Archive for the ‘Obesity’ Category

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This is the second of a three-article series that will cover stress in detail.  In the first article, I covered the sources and symptoms of stress.  In this article, we will cover the physiology of stress and look at why bad stress makes us sick.  In the last article, I’ll review some simple stress reduction techniques.

All of us have most likely heard about the fight or flight response.  In the face of danger, or a perceived negative stress (let’s use the classic example of a saber-toothed tiger), the chemistry changes in your body so that you can do one of two things: fight the tiger or run like stink to get away from it.  The goal of either option is the same: to survive the experience so that you can pass off your genes to your offspring.

In response to a stress (real or imagined) your nervous system reacts first.  Your brain sends a signal to a gland (like a hormone factory) called the hypothalamus.  This hormone factory sends chemical signals to different parts of your body such as the adrenal glands.  The nerve cells in the inside of the adrenal glands produce and release adrenaline and we see an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension and metabolism.  The blood flows from your digestive organs to the major muscles in your body.  Your pupils get bigger so your vision becomes sharper.  Your hearing and concentration actually improve.  The hormone system reacts after the nervous system.  Eventually, the outer part of the adrenal glands secrete cortisol.

Cortisol has many important jobs in your body during acute stress:

  • Increases blood sugar levels in the body, providing the energy to fight or flee;
  • Acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory agent;
  • Increases blood pressure;
  • Follows a daily pattern with the highest level secreted at around 8:00 am (to help us wake up), after which there is a gradual decline throughout the day. Levels are lowest between midnight and 4:00 am (to help us sleep).

The physiology of stress prepares us to battle or bolt. Once we have evaded (or killed) the tiger, our system ideally returns to normal.  In modern society our saber-tooth tigers come to us in many forms as discussed in the first article of this series.  Often, our modern tigers don’t even require a flight or fight, but our body still reacts this way.  Many social norms (manners, customs, insecurities) prevent us from actually facing the stress or running away from it.  Also, our tigers are more chronic in nature.

We find the following stress patterns in our western world today:

  1. Our fight or flight response is often active even though there is no actual threat to our safety.
  2. We are faced with chronic stress.
  3. Social Courtesies prevent us from engaging in combat or cutting out.
  4. The stress response remains unchecked and builds up.
  5. The stress response build-up leads to the production and release of constant, unopposed cortisol.
  6. We become sick from the stress cycle.

The less desirable effects of cortisol on the body in the face of chronic distress include:

  • A suppressed immune system leading to a decrease in our resistance to infections, cancer, and illness;
  • An increase in blood pressure which can lead to stroke, aneurysm or heart attack;
  • A decrease in bone mass (in an attempt to supply the blood with ample amounts of nutrients);
  • A depletion of natural pain killers (endorphins) which can aggravate pain anywhere in the body;
  • A decrease in both male and female sex hormones leading to decreased libido, impotence, absent periods and infertility;
  • Inhibiting the function of the digestive system (which works best when we’re relaxed) leading to diarrhea, constipation, bloating, abdominal pain or other related concerns;
  • A decrease in insulin sensitivity leading to or aggravating diabetes;
  • An increase in liver production of cholesterol which gets deposited in the blood vessels leading to heart disease;
  • A thickening of the blood which can worsen your risk for cardiovascular disease;
  • An affect on the functioning of the thyroid gland and thyroid hormone which can cause changes to your metabolism.

As you can see stress is a big player in our state of health.  Since stress is unavoidable, what can you do about this?  You can change how you cope with stress and improve your body’s capability to handle it.  Don’t miss the final article in this series, “Stress Reduction Techniques – Breath or Die, and I’m Dead Serious

Naturopathic medicine is a safe, effective and natural approach to you and your family’s health.  Naturopathic doctors can and will empower you to live a healthy lifestyle while treating and preventing disease.  Find more information on the services I offer at Arbour Wellness Centre at Nanaimo Naturopathic Doctor.

In the world of mental health, there are so few illnesses that can be categorized as “stand alone”. All Illnesses are developed on a combination of sicknesses and finding the source problem has the ability to be challenging. Take for example Major Depression; there are many sub-levels of the sickness which include insomnia (not enough sleep) or hyposomnia (too much sleep). frequently, it isn’t easy to diagnose which illness is the chief one – is the lack of sleep inducing depression or is depression causing the lack of sleep?

Mental health disorders that occur simultaneously with some other primary disorder are named “co-morbid” disorders; “morbid” implying sick, or ill.  It is quite commonplace, for example, to diagnose a patient with Alcohol Dependence (underlying diagnosis) and a co-morbid health condition of Dysthymia, a more moderate form of chronic depression.  Both of these health conditions are handled in concert; getting better in one health condition entails getting better in the other condition. Looking at this website which Bariatric Obesity Physician which will provide you with a lot more multipurpose information.

Looking specifically at Anorexia Nervosa as a underlying condition, let us take a look at co-morbid mental health conditions oftentimes follow this eating disorder:

Major Depressive Disorder as manifested by way of depressed mood, social withdrawal, excitability, insomnia as well as neutrality in sex. 

Obsessive-Compulsive characteristics. Obsessive ideas of food are what pre-occupy an Anorexic’s mind.  An Anorexic will oftentimes compile foods that have little to no nutritional value, for example plain lettuce, celery, or saltine crackers. Anorexics are always inventorying their supplies, maintaining a close eye on the amount of items they permit themselves to consume, while compulsively watching to make sure that paltry food supply is still where they left it.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder.  With this type of disorder, the patient has an unwavering notion that his/her body is terribly atrocious despite hearing the truth about their the way you look from other people.  Anorexics are certain that their abdomen, buttocks as well as thighs are fat and unappealing, although these body parts may in reality be agonizingly skeletal in the way you look.  The full term “flat butt” that is used by mental health professionals who treat eating disorders indicate a patient’s totally flat buttocks, a sign of severe malnutrition.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Anorexics are inclined to abuse illegal stimulant drugs to avert feeling hungry and to keep up a false level of energy.  Alcohol is misused for similar reasons; anorexics that drink in excess produce alcohol gastritis, an penetrating stomach pain that keeps them from eating. 

Borderline Personality Disorder.  A personality disorder is a mental health condition that comes from from the rudimentary character, or personality, of the patient.  They reflect the patient’s perspective of the world and their place in it.  Personality disorders are unending conditions although their symptoms can be efficaciously managed.  The Borderline Personality Disorder’s primal characteristics are a life always in bedlam and turmoil, history of attempts at suicide, sporadic and spontaneous mood, lack of honest-to-goodness personal relationships, and a constant need for “drama” contained in their lives.  Anorexics with BPD make regular suicide attempts, have very erratic personal relationships, and their manic demeanor may try the patience of everybody who acknowledges them.  A blended primary disorder such as Anorexia Nervosa and a co-morbid personality disorder are called as “double trouble” among mental health professionals.

Anorexia Nervosa is an extremely intricate mental disorder. When you combine Anorexia with the tremendous mixture of co-morbid disorders, and you can see how difficult the problem can be to treat. This is why only an experienced mental health provider ought to be the one to administrate this kind of therapy. Anorexia is not for the beginner therapist by any means.

To find out more go here: Childhood Obesity also try this excellent site Psychological Effects Of Obesity

Liposuction is commonly referred to as liposculpture, suction lipectomy (“suction-assisted fat removal”) or lipoplasty (“fat modeling”) and is a form of body contouring. To put it another way fat is removed from various parts of the body to help achieve a desired shape. Liposuction has been around since the 1960′s however it is only since the 1990′s that it has become increasingly popular|so incredibly popular. Before then the procedures utilized were less successful, and the results were mixed. It was in the 1990′s that ultrasound was introduced into the liposuction technique, which made it far less difficult to remove larger amounts of fat. This was achieved by first liquefying the fat.

It’s not uniquely women who seek the help of liposuction surgeons but men also. 20 years ago this was rarely, if ever, heard of, but in today’s society men are commonly having the very same beauty procedures as women. Men often wish to have specific areas of the body sculptured, for example, male breasts, abdomen and flanks, women usually wish to treat such such parts of the body as the thighs, abdomen and hips. Whatever place one chooses to have contoured it would be wise to be mindful that all cosmetic surgery has a few risks. Sadly there are negative aspects to having liposuction, if an extremely large amount of fat is removed, the area can sometimes be lumpy, or appear to have rifts in the skin.

One important aspect of liposuction, which must not be overlooked, is that it should never be used as an alternative to diet and exercise. There are large number of contraindications to liposuction and being dangerously overweight is one of them. An aesthetic surgeon will frequently refuse to operate on anybody who is morbidly or severely obese. This is not an act of discrimination, but justa medical decision based on proven facts. People who suffer from obesity are nearly always very unfit and generally not in good health, both of which cancels out one’s eligibility for the procedure. There are also risks with anesthesia if a person is overweight. The best candidates for liposuction are those folk who are in generally good shape and healthy, and who do not smoke tobacco.

Liposuction is performed either; using general anesthesia, local anesthesia with sedation, or local anesthesia, local anesthesia. At the start of the procedure the surgeon will make very small cuts in the skin at the areas where the offending fat is to be removed. Generally the fat is removed via a cannula and aspirator (a hollow tube and a suction device) During the surgery, several points are considered that can the amount of fat that can safely be removed. The safety issues are not only relate to the amount of fat extracted, but also to the total health of the person, and the choice of anesthesia used.