Even a few years ago the position of ‘epidemic’ was hold either by cancer or drugs. Not any more. Thanks to the fast and unheeded lifestyle lived by most American teenagers, teenage obesity has almost become one of America’s leading epidemics, and this is not an exaggeration.

Believe it or not, it didn’t become an epidemic in one day or year. During the last five decades Americans have become somewhat lazier and started preferring easy and comfortable lifestyle to hard work. American adults were probably the first to fall prey to obesity, followed by children and teenagers. Today American teenagers ape the unhealthy lifestyle habits of their parents, and teenage obesity is the natural outcome of it.

If you are a red-blooded American citizen you would probably voice a loud “NO” against obesity. After all, if a large percentage of a country’s population suffers from the pangs of killer obesity, what would be the future of such a country. It is no secret that people can keep their native country healthy only when they are fit and healthy themselves, and the secret to living a long and healthy life lies in losing the extra pounds.

Apart from the fact that obesity is itself a disease, it also brings forth several other killer diseases into the human body such as diabetes, hypertension, fatigue, irritability, high blood pressure, heart-related problems, stroke, etc., and even though instances of obesity-related deaths are rare, they DO occur nonetheless.

As for remedy, there is really nothing unique and new to be said here. Since it all started with following an easy and fast lifestyle, people need to revert the process by copying the healthy habits followed by their forefathers. In good old times, teenagers used to play outdoor sports such as volleyball, tennis, basketball, etc. Some of them even used to indulge in hula hooping, rope jumping, skiing, scuba diving, etc. Today’s teens prefer to sit at home and watch television or play video games. Is it then any wonder if they become overweight in due course of time?

Coming over to foods – chips, popcorn balls, candies and chocolates are as much favored by a teen as a pre-teen. In fact even adults take a fancy to these delicious foods. When teens see their parents enjoying a packet of popcorn while watching a Hollywood movie, they get even more encouraged to follow the same routine. Add to that the fact that today’s teens attend dozens of parties just like their parents and you cannot expect a party without beer or soda.

Junk foods have entrapped us so much that we have almost made them an integral part of our staple diet by eating them all the time, be it at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Once again the outcome of following such unhealthy eating habits couldn’t be anything else except obesity.

It is difficult to modify a teenager’s eating habits unless you take recourse to coercion in some form or other, which in turn would do more harm than good. The best way to tackle the situation is by monitoring your kid’s lifestyle habits right from the start.

From a very young age, they should be taught the benefits of playing tennis over watching videos games or PSPs. They should also be taught that chips and cookies are not their friends and that they should eat organic fruits and vegetables as often as possible. These simple measures would go a long way in keeping them fit and healthy throughout their whole life.

Don’t forget that you should also follow the same healthy lifestyle you expect your children to follow.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: America, basketball, cancer, diabetes, fatigue, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, outdoor sports, scuba diving, skiing, stroke, Tennis, volleyball

If you’ve ever been treated for severe pain from surgery, an injury, or an illness, you know just how vital pain relief medications can be.

Pain relief treatments come in many forms and potencies, are available by prescription or over-the-counter (OTC), and treat all sorts of physical pain— including that brought on by chronic conditions, sudden trauma, and cancer.

Pain relief medicines (also known as “analgesics” and “painkillers”) are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some analgesics, including opioid analgesics, act on the body’s peripheral and central nervous systems to block or decrease sensitivity to pain. Others act by inhibiting the formation of certain chemicals in the body.

Among the factors health care professionals consider in recommending or prescribing them are the cause and severity of the pain.

TYPES OF PAIN RELIEVERS

OTC Medications
These relieve the minor aches and pains associated with conditions such as headaches, fever, colds, flu, arthritis, toothaches, and menstrual cramps.

There are basically two types of OTC pain relievers: acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Acetaminophen is an active ingredient found in more than 600 OTC and prescription medicines, including pain relievers, cough suppressants, and cold medications.

NSAIDs are common medications used to relieve fever and minor aches and pains. They include aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen, as well as many medicines taken for colds, sinus pressure, and allergies. They act by inhibiting an enzyme that helps make a specific chemical.

Prescription Medications
Typical prescription pain relief medicines include opioids and non-opioid medications.

Derived from opium, opioid drugs are very powerful products. They act by attaching to a specific “receptor” in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. Opioids can change the way a person experiences pain.

Types of prescription opioid medications include

• morphine, which is often used before and after surgical procedures to alleviate severe pain
• oxycodone, which is also often prescribed for moderate to severe pain
• codeine, which comes in combination with acetaminophen or other non-opioid pain relief medications and is often prescribed for mild to moderate pain
• hydrocodone, which comes in combination with acetaminophen or other non-opioid pain relief medications and is prescribed for moderate to moderately severe pain

FDA has recently notified makers of certain opioid drugs that these products will need to have a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh the risks.

Affected opioid drugs, which include brand name and generic products, are formulated with the active ingredients fentanyl, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, and oxymorphone.

FDA has authority to require a REMS under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007.

Types of non-opioid prescription medications include ibuprofen and diclofenac, which treat mild to moderate pain.

USE PAIN RELIEVERS AS DIRECTED

Pain medications are safe and effective when used as directed. However, misuse of these products can be extremely harmful and even deadly.

Consumers who take pain relief medications must follow their health care professional’s instructions carefully. If a measuring tool is provided with your medicine, use it as directed.

Do not change the dose of your pain relief medication without talking to your doctor first.

Also, pain medications should never be shared with anyone else. Only your health care professional can decide if a prescription pain medication is safe for someone.

Here are other key points to remember.

With acetaminophen:

• Taking a higher dose than recommended will not provide more relief and can be dangerous.
• Too much can lead to liver damage and death. Risk for liver damage may be increased in people who drink three or more alcoholic beverages a day while using acetaminophen-containing medicines.
• Be cautious when giving acetaminophen to children. Infant drop medications can be significantly stronger than regular children’s medications. Read and follow the directions on the label every time you use a medicine. Be sure that your infant is getting the infants’ pain formula and your older child is getting the children’s pain formula.

With NSAIDs:

• Too much can cause stomach bleeding. This risk increases in people who are over 60 years of age, are taking prescription blood thinners, are taking steroids, have a history of stomach bleeding or ulcers, and/or have other bleeding problems.
• Use of NSAIDs can also cause reversible kidney damage. This risk may increase in people who are over 60 years of age, are taking a diuretic (a drug that increases the excretion of urine), have high blood pressure, heart disease, or pre-existing kidney disease.

With opioids:

• Use of opioids can lead to drowsiness. Do not drive or use any machinery that may injure you, especially when you first start the medication.
• The dose of an opioid pain medication that is safe for you could be high enough to cause an overdose and death in someone else, especially children.

KNOW THE ACTIVE INGREDIENTS

A specific area of concern with OTC pain medicines is when products sold for different uses have the same active ingredient. A cold and cough remedy may have the same active ingredient as a headache remedy or a prescription pain reliever.

To minimize the risks of an accidental overdose, consumers should avoid taking multiple medications with the same active ingredient at the same time.

All OTC medicines must have all of their active ingredients listed on the package. For prescription drugs, the active ingredients are listed on the container label.

Talk with your pharmacist or another health care professional if you have questions about using OTC medicines, and especially before using them in combination with dietary supplements or other OTC or prescription medicines.

MISUSE AND ABUSE
Misuse and abuse of pain medications can be extremely dangerous. This is especially so in regard to opioids. These medications should be stored in a place where they cannot be stolen.

According to the National Institutes of Health, studies have shown that properly managed medical use of opioid analgesic compounds (taken exactly as prescribed) is safe, can manage pain effectively, and rarely causes addiction.

But the abuse of opioids is a significant public safety concern. Abusers ingest these drugs orally, and also crush the pills in order to snort or inject them.

Commonly abused opioid pain medicines include prescription drugs such as codeine, and the brand-name products Oxycontin (oxycodone), Vicodin (hydrocodone with acetaminophen), and Demerol (meperidine).

Addiction is just one serious danger of opioid abuse. A number of overdose deaths have resulted from snorting and injecting opioids, particularly the drug OxyContin, which was designed to be a slow-release formulation.

USE OPIOIDS SAFELY:  3 KEY STEPS

1. Keep your doctor informed. Inform your health care professional about any past history of substance abuse. All patients treated with opioids for pain require careful monitoring by their health care professional for signs of abuse and addiction, and to determine when these analgesics are no longer needed.
2. Follow directions carefully. Opioids are associated with significant side effects, including drowsiness, constipation, and depressed breathing depending on the amount taken. Taking too much could cause severe respiratory depression or death. Do not crush or break pills. This can alter the rate at which the medication is absorbed and lead to overdose and death.
3. Reduce the risk of drug interactions. Don’t mix opioids with alcohol, antihistamines, barbiturates, or benzodiazepines. All of these substances slow breathing and their combined effects could lead to life-threatening respiratory depression.

This article appears on FDA’s Consumer Health Information Web page (www.fda.gov/consumer), which features the latest updates on FDA-regulated products. Sign up for free e-mail subscriptions at www.fda.gov/consumer/consumerenews.html.

Tags: acetaminophen, aches, allergies, arthritis, brand-name products, cancer, chemical, chemicals, constipation, cough, cramps, dietary supplements, drowsiness, fever, food and drug administration, generic products, headache, headaches, heart disease, high blood pressure, ibuprofen, kidney disease, machinery, OTC, OxyContin, pain, pains, peripheral and central nervous systems, pharmacist, respiratory depression, surgery, toothaches, www.fda.gov/consumer, www.fda.gov/consumer/consumerenews.html

High blood pressure remedies can be useful for people suffering from this dangerous condition. High blood pressure or hypertension is usually diagnosed when the blood pressure is consistently 140/90 or more (including being over one of those measurements but not the other).

Normal pressure is defined as between 90/60 and 120/80. Between 120/80 and 140/90 there is a gray area where you have a slightly increased risk of the complications associated with hypertension (including stroke, heart attack and kidney failure) but not so much that hypertension would be diagnosed. If you are in this band you should have your blood pressure checked regularly and take steps to lower it.

There are many things that you can do to help control your high blood pressure. The best is to combine them all.

Reduce Weight

There is a strong link between obesity and hypertension. If you are overweight your doctor will already have suggested that you try to lose some weight. However, it is best to lose weight slowly and you probably want to deal with your hypertension fast. So it is good news that there are other high blood pressure remedies that you can try too.

Reduce Stress

Stress is well known to lead to high blood pressure. There are many stress busting techniques that you can learn but one of the best for lowering the blood pressure consistently is meditation. A few minutes of deeply relaxing meditation morning and evening can have a big effect on your stress levels throughout the day.

You can learn meditation with a local class or on your own from a CD. Most Buddhist groups teach meditation but it is not only a Buddhist practice. Many yoga teachers include meditation in their classes or you may find relaxation classes which will be based around meditation.

Avoid Salt

Salt can cause or contribute to high blood pressure when the levels of salt in the diet are too high for the kidneys to process quickly. How much difference salt makes to blood pressure depends on the individual and how efficiently their kidneys deal with salt. Some people are salt sensitive and even a diet that is moderate in salt will contribute to hypertension. But most of us eat high levels of salt and a reduction will help almost anybody who has high blood pressure.

This does not necessarily mean you have to stop using salt completely. A pinch of salt in a pan of vegetables will not give you much sodium. However, you should not add salt at the table or eat foods that are high in salt – including most packaged foods.

So throw out the TV dinners and start cooking from fresh. A diet based around fresh vegetables, fruits and grains with some beans and low fat dairy products will be best for your hypertension. Check the sodium content on any frozen, canned or packaged foods. Cut down on meat, fats and sugar as well as salt.

If your diet has not included many fruits and vegetables until now, it may also help to increase your potassium consumption to balance out some of the sodium. High potassium foods include bananas, cantaloupe, spinach and yogurt.

Other Substances To Avoid

Alcohol can make hypertension worse. Subject to what your doctor says about your individual condition, you can probably have the occasional alcoholic drink but you should avoid drinking a lot at one time or drinking regularly. Some people find it easier to quit completely.

Liquorice raises the blood pressure so you should always avoid liquorice if you suffer from hypertension. This may sound easy but liquorice can be found as an ingredient where you might not expect it. It is often used in medications, e.g. for coughs, sore throats and peptic ulcers, so always check labels.

You should also avoid non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Motrin and Ibuprofen.

Consult with your doctor to have your blood pressure checked and ask about high blood pressure remedies for your individual case.

Tags: anti inflammatory, coughs, fat dairy products, heart attack, high blood pressure, hypertension, kidney failure, meditation, obesity, peptic ulcers, relaxation, sore throats, stroke

There are many people out there who are somewhat addicted to salt, just as others love sugar. These people would insist on eating only salty foods all the time. If you think that salt is better than sugar because it doesn’t cause weight gain, you are plain wrong.

I would suggest that you not only decrease your own salt intake but also that of your kids. It would help in more than one way. In this article I will tell you how harmful salt can be for your health as well as that of your kids’.

a) Salt causes weight gain and stomach bloating: Ever wondered why so many people fail to lose real fat with the help of fad diets, even though their manufactures make tall promises? These fad diets are unable to help you burn fat, and the weight you lose with their help is nothing but water weight.

Now guess what caused this water weight in the first place? Some of it is caused by water (which is okay since it is a temporary situation), but the rest is caused by salt. Salt increases your body weight by making it bloated. Consequently you would often suffer from IBS and acidity. If you simply reduce your intake of sodium, I believe it would be easier for you to maintain a healthy digestive system.

b) Too much of salt intake can also cause heart attack and high blood pressure. You know how harmful these diseases could be for your kids, don’t you?

So by how much should you reduce your kids’ salt intake?

You shouldn’t necessarily follow the government’s recommendations; not only do they vary from country to country, they are also prepared in a way that it doesn’t make a negative impact on the country’s economy. For example, the UK government recommends a maximum daily intake of 1.6 gram of salt for an adult, whereas in US it is much higher: 2.4 grams.

While there is no recommendation for daily salt intake limit of kids, I think it is very important for them to form the habit of avoiding salty foods; if they get accustomed to excessive salt intake right from their childhood, they would find it difficult to kick off this habit later in life. I think you are better off doing your own maths. Basically, you should try to restrict your kids’ salt intake to as low level as possible.

So how would you know which foods are high on salt?

1. Well, if you buy packaged foods, you would notice that almost all food packages come with decent information about the food ingredients; this is where you would find stats about the sodium content of those foods.

2. You should also keep the salt jar away from your reach as well as that of your kids. It is equally tempting for you and your kids to add several pints of salt in the food dishes when the salt jar is right on the dinner table. However, if you keep it at a safe distance, you or your kids would be less motivated to use it.

3. Very often we habitually pour extra salt not only on our plates but also those of our kids. As an adult, it is your responsibility to get rid of this habit. Once you get rid of your ’salt’ addiction, your kids would too.

4. Reduce the amount of salt you use when cooking foods at home; try to make up for the deficit with other spices.

5. Try to avoid eating at fast food restaurants. This applies both to you and your kids. Apart from being high on oil and other spices, fast foods often tend to be rich in salt as well.

Tags: food, food ingredients, food packages, food restaurants, heart attack, high blood pressure, oil, UK government, United Kingdom, United States

Weight loss is a billion dollar industry. And why not? After all, everyone, including you, are crazy about weight loss. There are several reasons why more and more people are trying to lose weight!

1. The first and foremost reason is of course that of looking good. If you don’t look healthy and fit, the society won’t respect you: that is the cold, hard truth! And the only way to get healthy is by losing those extra pounds. The magazine covers these days are cluttered with photos of sexy models, which is making people across the world all the more motivated to fight obesity

2. Another reason behind the sudden craze of weight loss is that more and more people are becoming aware of the various maladies that can affect an obese person. Obesity is not only the root cause behind physiological conditions such as heart disease, stroke, inactive thyroid, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, but also psychological problems such as depression, fatigue, loss of energy, trauma and hypertension. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: depression, diabetes, energy, fatigue, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, stroke, USD

High blood pressure, alias hypertension, is a leading killer. It has no respect for sex, occupation, social status or religion. Cardiovascular diseases account for approximately 50 percent of deaths in this country. Not only is hypertension one of the leading cardiovascular illnesses, but it is an ancillary hazard of many other illnesses.

People suffering from obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and a long list of other illnesses are susceptible to high blood pressure—and to its complications.

High blood pressure can be helped by fitness

Although no precise blood pressure reading demarcates normal from high, North American adults at rest may be in for trouble if their blood pressure is consistently higher than 140/90. Not so with “low blood pressure.” In fact, statistically speaking, persons with “low blood pressure” have a greater life expectancy. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: arteries, arteriosclerosis, athlete, blood pressure readings, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertension, kidney disease, low blood pressure, obesity, physician, terminal disease

The gastric bypass surgery is one of the most well known ways of achieving quick weight loss. It is a balm for those who have tried every other avenue in order to lose weight and failed miserably. It is a hope for those who are frustrated with their weight loss attempts as well as the excessive hype that is prevalent in the weight loss industry.

Many doctors claim that gastric bypass surgery is totally safe because it has been widely tested for a long time before it was made available to the public. Even then, people are concerned about two things:

1. Whether it is safe and effective for everybody

2. Whether it comes with any post-surgery side effect that is so common with any type of surgery! Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: diabetes, food intake, Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, high blood pressure, hypertension, killer disease, obesity, pain, quick weight loss, stroke, surgery, weight loss surgeries, weight loss surgery

Many of us who are slim and trim blandly assume that we don’t have to concern werself about eating fat. We eat ice cream, chocolate candy, and drink whole milk to wer heart’s content. we don’t add inches to our waistline, so we naturally figure that, as far as we are concerned, calories don’t count.

The extra calories may not turn into a double chin—but the hard fats, which in many cases supply those extra calories, can still make plaques. wer cholesterol chemistry is not one bit different from that of wer overweight friends. Therefore, because it is entirely a matter of number, the great majority of coronary attacks hit among slim, or normal-weight people.

How Prevalent is Obesity

As this is being written, the population of the United States is estimated at 300 million. Surveys indicate that 90 million Americans are definitely overweight, 10 million are underweight, and 200 million can be considered as “just about right.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: atherosclerosis, coronary disease, excessive eating, fats, high blood pressure, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, overweight men, per capita food consumption, United States

Weight loss means different things to different people. For some, it is just a matter of popping a few diet pills, starving for weekends, and losing all the extra weight. For others, it is a matter of complete lifestyle change. If you ask me, I would go for the latter option. If you are wondering why, this article is just the right thing for you.

You see, if you have ever used fad diets and diet pills for weight loss, you would agree with me on one thing: weight loss achieved solely with their help is anything but permanent. You stop the intake of diet pills, you stop dieting, and the weight comes back.

Weight loss needs permanent solutions

This is not what I would call ‘weight loss’. For me, weight loss is all about losing weight permanently, so that the ‘lost’ weight never comes back again. As a matter of fact, permanent weight loss cannot be achieved with diet pills or fad diets; it can only be achieved by making a major change to your existing lifestyle, the change from unhealthy to healthy lifestyle.

No matter what other weight loss experts tell you, the fact remains that if you supply enough nutrition to your body regularly, it would always be fit and healthy, keeping you free not only from weight gain but also other harmful diseases.

Foods need to energize you

The foods you are currently consuming are anything but nutritious. Sure, they fill up your belly quickly but all they provide your body is empty calories that don’t provide the necessary nutrition; to make matters worse for you, these empty calories get deposited in your body as fat and make you obese.

Basically, if you follow the laws of nature, it would be impossible for you to gain weight, ever. This means that you should eat natural foods instead of processed junk, use your hands instead of machines to perform most of your routine tasks, don’t be a couch potato or a slave to your computer, don’t eat before bedtime, and get to bed as well as get up at right times.

Are you doing all these now? If your answer is “no”, then obesity is the natural outcome of your lifestyle habits because you are basically violating nature’s laws.

Obesity and Health issues if you do not change now

Forget about obesity, if you continue with your present lifestyle, you would soon find yourself burdened with more harmful diseases such as coronary diseases, kidney problems, hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even premature death.

The choice is now yours: do you want to lead a healthy and long life by obeying nature, or lead an unhealthy lifestyle and die an early death?

Tags: coronary diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity

A teenage life is not an easy one to lead, as I can tell from my experience. If you are a normal teenager, you have the stress of studies, peer pressure, and all that. You have to keep up with the latest gadgets and gizmos, excel at studies, and bear the rules and restrictions of your parents as if you are still a baby. And if you are an overweight teenager, then all hell breaks loose.

People not only laugh and joke about your fat belly behind your back, but also insult and taunt you openly. This in turn lowers your self-esteem and makes you depressed. If you are a teenager suffering from weight gain problems, this article is for you.

Who to blame for child obesity

So far as your obesity issue is concerned, the blame has to be shared equally by you and your parents. Your parents are probably too busy to cook healthy meals for you, and even if they are not busy, they don’t like to cook. Left without choice, you have to eat junk foods from outside. In this case the onus for your obesity lies with your parents, because they failed to offer you with healthy food choices.

But on top of that, if you also eat junk foods when you don’t need to, for example, at a friend’s party, or with your classmates at a school canteen, etc., then you are equally to blame for your present predicament. This additional junk food intake (over and above your regular junk food consumption) makes matters worse for you. Just in case you don’t know, junk foods are one of the primary causes of obesity.

Junk food and teen obesity

Another thing to note is that some of the effects of your junk food consumption would have worn off if you had taken the time to workout a little instead of being a couch potato or a slave to computers and video games. Unhealthy food habits, coupled with sedentary lifestyle, became your undoing. Here again you have no one but yourself to blame.

So now that you have gained weight, you need to lose it anyhow. Consider the following options:

Visit a doctor to make sure that you are really overweight. If you are overweight, then ask about your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), for it would determine how much you need to workout and by what percentage should you reduce your food intake on a daily basis.

Try to convince your parents to start cooking healthy meals. Tell them how bad obesity is, how it can burden a person with diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary diseases, etc. If you fail to convince them, then learn to cook yourself. Once you start eating healthy meals, half of your extra weight would be gone even before you know it.

Did I tell you that you need to bid goodbye to your junk food buddies.

Stop being a couch potato. Get rid of your addiction to PSPs, TVs and PCs. Instead, do some exercises everyday; it can be in the form of walking, running, jogging, or working out in the gym, whatever you feel most comfortable with.

Just pick up a suitable exercise for yourself and DO it daily. If you lead an active lifestyle, the other half of your ‘extra weight’ would be gone too and you would become the slim and sexy teen you used to be.

Tags: coronary diseases, diabetes, food intake, healthy food choices, high blood pressure, junk food, junk food buddies, junk food consumption, junk food intake, obesity, regular junk food consumption, unhealthy food habits