Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "body"
Wednesday, Sep 2nd, 2009 ↓Weight Gain In Adulthood Associated With Prostate Cancer Risk; Patterns Differ By Ethnicity →
Sept 2, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Body mass in younger and older adulthood, and weight gain between these periods of life, may influence a man’s risk for prostate cancer. This risk varies among different ethnic populations, according to results of a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“The relationship of certain characteristics, such as body size, with cancer risk may vary across ethnic groups due to the combined influence of both genes and lifestyle,” said lead researcher Brenda Y. Hernandez, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii.
Obesity is a risk factor for common cancers like colorectal cancer and breast cancer in post-menopausal women. However, the influence of body size on prostate cancer risk is not entirely understood. Hernandez and colleagues examined this relationship in a multiethnic population consisting of blacks, Japanese, Hispanics, Native Hawaiians and whites, and compared differences among age groups. They used the Multiethnic Cohort, a longitudinal study of men aged 45 to 75 years old established in Hawaii and California from 1993 to 1996.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: weight gain prostate cancer risk BMI body size ethnic group genes lifestyle obesity factor
Obesity Is A Poor Gauge For Detecting High Cholesterol Levels In Children →
Aug 29, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—With the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States, there is concern that overweight and obese children need to be screened for chronic medical conditions, including high cholesterol levels.
However, body fat is not an effective indicator of high cholesterol in children, according to new University of Michigan research.
Those are the findings of a U-M study led by U-M pediatricians Joyce Lee, M.D., MPH, and Matthew Davis, M.D., MAPP, which will appear in the August 3 edition of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
“We found, actually, that using body mass index to find kids with high cholesterol does not work well. There were many overweight and obese kids who had normal cholesterol, and there were a fair number of healthy-weight kids who had high cholesterol,” says Lee, a member of the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit in the U-M Division of General Pediatrics, and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the U-M Medical School.
For full article see link above.
Tags: obesity weight cholesterol heart cardiovascular disease body fat BMI children child overweight prevention screening risk
7% of 5th graders unhappy with body size: study →
Aug 27, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Canadian children as young as 10 years old may benefit from programs to improve satisfaction with body shape, say researchers who studied the relationship between body size and happiness.
The study of 4,254 Nova Scotia fifth graders suggests girls were happiest when thinnest while boys were unhappy when they were too skinny or too fat.
“With the substantial prevalence of poor body satisfaction, public health initiatives designed to improve body satisfaction along with promotion of healthy eating and active living in children as young as 10 and 11 years are appropriate and warranted,” researchers from Harvard University in Boston and the University of Alberta concluded in Thursday’s issue of BMC Public Health.
The relationship between poor body satisfaction and increased risk of eating disorder behaviours such as use of vomiting, laxatives and diet pills is well established.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: body size self confidence body image happiness children child kid satisfaction promotion healthy eating active living risk eating disorder behaviour vomiting laxative diet pill weight
Low calorie drinks and low-fat foods effective for weight loss →
Aug 25, 2009 (Foodnavigator.com)—Regular consumption of low-calorie beverages and low fat foods may help maintain weight loss and a stable body weight, suggests findings from a new study.
New Zealand and American researchers examined the consumption of low calorie and low fat foods in people who have lost weight and are now maintaining their new slimness, and compared this to people who have always maintained a ‘normal’ weight.
Writing in the International Journal of Obesity, a journal published by the Nature group, the researchers report that the so-called weight loss maintainer group consumed a diet that about 5 per cent lower in fat, and three times more daily servings of artificially sweetened soft drinks, compared to the normal weight people.
“These findings suggest that WLM use more dietary strategies to accomplish their weight loss maintenance, including greater restriction on fat intake, use of fat- and sugar-modified foods, reduced consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and increased consumption of artificially sweetened beverages,” wrote the researchers, led by Suzanne Phelan from California Polytechnic State University.
“Ways to promote the use of fat-modified foods and artificial sweeteners merits further research in both prevention- and treatment-controlled trials,” they added.
The results will go some way to vindicating the growing low-calorie and low fat formulations being offered by food manufacturers as weight conscious consumers seek waistline-friendly versions of their favourite foods.
Indeed, a study conducted by global market research firm Synovate last year found that low fat food products are most popular when attempting weight loss.
Obesity and the related health issues are ever-increasing problems in Europe. In 2006, 30 per cent of European children were estimated to be overweight. The prevalence of obesity in the UK has more than doubled in the last 25 years.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: low calorie weight loss nutrition diet beverage low fat food body maintain restriction prevention obesity food
10 Reasons Why Exercise is Good for Your Weight →
Aug 20, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A recent Time magazine article, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin,” is misleading at best. Exercise is critical to losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight, especially when paired with healthy eating habits. Countless studies, numerous experts who study exercise, and the millions of people who have lost weight all attest to the fact that working out works.
1. Exercise zaps belly fat
Regular moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise has the greatest impact on reducing abdominal fat — the dangerous fat that increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
2. Exercise controls calories
You need to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. Regular exercise uses up excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
3. Exercise keeps lost pounds MIA
Ninety percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off for a year do about an hour of physical activity a day.
4. Exercise boosts metabolism
You’ll lose fat when you diet without exercising, but you’ll also lose muscle, which means you’ll burn fewer calories. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you’ll burn.
5. Exercise does more than the scale shows
If you gain 3 pounds of lean muscle and lose 4 pounds of fat, you’ve actually experienced a 7-pound improvement in your body condition, despite the scale only showing 1 pound of weight loss.
6. Exercise curbs emotional eating
Working out has been proven time and time again to help regulate mood, which has a direct effect on people who eat when they’re stressed or upset.
7. Exercise creates a healthy chain reaction
Healthy habits tend to cluster together. When people make positive changes, like getting more exercise, they tend to work on other health improvements as well, such as eating better.
8. Exercise brings on the fun
Rock-climbing is more exciting than eating a celery stick. That’s why it’s sometimes easier to be active to stay slim than to maintain a strict diet.
9. Exercise stops hunger
People who exercise and diet are actually less hungry than those who only diet, according to at least one study.
10. Exercise ups energy
Regular physical activity increases stamina by boosting your body’s production of energy-promoting neurotransmitters. That gives you even more motivation to get moving and shed pounds.
Sources:
Fitness Magazine August 19, 2009Tags: exercise energy hungry eating fun diet nutrition positive change mood emotion body condition fat muscle metabolism weight physical activity calories aerobic abdominal diabetes heart disease thin
Regular Yoga Practice Is Associated With Mindful Eating →
Aug 16, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The study was prompted by initial findings reported four years ago by Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H., and colleagues, who found that regular yoga practice may help prevent middle-age spread in normal-weight people and may promote weight loss in those who are overweight. At the time, the researchers suspected that the weight-loss effect had more to do with increased body awareness, specifically a sensitivity to hunger and satiety than the physical activity of yoga practice itself.
The follow-up study, published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, confirms their initial hunch.
“In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesized that mindfulness – a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga – could affect eating behavior,” said Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.
The researchers found that people who ate mindfully – those were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full – weighed less than those who ate mindlessly, who ate when not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression. The researchers also found a strong association between yoga practice and mindful eating but found no association between other types of physical activity, such as walking or running, and mindful eating.
“These findings fit with our hypothesis that yoga increases mindfulness in eating and leads to less weight gain over time, independent of the physical activity aspect of yoga practice,” said Kristal, who is also a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
For full article see link above.
Tags: yoga diet obesity prevention eating weightloss body awareness physical activity dietary pattern
Parents Can Help Stop The Obesity Epidemic, Says Psychologist; Healthy Body Image Is First Step →
Aug 15, 2009(Sciencedaily.com)—Childhood obesity has quadrupled in the last 40 years, which may mean today’s children become the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than their parents, a leading obesity expert told the American Psychological Association.
However, parents can help stave off this impending crisis if they help their children to eat better and exercise, according to Edward Abramson, PhD. Abramson, professor emeritus at California State University-Chico, teaches psychology and is author of the books “Body Intelligence” and “Emotional Eating.”
In the last decade, “we’ve seen a [tenfold] increase in Type-2 diabetes and psychological and social consequences, such as prejudice, rejection, discrimination and low self-esteem in children,” Abramson said at APA’s 117th Annual Convention. “More than 60 percent of overweight children have one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and 20 percent have two or more risk factors.”
Bad eating habits can start with “emotional eating,” or eating when one is not hungry, or from following a strict diet, Abramson said. “This can lead to a weight problem or an eating disorder,” he added. “Parents’ attitudes and behaviors also have an influence on children’s eating, and mothers more than fathers affect children’s eating habits and body image.”
Many factors contribute to mothers’ concern about their children’s risk for obesity, Abramson said. “For example, there is evidence that minority parents (e.g., African-American, Hispanic) are less concerned about their children’s weight,” he said. “Often, when a mother is struggling with her own weight, she becomes more involved in regulating her daughter’s eating. In general, mothers are more concerned than fathers about their child’s weight, especially their daughter’s, and are more likely to restrict foods.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: children lifestyle exercise physical activity exercise food eating body image prevention diabetes type 2 diet eating cardiovascular disease habit attitude behaviour
Slowly Progressive Weight Lifting May Be Helpful in Breast Cancer Survivors With Lymphedema →
August 12, 2009 (Medscape.com)— Slowly progressive weight lifting may be helpful in breast cancer survivors with lymphedema, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial reported in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Weight lifting has generally been proscribed for women with breast-cancer–related lymphedema, preventing them from obtaining the well-established health benefits of weight lifting, including increases in bone density,” write Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD, MPH, from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues.
“A program of controlled exercise through weight lifting may increase the physical-work capacity of the affected arm, thereby protecting it from injury sustained during common daily activities. Weight lifting offers additional benefits particularly relevant to breast-cancer survivors, including control of body fat and improved functional outcomes and bone health.”
For full medicle article, see link above.
Tags: weight lifting cancer breast lymphedema prevention bone density body fat functional health arm
Prehypertension, Obesity And Kidney Disease Risks →
Aug 11, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—People with prehypertension are not at increased risk of kidney disease if their body mass index (BMI) is under 30.0 kg/m2, a first-ever examination of the combined effect of blood pressure and body weight on the risk of kidney disease shows.
The study was by a team of medical researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Prehypertension is a relatively new medical classification introduced in 2003 in the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on High Blood Pressure (JNC-7), and is defined as systolic blood pressure of 120 to 139 mm Hg or diastolic BP of 80 to 89 mm Hg. Studies from the United States and Asia have shown that prehypertension can increase the risk of serious kidney disease, but because more than 30 percent of the US and European populations can be classified as prehypertensive, treating everyone with this condition would be an enormous undertaking, the researchers observed.
At the same time, obesity is also known to lead to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and death from chronic kidney disease (CKD) as a result of diabetes and hypertension. These increased risks have led medical researchers to consider whether people with prehypertension should be considered for treatment if they have other cardiovascular risks, such as obesity.
For full article see link above.
Tags: kidney risk prevention weight obesity overweight bmi hypertension cardiovascular blood pressure heart disease diabetes prehypertension body
Workplace Yoga And Meditation Can Lower Feelings Of Stress →
Aug 5, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Twenty minutes per day of guided workplace meditation and yoga combined with six weekly group sessions can lower feelings of stress by more than 10 percent and improve sleep quality in sedentary office employees, a pilot study suggests.
The study offered participants a modified version of what is known as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a program established in 1979 to help hospital patients in Massachusetts assist in their own healing that is now in wide use around the world.
In this context, mindfulness refers in part to one’s heightened awareness of an external stressor as the first step toward relaxing in a way that can minimize the effects of that stress on the body.
While the traditional MBSR program practice takes up an hour per day for eight weeks supplemented by lengthy weekly sessions and a full-day retreat, the modified version developed at Ohio State University for this study was designed for office-based workers wearing professional attire.
For full article see link above.
Tags: workplace work employee stress office meditation yoga sleep quality mindfulness body
New Insights Into Causes Of Anorexia →
July 23, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—New imaging technology provides insight into abnormalities in the brain circuitry of patients with anorexia nervosa (commonly known as anorexia) that may contribute to the puzzling symptoms found in people with the eating disorder. In a review paper published online in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Walter Kaye, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues describe dysfunction in certain neural circuits of the brain which may help explain why people develop anorexia in the first place, and behaviors such as the relentless pursuit of dieting and weight loss.
“Currently, we don’t have very effective means of treating people with anorexia,” said Kaye. “Consequently, many patients with the disorder remain ill for years or eventually die from the disease, which has the highest death rate of any psychiatric disorder.”
A better understanding of the underlying neurobiology – how behavior is coded in the brain and contributes to anorexia —is likely to result in more effective treatments, according to the researchers.
Childhood personality and temperament may increase an individual’s vulnerability to developing anorexia. Predisposing factors, some suspected to be inherited, such as perfectionism, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive tendencies may precede the onset of an eating disorders. These traits become intensified during adolescence as a consequence of many factors such as hormonal changes, stress and culture.
“Adolescence is a time of transition, when individuals must learn to balance immediate and long-term needs and goals in order to achieve independence,” said Kaye. “For such individuals, learning to cope with mixed societal messages and pressures may be overwhelming, exacerbating underlying traits of anxiety and a desire to perfectly achieve.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: anorexia diet weight behaviour psychiatric disorder personality child adolescence anxiety trigger malnutrition hunger brain body image
Health Tip: Negative Body Image Can Affect Health - Mental Health Disorders on MedicineNet.com →
July 10, 2009 (HealthDay News) — Your body image describes your appearance and the way you see yourself.
This isn’t a superficial concept, warns Planned Parenthood. The group says a negative body image, if severe enough, can:
- Increase your risk of depression and anxiety.
- Trigger feelings of low self-esteem.
- Make it difficult for you to concentrate.
- Lead you to engage in risky behavior.
- Lead to social isolation.
- Spawn mental health issues, such as an eating disorder.
- Lead you to avoid a healthy lifestyle, including eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise.
— Diana Kohnle
Tags: image body health depression anxiety esteem concentration behaviour isolation lifestyle diet exercise
Flame Retardant Chemicals Found in U.S. Coastal Waters and Great Lakes →
July 8, 2009 (Naturalnews.com)—Toxic flame retarding chemicals are found in all U.S. coastal waters and in the Great Lakes, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances.
“This is a wake-up call for Americans concerned about the health of our coastal waters and their personal health,” said John Dunnigan, assistant administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA’s) National Ocean Service. “Scientific evidence strongly documents that these contaminants impact the food web and action is needed to reduce the threats posed to aquatic resources and human health.”
The chemicals in question, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were first produced in the 1970s, and have since been banned in a variety of countries across Asia and Europe. Manufacture of most varieties was voluntarily discontinued by companies in the United States, but other kinds are still produced to this day. They are chemically similar to PCBs, which have been banned in the United States and throughout the world.
Studies have indicated that PBDEs accumulate in the blood, body fat and breast milk of humans and other animals, and can be passed from mother to infant. They have been implicated in causing damage to the liver, kidneys and immune system, and to result in impaired neurobehavioral development. Like most persistent organic pollutants, they are especially dangerous to pregnant women and children.
For full article see link above.
Tags: danger risk water toxic resource PCB PBDE accumulation blood body fat milk immunity pregnancy development neurobehavioral pollution environment
Two Dietary Oils, Two Sets of Benefits →
July 9, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A study comparing how two common dietary oil supplements affect body composition suggests that both oils can lower body fat in obese postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes.
In the study, 16 weeks of supplementation with safflower oil reduced fat in the trunk area, lowered blood sugar and increased muscle tissue in the participants.
Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for the same length of time, on the other hand, reduced total body fat and lowered the women’s body mass index (BMI), a common health measure of weight relative to height.
All of the women in the study took one oil for 16 weeks, followed by the other oil for an equal amount of time.
Sources: Eurekalert July 7, 2009
Tags: oil diet supplement fat body composition blood sugar muscle tissue safflower conjugated linoleic acid BMI weight
Excess Body Fat Raises the Risk of Having Cancer →
Feb 11 09 (NaturalNews) American people, who are overweight due to body fat and or abdominal fat, may now be able to lower their risk of having cancer naturally by changing their eating habits. Cancer is the second leading disease causing death in the US. Taking steps to avoid cancer is of national interest as well as the personal interest of people. The main cause of added body fat is when the intake of food energy exceeds the amount of energy burned. The excess food energy is stored as body fat or abdominal fat. Overweight people can achieve a leaner healthier body by increasing their physical activity or reducing their caloric intake.
An estimated 61% of Americans are overweight or obese according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control. In an American Institute of Cancer research survey only about 1 in 4 individuals knew that obesity was a cancer risk.
For full article, see link above.
