Overweight and obesity – Weight Loss Tips

Losing weight in a healthy way does not involve starvation or deprivation. This article will describe some of the reasons of Overweight and obesity and also how to how to lose weight in a healthy way.

Losing weight in a healthy way does not involve starvation or deprivation. That is why it is permanent. If you Lose weight in a healthy way, you are likely to keep it off for good. Having established that your body needs a well balanced diet, with a good supply of carbohydrates, especially high – fiber foods, water vitamins and minerals, and a certain amount of protein and fat, you need to know how to put it into practice. We help you to achieve your goal.

MAIN CAUSES OF OBESITY -

Genetics : Overweight and obesity tend to run in families, suggesting a genetic cause. While you cannot change your genetic make-up, you can certainly change the diet and lifestyle habits, which you most likely share, with your family members.

Environmental Factors: These range from overeating, too much refined/fatty foods, lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle to psychological factors such as eating out of boredom, sadness or anger.

Disease conditions: Hormonal imbalances, hypothyroidism, and PCOS etc can be responsible for weight gain.

Medications: Corticosteroids and antidepressants may also result in overweight and obesity.

Though, the above reasons are contributory in weight gain, you may gain due to wrong choices of foods which slow down your metabolism and do not give you adequate energy. The solutions lies in carefully matching the various food with your physiology and including the most suited ones in your diet and restraining / moderating the intake of non-suitable foods. This approach along with the correct life style modifications goes a long way to lose weight, be healthier and to maintain the same as well.

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What Can You Do If Obesity Is Affecting You

This weight loss and health article is going to get straight to the point. It is not in your interest to ‘beat around the bush’ if you are suffering from obesity. Some people will have you believe that large is good or overweight is attractive. I would stress to you that no matter what anyone says to dress up obesity so that feelings are not hurt or whatever the reason, being obese is not good for your health, your longevity and the function of your body and it’s crucial parts. In addition, most people are in a better frame of mind once they begin to lose excess weight. Read these points carefully -

1. Carrying around excess body fat will decrease your energy level. Having just 10 lbs. of excess body fat is like carrying around a 10-lb. bag of lard.

2. Your heart has to work overtime to support the extra weight. Obesity has a harmful effect on your entire cardiovascular system. Your cardiovascular system includes your heart, your lungs, and all of your arteries and veins.

3. You may develop breathing problems. For example, sleep apnea is a breathing problem that causes you to stop breathing for short instances during sleep. Sleep apnea can also cause snoring.

4. Extra weight will take a toll on your joints. Obesity has also been linked to gout, which is when uric acid that cannot be excreted collects in the joints of the toes.

5. Obesity can cause infertility.

6. Type 2 Diabetes has been linked to obesity.

7. Extra weight will put you at a higher risk for certain types of cancer. Obese men have a higher risk of developing colon, rectum, or prostate cancer. Obese women have a higher risk of developing gallbladder, breast, uterine, cervical, or ovarian cancer.

8. Being overweight and obesity are associated with increased risks of gall bladder disease, incontinence, increased surgical risk, and depression.

9. Obesity can affect the quality of life through limited mobility and decreased physical endurance as well as through social, academic, and job discrimination.

10. Being overweight may have an effect on your self-esteem that, in turn, will have a negative effect on your overall health.

The Sad Statistics about Obesity

If you are overweight or obese you are certainly not alone. Obesity is a serious degenerative disorder whose severity rate is as lethal as most plagues.

Obesity can be as deadly as smoking, AIDS or any other of the slow deaths that are caused by contemporary afflictions.

The value of examining statistics is that it can help you predict your own likelihood of developing obesity in your life time or how you may have developed it as a result of gender, age, race, geographical location or other predisposing factors.A look at the following statistics will show you. Not only is the world round, it is also fat!

The Prevalence of Obesity

39.8 million American adults or more than 57% of North American adults are overweight (American Medical Association).

More than 60 percent of Americans aged 20 years and older are overweight. One-quarter of American adults are also obese (American Medical Association).

Over 300 million adults are estimated to be overweight worldwide (WHO World Health Report, 2003).

11% of children are obese in the USA (World Heart Federation Fact-Sheet, 2002).

50% of women aged 20 to 74 are overweight or obese in the US (The National Women’s Health Information Center).

Statistics about Men 24.1% of men aged 20-34 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

25.2% of men aged 35-44 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

30.1% of men aged 45-54 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

32.9% of men aged 55-64 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

33.4% of men aged 65-74 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

20.4% of men aged over 75 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

Statistics On Women

Obesity prevalence statistics by age group for women in the USA:

25.8% of women aged 20-34 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

33.9% of women aged 35-44 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

38.1% of women aged 45-54 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

43.1% of women aged 55-64 are obese in the US 1999-2000 (Health United States, 2003, NCHS)

These figures can be concerning and if you would like to consider a path of safe and easy weight loss then you should think and act carefully today. Remember, today is a gift…that’s why it’s called the present! It’s what you do today that will decide how successful you are with your health and weight loss decisions.

Author Ray Darken – who has also made many contributions to the Mediterranean diet cook book. If you’d like more news and broader access to diet and nutrition information try Diet Reviews & Tips. If this link isn’t working, you can paste this one into your browser http://diet-reviews-and-tips.com/

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Childhood Obesity Statistics and Facts

According to research, Childhood Obesity results in high percentage of Obesity at adult stage as much as 70 percent. What is worse is that this rate is on increase and almost doubled in the last three decades. Let us have a look at more intriguing Statistics and Facts about childhood Obesity

Obesity is a major problem, not only in America, but also in most countries, both developed and developing. This is a major concern for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in America and the WHO (World Health Organization) because childhood obesity statistics show that obese children and especially those in the teenage years have a 70% chance of being obese as adults. What is worse is that percentage increases to 80% if either one or both of the parents are obese as well.

This is a major concern because obesity is the cause of many major health concerns later in life. This does not only affect the person themselves, but those who love them and society in general as this causes health insurance to rise and eventually decreases the number of people who are fit to work, thus putting a strain on the economy. This article will present the results of research on obesity, and childhood obesity facts and obesity statistics.

Childhood Obesity Statistics
In 2004, there was a research report written about a study that lasted from 1999 to 2002 entitled "Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents: United States" conducted by the CDC. According to that report "16 % children (over 9 million) 6-19 year olds are overweight or obese" this is three times what it was in 1980. In addition, this report brings out the fact that also during this same time period an additional 15% were "at risk of becoming overweight".

Not only has this number tripled, but in the past three decades (according to this same study) obesity has "more than doubled" in both children and adolescents from ages 2-5 and also ages 12-19 while more than tripling in children between the ages of 6-11.

Childhood obesity facts
Economic Costs – In the twenty years from 1979-1991 the hospital costs for children and youth have risen from 35 million in 1979-1981 to 127 million from 1997-1991 (Preventing childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, 2005, Institute of Medicine).

Health Costs – Our children are paying dearly and at their young age are not realizing this. Type 2 Diabetes has risen from 4% new cases seen in the pre-1990′s to between 8-45% during the 1990′s. In addition the incidence of a single risk factor for heart disease has also risen to nearly 60% of children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old who are obese. Not only that, but those with at least 2 risk factors has also risen to 25%. Some of these risk factors are those that generally we associate with the elderly, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides. These children are having diseases at 5 and 10 years old that in the past took decades to get.

However, this problem is not only an "American" problem where we need to look shamefacedly at the other nations of the world when this subject is brought up. Other nation’s rates of obesity have also risen and I think it safe to assume that some of those statistics also represent obesity in children.

Some of the other nations that have a higher rate of obesity and should also be staring at their stomach’s instead of their toes are Samoa has the highest worldwide with a 74% of obesity compared to that of America’s 34% and China’s 2%. These particular statistics represent the high, mid-range and the low rate of obesity per nation. These statistics come from International Obesity Task Force, WHO figures 2002.

Why are these children suffering as if they have been eating and assaulting their bodies for decades when in reality they have been alive for only 5 or 10 years? The first, of two main causes, is the fast food that is prevalent, not only in America, but in most other nation. Having lived in South Korea for most of the 90′s myself I know that Seoul and most other cities there not only have American fast food restaurants, such as Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other down home American favorites, but also have their own fast food equivalents as well.

Not only is it what we have been feeding our kids and what they have demanded at times, but it is also the lack of exercise, not only in the schools, but also after school at home. You know the scenario, you’re sitting with your friend when her kids come home and they begin to fight over it. They are yelling and screaming, demanding that it is their turn to use whatever mechanical device may have just rolled off the shelves at the nearest Wal-mart or other store. These devices range from DVD players, to video games, to the latest video or other fantastic toy that has become number one on the ratings list.

We ourselves are at fault for what is happening to our children. Some of them are too young to even know better, so it is up to us to watch what our children are eating and how much exercise they are getting.

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Obesity and Morbid Obesity – A World Wide Problem

During the past 20 years or so a new life threatening disease has crept upon mankind. It’s a disease of affluence that’s affected wealthy countries in the past but is now being seen throughout the world. The disease is obesity, a condition caused by people being grossly overweight.

Obesity and especially morbid obesity, are regarded by the health profession throughout the world as being a killer disease.

It can be said that obesity affects those people who fail to look after their general health. As such it’s a disease that’s totally avoidable – with care and diligence the worst aspects of the condition can be prevented.

However those sufferers who experience the severe medical problems associated with the condition can expect to live 9 years LESS than a person free of the condition.

Once thought to be a problem confined to the affluent western countries, it is now being seen in countries experiencing a rapid improvement in their living standards. However the countries with the biggest increase in numbers are still the west countries, with large increases being seen in children.

Obesity: Definition and Causes
What is obesity, what causes it, and why is the most extreme form of obesity, morbid obesity, particularly life threatening?

Obesity is a term used for those people who are grossly overweight as defined by the Body Mass Index scale, a scale used by the medical profession to determine the weight status of an individual. It means a person who is well in excess of an ideal weight for a person of the same age and height; a condition that has the likelihood of progressing to morbid obesity – an extreme form of obesity – and thus cause a number of life threatening conditions.

It’s now accepted by nutritionists that the principal causes of overweight and obesity are a poor diet with an absence of vital foods, and a life without regular exercises.

Morbid obesity is a more pronounced form of obesity characterized by an over-abundance of body fat. It’s responsible for a multitude of health problems many of which can eventually result in death. Some of these conditions are type 2 diabetes, heart ailments, some forms of cancer, sleep apnea, and various mental problems such as depression.

Now a Worldwide Medical Problem
The number of people world -wide suffering from the effects of obesity has exploded in the last 20 years with the result that the World Health Organization is now monitoring the situation and looking at how countries are able to cope with ever-increasing health budgets.

Once thought to be a self-inflicted social problem rather than a health problem, obesity and its more troublesome condition is now regarded as a major disease by governments and the medical community. There are more than 300 million people affected throughout the world with more than a billion people said to be over weight. This problem can justly be called an obesity epidemic.

Many Western countries are experiencing ever growing numbers of sufferers, some more so than others. The US leads the way with about 30% of the adult population said to be obese, with the incidence particularly high amongst Afro-Americans and those of Spanish decent. The obesity rate for children is also the worst in the world, with every indication it’ll get worse before there’s any improvement.

Other countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and many European countries have rates that are cause for serious concern with the number of over weight children in these countries mirroring the increase in the US.

At the end of 2006 the World Health Organization in conjunction with European countries drew up plans to halt the spread of the disease. Certain objectives were set that hopefully will lead to a reduction in the rate of increase in the number of obese people, and eventually a decline.

The medical research companies are playing their part too in helping to combat this problem. One of the most recent discoveries was that of a natural plant product that helps to dispel from the human body fat from a recently eaten meal.

This product has been clinically tested and found that 28% of the fat consumed is dispelled by natural means, rather than be stored in the body as fat. This product also acts as an appetite suppressant, thus reinforcing its role as an effective weight loss product.

The author has a personal interest in a wide range of health and social issues and has contributed to web sites dealing with topics such as how to lose weight and weight loss tips. He’s also written about Hoodia diet pills and the problems associated with this product.

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Child Obesity facts and treatment

Article contains the information on child obesity and their treatments, and some relative facts that parents take in consideration and their child free from obesity

Now day’s parents are worried because of their child obesity problems and number of over weight children is increasing day by day. Fattiness in children not only makes them to feel inferior but also causes many harmful diseases in small age like diabetes, blood pressure, asthma, and many more diseases can be gathered around them. Access weight can bring them in depression also. Children’s always take a tension that they are fatty.

Major Causes of Child Obesity

Children take junk food, specifically food with low nutrition and high calories. The physical activities of the children have also reduced as they misuse more time with computers, playing video games and television.

Facts of childhood obesity:-

Carelessness in food, alarming increase in the number of children and teenagers developing Type-2 Diabetes (also termed as adult-onset diabetes) due to being overweight.
High levels of cholesterol and high blood pressure, that are some main risk factors for development of heart diseases are found in most of the obese children.
Sleep Apnea is considered as the most severe problem faced by obese children. In the sleep apnea (interruption of breath while sleeping) may lead to other problems like difficulty in learning and memory.
Overweight children are on higher risk of developing liver diseases, orthopedic problems and asthma.
70% oboist teenagers retain their overweight and obese condition even during their adulthood.

Treatment Options

Some of the treatment options of Child Obesity includes:
Healthy eating. Nutritional diet makes your child healthy not fatty. Be supportive to him to make them take care of their diet and physical activities. Less Overeating. Avoid high calories food and low nutritional food for your children.

Participate in Physical Activities

Encourage your children to participate in physical activities rather than engaging themselves in entertaining activities that result in overweight condition in childhood which may also follow during adulthood.

Help your child

Parents have to play active role in ensuring that their child does not become overweight.

Never neglect overweight child. If you accept your child the way he is, the chances are more that the child will accept the condition and feel good about them.
Never ignore you child. Let his express his feelings about his overweight condition. They can assess their overweight condition better than anybody else.
Help your child loose overweight.

Most Effective option to get rid of Child Obesity

One of the most effective methods of treating and preventing child obesity for the parents is to encourage their child for engaging in physical activities:

Encourage your child to participate in sports activities like, cricket basketball, dance or gymnastics and many more.
Give time to your child to do active tasks like vacuuming, watering plants, making beds etc Also plan active outings like visit to zoo or walking through parks.

Children are first-rate learners and pick up quickly what they see. You must project yourself as a role model by adhering to healthy eating habits and regular physical activities. They will surely follow you.

In this article the author falls some light on child obesity problems for parents, and give them some points to solve this problem, and recommend to parents to consult from dietician, health experts for more info on child obesity Visit http://peoples-health.com/overweight_help.htm on Child Obesity and get more information from health experts and treatment tips visit http://www.peoples-health.com

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Childhood Obesity Effects and Teen Obesity

American’s weight is at an all time high–and so are our kids. Learn about childhood obesity effects and teenage obesity issues and solutions right now to get on the path to freedom and happiness.

Childhood obesity is a huge issue in today’s day and age. Never before have children been so over weight and eating such unhealthy amounts of chemical-filled food. Why is this happening? It is really not a huge mystery. America has under gone a huge obesity epidemic. Children’s obesity has subsequently become a huge factor with this. Obese parents will cause obese teenagers and pre-teens. We have all seen horrific photos or videos of children as young as three year olds who weigh as much as a ten year old. If you haven’t you must have been living under a rock!

People who have suffered from the effects of child obesity or teen obesity may have sought weight loss tips or programs to help their children. Being an overweight child or teen has severe implications. Not only does this impact an individual’s health but it impacts their ability to interact and engage in many social situations. Don’t believe it? An overweight young person is more likely to be picked on or excluded from social situationsit’s statistically evident.

Not only does the fact that being overweight as a young person impact their health and social life it can impact their ability to cope with the fact that they are, in fact, overweight. Many teens who try to lose weight might resort to drastic measures such as bulimia or anorexia in order to lose their extra pounds. If you could stop the weight gain at the source, why wouldn’t you? Stop your child from becoming overweight before it even happens.

Weight loss tips or programs aimed at losing weight are not necessarily meant for just anyone. Children can be very sensitive to many different things. Their weight and health are already complicated by the simple fact that they are overweight. It is important to talk to a professional before seeking weight loss help for an adolescent. Do not just use any program unless you have reason to believe it is safe.

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Obesity In Young Children Is Now Being Seen In The Very Young

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and has now even become a substantial problem in teenagers. A recent study however shows that the problem now extends beyond the adult and adolescent population and that obesity is being seen in children as young as three years of age.

It has been well known for some time now that obesity, which has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, is being increasingly seen amongst teenagers but it appears that this epidemic has now reached children who are barely old enough to walk.

Although it hardly seems possible, one recent study which examined nearly two thousand children found an alarmingly high number of overweight and obese children at just three years of age.

The study focused its attention on a group of children from low income families living in twenty large US cities who were born between 1998 and 2000 and recorded their height and weight at three years of age. Astonishingly, the researchers found that nearly one-third of white and black children were either overweight or obese and that this figure rose to forty-four percent in the case of Latino children.

The high numbers in general are very worrying, but just why such a high incidence of obesity was seen in Latino children is something of a mystery. Although the study showed that there was more of a tendency for Latino children whose mothers were overweight to be overweight themselves and also found that Latino children were more likely to be given a bottle when they were put to bed, this, while clearly contributing to the problem, seems unlikely to completely account for it.

The results of this study are extremely worrying as, apart from the stigma that is still attached to being overweight and the pressure that this will place on very young children, we are also beginning to see a number of medical problems such as asthma and even high blood pressure appearing at earlier and earlier ages. Indeed, young children are now beginning to present themselves with ‘adult’ problems such as high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

Whatever the reason for the spread of obesity across the Western world as a society we must sit up and take notice of what is happening. It’s bad enough that this problem should affect us as adults but when it starts to appear in children as young as three years of age it is time to act.

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List of health problems because of obesity

Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem, but it can lead to a lot of health problems and complications. The health problems associated with obesity are diabetes, heart diseases, arthritis, stroke, liver disease, gall stones etc.

Obesity is because of eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activities to burn those calories. Excess calories are deposited in the body as fat.

Obesity increases the risk of several health problems like high blood pressure, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, gout, gallstones, colon cancer, sleep apnea and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

High blood pressure:
Blood vessels carry blood from heart to different organs of the body and back to heart. The blood vessels have thick but elastic walls for proper flow of blood. Decrease in elasticity of blood vessel wall increases pressure on blood passing through these vessels. Obesity decreases elasticity of blood vessels causing increase in blood pressure.

Diabetes in obesity:
Insulin is required for entry of carbohydrate into cells from the blood. The carbohydrate in cell is utilized for energy production by the cells. Excess deposition of fat in the body causes insulin resistance, because of which, insulin cannot perform its function and sugar cannot enter into cells and remain in blood. This leads to diabetes or high blood sugar. High sugar in blood leads to complications in various organs like kidney, eyes, blood vessel, and heart.

Atherosclerosis or fatty deposits in blood vessels:
Obesity is associated with increase in levels of bad cholesterol in blood. Increase cholesterol in blood causes atherosclerosis or deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. Atherosclerosis reduces the elasticity of blood vessels, narrows blood vessels and decreases blood flow through these vessels. All these changes lead to increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Heart diseases:
Coronary arteries are the blood vessels that supply blood to heart muscles. Atherosclerosis or fatty deposits in coronary arteries in obesity decreases blood supply to heart muscles. Decreased oxygen supply and blood flow to heart can cause angina (chest pain) and complete blockage of blood flow to heart can cause heart attack.

Stroke or paralysis:
Atherosclerosis in arteries of brain can reduce blood supply to the brain. This decrease in blood flow can result in stroke or paralysis.

Arthritis:
Obesity and overweight increases the load on the joints such as the knee, hip and lower back, which can cause the breakdown of cartilage in the joint. Cartilage is a cushion like structure in a joint required for smooth movement of joints. Breakdown of cartilage in obesity results in joint pain and stiffness and other features of osteoarthritis.

Gout:
A type of arthritis caused by the accumulation of uric acid crystals in joints. Obesity is associated with increased accumulation of these solid crystal-like masses in joints, which causes inflammation and pain.

Sleep apnea:
Overweight and excess fat around neck causes narrowing of airways and leads to sleep apnea. In sleep apnea, person snores heavily and stops breathing for short periods, which results in frequent awakening at night.

Fatty liver disease:
Obesity increases the risk of developing liver disease called fatty liver disease due to accumulation of fat in liver.

Gallbladder disease and gallstones:
Obesity increases cholesterol deposition in gall bladder, which can lead to formation of gallstones.

So, obesity can lead to a lot of health problems and other complications.
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Carbohydrate in Obesity website.

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Complications of Obesity & Overweight

Obesity has become one of the major health problems worldwide. Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem, but lot of health problems & complications are associated with it. This article has covered some of the complications associated with obesity.

Calorie is a measurement of the energy content of food. The body needs calories as "fuel" to perform all of its functions, such as breathing, blood circulation, and physical activity.

1 gm of carbohydrate provides 4 Calories, 1 gm of protein provides 4 Calories and 1 gm of fat provides 9 Calories.

Eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity to burn those calories results in overweight & obesity.
Adults with a BMI greater than 30 are considered obese and adults with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight.

Obesity increases the risk of developing several health problems like high blood pressure, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease (heart attacks), cerebrovascular disease (stroke), gout, gallstones, colon cancer, sleep apnea and non alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Obesity & High blood pressure:
Multiple factors are responsible for increase in blood pressure in obesity.
– Weight gain is associated with decrease in elasticity of blood vessels & increase heart rate.
– Excess calories are deposited in body as fat in fatty tissue. This fatty tissue increases demand for oxygen & nutrients, which in turn increases amount of blood circulating in the body. More blood traveling through arteries adds pressure on walls of arteries leading to increase in blood pressure.
– Obesity increases level of insulin in body. Insulin causes sodium & water retention in body, which results in increase in blood volume & extra pressure on arteries.
All of these factors can increase blood pressure.

Obesity & Diabetes: – Increased blood sugar level:
Type2 diabetes is a common health problem in diabetes.
– Insulin controls blood sugar.
– Insulin is required for the entry of sugar (glucose) into body cells from blood.
– Excess body fat in obesity makes body resistant to insulin. Because of this insulin resistance, sugar will remain in blood, which will lead to increase in blood sugar or diabetes.
– High amount of sugar in blood leads to complications in kidney, eyes, blood vessel, and heart.

Atherosclerosis or fatty deposits in blood vessels:-
Cholesterol is carried in the blood as two compounds: Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and High-density lipoproteins (HDL). HDL is also called the ‘good’ cholesterol and LDL is also called the ‘bad’ cholesterol.
– Obesity is associated with low levels of good (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and high levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol.
– When cholesterol levels are high, some of the cholesterol is deposited on the walls of the blood vessels. Cholesterol deposits reduces the elasticity of blood vessels, narrows blood vessels & decreases blood flow. All these changes lead to atherosclerosis and an increased risk of heart disease & stroke.

Coronary artery disease – angina & heart attack:
Atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in arteries) in coronary arteries (arteries that supply heart) reduces blood supply to heart. Decreased blood flow to heart can cause angina (chest pain) and complete blockage of blood flow to heart can cause heart attack.

Stroke or paralysis:
Atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in arteries) in arteries of brain can reduce blood supply to that part of brain. This decrease in blood flow can result in stroke or paralysis.

Osteoarthritis:
Obesity & overweight increases the load on the joints such as the knee, hip & lower back. This extra pressure on these joints speeds up the breakdown of cartilage, resulting in joint pain & stiffness.
(Cartilage is a flexible tissue that covers bone ends in a joint to cushion the bone and allow the joint to move easily without pain).

Gout:
Gout is type of arthritis caused by the accumulation of uric acid crystals in joints.
– Obesity is associated with increased production of uric acid, which can form solid crystal-like masses. Uric acid crystals are deposited in the joints & provokes an inflammatory reaction in joints leading to arthritis.

Sleep apnea:
Overweight & excess fat around neck causes narrowing of airways & leads to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition in which person stop breathing for short periods during sleep & snore heavily. It results in frequent awakening at night and subsequent drowsiness & tiredness during the day.

Fatty liver disease (Non alcoholic fatty liver) :
Obesity increases the risk of developing fatty liver disease due to accumulation of fat in liver. These fatty deposits in liver can lead to inflammation & scarring of the liver called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Serious complication of this scarring is cirrhosis of liver.

Gallbladder disease and gallstones:
The gallbladder is a small pear-shaped organ situated beneath the liver on the right side of the abdomen. In obesity, excessive cholesterol gets deposited in gall bladder, which can lead to formation of gallstones. Rapid weight loss or loss of a large amount of weight can also increases the chances of developing gallstones.

So, obesity is not just a cosmetic problem, but lot of health problems & complications are associated with it.

For details on complications of obesity, please click here. You can get some important information on natural supplements for weight loss & books on our nutrition website here.

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Diabetes Insipidus

Diabetes Insipidus occurs in a person whose fluid regulation system gets damaged and there exists no control in fluid intake and amount of urine excreted. Let us understand the disease…

Fluid regulation system in our body plays an important role of keeping balance in fluid intake and excretion of the fluid by kidney and volume and composition of the body fluids. Diabetes Insipidus occurs in a person whose fluid regulation system gets damaged and there exists no control in fluid intake and amount of urine excreted.

Diabetes Insipidus:Diabetes Insipidus is a medication condition (endocrine disorder) caused due to the deficiency of a hormone named Vasopressin, an antidiuretic hormone (ADH) that is secreted by pituitary gland in brain or development of insensitivity of kidneys to the ADH hormone. Large amount of highly diluted urine is excreted because of the inability of the kidney to concentrate the urine. The amount of urine excreted remains high even if the amount of fluid intake is reduced to any level.
(Excessive urination in medical terms is considered when a patient urinates more than 50ml of urine per kg of his/her body weight in an interval of about 2 hours or in simple words more than 14 liters a day.)

Signs and symptoms of Diabetes Insipidus:The patient feels extremely thirsty and continues to urinate day and night in excessive amount. The blood glucose level in urine unlike diabetes mellitus is not high and doesn’t taste sweet. The patient suffering from Diabetes Insipidus also experiences blurred vision. Symptoms of Diabetes Insipidus in children include problems related to the physical growth, affected hunger, weight gain, diarrhea, vomiting and fever. Excessive urination in adults can lead to dehydration if not compensated with proper intake of liquid. People suffering from Diabetes Insipidus may wake up several times in the night to urinate.

Causes:As mentioned earlier, Diabetes Insipidus is mainly caused due to the following two reasons:1) Antidiuretic hormones deficiency in body that is secreted by hypothalamus in brain to maintain balance of water in urine and blood.2) if the kidney loses its ability to recognize the antidiuretic hormones.3) People suffering from some kind of injury or a tumor in the brain (it can be either hereditary or caused by surgery or injury)4) Diseased pituitary gland causing lowered production of ADH

Types of Diabetes Insipidus:
There are four main sub-types of Diabetes Insipidus:
Central Diabetes Insipidus: Damaged hypothalamus in patient causes abnormal behavior of thirst mechanism, leading the condition to Central Diabetes Insipidus.
Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus: This is caused due to inability of the kidney in identification of antidiuretic hormones.
Dispogenic Diabetes Insipidus: This is caused due to damage or improper behavior of the thirst mechanism (which is located in hypothalamus).
Gestational Diabetes Insipidus: This is a rare form of DI and occurs only during pregnancy. During pregnancy an enzyme is produced in placenta which destroys antidiurretic hormones, this can lead to deficiency of ADH if production exceeds minimum level.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetes Insipidus:
Other than excess urination, Diabetes Insipidus is pretty hard to diagnose and it is even harder to confirm the underlying causes of the disease.

Your doctor may perform blood test for ADH, calcium, bicarbonate and sugar level, urine test and examine the frequency and volume of urine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the patient’s brain etc. Your doctor may also direct you to an endocrinologist to confirm the disease.

Once it is confirmed that the patient is suffering from Diabetes Insipidus, your doctor may perform some additional tests to narrow down on the underlying cause of the disease. One such test available is Fluid Deprivation Test (includes study and analysis of fluid intake and urination, body weight and other factors) which helps in finding out if the condition is caused due to lack of ADH in blood, kidney disorder or improper fluid intake.

Your doctor may choose to administer the ADH level in your body and use a synthetic ADH hormone DDAVP which can be taken in injection, pill form and can also be inhaled. The treatment may take some time to help patient restore the normal level/volume of urination (it always depends on the response of patient’s body to the treatment).

In case if the hypothalamus/pituitary gland is damaged and causing problem, your doctor may suggest you undergo a surgery to remove the damaged gland (or tumor on the gland if any). This mode of treatment is generally used in Central Diabetes Insipidus.

In other types of Diabetes Insipidus, medication or hormone therapy may show some good result avoiding need to operate the patient.

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