Accepting, or not accepting, being Overweight

A National Consumer League survey of nearly 2000 adults has found that many Americans who are, by definition, overweight do not acknowledge this fact. Based on BMI, or body mass index, far fewer survey participants classified themselves as being overweight than would actually be the case.

According to Linda Golodner (apparently President of the National Consumer League), consumers would find it beneficial to develop a more realistic picture of their physical condition.

No doubt, this is, to some extent, true. Tackling weight loss as a personal objective can only come after first acknowleging that a problem exists. One has to wonder, in fact, how many individuals with hypertension and type II diabetes are not receiving proper diet and needed treatment due to insufficient insight into issues regarding personal health and nutrition.

Lasers for Chronic Pain - The Erchonia laser

In 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug administration approved the application of the Erchonia laser for patients suffering for Chronic Pain. According to the makers of the device, the Erchonia laser achieves it results by stimulating the body's cells to regenerate.

This is the first I've hear of the Erchonia laser. But, based on the manufacturer's statements, it seems to make sense. In recent years, links have been drawn between chronic pain and fibromyalgia and the body's failure to achieve enough delta stage sleep, a level of sleep in which the body regenerates and repairs.

According to Dr. Mitchell Prywes, this type of laser therapy is useful for chronic neck and chronic back pain and procedures can be completed in five or ten minutes, with less pain and better range of motion being the outcome within minutes of the procedure being performed.

A drug to aid frostbite treatment

According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Utah, an anticoagulant heart drug (one of the most well known blood thinners would be coumadin) may benefit frostbite victims. In testing, individuals who received the drug known as tPA, or tissue plasminogen activator, were less likely to require the amputation of toes or fingers. Apparently, this type of thrombolytic therapy is able to successfully restore circulation to frostbite-affected digits.

What is Cenegenics?

I was flipping through the money section of USA Today and noticed an ad (Have you ever noticed how many ads there are in newspapers? The publishers are sure hoping you have since that's what keeps them operating). The ad was titled "If this doctor can do it, so can you" and displayed what looked to be a doctored (no pun intended) photo. I really don't think the photo was doctored but anytime you see the head of a 67 year old man attached to the body of a 25 year old olympic swimmer, that kind of thought just naturally creeps into your head at some point.

Anyway, the ad says "GQ suggests its the path to reversing the signs and symptoms of aging". So I'm guessing Cenegenics has something to with antiaging or longevity. The ad, unfortunately, doesn't say enough for someone to discern what its really about, but it does say that the cenegenics program involves nutrition, exercise (so far, no surprises) and hormone optimization.

Hormone optimization? Ok, now I'm really curious as to what cenegenics is all about, not to mention how a 67 year old can look this way without tapping the fountain of youth. Once I find out more, I'll post about it.

A world of weight gain

According to a recent BBC News article, there are now more overweight people in the world than there are underweight people.

This is really a remarkable change from, say, the last thirty years. Typically, of course, Americans have been singled out as being among those most in need of weight loss, but, apparently, Americans no longer share this dubious honor. Residents of Egypt and Mexico are also joining the club.

Here are the actual estimated figures on how many people may be overweight versus underweight:

overweight - up to 1.6 billion individuals

underweight - as many as 800 million individuals, or, roughly, half as much.

Why the change globally? Food consumption habits that, increasingly eschew fruits and vegetables in favor of cheaper, more highly processed foods. In other words, eating fewer health foods and more, for lack of a better phrase, junk foods.

Of course, this has been the situation in the United States and other industrialized nations for quite some time. Fast food and highly refined and processed foods tend to be convenient (which appeals to people on the go). And with rising food costs, they tend to be more affordable (which appeals to a limited budget), even if the health benefit is negligible.

A Genetic Link to being Overweight

American and German scientists have found that certain genes may actually cause you to be more fidgety, and less likely to be overweight. It does sound strange, but one researcher stated that individuals who fidget are using up calories and expending energy--leading to weight loss--without even realizing it.

Of course, this is reminiscent of body-type categories. Those categories are ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph.

Mesomorphs tend to be muscular, endomorphs tend to lean (no pun intended) toward being chubbier, and ectomorophs tend to be simply "lean". Ecotmorophs have also been described as being individuals with faster metabolisms and more heightened levels of ongoing activity. In other words, more fidgety.

A drink for Erections?

According to the article linked below, a man has sued the maker of the health nutrition drink, Boost Plus.

Why? Christopher Woods of New York claims that the following morning, after drinking Boost Plus, he suffered a priapism, an erection that would not go away. As a result of this, Mr. Woods was forced to go to a hospital where he underwent a type of surgical intervention that may affect his ability to achieve erection later.

To date, there does not seem to be any evidence that Boost Plus may have this effect and it is possible that the priapism suffered by Mr. Woods is simply coincidental to having consumed Boost Plus the night before

Boost Plus for erections?

Boost Plus for Calories and Protein during Treatment or an Ilness

I'd never heard of the drink called Boost Plus. According to the Novartis site that has a profile of it, this nutrition supplement product is aimed at individuals who are suffering an illness or are undergoing fairly serious treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or even treatment for HIV.

Boost Plus comes in a bottle, sized to an eight ounce serving. This is a fairly small container if you consider the fact that a soda can holds twelve ounces. However, despite this, Boost Plus contains 360 calories and 14 grams of protein. For weight gain, or to hold one's weight in check during a time when an illness might result in weight loss, this is fairly significant.

According to the Novartis site, Boost Plus also contains the mineral selenium, a well known antioxidant and a fair amount of calcium, which more and more is being found by medical researchers to be an absolute necessity in one's daily diet.