t clear either.
Can people lose belly fat if they have a normal BMI? How do you know if you need to? Unfortunately, there isn’t a good answer. Many exercise experts have said that you can’t spot exercise and get six pack abs. The good news is that because belly fat may be more metabolically active, it may be the first to go if you start to exercise or eat better. There are lots of diets that claim that their plan with do the trick, but experts say there isn’t a magic bullet. Some of the tips suggested by doctors suggest eating whole grains instead of refined grains and adding high intensity exercise to your activity plan. The rule of thumb is that if your waist is 40 inches or larger for a man or 35 inches or larger for a woman, you have too much belly fat. If you’re at risk, get tested for well known risk factors such as high cholesterol or get the PLAC test to identify your stroke risk from damanging plaque. And definitely ditch the spare tire! Your muffin top can be a real problem, not just a fashion problem.
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Can the Schools Control Food and Reduce Obesity? And Should They?
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on April 12, 2011
The rise of obesity in children has horrified many people, including the government and some school systems. With a lot of focus on trying to reduce childhood obesity, including President Obama signing a bill to improve the food in public schools and Mrs. Obama’s efforts to focus attention on physical activity and healthier eating, some school systems have jumped into the fray with both feet. A school in Chicago has banned home-packed lunches in the school. Students are required to eat the school lunches unless they have a medical reason or food allergies. And some parents are furious. We all know the ill effects of obesity: diabetes, cardiovascular disease and much more, but this is not the school’s job!
There hasn’t been any discussion of whether this has actually reduced anyone’s weight and many of the students dislike the food and end up throwing most of it away. The cost for those families not on free or reduced cost lunch programs pay $2.25 for each meal, more than it costs to pack a sandwich and carrot sticks. This time, many parents argue and I have to agree, the government/school system has gone too far. Yes, offer healthier lunches at reasonable prices, but forcing families to eat mass produced food that is unattractive, based on some of the pictures, and unappetizing to children is taking too much control from individual families and their children. Although schools have a responsibility to protect and guide our children, parents also have the responsbility and the right to care for their children, especially when it comes to what they put in their little bodies. Do the schools know and have they tracked that the majority of parents pack unhealthy lunches? If I were in this school system, I would be protesting the policy so that I could provide the food that I think is best for my child.
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New Drug for Prediabetes: Cure or Delay Tactic?
Posted by Maureen in Clinical Tests, Wellness on March 25, 2011
If you are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, you’ll be interested to know that a drug that is currently used to treat diabetes may prevent the disease. The drug, pioglitazone, reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 72% in patients with prediabetes. Although the best way to prevent Type 2 diabetes is to lose weight and exercise, many Americans continue to struggle with this idea. Looking for a “quick fix” is our standard approach and the medical community is working hard to help out. 
The question is, Do you have to take the daily pill for the rest of your life? Is that really prevention or are you just pre-treating the disease? How much will this cost taxpayers? And it’s not 100% effective!
Millions of Americans already suffer from prediabetes or metabolic syndrome. High blood sugar, obesity, and high cholesterol combine to create the right environment for developing type 2 diabetes. Tests can determine if you already have prediabetes, which with the right diet and exercise can be reversed. It isn’t known yet if this medication could do that or if the effects continue after you stop taking the medication. There are also side effects including weight gain and edema (swelling due to water retention). If you are at risk, it’s time to get on the treadmill and lay off the burgers! Unless you can’t be bothered…best of luck with the “easy” route.
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CDC H1N1 Flu Updates:- Press Briefing Transcript: Dr. Thomas Frieden's Remarks at the 2010 Influenza Workshop for Journalists
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