Obesity Weight Loss Surgery

Medical Library

8 Ways Exercise Keeps You Young and Healthy

Exercise may not halt the aging process, but mounting evidence suggests people who stay active can slow its effects. The latest issue of Mayo Clinic Women's Healthsource offers 8 benefits to regular exercise. It Provides Energy: Feeling tired and lethargic is largely a result of being inactive. Endurance exercises like walking, swimming, jogging, biking, and rowing improves stamina and energy. Even after a few weeks in a walking program, people have more energy for activities. It Improves Mental Health: There's considerable evidence that regular physical activity can help reduce stress, manage mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety, improve sleep quality, boost mood, and enhance the overall feeling of well-being.

(Read more)

 

AHA: Plaque Remover, Vitamin E Death Risk

In data presented at this year's American Heart Association annual meeting, scientists from the biotech company lipid sciences announced they are able to reverse the build up of fatty cholesterol plaque in heart arteries.

(Read more)

 

Adding Dietary Calcium Helps Lose Weight

Increasing the supply of calcium in one's diet facilitates weight loss - but only in people who fail to ingest enough calcium, a recent study showed.The study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition, and was performed by Angelo Tremblay and his team at Université Laval's Faculty of Medicine, in Quebec City, Canada.
(Read more)

 

American Children Are Not Consuming Enough Milk

A recent study from Penn State has found that American children are drinking insufficient amounts of milk and the dairy they are choosing to consume are very high in fat. The study examined a children's daily dairy intake and compared it with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid dairy recommendations. The findings revealed that only 2 to 3 year olds met the MyPyramid dairy recommendations. It was also observed that most children choose to eat more of the highest fat varieties of cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and dairy based toppings.

(Read more)

 

Another Five Predictors of Long Life

Being conscious of fat and sugar in your diet, and working out at the gym, may seem like the keys to a long and healthy life. But you may easily tire of calorie counting and workouts. It seems the real signs of whether you will be blessed with considerable longevity is if you've adopted certain lifelong healthy lifestyles and attitudes - some of which you can still start. Here are five of them.

(Read more)

 

Asian Seaweed Diet

We’re going to let you in on a new kind of diet very few here in the states know about, but it’s all the rage in Asia. And it’s cheap and easy to try. We’re only in the second week of the New Year, and already, folks are getting a little disgruntled with their resolution to lose weight. “Very hard… I have been doing it my whole life, and the older you get the harder it gets, losing it is impossible,” says frustrated Harriet Ellmer.

(Read more)

 

Bariatric Surgery Patients Lead Comparatively Unhealthy Lifestyle

Patients who have undergone weight-loss surgery, even though they may have lost 100 pounds or more, engaged in poorer eating and exercise habits compared with obese people who lost the same amount of weight through diet and exercise, a recent study has found.

The study also found that adopting a strict diet and an exercise regimen can produce the same results as bariatric surgery for severely obese people in terms of keeping weight off over the long term. (Read more)

 

Best Hospitals Have Lowest Chance of Bariatric Surgery Complications

A study released by HealthGrades identified 88 hospitals as the nations "best" performers (five-star rated), with mortality rates, complication rates and patient lengths of stay that are dramatically lower than other poorly rated hospitals. The independent healthcare ratings organization rated the quality of bariatric surgery in hospitals across 19 states.
(Read more)

 

Depression Produces Abdominal Obesity

Older people who are depressed are twice as likely to gain large amounts of fat around the midriff, a recent study shows. And abnormal weight gain leading to obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry by researchers at VU University Medical Center, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, found that depressed seniors have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. (Read more)

 

Diabetes Prevention Study

If you have no signs of it, what diabetes prevention can you take to ensure that you don't develop the disease and its associated complications. Two new studies give insight into preventing diabetes, which is a major risk for heart attacks, strokes, and numerous other complications.

(Read more)

 

Diabetes Toolkit

“Following an exercise regimen and watching what I eat has been very helpful,” says diabetes patient, Theodore Lymes. Theodore Lymes has battled diabetes for fifteen years. He says given his poor diet, sedentary lifestyle combined with a family history of diabetes, it was no surprise when he was diagnosed. But quickly, Theodore moved to action, losing weight and working out.

(Read more)

 

Diet Soda: Doorway to Weight Gain

Diet soda isn't the silver bullet to weight loss its often made out to be. Nor does it prevent weight gain. In fact, drinking diet soda is strongly correlated with overweight and obesity.

Diet soda has 5 calories or fewer per serving, of course, but emerging research seems to suggest that drinking sugary-tasting beverages, even artificially sweetened ones, appears to develop a preference in the human body for a whole range of other sweet things. And when we consume sweeter cereals, snacks, breads and desserts, we tend to consume more calories, and eventually put on pounds. (Read more)

 

Diets Compared

It’s a topic that keeps on churning out studies…which is the best diet to help you lose weight, and lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Atkins? Zone? Ornish? The good old food pyramid? The results of the latest government funded study is surprising to many. Many people thought this issue was a dead one--low carb being no better than a low fat diet, with the key being reduced calories across the board. But this latest study says, hold on--low carb may be the best for many reasons.

(Read more)

 

Enviga | Nutrition and Diet

There is a new soft drink hitting the market that does what no other soft drink has ever claimed to do: you drink it, and you’ll burn calories. Is it truly possible? Please say it’s so. You know, there’s a lot to be said for a brownie and a diet coke; i mean, why add insult to injury. At least the diet coke isn'’t pouring on more calories. But what if--just if--there was something that could go one better, and negate the effects of that brownie? From the folks who bring you nestle crunch bars and coca cola…. Comes… Drum roll please….. Enviga! This puppy is being called the the calorie burner! Don’t' believe it?

(Read more)

 

Environment And Obesity

So what does graffiti have to do with being obese? According to new research, environment and obesity are linked. If you live around areas that are grafittied and littered, you’re more likely to be obese. It’s an interesting take on obesity: looking at the link between one’s environment and obesity tendency. But it’s really a roundabout way to show that for the most part, it’s the classic reasons for weight gain which cause these individuals who live in the inner city to be obese.

(Read more)

 

Exercise Improves Outcome of Bariatric Surgery

Patients who incorporated regular physical activity into their lives after bariatric surgery lost more weight and had better general health and vitality and less depression and anxiety than those who were inactive, a recent study shows.

"Bariatric surgery is quickly emerging as a standard treatment for severe obesity, although weight loss outcomes vary. These results suggest that patient behavior, particularly physical activity, may promote both enhanced weight loss and greater improvements in health-related quality of life following bariatric surgery," said lead author Dale Bond, of the Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine. (Read more)

 

Exercise Study

With dieting being the most commonly adopted method to lose weight, many of us refrain from taking up exercise. For people who are markedly overweight, it can be difficult to start an exercise program. But, the latest data shows the combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise truly is the key to long term success.

(Read more)

 

Exercise Study

With dieting being the most commonly adopted method to lose weight, many of us refrain from taking up exercise. For people who are markedly overweight, it can be difficult to start an exercise program. But, the latest data shows the combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise truly is the key to long term success.

(Read more)

 

Fast Eating Increases Fatness

Wolfing your food and at the same time eating until you feel full cause a near tripling of the risk of being overweight, according to a recent study from Japan's Osaka University.

The researchers, who published their work in the British Medical Journal, used special questionnaires to analyze the eating habits of 1,122 men and 2,165 women ages 30 to 69. The subjects assessed their speed of eating (very slow, slow, medium, fast, very fast) and reported whether they ate until full. (Read more)

 

Fat Study

An important medical study shows what you see all around you. It might sound plain and simple, but the study looked at obesity trends and found that most of us are getting- plain and simple- fat. This is one of those studies that makes people wonder whether time and money haven’t been invested in deducing the obvious. What makes the study important is that the research comes out of a comprehensive survey of obesity trends in a community over decades. The message is very clear- most of us are headed down a fattening road of destruction to our health.

(Read more)

 

Fatty-Liver Disease Retreats With Weight Loss

If patients lose 9 percent of their body weight, a dangerous condition of the liver can be reversed, a recent study has shown.
   
The condition, known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is characterized by an abnormal, usually obesity-caused buildup of fat in the liver. This produces inflammation, which damages sensitive liver tissue, resulting in the formation of scar tissue, and eventual liver hardening and impairment of the organ’s function.

(Read more)

 

For Obese, Losing a Little Helps a Lot

If obese people lose even a moderate amount of weight, their risk of developing serious health problems, especially heart disease, is dramatically lowered, according to a recent study.
   
The research, done by doctors at the Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center in Houston, Texas, is good news for the roughly 50 million Americans who suffer from so-called metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that lead to heart disease. A person is said to have this syndrome when he exhibits any three of the following five abnormalities: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood triglyceride levels, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol and blood sugar problems (such as insulin resistance or high fasting blood glucose).

(Read more)

 

Gastric Surgery Viable Option to Treat Severe Obesity

Gastric Surgery:

Gastric surgery to treat obesity was first developed in 1967 in the United States. Over the years, several different types of gastric surgeries have been used. If a person is diagnosed as severely obese, it means they are about 100lbs overweight. If all diets and exercise programs have failed, then gastric surgery may become an option.

(Read more)

 

Gastric Surgery Viable Option to Treat Severe Obesity

Gastric Surgery:

Gastric surgery to treat obesity was first developed in 1967 in the United States. Over the years, several different types of gastric surgeries have been used. If a person is diagnosed as severely obese, it means they are about 100lbs overweight. If all diets and exercise programs have failed, then gastric surgery may become an option.

(Read more)

 

Gastro-Esophageal Reflex Disease (GERD)

What is Gastro-Esophageal Reflex Disease (GERD)?

Almost everyone has experienced the reflux of stomach juices into the esophagus. This is felt as heartburn. Frequent and intense bouts constitute the condition known as GERD. GERD is related to an incompetent lower esophageal sphincter. This is a band of muscle at the end of the esophagus that acts as a valve preventing juices, which are acidic, from moving up from the stomach.

(Read more)

 

Growth Hormone Aids Healthier Obesity Weight Loss

Administering growth hormone to obese women as they diet and exercise after undergoing bariatric surgery helps them lose more fat-tissue weight and retain more lean-muscle-mass weight, a recent report showed.
   
The small study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, was performed on 24 obese women with severe growth hormone deficiency following a form of stomach-stapling surgery known as laparoscopic-adjustable silicone gastric banding.

(Read more)

 

Health Wrap - Obesity Surgery, Asthma and Energy Drinks

A new study shows stomach stapling surgery may reduce one’s risk of heart disease. Mayo clinic researchers were surprised by the findings. The estimated 10-year risk for death or cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack, in the surgical group decreased from 37 percent to 18 percent as a result of the study but remained the same for the control group which didn’t get surgery. Those who underwent bariatric surgery had a more significant improvement in body weight, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and fasting sugar levels, despite a reduction in medications for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

(Read more)

 

Health Wrap: Reports on Aneurysms, Peanut Allergies, and Obesity

New research by British scientists shows that the biggest health threat to fat and obese people isn't the fat itself but the fact that the fat fuels a killer inflammation response in people. Doctors studied a large group of people, belonging to 3 different ethnic groups—white, Asian, and black. A variety of markers of inflammatory activation were measured and these were related to measures of obesity or fatness such as body mass index and waist-hip ratio.

(Read more)

 

Health Wrap:Snoring, Fetuses and Pain

A new study finds that habitual snoring in women is strongly tied to body mass index—a marker of fatness-- and age. Overall, 7.6 percent of women snore. The frequency of snoring reaches its peak in women ages 50 to 59. Frequent snoring was found to increase with alcohol dependence, smoking and physical inactivity. --

(Read more)

 

Heart Disease Risk Increases Among Overweight Preschoolers

In a worrisome development in light of America’s epidemic of childhood obesity, a recent study revealed that cardiovascular risk factors increase in children as young as three who are overweight or obese.
   
“Overall, as waist circumference and body-mass index increases, HDL cholesterol decreases and C-reactive protein increases,” said study author Sarah Messiah, a research assistant professor at the University of Miami. “It’s pretty clear that even at this young age, these cardiovascular risk factors are in motion.”

(Read more)

 

High Carbs and Heart

Ok, let’s get this straight once and for all, shall we? Should we be eating a low carb diet, or a high carb diet? And do the types of carbs make a difference in terms of losing weight? This latest research says a high carb diet--but with the right carbs--can be the best diet in terms of shedding fat and cardiovascular risk. But good luck at trying to figure out exactly what it is you’re supposed to eat. The latest study just in from the archives of internal medicine shows that a diet high in carbohydrates but low on what’s called the glycemic index, which measures the impact of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels, may help promote weight loss, decrease body fat and reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

(Read more)

 

Holiday Food Breakdown

On Thursday, as you commence the holiday season which is traditionally marked by an annual weight gain, will you give any thought over the caloric content and fat grams you’re about to pour into your gut?

(Read more)

 

Intestinal Chemical May Suppress Appetite and Fight Obesity

A biochemical produced by the small intestine every time we eat a fatty meal and which signals the brain to suppress appetite may be the answer to the obesity epidemic, a recent study suggests.

Researchers at Yale University who investigated the biochemical, known as N- acylphosphatidylethanolamine (NAPE), found that mice and rats injected with it ate less and lost weight. The scientists, who published their work in the journal Cell, theorized that NAPE curbed appetite by suppressing the activity of neurons in a brain region known as the hypothalamus. (Read more)

 

Knowledge of Fat-Making Complex Could Fight Obesity

In an advance that has implications for new anti-obesity and anti-cancer drugs, a “movie” has been made of how a molecular complex in the human cell performs a “dance” in which it dramatically changes shape to promote all of the stages of fat synthesis.
   
The various enzymes that make fat are actually integrated into a rapidly metamorphosing unit called fatty acid synthase.

(Read more)

 

Lifestyle Changes Effective Against Child Obesity

Obese children and teenagers can lose significant weight through lifestyle changes that are occasionally paired with medication, a Dutch team has found in reviewing 64 randomized, controlled studies from five continents.

The overview found that what is known as behavioral lifestyle therapy produces good weight-loss results. Such therapy focused on changing children's thinking patterns and behaviors by teaching them, for example, to have breakfast and to eat regular, portion-controlled meals. Teaching kids to reduce inactive conduct such as watching TV, and to increase physical activity, is also beneficial. To change thinking patterns that promoted unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity, children were educated in using techniques such as self-awareness, self-monitoring, stress management and goal setting. (Read more)

 

Liver Chemical Crucial in Keeping Blood Fats Low

Dramatic underproduction of a particular liver biochemical seems to be the cause of the pathologically high blood-fat levels associated with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in obese mice, a recent study found. Metabolic syndrome is a disorder that places its sufferers at greatly increased risk for cardiovascular disease, and is marked by the intersection of several symptoms, including belly obesity, high blood pressure and high blood fats.
   
The research, done by Stephan Herzig and his colleagues at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, or DKFZ), was published in the journal Diabetes.

(Read more)

 

Low Carb Diet Studies

Research shows that a low carb diet may be the ideal way to go about losing weight. "I eat a lot of eggs and a lot of meat. I sometimes even have roast beef rolled up at lunch, with some mayonnaise." It doesn't sound like a recipe for weight loss, but Margaret Palmer has successfully lost 30 pounds on her Atkins low carb diet.

(Read more)

 

Low Carb Diets

So just in case you thought the skinny on low fat diets was a big fat pile of confusion, there’s a new study out today: and it comes to the conclusion that the alternative low carb diets may be putting folks at risk for cardiovascular disease. We’re talking about the types of diets like the Atkins diet: a low carb, high protein, and often higher fat diet. They’re a popular way to lose weight.

(Read more)

 

Milk and Weight Gain

Emily Belmonte and Alana Whittaker are two peas in a pod. They share a lot, including, surprisingly, their disdain for soda and their love for milk. "Love it! I drink it like three times at bedtime and once in the morning." Emily says. "Well, I don't drink milk at every meal but I usually have two or three glasses a day." Alana adds.

(Read more)

 

Morbidly Obese Seen as Huge Future Hospital Burden

Morbidly obese Americans, whose numbers are rising rapidly today and whose average hospital expenses far outstrip other people’s, are likely to become a terrible drain on hospital resources in the near future, a recent study showed.
   
The research, which examined almost 8 million discharge records in 2005 from over 1,000 community hospitals, found that the median hospital charge was $14,147 for non-obese patients, $15,623 for obese patients, and $20,046 for morbidly obese patients. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, and morbid obesity is characterized by a BMI of 40 or more. The research team controlled for age and diabetes status.

(Read more)

 

New Diabetic Guidelines

There are important new diabetes guidelines just released that instruct most Type 2 diabetics to take cholesterol-lowering medication. The goal is to cut down on their risk for heart attacks and strokes, common killers in this patient population. Now, these new diabetes guidelines put out by the American College of Physicians, say most diabetics need to be put on cholesterol lowering medicines even if their cholesterol levels are not high.

(Read more)

 

New GERD Procedure

For Julie Bayley there’s nothing better than cooking up an exotic home cooked meal and pairing it with the perfect bottle of wine. But, Julie says that for years her epicurean indulgences left her paying the price…unrelenting vicious heartburn. “It is like a river of lava coming up into your throat and just burning relentlessly and at the same time that is happening there is this pressure on your chest, it is just unbelievable pain,” says Julie. Julie suffers from GERD…gastroesophageal reflux disease. This chronic reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus is often due to a weakening of tissues that make up the valve-like barrier between the esophagus and stomach. Most GERD patients have abnormal functioning of this valve allowing stomach contents to flow freely into the esophagus causing severe heartburn.

(Read more)

 

Obese Don't Lose Weight Even After Health Breakdowns

Smoking and obesity are two of the biggest risk factors for chronic and deadly diseases. So it would seem that if a smoker or an obese person suffered a heart attack or stroke, or was diagnosed with lung disease, cancer or diabetes, he would quit smoking or lose a lot of weight – fast.
   
It turns out, however, that, while smokers are three times more likely to quit after a serious health scare than before, obese and overweight people lose only two to three pounds under the same circumstances. The findings were published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

(Read more)

 

Obese Don't Lose Weight Even After Health Breakdowns

Smoking and obesity are two of the biggest risk factors for chronic and deadly diseases. So it would seem that if a smoker or an obese person suffered a heart attack or stroke, or was diagnosed with lung disease, cancer or diabetes, he would quit smoking or lose a lot of weight – fast.
   
It turns out, however, that, while smokers are three times more likely to quit after a serious health scare than before, obese and overweight people lose only two to three pounds under the same circumstances. The findings were published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

(Read more)

 

Obesity Costs

There’s no question that the cost of obesity in America is not just a healthcare concern, but an economic concern as well. But exactly how severe is the cost of obesity, and can tackling the financial aspects of obesity help reverse the obesity trends? This week the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University gathered government officials, academic and food industry experts to discuss the latest thinking and policies regarding food and the problem of obesity. The proliferation of cheap fattening foods and the marketing of unhealthy foods to kids are just two of the financial factors feeding obesity. But if we manipulate the money, experts say we can reverse the fattening trends.

(Read more)

 

Obesity Costs

There’s no question that the cost of obesity in America is not just a healthcare concern, but an economic concern as well. But exactly how severe is the cost of obesity, and can tackling the financial aspects of obesity help reverse the obesity trends? This week the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University gathered government officials, academic and food industry experts to discuss the latest thinking and policies regarding food and the problem of obesity. The proliferation of cheap fattening foods and the marketing of unhealthy foods to kids are just two of the financial factors feeding obesity. But if we manipulate the money, experts say we can reverse the fattening trends.

(Read more)

 

Obesity Gene Also Codes for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The gene that codes for susceptibility to obesity also predisposes a woman to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common cause of infertility, a recent study discovered.
   
The study, done by Tom Barber and his colleagues from the Oxford Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, of the University of Oxford and Imperial College London, was presented at the annual Society for Endocrinology BES meeting in Britain.

(Read more)

 

Obesity Medication and Teens

It's a sad note that we've gotten to the point in our society that our children are becoming so overweight, and the problem is so widespread, that now weight loss medication is now being approved for teens.

(Read more)

 

Obesity Rates Expected to Soar in the US

Obesity is still on the rise. A new study released by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that by 2015, 75% of adults will be overweight, 41% will be obese. The study was a meta-analysis (comprehensive overview) of 20 different journal papers, reports, online data sets, and 4 different national surveys from 1960-2004. The study found that the obesity rate between those years had risen from 13% to 32%. The lead author of the study, Youfa Wang MD, PhD called obesity a public health crisis, and said, "The obesity rate in the United States has increased at an alarming rate over the past three decades. We set out to estimate the average annual increase in prevalence as well as the variation between population groups to predict the future situation regarding obesity and overweight among U.S. adults and children."

(Read more)

 

Obesity Rates Expected to Soar in the US

Obesity is still on the rise. A new study released by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that by 2015, 75% of adults will be overweight, 41% will be obese. The study was a meta-analysis (comprehensive overview) of 20 different journal papers, reports, online data sets, and 4 different national surveys from 1960-2004. The study found that the obesity rate between those years had risen from 13% to 32%. The lead author of the study, Youfa Wang MD, PhD called obesity a public health crisis, and said, "The obesity rate in the United States has increased at an alarming rate over the past three decades. We set out to estimate the average annual increase in prevalence as well as the variation between population groups to predict the future situation regarding obesity and overweight among U.S. adults and children."

(Read more)

 

Obesity Rates May Be Leveling Off

Here is some remarkable news. We, meaning Americans in general, have finally begun to stop getting fatter. Not that we are any thinner, but at least our national weight expansion has leveled off. This semi-encouraging news comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Read more)

 

Obesity Rates May Be Leveling Off

Here is some remarkable news. We, meaning Americans in general, have finally begun to stop getting fatter. Not that we are any thinner, but at least our national weight expansion has leveled off. This semi-encouraging news comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Read more)

 

Obesity Seems to Degrade Men's Sex Lives

Obese men undergo significant hormonal changes and experience markedly worse sex lives – but stomach-stapling surgery can correct those troubles, a recent small study showed.
   
“Previous studies have found that obesity is correlated to lower sperm count and can be associated with infertility, but we wanted to know if obesity was biologically associated with an unsatisfying sex life, and if so, could it be reversible,” the study’s lead author, Ahmad Hammoud, of the University of Utah, said in an Endocrine Society news release. “Our results show that the answer to both questions may be yes.”

(Read more)

 

Obesity Surgery Surge

With the unbelievable rise in obesity rates here in America comes what many would consider an expected consequence- the number of Americans having weight-loss surgery more than quadrupled between 1998 and 2002.

(Read more)

 

Obesity Surgery and Metabolic Syndrome

There’s new evidence that obesity surgery, which helps people lose weight provides significant health benefits that could prolong life and improve quality of life. The study was done in Taiwan, and looked at obese patients in a surgical weight loss program. The study found the operation not only improves outward looks, but also markedly improves mental well being also.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and Cancer Risk

The American Cancer Society has released the latest edition of it’s Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. The publish it every five years, and the emphasis now is on--you guessed it--obesity. Yes, being overweight or obese is a significant cancer risk. This contributes to as much as 20 percent of all cancer related mortality. The list of the cancers to which it’s clearly linked is long: breast, colon, uterine, esophagus, and kidney. It is highly suggestive it is linked to these as well: pancreatic, gallbladder, thyroid, ovarian, cervical, prostate cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, and multiple myeloma. Overall, one third of the more than 500.000 cancer deaths in the U.S. each year can be attributed to diet and excess weight.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and Dementia

Could your waistline be putting you at risk for dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease later in life? The list of problems that obesity can cause is long- heart disease, heartburn, diabetes and arthritis, to name a few. And now, according to new studies in the latest Archives of Internal Medicine, there’s evidence that being fat may be the reason for a loss in mental sharpness as we age. One study showed that individuals who were obese at midlife had an increased risk for dementia--a loss of cognitive abilities--later in life compared to individuals of normal weight.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and Depression Strongly Linked

The link between common mental illness and obesity should be given more attention because the two health problems are closely connected, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide. An editorial in the British Medical Journal add support to claims of a two-way risk between obesity and common mental disorders.
(Read more)

 

Obesity and Diabetes Risk

Scientists have been warning that diabetes will be the next medical crisis in this country. Now, a new study may give us a better warning of who its next victims will be, showing that diabetes, particularly Type 2 diabetes and obesity may be linked. For years, doctors have been weighing patients, and then determining their likelihood of developing type-2 diabetes. They did so by calculating their "body mass index" a ratio of their weight to their height.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and GI Cancer Risk

There are two new studies out that show that obesity is more than a heart disease risk, that obesity and cancer are also related. Specifically the latest research shows that being overweight raises the risk for colon cancer and esophageal cancer. It's hard to miss the warnings about the dangers of obesity- an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, and now cancer.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and Impotence

There's good news and bad news for men suffering from impotence. The bad news, it appears that obesity is a significant contributing factor--a concern given the overall fattening of America. According to the authors of the new study, obesity contributes to sexual dysfunction in men in several different ways, most of them physical, not psychological. But the good news is that new research shows losing weight can reverse the problem. Experts hope the new findings will provide some extra added motivation to get America…at least, American males…to slim down.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and Race

Recent studies have uncovered new links between obesity and race, showing that body fat distribution varies between different races. We've all been told that America's bulging waistline is increasing our risk for serious diseases like hypertension, stroke, diabetes and heart disease. But, what you may not know is that body fat distribution varies among individuals, thus varying individual susceptibility for developing heart disease.

(Read more)

 

Obesity and Weight Loss Surgery

Severe obesity is a chronic condition that is difficult to treat through diet and exercise alone. Bariatric surgery is one of the best options for people who are severely obese and cannot lose weight by traditional means or who suffer from serious obesity-related health problems. The surgery promotes weight loss by restricting food intake and, in some operations, interrupting the digestive process. As in other treatments for obesity, the best results are achieved with healthy eating behaviors and regular physical activity.

(Read more)

 

Obesity in America

The U.S. government has released a study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which shows unquestionably America shows no signs of slimming down. This is in spite of news last week when a major researcher said the epidemic of obesity in America is being overblown, that it's just the fattest people who are getting fatter, throwing off the whole curve. But it is now clear is that America is overweight as a whole, and it's not getting any thinner.

(Read more)

 

Obesity, Smoking and Aging

Most of us wish we could be young forever, and stop the aging clock. Of course that's impossible, but there's some new, important insight into why we age and what we might be able to do about it. The new research says that aging could be speeded up by heavy smoking and a lifestyle that encourages obesity.

(Read more)

 

Physical Fitness Program Cannot Be Taken Lightly

You have taken the important first step on the path to physical fitness by seeking information. The next step is to decide that you are going to be physically fit. This pamphlet is designed to help you reach that decision and your goal. The decision to carry out a physical fitness program cannot be taken lightly. It requires a lifelong commitment of time and effort. Exercise must become one of those things that you do without question, like bathing and brushing your teeth. Unless you are convinced of the benefits of fitness and the risks of unfitness, you will not succeed.

(Read more)

 

Physical Fitness Program Cannot Be Taken Lightly

You have taken the important first step on the path to physical fitness by seeking information. The next step is to decide that you are going to be physically fit. This pamphlet is designed to help you reach that decision and your goal. The decision to carry out a physical fitness program cannot be taken lightly. It requires a lifelong commitment of time and effort. Exercise must become one of those things that you do without question, like bathing and brushing your teeth. Unless you are convinced of the benefits of fitness and the risks of unfitness, you will not succeed.

(Read more)

 

Post Gastric Bypass Eating Habits

By Dr. Thomas Cerebona, Dr. Ashutosh Kaul and Dr. Edward Yatco Nutritional Expectations: After Gastric Bypass you will need to make changes to your eating patterns. The diet after surgery progresses from a liquid diet to a pureed diet to a soft diet and then a modified regular diet. The diet progression is designed to allow your body to heal.

(Read more)

 

Pre-Hypertension Treatment

There is important new research out tonight that may be the start of a different approach in medicine: to treat high blood pressure before it even gets high. The fact is about 69 percent of people who have a first heart attack, 77 percent of those who have a first stroke, and 74 percent of patients with heart failure have blood pressure higher than 140/90 mm hg. So why not catch blood pressure early, before it does its damage?

(Read more)

 

Precursor Fat Cells May Shed Light on Diseases

To understand more about the mystery of obesity, it's important to understand how fat cells are born, nurtured and matured. And the enlightenment that will flow from understanding obesity may sweep away mysteries relating to the generation of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which seem to be so much more prevalent among people who are obese. So it was with delight that scientists greeted a recent study identifying precursor cells that develop into full-blown fat tissue. The research, performed on "skinny" mice genetically modified to have no fat deposits, showed that injecting one particular type of cell into the mice caused them to form fat.

(Read more)

 

Quicker Dementia Linked to Obesity and Heart Disease

Obesity, along with the diabetes and heart disease that often accompany it, can quicken the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a series of four recent studies, which also point to the importance of adopting practices aimed at early prevention of brain ills.
   
“This is an important message,” said Ronald C. Petersen, chairman of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s Association and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Mayo Clinic. He was not involved in the studies, which were published in the journal Neurology. “Development of cognitive decline need not be a passive process. We are not all just sitting here and aging, and sooner or later it’s going to hit us. In fact, there may be some modifiable lifestyle factors that may influence our risk of developing cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease down the road.”

(Read more)

 

Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems

A Review in The Lancet reveals the importance of healthy lifestyle choices to reduce stressors related to cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore examined records between 1990 to 2006. They observed how stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, impacts physiology, and the effect it has on the cardiovascular system. Lead author, Daniel Brotman, claims "Acute physical stressors such as sugery, trauma, and intense physical exertion are well known triggers of cardiovascular events. Emotional stressors are increasingly recognized as precipitants of such events."

(Read more)

 

Remedy or Rip Off Lipozene

There is a heavily advertised product on the market--you might have seen it while watching popular shows like the daily show--which claims to allow you to burn fat with no effort--no exercise, no diet. The Federal Trade Commission will tell you there is no magic in a bottle.

(Read more)

 

Remedy or Rip Off: Relacor

No doubt, a lot of us are stressed out, and a lot of us have unwanted belly fat. But are the two linked? And can an over the counter supplement called relacore help battle both problems at the same time? The thinking is this: that stress causes a stress hormone called cortisol to be released, which in turn causes one to accumulate unwanted belly fat. So, if you reduce the stress, you reduce the belly fat. The question is, where’s the proof relacore can do any of that? The relacore ad says, “Relacore, the feel good pill that helps reduce belly fat. Relacore, its easy.” Sure, a pill is easy.

(Read more)

 

Signs of a Good Bariatric Surgery Candidate

If you're obese and have tried every diet imaginable, sticking to it faithfully, and still can't lose the excess poundage, you might be a candidate for weight-loss surgery. But bariatric surgeons don't choose just anyone. To qualify, a prospective patient must satisfy certain criteria. First, a person's body mass index, or BMI, must be at least 40 - or he or she must weigh at least 100 pounds more than his or her ideal weight.

(Read more)

 

Sleep Apnea Syndrome

By Dr. Adam S. Mednick, M.D., Ph.D. Sleep apnea syndrome is one of the most under diagnosed illnesses, not only in the United States, but throughout the world. The word ‘apnea’ is derived from the Greek apnoia, meaning’ ‘want of breath’. Neurologists and other healthcare workers use this term ‘apnea’ to define any cessation of breathing, usually occurring during sleep.

(Read more)

 

Super Obesity Surgery

A less popular form of weight loss surgery appears to be better than the standard type currently done in most centers. For so-called “super obese” patients, it could mean a better result. It’s called the biliopancreatic diverserion with duodenal switch. Like the older surgery, called the roux-en-y bypass (roo-en-y) gastric bypass surgery, it cuts the stomach and diverts the intestine. But this does it differently, resulting in a greater amount of excess body weight that is lost. You wouldn’t know it now, but Emilio Vingna piano, at 5 foot 8 inches tall, used to weigh 380 pounds. “Very difficult sleeping, very difficult time breathing, very difficult time functioning on every and any level just because you are carting around excess weight. I didn’t think I would reach 50 years old uh because of uh the amount of strain on your heart and respiratory system as a whole,” says Emilio. But he’s lost 200 pounds, thanks to this lesser known surgery more commonly called the duodenal switch—a procedure intended for super obese patients. Obesity is 30 and over.

(Read more)

 

The Risks of Being Overweight During Pregnancy

Many pregnant women are unaware of being overweight or obese, and lack knowledge of the risks it poses to their possible pregnancy, according to findings published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Associate Professor Leonie Callaway and her colleagues surveyed 412 women in early pregnancy that attended a public antenatal clinic or were patients of a private obstetrician.
(Read more)

 

Understanding Anal Fissures

What are Anal Fissures?

Fissures account for the most common type of painful rectal disease after hemorrhoids. These fissures are small, painful tears in the walls of the anus. These fissures cause severe pain after defecation, periodically. 

(Read more)

 

Weight Gain in Postmenopausal Woman and the Risk of Breast Cancer

Well, if you need a reason to lose weight and get into shape, here is a new motivation in the form of a health warning for women: being overweight increases one’s risk of developing breast cancer. The latest study, in the journal of the American medical association, shows that women who gain weight, especially after the menopause, are at a higher risk of breast cancer. Women who gained about 55 pounds or more since age 18 were at a 45 percent increased risk of breast cancer, compared with those who maintained their weight. Women who gained about 22 pounds or more since menopause were at an 18 percent increased risk of breast cancer. But weight loss after menopause lowers circulating estrogen hormones in women, and because estrogen is directly related to breast cancer, weight loss is thought to decrease risk of the disease.

(Read more)

 

Weight Loss Retainer

Tina Quinn savors every moment playing outside with her dogs. Most days, she’s held prisoner to her car. As a salesperson she spends most of her time traveling nonstop from client to client, making it unfeasible for her to stick to any sustained weight loss program. "It's very hard to have a staple diet in the car, when you are traveling. Most often I just grab a McDonald's meal." says Tina.

(Read more)

 

Weight Loss Surgery for Older Americans

A new study published in the Archives of Surgery found no difference between outcomes of patients younger or older than 60 years who underwent gastric by-pass surgery. This study at the Western Reserve University Medical Center, followed 900 patients after having gastric by-pass surgery. The researchers found, "no differences in outcomes between older vs younger nor for Medicare vs non-Medicare patients for any postoperative complication or mortality." There were no mortalities among 46 patients 60 years and older a year after surgery.

(Read more)

 

Weight Watchers

Emily Loewenstein is one energetic weight watchers instructor. She has reason to be: she lost 70 pounds on the program. Tom Pimpinelli has also had tremendous success losing weight. “I did very well. Two pounds a week. I dropped from 268, my lowest was 214 or 212,” says Tom. Tom and Emily are great stories. But according to studies in respected medical journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association, Weight Watchers, on average, provides a loss of between six and thirteen pounds after one year. That’s roughly a half pound to a pound a month, or less. In this study, after the second year, the average person ended up only six pounds down; They had, in fact, gained some of the weight they lost back. One expert told us, after five years, most people will have gained back most or all of the weight they lost. “The people who seek help are the people who feel that they can’t do it on your own. Many of them have tried it before by one program or another and they have failed, and they try another program and they fail,” says Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunier, an obesity expert at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center.

(Read more)

 

Weight-Loss Surgery Cures Teen Diabetes

When stomach-stapling surgery is performed on obese adolescents, they usually experience immediate and complete relief from health-imperiling type 2 diabetes, a recent study has showed.
   
While other studies have indicated such a benefit for adults with type 2 diabetes, this is the first research to examine the issue in children. Type 2 diabetes is usually connected with obesity, which has been characterized as an epidemic in America today. More than 17 percent of American children age 6-19 are obese (having a body mass index of 30 or more), according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Read more)

 

Weight-Loss Surgery May Eliminate Liver Disease

A dangerous liver disease that's a side effect of obesity appears to be completely overcome in a majority of patients as a result of the weight loss following bariatric surgery, according to a recently published report. Obesity, which has become epidemic in the United States, has grown from afflicting 15 percent of the population in 1980 to 32.9 percent in 2004. It leads to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in around 70 percent of the obese and in 85 percent to 95 percent of those who are morbidly obese. Obesity is defined using body mass index (BMI), which relates an individual's weight to his or her height. A person with a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese. People who are morbidly obese have a BMI of 40 or more.

(Read more)

 

Weight-Loss Surgery With One Small Incision

Stomach banding is an important weapon in the war chest of the bariatric surgeon - but it typically requires five incisions and a considerable recovery time. But a new technique just coming into use needs just a single incision to accomplish the task of gastric banding, that is, tying off the top portion of the stomach so that food flow is restricted and slowed down. When the small, top part of the stomach is full, it signals the brain, which tells the body it's no longer hungry. This can lead to large reductions in weight for the morbidly obese, who are the only category of patients allowed to undergo the surgery.

(Read more)

 

Women & Heart Centers

“My grandmother died at 67 of heart disease and she was a diabetic, my mother died at 59 from heart disease, my sister who was two years older than me died at 51 from heart disease, my oldest sister who is five years older than me had her first heart attack in 91,” says Cheryl Walters. Having tragically lost so many loved ones to heart disease, Cheryl Walters refuses to be its next victim. She had a pulling sensation in her chest and was completely fatigued…doctors dismissed her complaints. But, instinctively Cheryl knew something was wrong. She went for a comprehensive heart health check-up at the Women’s Heart Center at St. Joseph’s.

(Read more)

 

Women Can Quit Smoking While Controlling for Weight Gain

There are many women who hesitate to quit smoking because they fear gaining weight. Nicotine is known to suppress appetite and boost a smoker's metabolism. A new meta-analysis published in the journal, Addiction, shows that women who quit smoking while receiving treatment for weight control are better able to control their weight gain and are more successful at quitting cigarettes. (Read more)

 

Women, Obesity Rates, and the Fountain of Youth

The fattening of America is so out there, so obvious, the question has become how do we get the message that we need to reverse the trend? Perhaps, the message is sinking in, at least among women. New research released by the CDC shows, among women, no significant increase in obesity was observed between 1999 and 2004…roughly a third of females remain obese

(Read more)

 

Women, Obesity Rates, and the Fountain of Youth

The fattening of America is so out there, so obvious, the question has become how do we get the message that we need to reverse the trend? Perhaps, the message is sinking in, at least among women. New research released by the CDC shows, among women, no significant increase in obesity was observed between 1999 and 2004…roughly a third of females remain obese

(Read more)

 

Work Stress and Metabolic Syndrome

It would make sense at first glance that workplace stress leads to heart disease--no surprise, right? But the latest research shows chronic stress at work can also leads to diabetes--and that--raises eyebrows. “Deadlines, they ask you questions all the time, is this done yet, is that done yet,” cries Esteban Chavez. Do you ever feel like work just wants to make you scream?!

(Read more)