The Health Blog

Are you overweight? Have you tried to lose weight with diet and exercise, but failed? Are you concerned about your health? If so, you are definitely not alone. Worldwide, more and more people are struggling with obesity and it’s health consequences. As people search for help with weight loss, many are considering weight loss surgery. One of the most promising
surgical options is laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, also known as
lap band surgery.

Lap band surgery is a weight loss procedure that helps a person lose weight by limiting the amount of food that can be eaten at any one time and increasing the feeling of fullness after eating only a small amount of food. Lap band patients will not only eat less but will also learn new eating habits as they adopt a lap-band diet.

During surgery, small slits are cut into the body and the surgeon places a silicone ring, known as a lap band or gastric band, around the stomach opening. The band creates a new small stomach pouch and reduces the size of the opening to the main stomach area, slowing the digestion process. It is considered a safer and less drastic alternative to gastric bypass surgery
because it does not involve cutting the stomach and intestines or rerouting the digestive tract.

Do you prefer fast foods? Well, you have to refrain eating more now. A new study finds out that the typical Western diet increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Indulging in a typical Western diet of burgers, fries, and diet soda boosts your risk of getting heart disease and diabetes, a study shows.

This study found out that just two burger patties a day and one daily diet soda substantially boost the risk of getting metabolic syndrome, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Their findings:
1. The Western diet increased risk by about 18% overall of getting metabolic syndrome over nine years

2. Those who ate two or more servings of meat a day, or about two burger patties, boosted their risk by 26% compared with those who only ate meat twice a week.

3. Diet soda, one can a day, increased risk by 34%.

A new study finds out. This study was a follow up on previous researchers on the effects of coffee, caffeine particularly, on expectant mothers. Previous studies suggest that drinking just a couple cups of coffee a day doesn’t pose much of a threat. However, the latest research proves this these findings wrong.

The study founds out that women who said they drank more than two cups of coffee per day had nearly double the risk of miscarriage compared with women who consumed no caffeine.

Rinsing with a special saline nasal wash made from Atlantic seawater improves symptoms in children with colds and flu, and may prevent recurrence of these infections, a new study claims.

It was just few months ago when FDA recommended a ban for over-the-counter cough and cold medicines (containing at least one of the following ingredients: decongestants, expectorants, antihistamines, and antitussives). for children younger than six. And just few weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its new advisory stating that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines should not be given to infants and children under the age of 2. The agency has not come to a final decision on the use of such products in children aged 2 to 11. Reasons provided for this ban include questions about its safety and little evidence to prove its ineffectiveness in young children.

Since then, consumers especially moms, are asking for ways on how they could fight common colds in their children. Researchers as well, seek to alternative and answers.

A new study looked for an alternative to the many cough and cold medications - the saline nasal wash.

One of the approach to treatment of essential hypertension is lifestyle change. Here are the easy ways on changing your lifestyle:

1. Stop smoking. It has been emphasized in various health articles that smoking can cause hypertension. About 30% of all deaths from heart disease in the U.S. are directly related to cigarette smoking. That’s because smoking is a major cause of coronary artery disease especially in younger people.

How Does Smoking Increase Heart Disease Risk?

The nicotine present in smoke causes:

* Decreased oxygen to the heart.
* Increased blood pressure and heart rate.
* Increase in blood clotting.
* Damage to cells that line coronary arteries and other blood vessels.

2. Lose weight if overweight. Maintain body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2. For every 10 kilogram weight loss, BP drops by approximately 5-20 mmHg.

3. Reduce sodium intake (<2 g of sodium or approximately <6 g of sodium chloride).

I got this from an e-mail which provides information about the health benefits of some common foods.

Food as Medicine:

1. HEADACHE? EAT FISH! Eat plenty of fish — fish oil helps prevent headaches. So does ginger, which reduces inflammation and pain.

2. HAVE FEVER? EAT YOGURT! Eat lots of yogurt before pollen season. Also-eat honey from your area (local region) daily.

3. TO PREVENT STROKE DRINK TEA! Prevent buildup of fatty deposits on artery walls with regular doses of tea. (actually, tea suppresses my appetite and keeps the pounds from invading….Green tea is great for our immune system)!

4. INSOMNIA (CAN’T SLEEP?) HONEY! Use honey as a tranquilizer and sedative.

5. ASTHMA? EAT ONIONS!!!! Eating onions helps ease constriction of bronchial tubes. (when I was young, my mother would make onion packs to place on our chest, helped the respiratory ailments and actually made us breathe better).

6. ARTHRITIS? EAT FISH, TOO!! Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines actually prevent arthritis. (fish has omega oils, good for our immune system)

Garlic is hated because of its smell but did you know that it has a lot of health benefits?

Eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

The power to boost hydrogen sulfide production may help explain why a garlic-rich diet appears to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer, say the study authors. Higher hydrogen sulfide might also protect the heart, according to other experts. Although garlic has not consistently been shown to lower cholesterol levels, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine earlier this year found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack. NY Times

Recent study says “no”.

Antibacterial soaps that contain triclosan as the main active ingredient are no better at preventing infections than plain soaps, say University of Michigan researchers who reviewed 27 studies conducted between 1980 and 2006 to reach their conclusion.

The team also concluded that these antibacterial soaps could actually pose a health risk, because they may reduce the effectiveness of some common antibiotics, such as amoxicillin.

That’s because — unlike antibacterial soaps used in hospitals and other clinical settings — the antibacterial soaps sold to the public don’t contain high enough concentrations of triclosan to kill bacteria such as E. coli.

Although, it feels miserable to experience it, nausea and vomiting are usually part of a healthy pregnancy. These presumptive symptoms of pregnancy usually appears in early pregnancy and typically disappears during the middle third of second trimester.

Reduce the symptoms by trying these home remedies:

1. Diet Modification:
- Eat small amounts of food frequently.
- Avoid spicy and fatty foods, and foods with odors that bother you.
- Try eating simple carbohydrates, such as saltine crackers, unbuttered toast, plain baked potatoes, white rice, gelatin desserts, broth, pretzels, popsicles, herbal or decaffeinated tea with sugar, or non–diet ginger ale.
- Combine these simple carbohydrates with a serving of protein, especially right before bed to minimize swings in blood sugar that may contribute to nausea.
- Drink liquids between meals and not during meals to minimize nausea and vomiting.
- Keep crackers at the bedside table to help with nausea in the morning.

A recent study found out that too much stress may not only spoil your mood, it may also spoil your smile.

57% of recent studies reviewed showed a positive relationship between gum disease and stress and related psychological symptoms like distress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

The elevated levels of cortisol, referred to as the “stress hormone” is said to play a role in these negative effects of stress on gums. Further, stress may make people more lax about their oral health habits.

“A pain in the ass”… that’s what an anal fissure causes. As the name suggests, anal fissure is a small fissure or a crack in the anal canal that can cause a lot of bleeding, pain and discomfort. When someone develops anal fissure, passing stool becomes a near impossibility, because the pain while doing so can become excruciating. The situation is worse for those suffering from chronic constipation because they need to put in extra effort to pass stool and this makes the condition even graver. When this happens the bleeding also intensifies leading to blood stains on the toilet seat and the toilet paper.

The aims of any anal fissures treatment is pain relief simply due to the fact that the pain can make matters worse. Here a paracetamol can relieve the pain but some of them can lead to constipation as well – so care must be taken to select the right one. Some people use a petroleum jelly to get relief. Others prefer the use of baby wipes in the place of toilet paper. The idea is to keep the anus as relaxed as possible so that there is not too much pressure, particularly while passing stool and also just after it. Using water (particularly lukewarm water) for washing the area and drying it carefully is also a good idea for all those suffering from anal fissures. In fact, maintaining a high level of common hygiene is always important, but more so for anal fissures treatment.