Todays Health Article

American Heart Month

February 25th, 2011

Today these symptoms basically are either being completely ignored, because we are feeling they are insignificant, or we may not even recognized these symptoms, as a health risk. This thinking, has allowed this major health threat to go undected by millions of people. Why would this become such a concerning fact, regarding our health today?

Facts from the Past

Diabetes rates in America have been increasing substantially. In 2010 nearly 26 million people have diabetes in the United States alone, from those 7 million people remain undiagnosed. Anther 57 million people are estimated to have pre-diabetes, The Centers for Disease Control, has termed the change an epidemic.

 The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse estimates that diabetes costs $132 billion in the United States alone every year. About 5%–10% of diabetes cases are type 1, with the rest being type 2.

The American Diabetes Association cite the 2003 assessment of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that 1 in 3 Americans born after 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.

According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 18.3% (8.6 million) of Americans age 60 and older have diabetes. Diabetes  prevalence increases with age, and the numbers of older persons with diabetes are expected to grow as the elderly population increases in number.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) demonstrated that, in the population over 65 years old, 18% to 20% have diabetes, with 40% having either diabetes or its precursor form of impaired glucose tolerance.

Diabetes

 Why Diabetes, so many times goes undiagnosed, is because of its symptoms seem so harmless. Diabetes is a terribly destructive disease. It quietly  destroys circulation to the heart, brain, kidneys, legs, eyes and skin. It also increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.Today more than 60 percent of non-traumatic amputations are due to diabetes. It is the leading cause of blindness in the adults 20 to 74.

Why, the symptom are overlooked by  about 90-95% of those with diabetes have Type 2, because it typically takes decades  before you may come to realize you have Diabetes. You may  have heard of the “classic” symptoms of diabetes: increased thirst, increased urination, hunger and weakness, but these are symptoms of  Type 1 diabetes which is most commonly seen in children and which is a very different disease from Type 2.

Because most diabetics have no symptoms, it is important to understand what to look for.

Type 1 diabetes, formerly called insulin dependent or juvenile diabetes, typically starts in childhood.

 Studies have shown that Type 1 diabetes results from the immune system attacking and destroying the pancreas cells that produce insulin. Insulin in our bodies is used to control blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes is genetically based, it is not inherited from parents as some suggest.

Its Symptoms may be of increased thirst, fatigue, weight loss, increased urination, hunger, and blurred vision.

Type 2 diabetes is more common in those who have family members with a history of the disease. People with a parent or sibling with Type 2 diabetes have a forty percent chance of developing it themselves. Those who have Type 2 diabetes, actually make enough insulin, but their bodies don’t produce it at the right time, and can not effectively use the insulin to control blood sugar levels.

Normally, our pancreas responds to eating by producing a surge in insulin. Early in Type 2 diabetes, the normal surge in insulin does not occur and blood sugars rise too high after eating. This is called post-prandial hyperglycemia. After a few hours, the blood sugar returns to normal. After some years, the body’s natural ability to get the blood sugar back down to normal is lost.

Type 2 diabetes usually does not cause symptoms and at some point  it increases the chance of fungal infections and slows healing of wounds, particularly on the feet. You may have very high blood sugars, which can cause sluggishness, blurred vision and occasionally double vision.

Because symptoms occur late, doctors look for diabetes before it causes damage. Typically a blood sugar is checked after an 8-12 hour fast when it should be less than 110. Often diabetes has been present for 10 years by the time the fasting sugar becomes abnormal.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by being overweight not by consuming too much sugar.

Actions and Preventions

Online Diabetes Risk Test

The extra calories may be the reason for the increased incidence of diabetes in our country today… where more than half the population is overweight. The good news is that just as being overweight causes diabetes, losing and maintaining normal weight can stop diabetes and prevent the related complications.

Everyone over 40 should have a fasting blood glucose about once a year. Those overweight people and have a family history of diabetes should probably be tested earlier than age 40. The goal in treating diabetes is to prevent complications. Many doctors are now looking at the blood sugar after eating to detect diabetes earlier, particularly in cases where diabetes runs in the family.

If you have Type 2 diabetes in your family, try to maintain a normal weight through proper diet and exercise. Ask your doctor about screening tests for diabetes including whether testing for elevated blood sugar after eating would be appropriate.

Left untreated, Type 1 diabetes causes the blood sugar to rise and produce acids which can cause nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, loss of consciousness and even death. Type 1 diabetes is treated withinsulin injections as it does not respond to pills. Type 1 diabetics must be rigorous in their diet and insulin treatment to avoid hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, which can result in coma and death.

Todays Health Comments

Today, with epidemic numbers of individuals suspected of Diabetes, everyone must assume they are at risk until you have taken the steps to determine if you are or are not a diabetic. Do not assume you have no symptoms and allow years to past by. Silently this illness can become present. Click on the link above and take the simple test. This simple action may answer your questions.Information below is for further learning and understanding.

For more information go to the American Diabetes Association www.diabetes.orgor The National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases at http://www.niddk.nih.gov/

“CDC’s Diabetes Program-News and Information-Press Releases-October 26, 2000″. http://www.cdc.gov/Diabetes/news/docs/010126.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 

Narayan KM, Boyle JP, Thompson TJ, Sorensen SW, Williamson DF (October 2003). “Lifetime risk for diabetes mellitus in the United States”. JAMA 290 (14): 1884–90. doi:10.1001/jama.290.14.1884. PMID 14532317. 

American Diabetes Association (2005). “Total Prevalence of Diabetes & Pre-diabetes”. Archived from the original on 2006-02-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20060208032127/http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/prevalence.jsp. Retrieved 2006-03-17. 

 “Seniors and Diabetes”. Elderly And Diabetes-Diabetes and Seniors. LifeMed Media. 2006. http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowContent/daily_living/seniors/. Retrieved 2007-05-14.

Today’s Health Article

Sept19th, 2010 

Today’s Health Site…

 Is all about keeping our articles in layman terms, life is full of technical and scientific terms. These terms are thrown at us like we are capable of understanding their jargon, most of the time leaving the person in a state of confusion. Having no idea if this is their intentions, or just over site. But our health and our understanding of these very interpretations may mean the difference between life and death.

I recently was reading an article on the various generic medicines and how they are listed with various names through out the world, not that really matters pertaining to this topic, or does it hit the bulls eye.

The Corn Refiners Association

If the  Corn Refiners Association have their way….that’s exactly what they are up to, asking for a name change and to rebrand what we now know as high fructose corn syrup.

 The industry group  has applied to the federal government for permission to use a new name for the ingredient on food labels as “Corn Sugar.”  Perhaps this may take years, but in a way they are already saying or hoping that we will except this new name.

Why would such a marketing strategy come now , when the public has come to know what high fructose corn syrup… really is. It is a sweetener that  has become a popular choice for companies because it is a syrup, making it easy to use, and was cost effective.  Perhaps we have come to know too much!  This Product has come under several studies, linking to obesity and contributing  to diabetes.  With this adverse publicity… could it be us folks looking for healthier answers to our use of sugar, have started cutting back on those products using the high fructose corn syrup. There has been several major companies pulling this ingredient  from their products do to consumer response.

The name “Corn Sugar“does have a certain ring about it, that inferrs that its naturally squeezed from corn, instead of the chemical process that it actually goes through.

Today’s Health Comments

Whatever name is attached to  high fructose corn syrup or “Corn Sugar”, the ingredient makes up a significant part of our diets. Sugar is sugar. We are much better informed today. Whether this new name, “Corn Sugar” will become misleading, will be up to those seeking healthier diets. Lastly we must become aware of our sugar intake, no matter what name is attached to it.

Today’s Health Article.

 From the  beginning , history has indicated our desire for sweets. Are we really addicted? Does all mankind have  a sweet tooth?

Our Past Desires for Just Sweet…

  We found  this sweetness in a variety of natural foods, such as fruits, berries, honey,and  finding of sugar cane , centuries ago. For hundreds of years civilization excepted what mother nature provided, and each generation pushed on to include a little of the sweet stuff in this food and that until we as a whole world population, excepted the fact that all things just tasted better with the sweet stuff. Sweeter was better and varieties of drinks became more popular as the population demanded the need for more of them, thus pushing aside the old standbys of water, milk, lemonade, or good ole ice tea. ( Remember when your mom used say ” Not too much sugar”, I wonder what she would say today.

Sweeter Than Sweet

If a little is good, than more is better, Right!  That became the marketing scheme for almost all aspects of the food and drink  industry. The problem was , that we all bought into the marketing scheme,  no questions asked.     Major  food manufactures continued placing more and more sugar into their products, and the result was “Mikey not only liked them,  good ole oatmeal went by the wayside. Now you probably saying…” OK I get it!” sugar is in every thing, and plenty of it. OK enough of those  sweeter examples , for those were for my older readers.

Sickening Sweet

Alright by now about 50 years have past by and now we no longer no what sugar, sweetener, or sugar supplement we are now eating or drinking because the demand has become in epidemic proportions.We are  now reading the fine print once and while, because 64% of the population in the USA are overweight.  Cancer is becoming a house hold word because of the many things we eat and drink. But sickening sweet has gone way beyond  ones limitation. The only way to get this  in perspective is some visualization.

Visualize How Sweet is Sickening Sweet

There are articles that visualize a Sunkist Orange Soda to six Breyers Oreo Ice Cream Sandwichs …http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/20-worst-drinks-america-2010 The easiest way I found is this, remember that old square cube of table sugar, its contents equivalent is 4.17 grams of sugar. So an example what used to be my favorite  drink ( not mentioning  name for embarrassing reasons), contains 45 grams of sugar. You would then divide that by the 4.17 grams= Nearly11cubes of sugar for one drink. Another formula… 1 teaspoon sugar = 1 sugar cube = 1 sugar packet …
 Is this healthy… or have we gone one step too far. Just think people are drinking several of those a day!

Today’s Health Comments

Sweet, Sweeter, and Sickening Sweet has become the normal today. We  have let this just completely get out of hand and now the results are becoming known to us. How are eating the sweet stuff is affecting our health. How sweets are linked to obesity, obesity linked to diabetes, linked to several illnesses…and cancer related as well. Though there are indications that the epidemic proportions are slowing down, regarding our sugar intake, we are far, far from being good. For the first time in American History of Lifes Mortality our children’s life expectancy may be shorten due to our eating habits. We all need to start  looking at our own eating habits if we are expecting to lead a healthier life.

 Todays Health Article

`Yes, those health benefits acclaimed from some  beverages, if  you do drink too much,  their health benefits vanish!

Now, summer is coming, and some of you feel that these  beverages  are just part of your life. You  have  this  need to  satisfying  your ongoing thirst.

Can these drinks be actually healthy?

Oooops… I forgot to mentioned, the drinks we are discussing, because if you have had more than 1 or 2. by the time you finish reading this article. you will either not  be able to finish or the health benefits will no longer be of any benefit.Yes they will have vanished, and now become a health risk.

 OK, here it is… some will argue that these  beverages, drinks such as beer, wine, or your favorite margarita are  healthy if drank in moderation. This means, just because you may benefit from 1 or 2 drinks, DON’T  Get CONFUSED,  that more is better, because that is far from the truth, actually creating health risks if you do.

 With some research, a bottle of beer, glass of wine, or even a margarita all have about the same amount of alcohol. The kicker here is…despite wine’s popular image, experts say  they’re all probably equally good for your health when consumed in moderation.

“If you drink alcohol, beer, or wine in moderation, it probably does have a reasonably healthy effect,”

says Gerald Fuller, PhD, a biochemist at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Fuller says it’s the ethanol, a pure form of alcohol found in all types of alcoholic beverages, that makes the various libations good for you, but only in moderation. That means an average of no more than one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men. More than that, and the benefits evaporate quicker than the frothy head of a freshly poured beer. ( Vanished)

Studies have shown that ethanol can have a variety of positive effects on heart health such as raising HDL (the “good” cholesterol) levels, preventing dangerous blood clots, and allowing the blood to flow more smoothly throughout the body, which reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Alcohol may also boost your health in several other ways as well. Studies have suggested that moderate alcohol consumption can increase insulin sensitivity, which can reduce the risk of diabetes, ward off some types of cancer, and prevent bone loss.

“We do know that ethanol itself has an effect, but there are lots of products in beer and wine such as hops and grape skins that may also have benefits,” Fuller tells WebMD. But he says researchers still haven’t exactly defined what those effects — both positive and negative — may be.

Alcohol Tips

* There is No Need To Start for its health benefits and some people such as pregnant women.people with liver disease, people on medications, and those recovering from alcohol addiction,the risks of drinking way outweigh the health benefits gained. There are other alternatives to receiving the same benefits without the use of alcohol/

*Drinking in moderation is the KEY Word if you do drink .(no more than one drink per day for women, and no more than two drinks per day for men).

*Asking for Help, if you think you have a problem. Talk to your Doctor or a health professional.

*People who drink may benefit from getting  multivitamin with folic acid, since alcohol  has a depletion effect on our body’s nutrients, and those nutrients need to be replaced by either a healthy diet or vitamins.

Todays Health Site is taking an open minded position with this article…

 The Key to drinking Alcohol, is Moderation, or simply all of the health benefits from drinking,  vanish. If you have drank more than the 1 or2 drinks, just like the magician who vanished from the crowd, the ill effects takes on another side which can lead to several illnesses. These drinks can wear many faces, good or bad, depending on the person drinking them and the amount drank. Drinking is a personal responsibility to our health as well to others well being. If others are not, reach out, you may save someones life. To a healthier Life. Do Not Drink and Drive!

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Trehalose, virtually unknown to the public, is a sugar you should consider for a healthier life!

Todays Health Site,  introduced this product in a past article…

                        Trehalose,You Ask for it.

We made this comment, “If you knew about it, you would use it.”  We had enclosed on site, the banner ( Sweet T) used, that actually is a  explaining the product, yet few have click on it. Not to be redundant, but feel this so important to your health. Here is the the link to click for more information.

http://www.endowmentmed.org/pdf/TrehaloseBigLabelForEndowment.pdf

Study Shows Trehalose More Stable Than Other Sugar  

 Study at UT Southwestern Medical Center Shows Trehalose More Stable than Other Sugars with Enduring Source of Energy

Everywhere  you turn, thru someone, a  magazine, TV, or  the many other media these days, you are bound to be exposed with the same old story: The startling and ever-growing worldwide problem of obesity.

WHY?

The fact is… More and more people are unhealthily overweight! “It is to the very  point where eating can and is actually endangering our lives.”

 There has always been some individuals that have eaten unhealthily, mainly because, “Naughty Foods Taste So Good”!  Now the population as a whole,  considering how we eat these days, are we are getting the right amounts of nutrients.

Is it our conscious thought about what we put into our bodies … essential?

Why another article on  a subject that  everybody claims to know but doesn’t want to listen! The answer is, if this just reaches just one persons conscious thought and  results in taking action , than it was all worth it.

Perhaps before our intake of all those naughty foods, which are loaded with all those calories and sugars, you know the ones I am talking about, the ones some people would die for (literally), a bell would go off in our heads, saying “What I am about to eat is hazardous  to my health”!

For some people, warning labels…are just another part of the lable or the fine print that doesn’ t get read anyway, let alone it’s grams of sugar or it’s calorie count. Our consensus is most people eat by what may make them feel good, or by how sweet it is, or how good it taste going down, or just how much I can eat, based on my emotion at the time.

If some one has come up as to why obesity is becoming  a major concern…is because food is readily available  in most countries, unlike the underdeveloped countries where many face starvation. Those countries who proclaim to live in the land of plenty…eat with same mentality…plenty.

As we get older, our metabolism slows down and we can no longer burn calories at the same rate as we used to. Fact, it makes it easier for us to put on weight but harder for us to shed it. Having said that, our elderly group face the greatest effect of being over weight. Being overweight can put unnecessary stress on the joints and thus accelerate the affects of arthritis, osteoporosis and other bone and muscle disorders and illnesses. It can also bring about the onset of diabetes, which is more common in seniors than in any other age group as it is.

While a  little of what he or she loves to eat, no matter how unhealthy it may be, a regular balanced nutritious diet is just what the doctor orders!

A well balanced diet can boost your health, but a poor diet that does not fulfil all bodily nutritional requirements can actually cause it to deteriorate.

All should enjoy life to the fullest extent, but eating healthily on a regular basis can actively extend the amount of time you have left to enjoy it! Make the most of  life. Revolutionize your diet and reap the rewards

 Todays Health Articles  or links on Related info.

Enjoy A Happy and Healthy Life”

Todays Health Drinks

Is SUGAR Becoming an Edidemic in the US?

Knowing this,  are we becoming  a population addicted  to Sugar?

How is this “SUGAR CRAZE” affecting our Health.

The average American consumes 2 to 3 pounds of sugar each week, that translates to over 150 pounds of sugar per person per year.

Sugar as an additive,  has attributed to this alarming number. With wide popularity of Sugar, it is in everything, and may be disguised in various forms. Sucrose, dextrose, and high fructose corn syrups  may be found as an active ingredient in  your processed food or condiments. These are highly refined sweeteners.

Most professionals stress a balanced approach to eating. If we limit the intake of acidic foods and increasing the intake of alkaline foods, one can achieve optimum health. One of the main factors in the fight against acidic pH levels is sugar.

Sugar’s Radical Effect:

On insulin levels, when they do drop; so does the release of  our growth hormone. Our growth hormones depress the immune system, leaving the body open to a variety of diseases and illnesses. Insulin also inhances the body’s ability to fight off weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels. Simply put, the higher in sugars a food is, the more likely it will promote fat storage in the body. These fat cells  host  in turn degrade the structure of red blood cells in our the bloodstream.

Within our body Vitamin C and Sugar will also fight for control of the cellular development.  Vitamin C and Simple Sugar, from a structural standpoint, are quite similar. As sugar levels go up in the body, they compete with one another when they enter cells. When a higher concentration of sugar is within the bloodstream,this allows more sugar into thirsty cells leaving little to no room for Vitamin C. Without the phagocytizing effects of Vitamn C on cellular structures they are unable to fend off the attacks of viruses and bacteria. Now having lower white blood cell counts, our immune system  isn`t strong enough to protect the body.

Sugar by absorption, steals vital micro-nutrients to help it metabolize in our system. With this deficit being created, our micro-nutrients are not being replaced, causing our fat cells and cholesterol to not be metabolized, thus leading to high blood pressure and obesity.

The ability of sugar to raise insulin levels artificially eventually leaves the pancreas dysfunctional and the body dependent on sugar. This is commonly referred to as diabetes.

Simple sugars have also been attributed to gallstones, mood disorders, heart disease and even asthma. With all of the negative effects that sugars have been clinically linked to, is it any wonder that sugar is also one of the most acidic things you can put into your body.

Cancer is the most dangerous result of heavy sugar dependence.  The  relationship between sugars and unhealthy acidic levels in the bloodstream is clearly drawn through the connection of glucose (sugar) and cancerous cells.

 Simple sugars are quite simply a poison to the body that will eventually deteriorate the quality of cellular development and suppress the immune system to the point of failure.

By balancing the diet,  you can decrease the risk of disease in the body.  Look carefully at  the  ingredient labels and be aware of the many names that simple sugars hide behind.