Showing posts with label Type-2 diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Type-2 diabetes. Show all posts

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Heart Disease Prevention - Does Protein Help One To Lose Weight?

Though there are numerous ways to lose weight, most of them will make one feel hungry and unsatisfied. Unless the person has a very strong determination, he or she will certainly give up quickly. In reality, losing weight might not be that difficult! First, one must eat the right food! Click the following link for more information:


Thursday, July 14, 2016

Heart Disease Prevention - Is Bubble Tea Linked To Diabetes?

Bubble tea, also called pearl tea or Boba, is a drink that is originated from Taiwan. It is made by mixing black tea with non-dairy creamer or milk and adding round pearl tapioca. It is not only high in calories but also high in sugar with about 30 to 40 grams per cup, or about 6 to 9 grams of sugar per 100 ml. So it is certainly a sugary drink. But is it linked to diabetes? Find out more at:


Friday, April 22, 2016

Would People Perceive Themselves Overweight Help Them Lose Weight?

Mounting evidence has linked obesity and overweight to development of chronic diseases including hypertension, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. Obviously, overweight or obese people should lose weight to stay healthy.

In the past, it was assumed that if people could correctly identify themselves as being overweight, they would have a greater motivation to change their diet or level of exercise so that successful weight management could be achieved.

However, a study conducted by researchers from University of Liverpool in England revealed that people who perceived themselves to be overweight were at a greater risk of weight gain, irrespective of whether their perceptions were correct. Meanwhile, these people were also more likely to overeat in response to stress. Their findings were published online August 7, 2015 in the ‘International Journal of Obesity’.

By analyzing data from United States National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the United Kingdom’s National Child Development Study, and the Midlife in the United States Study, the researchers found that perceiving oneself as being overweight is associated with a higher risk of future weight gain among United States and United Kingdom adults.

The findings were important since one public health strategy is to ensure people who are overweight are aware of it. But unfortunately, people who believe they are overweight may actually delay their weight loss efforts, according to some clinical psychologists. Many of these people might decide they should begin a diet tomorrow and meanwhile finish the cookies first.

While common belief indicates that people should have strong motivation to lose weight if they really want to do so, many of them feel quite stressful and have difficulty in making healthy choices in their lifestyle. They may just fall into the trap of negative stigmas like inactivity, overeating and depression. Instead of taking the stress, they simply ignore it and just use eating to make them feel better. But once they have finished eating, the stressful feeling is back, and the weight problem has not solved yet.

Some health experts argued that the more a person focuses on weight, rather than health, the more difficult for this person to manage and lose weight and control eating. If people who want to lose weight can let go of the obsessiveness with their weight and instead, relax and focus on health, they can not only lose weight, but also manage their weight relatively mindlessly.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Counting Calories Help Prevent Heart Disease?

Modern lifestyles such as sedentary and unhealthy diet have been accused to be the culprit to cause such epidemic. Losing as little as 3-5 percent of the body weight can reduce the heart disease risk, according to the American Heart Association. Obviously, losing weight is the only option for people who wish to prevent from getting these diseases. Find out more at:


Thursday, April 14, 2016

About Half Of American Adults Had Undiagnosed Diabetes!

Globally, according to WHO (World Health Organization), about 1 in 9 adults has diagnosed diabetes, which will be the 7th leading cause of death by 2030. Most of these people have Type-2 diabetes, a condition in which the body cannot properly use or create sufficient amount of hormone insulin to convert blood sugar into energy. Diabetes can raise the risk of heart disease and stroke and if left untreated, it can cause complications like nerve damage, amputations, kidney failure and blindness.

Diabetes is a major cause of death in the United States. A study conducted by researchers from Social & Scientific Systems Inc, Silver Spring and other institutions revealed that about half of American adults have either diabetes (more than 12 percent) or prediabetes (38 percent), and more than a third of the people with diabetes are unaware of their condition. The study was published in the September 8’s issue of the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association’.

After analyzing information from 216,415 American adults who took part in surveys between 1988 and 2012, the researchers reported that the percentage of people with diabetes increased from less than 10 percent in the 1988-1994 period, to more than 12 percent in 2011-2012. The rise was in line with the rise of obesity.

It was also found that diabetes was the most common among older adults: about 1 in 3 adults age 65 and above had the condition in 2011-2012, compared to 17 percent of adults age between 45 and 64, and 5 percent of adults younger than 45. About one-third of whites with diabetes (32 percent) were not aware of the condition, compared to 37 percent of blacks, 49 percent of Hispanics and 51 percent of Asian Americans.

One reason for the high percentage of undiagnosed diabetes among Asian Americans may be that they often develop Type-2 diabetes at a lower BMI (body mass index) than people of other ethnic groups. As such, the doctors may not screen Asian Americans for diabetes when they could be at risk for the disease.

Such findings would certainly lead to a greater need for testing Type-2 diabetes and a need for more education on when to test for the condition.  The researchers hope that future studies could provide more information about which subgroups of people are at highest risk for underdiagnoses.

The average blood sugar levels over the course of several months can be estimated by measuring changes to the hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells. The hemoglobin A1c test measures the percentage of hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen) that is coated with sugar. A reading of 6.5 percent or above would signal diabetes. People with A1c levels between 5.7 percent and 6.4 percent is said to have pre-diabetes, a risk factor for going on to develop full-blown diabetes.

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Too Much Coffee Is Bad?

Coffee not only contains many nutrients it is also the large source of antioxidants. Studies had shown that coffee may decrease the risk for many kinds of cancers, stroke and heart disease. It may also prevent Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's disease and Type-2 diabetes. Coffee also contains a material called caffeine. More can be found at: Heart Disease Prevention - Why Too Much Coffee Is Bad?

Friday, February 05, 2016

Would Red Wine Cut Heart Disease Risk For Diabetics?

Being responsible for about 88,000 deaths in the United States, excessive alcohol consumption could lead to development of chronic diseases including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and liver disease. This is what CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has been warning the general public.

A recent study, however, indicated that a glass of red wine at dinner is safe and likely to benefit people with Type-2 diabetes. Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev-Soroka Medical Center and Nuclear Research Center Negev, Israel found that people who followed a healthy diet and drank a glass of red wine at dinner had better HDL (good cholesterol) and other good health-related factors than people on the same diet who just drank mineral water. Their findings were published online 13 October 2015 in journal ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’.

In the study, 224 adults with Type-2 diabetes, who aged between 40 and 75, were randomly selected to drink 150 milliliters (about 5 ounces) of either mineral water, white wine or red wine with dinner for 2 years. All the participants were not alcohol drinkers previously, and they also followed a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes plant-based foods, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and healthy fat instead of butter. 87 percent completed the trial, with 80 percent drinking their daily dose of wine.

2 years later, people who drank red wine with dinner had their HDL cholesterol increased, and they also had lower heart disease risk, as indicated by a lower ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. Compared to those who drank mineral water, people in the red wine group had fewer conditions of metabolic syndrome like a large waistline and high blood pressure, which would raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

The researchers, nevertheless, admitted that that except for a subset of participants whose livers processed alcohol relatively slowly, most people in the study did not have any improvements in their blood sugar levels. They also could not confirm those who drank wine at dinner had fewer heart attack or deaths, comparing to those who drank mineral water.

Risks and benefits of consuming alcohol for people with diabetes are indeed controversial. Though the study did suggest possible benefits of moderate drinking, for people with and without diabetes, it is not sure if doctors should ask their diabetic patients to drink.

While some health experts doubted the benefits to cholesterol, metabolic risk factors and blood sugar control were large enough to make a practical difference, they had no objection about adding a glass of wine with dinner. They, however, warned that wine itself might impact people’s blood sugar.

Drinking alcohol with food is always a better idea than drinking alcohol alone. Patient should check before and after meal sugars to see if alcohol is having any immediate impact on sugar control.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Heart Disease Prevention - Effect Of Saturated Fats On Heart Disease

Other studies conducted in the past could not find any differences in heart disease risk when saturated fats were replaced by carbohydrates. Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts and other institutes believe this is because the studies did not distinguish between types of carbohydrates. Click the following link for more details:


Friday, November 27, 2015

How To Lose Weight Healthily?

Many health issues, including sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, Type-2 diabetes and even certain types of cancer, could just happen to a person who is overweight or obese.

According to 2011-2012 statistics provided by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there are 69 percent of American adults who age 20 years and over are overweight (including obesity). Meanwhile, the estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was US$147 billion in 2008 and the medical costs for people who are obese were US$1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

Certainly, people should avoid becoming overweight or obese if they want to be healthy. That is why most people will try to get rid of the extra pounds around their waist whenever they know they are overweight. Sadly, not too many overweight people can actually do so, even after spending lots of money in weight loss programs.

One should know that while promising to quick weight loss is often attractive, the effect does not last. More importantly, losing too much weight too quick is not good for the health. Healthy weight loss should not exceed 0.5 kg to 1 kg a week. For most people, the initial weight-loss target should be set to lose 10 percent from the baseline body weight over a period of about 4 to 6 months.

Losing weight requires not only determination but also appropriate plan. The following tips might help one to set up a feasible plan to lose weight healthily.

First of all, all meals and snacks should be planned so as one does not feel hungry most of the time. To do so, he or she should snack on low-calorie drinks, consume fruit and raw vegetables like carrot sticks. Switching to brown rice or eating more servings of vegetables and fruits during meals can help slow down digestion and absorption, which can always feel full for a longer period of time.

Then, drinking enough water is essential because hydration is important in optimizing the body's metabolic rate and its energy expenditure. The average recommended daily water intake should be between 8 and 10 glasses of 250 ml each.

Alcohol should be avoided at all time. Alcoholic drinks are high in calories and the drinks also suppress fatty acid oxidation, the process by which fatty acids are broken down by various tissues to produce energy.

It is important that one should never skip breakfast. When one does not eat breakfast, his or her body goes into starvation mode and tries to protect itself by conserving energy. This will not make the body's metabolism to be at an optimal rate. People will tend to snack before lunch or overeat during the next meal. In fact, all 3 meals of the day should not be missed. Remember this, a successful weight-loss program should minimize hunger and fatigue.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Why One Should Not Eat While Walking?

Overweight and obesity can lead to many chronic diseases including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. Lack of physical activities and unhealthy diet can of course lead to weight gain and so can overeating. But how can people overeat?

People overeat because of habits, or because they eat too fast or they simply not aware of the calorie intake. Recently, researchers from the University of Surrey found that having meals while walking can also lead to overeat. Their findings were published online August 20, 2015 in the ‘Journal of Health Psychology’.

60 women were each given a cereal bar to eat under 3 different conditions: one group watched a 5-minute clip of the television show "Friends" while eating; the second group ate while walking around the hall; and the final group ate while sitting and talking with a friend. After the experiment, they were then asked to complete a follow-up questionnaires and a taste test involving 4 different bowls of snacks, including chocolate, carrot sticks, grapes and crisps. The researchers measured how many snacks they ate after they left the room.

Eating while walking around were found to trigger more overeating compared to eating during watching TV or having a conversation with a friend. Participants ate more snacks at the taste test if they had eaten the initial cereal bar whilst walking around and specifically they ate 5 times more chocolate. In other words, eating on the go might just make a person overeat later on in the day.

Walking is a powerful form of distraction that disrupts one’s ability to process the impact eating on one’s hunger, according to researchers. Meanwhile, people may regard walking as a form of exercise that justifies overeating later on as a form of reward. Any form of distraction including eating at the desk or in front of a TV can lead to weight gain. This is because people just do not track or recognize the food that has just been consumed when they are not fully concentrate on their meals.

By slowing down and paying attention, people can recognize when they are beginning to get full and stop before overeating. So in order to avoid overeating, it is important to focus on the food and refrain from eating while doing other activity like watching TV, looking at computer or cellphone, and to eat slowly by increasing the number of chews per bite.

Also, planning ahead can help one stick to a healthy diet. Instead of grabbing whatever looks good when hungry, grocery shopping should be done at the beginning of the week with a list to cover meals and snacks for the days ahead.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Would Depression Or Bipolar Disorder Lead To Heart Disease?

Depression can happen to anyone at some point or another when he or she encounters disappointments. For most people, it should be over after a while but for some, the depression can become so severe that it will affect their daily lives and can become a serious illness. There are many forms of depression, namely major depression, persistent depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness or bipolar affective disorder, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. It is characterized by periods of 2 extremes of mood - mania (elevated) mood and depressive (low) mood.

The disorder often develops in a person's late teens or early adult years. At least half of all cases start before the age of 25. Some people have their first symptoms during childhood and others may develop symptoms late in life. About 3 percent of people in the United States have bipolar disorder at some point in their life, and around 1 percent are found in other countries. 

While the cause is not clearly understood, bipolar disorder tends to run in families. It could be caused by brain structure and functioning, too. Nevertheless, most scientists agree that there is no single cause for such disorder. Instead, the illness can likely be the results of many factors act together.

In a scientific statement released on Aug 10, 2015 by the American Heart Association, the researchers warned that major depression and bipolar disorder can put teens at a significantly higher risk of heart disease, and hence adolescents with mood disorders need to get extra screening. The findings were also published online Aug 10, 2015 in the journal ‘Circulation’.

Several studies on depression, heart disease and adolescents were reviewed by the researchers. Their findings revealed that youths with depression and bipolar disorder were much more likely to have high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, obesity, Type-2 diabetes and damaged arteries than most of their peers.

A 2011 study included in the review examined more than 7,000 American adults younger than 30 and found that a history of depression or attempted suicide was the top risk factor for heart disease death caused by narrowed or blocked arteries in young women; it was the fourth highest risk factor in young men.

Reasons for the increased risk were unclear. But inflammation and other types of cell damage are more common among teens with mood disorders, which might help explain the increased risk of heart disease. 

Youth with mood disorders have not been widely recognized as a group at increased risk for excessive and early heart disease. The new findings, however, should remind doctors to pay extra attention to the heart disease risks of teens with depression and bipolar disease.

Friday, August 07, 2015

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Coffee Cut Diabetes Risk?

Health effects of coffee is controversial. Extensive scientific research has been carried out to find out the health effect of coffee consumption, and the general consensus among health experts is that moderate coffee consumption in healthy individuals is either essentially benign or mildly beneficial. Find out more at: Heart Disease Prevention - Would Coffee Cut Diabetes Risk?

Friday, May 29, 2015

Do Baby Foods Contain Excessive Salt And Sugar?

Consuming high content of salt will raise the risk of getting high blood pressure that will eventually lead to heart disease and stroke. Taking excessive amount of sugar can cause people to become overweight or even obese, which is associated with many disorders including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and Type-2 diabetes.

While many people are aware of these health risks and taking steps to cut down the consumption of packaged and processed foods, there is evidence showing that adults are giving foods packed with salt and sugar to their babies and toddlers. A new study, which was published online February 2, 2015 in journal ‘Pediatrics’, reported that many baby and toddler foods often contain too much sugar or sodium.

Being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the study examined the nutritional information of 1,074 infant and toddler food products taken from 2012 nutrient database. The majority of infant foods were found to be low in sodium.

Of the 79 infant mixed grains and fruits, 41 contained at least one added sugar and 35 also had at least 35 percent of calories coming from sugar. Toddler foods fared poorly, too. 72 percent of toddler dinners contain more than 210 mg of sodium. About half the foods made for toddlers contained amount of sodium equivalent of plain potato chips. 32 percent of toddler dinners and the majority of other toddler foods contained more than 1 added sugar.

In the United States, almost 80 percent of kids aged between 1 and 3 consume more than the recommended daily maximum level of salt (1,500 mg). It is also known that about 1 in 9 children have blood pressure above the normal range for their age, and excess sodium is associated with increased blood pressure. Blood pressure tracks from when children are young into when they are adults.

Though there are no conclusive studies indicating that introducing sugar too early can actually lead to an increased likelihood of diabetes, giving infants and toddlers too much sodium and sugar will make them picky eaters. After eating tasty foods with too much salt and sugar, they will probably not going to have some healthy like fresh vegetables.

Nevertheless, the Grocery Manufacturers Association of America (GMA) issued a statement defending that the food products examined in the study was based on 2012 database that did not reflect a wide range of new healthy products with lower sodium.

As suggested by some health experts, it is best for parents to make their own food, if possible. Parents are also advised to spend an extra 5 or 10 minutes to read the labels to find out the contents of sodium and sugar before buying any products for their children.  

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Heart Disease Prevention - Is Fat But Fit Theory Valid?

While people want to have some sort of confirmation on the fact that being obese is not that bad at all time and there might actually be a very small number of obese people who can maintain good health, the majority would not be able to achieve over the long term. Find out why @Heart Disease Prevention - Is Fat But Fit Theory Valid?

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Why Sitting Too Much Is Bad For Health?

A paper, which was published January 20, 2015 in the ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’ by Canadian Researchers, reported that longer sedentary time would increase the average risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) or Type-2 diabetes after reviewing 47 studies. Meta-analyses were performed on outcomes for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in 14 studies, cancer in 14 studies, and all-cause mortality in 13 studies.

The effect of sedentary time, according to the study, is cumulative. Some people who sat for fewer than 8 hours a day were shown to have a 14 percent lower risk for being sick enough to be sent to hospital. People who had regular exercise would ease some of the damage, even if they still spent too much time sitting. As compared to those with lower levels of physical activity, people who had higher levels of physical activity had a 30 percent lower risk for all-cause mortality.

Previous studies have indicated that sitting too much would raise the risk of obesity, disability, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. 

On June 25, 2014, researchers from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain found that television (TV) viewing was directly associated with all‐cause mortality. After taking into account of the age, sex, smoking, obesity and diet, participants were 44 percent more likely to die from heart disease or stroke, 21 percent more likely to die of cancer and 55 percent more likely to die from something else, for every 2 extra hours of watching TV over and above a hour a day. Their findings were published in the ‘Journal of the American Heart Association’.

In 2014, another study by researchers from the University of Regensburg in Germany reported that the average American raises the risk of colon cancer by 8 percent, of endometrial cancer by 10 percent and of lung cancer by 6 percent, for every two hours spent sitting in front of the computer or TV. The paper can be found in the ‘Journal of the National Cancer Institute’.

Animal studies suggested that activities like watching TV might affect how the body manages cholesterol or carbohydrates, or it might raise inflammation that is linked with cancer and heart disease. Comparing to driving a car or doing work on a computer, television is a very passive activity. Other studies have actually shown that watching TV could lower the metabolism than even sitting and doing nothing.

Hence, people should watch less TV and exercise more. As recommended by most health organizations including the American Heart Association, adults should have at least 150 minutes of weekly physical activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more. Meanwhile, there are many ways one can raise the level of physical activity in his or her daily life. For instance, he or she could take stairs instead of the elevator.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Is BPA Harmful?

Being an industrial chemical to make certain plastics and resins, BPA (bisphenol A) is found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics are often used in containers that store food and beverages like water bottles. Epoxy resins, on the other hand, are used to coat the inside of metal products, such as food cans, bottle tops and water supply lines.

Studies had shown that high dose of BPA could actually cause a number of health hazards including birth defects, breast and prostate cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, obesity, Type-2 diabetes and developmental disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A paper published December 8, 2014 by researchers from Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea in the American Heart Association journal ‘Hypertension’ warned that people who drank out of cans lined with resins BPA might have a brief increase in their blood pressure.

However, according to a review by The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released on January 22, 2015, there is apparently no health concern for any age group from dietary exposure or from aggregated exposure. But the report did caution that for some areas like exposure to cash register receipts, more research is required. Cash register receipts are mostly made of thermal paper that is the second largest source of external exposure in all population groups above 3 years old.

Everybody is exposing to some amount of BPA, which is widely used in plastic bottles and containers and in the linings of canned foods to keep them fresh, though many manufacturers have tried to stop using them because of consumer demand.

Small babies appear to get the highest does probably because of their small body sizes but the amount of BPA they are getting would not harm them. While pregnant women are also getting BPA, no sufficient evidence has been found to link any harmful effect to the unborn babies.

The findings are similar to what the United States FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has found. In the fall of 2014, the FDA experts from across the agency, specializing in toxicology, analytical chemistry, endocrinology, epidemiology, and other fields, completed a 4-year review of more than 300 scientific studies. The results of their review did not find any evidence to support the ban of BPA in food packaging. Pharmacokinetic and biomonitoring data continue to suggest that BPA is quickly and efficiently metabolized once ingested and it can be eliminated from the body rapidly.

In the United States, BPA has been removed from many toys, baby bottles and other items that might affect small children.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Heart Disease Prevention - Would BPA Lead To Hypertension?

A recent study conducted by researchers from Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea found that people who drank out of cans lined with resins BPA might had a brief increase in their blood pressure. Their findings were published December 8, 2014 in the American Heart Association journal ‘Hypertension’. More details at:

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Would Weight-Loss Surgery Cut Diabetes Risk?

Also once known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes, Type-2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes that accounts for about 90 percent of diabetes cases. The risk of getting Type-2 diabetes is higher for people who are overweight and obese. 

For people with Type-2 diabetes, their pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body cannot use the insulin well enough. As a result, their body is unable to regulate blood sugar levels, which can put them at risk of blindness, amputations and nerve damage. Moreover, people with diabetes are more likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

Besides adopting a healthy lifestyle, diabetics can go for weight-loss surgery with doctor’s recommendation. According to a study by researchers from King's College London, weight-loss surgery could dramatically lower the odds of developing Type-2 diabetes. The paper was published online November 2, 2014 issue of ‘The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology’.

After examining the electronic health records of more than 4,000 people in Britain, the researchers found that the risk of diabetes is about 80 percent lower in those who reduced their body weight by one of the 3 surgical procedures, namely laparoscopic adjustable banding, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass.

In the study, the researchers identified 2,167 obese adults without diabetes who have had 1 of the 3 surgical procedures for weight loss from 2002 onwards and compared with 2,167 others who had not had surgery or other obesity treatments (control group).

During the follow-up period of up to 7 years, only 38 new cases of diabetes among participants who had weight-loss surgery were found, comparing with 177 in the control group, showing a reduction of 80 percent.

The results seemed promising and moving closer to confirm the positive effect of weight-loss surgery, but more studies are still required to gather more evidence in order to convince endocrinologists about the nature of this effect.

Weight-loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery, is employed as the last resort to treat people who are dangerously obese with an excessive amount of body fat. Doctors will only recommend this kind of surgery to people when other treatments fail to work.

In general, weight-loss surgery can be divided into 3 categories: restrictive procedure, malabsorptive technique and combination operations.

Restrictive procedures make the stomach smaller to limit the amount of food intake, while malabsorptive techniques reduce the amount of intestine that comes in contact with food so that the body will absorb fewer calories. Combination operation is a combination of both restriction and malabsorption.

Gastric band (restrictive procedure) and gastric bypass (malabsorptive technique) are the 2 most common types of weight-loss surgery. In gastric band, a band is used to reduce the size of the stomach so that a smaller amount of food is needed to let someone feel full. For gastric bypass, the digestive system is re-routed past most of the stomach so that less food is digested and makes someone feel full.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Heart Disease Prevention - Has Childhood Obesity Been Declined in America?

Earlier studies have suggested childhood obesity in the United States was beginning to turn around and kids in some places are becoming thinner. In fact, earlier this year, CDC reported obesity was starting to decline among preschoolers. But data from very large surveys showed that all types of obesity are on the rise across the country, and the very fattest children might be getting worse. Find out more at:


Monday, August 04, 2014

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Weight-Loss Surgery Reverse Diabetes?

People who are overweight and obese have a much higher chance of getting Type-2 diabetes, compared to those with a healthy weight. A paper published online March 31, 2014 in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ argued that performing weight-loss surgery on obese patients with Type-2 diabetes could effectively reverse the disease, allowing most of them to stop using insulin and many to stop diabetes medication 3 years later.

Find out more at:
Heart Disease Prevention - Can Weight-Loss Surgery Reverse Diabetes?