Archive for the 'Health' Category

Link between obesity and diabetes

There are two kinds of diabetes, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.  The first type is also known as juvenile diabetes and is usually diagnosed in childhood.  It is the body’s cells and the pancreas’ inability to produce enough insulin.  In type 2 diabetes there is not enough insulin produced for the body or the body is not making proper use of the insulin that is available.

Many studies and doctors have linked an increasing number of people being diagnosed

with diabetes to obesity.  When a person is obese or very over weight they are overtaxing their pancreas (the organ that produces insulin) and this can lead to type 2 diabetes.  Being obese is a risk factor for diabetes but it does not mean you will develop the disease if you are obese.  By losing weight and leading a healthier lifestyle you can gain control of this risk factor either by reducing it or eliminating it altogether.

Gestational Diabetes

You are twenty eight weeks pregnant! Congratulations, you have made it to your third trimester with a picture perfect pregnancy.  You go in to see your obgyn for your appointment and the bomb drops.  You have gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes is one of the most common pregnancy complications that women face.  It is when pregnant women have high blood sugar levels during their pregnancy.  It is not really known what can cause gestational diabetes.  Some experts say that overweight women have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, but there is not much evidence to support this.

What is known about gestational diabetes is that one of the only cures is to deliver the baby.  After delivery your blood sugar level will go back down to normal.  The common treatment for gestational diabetes has been insulin shots.   Just as if you had diabetes when you were not pregnant, you would have to take shots each day.    Some women find though that by changing their diet, they are able to manage their gestational diabetes without having to give themselves a shot of insulin.

Garcinia

Garcinia Cambogia hails from India and Southeast Asia and is a pumpkin shaped fruit with a chemical structure similar to citric acid. Also called Malabar Tamarind, you will find this as a condiment in curry dishes.

HCA apparently does reduce appetites and promotes weight loss in animals, as proven by several studies.  However, when humans were studied, it was found HCA did not burn excess calories.  In fact, it was labeled as no better than a sugar pill.  Many claims on diet and weight loss remedy packages insist there are no side effects for HCA.  No one seems to be sure whether there is or isn’t which doesn’t bode well for HCA as a natural remedy for losing weight.

Gaining weight too fast during pregnancy

Any obgyn will tell you that the recommended weight gain for pregnancy is 25-30 pounds.  Some women will gain more, some will gain less.   But how can you tell if you are gaining too fast during your pregnancy.  Too much weight gain can increase your chances of a c section and put you at risk for being overweight after.Some doctors say that if you put on more than 3 1/2 pounds in your first trimester and are of a normal weight you are putting weight on too fast.  If you are overweight and put on more than 2 pounds, you are gaining too fast.   Keep in mind though that even if you gain a lot in your first trimester, it doesn’t necassararily mean you will gain a lot your whole pregnancy.

Some women gain a lot in the first trimester because morning sickness has them only able to eat carbs and nothing else and still end their pregnancy gaining no more than 25 pounds.  If however you find that your weight gain is still not slowing down once you enter your second trimester,  there are some tips you can try to help slow it down.

ephedra

Ephedra – Most natural remedies, or over-the-counter (OTC) herbal medicines for weight loss have appetite suppressants in them.  That only makes sense, as you want to stop eating as much.  The appetite killers trick your body into thinking it’s not really hungry.  Short-term use isn’t bad.  Long-term use can lead to serious problems.  Despite taking any of these natural remedies for losing weight, you still need to make major changes in your diet and exercise program.

One of the more commonly used OTC natural weight loss remedies is Ephedra, aka Ma-Huang harvested from the Ephedra sinica plant.   Interestingly enough, this plant has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 5,000 years for asthma, hay fever and the common cold.  Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank Mormon Tea, brewed from Ephedra. In 2004, it was banned after it came under fire for dangerous side effects and was cited as the culprit in several deaths.  As of February 2007, the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedra is illegal in the USA.  If you think this would work for you in your weight loss program, then the best thing to do is talk to your Doctor.   It’s better to be fully informed than to get a nasty surprise.

Insomnia

Insomnia has been a featured disorder from many factors such as books and movies. Two cult classics one is a book titled Insomnia written by horror novelist Stephen King and the other is the Robert DeNiro film from 1976 Taxi Driver. There have been 28 songs written and recorded about insomnia and among the artists who recorded a song were Vanessa Carlton, Green Day, Radiohead, and Tenacious D. The most popular film based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel that was a hit about 6 years ago was Fight Club with Edward Norton and Brad Pitt and the lead character was manic insomniac. This seems to be the most common form of sleeping disorder to the point that movies and songs were made about this problem.

People aren’t aware that this is a problematic issue for those who suffer from this. It’s not healthy to go without sleep because it can affect your immune system making you prone to catching things like the flu and colds. Not getting any rest can cause severe disorientation because your body wasn’t given an opportunity to rest and recuperate.

physiotherapy career

If one wants to help others with physical problems, one might want to start a physiotherapy career.  By doing so, one could learn to evaluate physical problems, create plans for patients, and see to carrying out those plans.  A physiotherapy career can be professionally rewarding.

The average physiotherapist is between 25 and 54, earns $50,000 to $60,000, and works in a full-time salaried position.  Many of these started out with a BA degree, but the trend is towards hiring MA degree or doctoral degree holders who are beginning a physiotherapy career.

If one is considering a physiotherapy career, the degree one gets in important.  A physiotherapy aide can get an entry-level degree at a university, community college, or technical school.  This is a two-year degree.  After graduation, the physiotherapy aide will perform many jobs in the treatment of patients, under the direction of the physiotherapist.

Effects of Prolonged Hyperglycemia

Effects of Prolonged Hyperglycemia – Even before you are diagnosed with diabetes, if you are obese, your blood sugars are most likely elevated.  High blood sugar levels in a body over a prolonged period of time can have devastating affects on your body.  You may not be showing symptoms of high blood sugars but your doctor will most likely do a routine blood test if you are obese to check for pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

People can go for years or even decades with undiagnosed pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.  Over this time, their blood glucose will be at above average range and this can due internal damage.  Once you find out that you are pre diabetic it is wise to change your lifestyle and eating habits to prevent the onset of diabetes. For people who have already been diagnosed with diabetes, they can still experience damage from hyperglycemia if they are not controlling their diabetes effectively.

Food cravings during pregnancy

Do pickles and ice cream sound good to you?  How about red peppers and peanut butter?  If these do, you are probably a pregnant woman who has just gone looking for that ice cream carton you know you have buried in your freezer.  More than three quarters of all pregnant women experience cravings at some point.  The most common cravings are for sweets, dairy products and salty foods although there are some weird cravings out there.  Some women have been known to put black olives on cheesecake, while others have been known to dip fruit in salsa.  As bizarre as some cravings can be, they are mainly perfectly safe.

There are old wives tales that believe what you crave could be a good indication of the sex of your baby.  If you are craving sweets you are having a girl.  If you crave meats or cheeses, it is believed you are having a boy.  Cravings are something that most women love most about pregnancy.  It is when a woman is craving dirt or clay that an alarm should go off.  If you should find yourself craving dirt, soil, or chalk call your doctor right away.  Not only could these be harmful if you do eat them, but chances are they are a sign of iron-deficiency anemia.

Children With the Sleep Disorder of Sleepwalking

The sleep disorder of sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism,  affects approximately 14% of school-age children between five and twelve years old at least once. Approximately one quarter of the children with this sleep disorder have more frequent episodes. Sleepwalking is more common in boys then it is in girls. Most children that sleepwalk outgrow the symptoms of this sleep disorder by adolescence  as their nervous systems develop.

In children this sleep disorder is thought to be the result of the immaturity of the brain’s sleep/wake cycle. Normally the entire brain wakes up at the same time. However, in the case of a sleepwalker, the entire brain does not wake up together. The portion that is responsible for mobility wakes up while the portion responsible for cognition and awareness stays asleep. The child is actually in a deep state of sleep.