Tag: food

Eating Disorders in Adolescents

Since the adolescence is the age where bones are sprout and grow rapidly, well nourished food must be given to the adolescent to facilitate normal growth & development. The nutritional intake must be monitored regularly and modified depending upon the growing needs. Teenagers tend to develop eating disorders which affect their nutritional health. The eating behavior must be corrected as early as possible as it can lead to the development of complex illnesses. Eating disorder is the third common chronic illness, especially in adolescent females and the number has been increasing rapidly from the past thirty years.

There are two subcategories of eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is the restrictive form, where the intake of food is limited severely. In bulimia nervosa is the eating disorder where the adolescent binges on food and then tries to minimize the effects by forcibly vomiting, fasting, and catharsis or over exercising. When handling adolescence eating disorders, they must be handled differently from adult eating disorders. Adolescents face problems such as growth retardation, suppressed height, abnormal weight, pubertal delay, menstrual periods absence, and menses unpredictability. When the adolescent is growing there will be critical tissue components loss like loss of body fat, muscle mass and bone mineral.

Nutritional imbalance is also caused which reflect abnormalities in the levels of vitamins, mineral and other trace elements. The problem is that these abnormalities cannot be recognized clinically. But since protein and calories are essential to the growth of the adolescent, it is important to trace their abnormalities. Because of the problems, healthy adulthood is not a possible thing. Because of all these reasons, it is important to diagnose adolescence eating disorders as early as possible. Eating disorders give rise to peak bone mass impaired acquisition in case of adolescents. When they turn into adults, this problem aggravates to osteoporosis. Even internal organs get affected due to eating disorders. All this can be prevented by early intervention so as to limit, prevent and ameliorate medical complications, which can turn become life threatening.

Adolescents who practice unhealthy weight control practices and are obsessive about figure, weight, food or exercise should be treated clinically. Not only should the symptoms be checked, but their duration, intensity and frequency should also be checked. Although most of the physical complications caused due to eating disorders get solved with the help of nutritional rehabilitation some of the conditions become irreversible and the long term consequences of this are very dangerous. It is best if the eating disorders are recognized in the early stages as it wont result in irreparable damage. The medical monitoring should be pursued till the adolescent returns back to appropriate psychological and medical health.

Eating disorders not only result in physical abnormalities, but also psychological abnormalities. Adolescents with eating disorders take onto social isolation, low self esteem, affective disorders, low self concept, substance abuse, anxiety, and depression. Usually adolescents switch to unhealthy eating habits because of depression and lack of knowledge about affective techniques to lose weight. So the patients who are being treated for eating disorders must also be treated for psychiatric illness, if they have any. Even if the habits doesnt fit the strict criteria, adolescents who limit food intake, binge, vomit or purge accompanied with or without harsh weight loss, should be monitored because of the involvement of risk of even death. Early treatment will have an improved outcome. But the level of intervention in adolescents should be less when compared to adults.

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Teeth Whitening: Do it the Professional Way

There is a popular saying that goes like, Smile and the world smiles with you. There is no doubt that a beautiful smile radiates infectiously to others. Let us put an emphasis on the word beautiful. How does one possess a beautiful smile? Of course you have to agree that heredity cannot be singled out. Lifestyle and attitude also play part in the maintenance or even having a sweet smile.

But what if you can not incorporate a do-it-yourself way to your busy lifestyle so as to have a smile makeover transform your simple smile into a rather healthy and infectious one? In this case, a professional treatment by a dentist might be the best remedy.

The following article provides an appraisal of a professional teeth whitening system usually provided and conducted by dentists.

Professional teeth whitening is a technique by which whitening compounds that are peroxide based are applied to teeth by dentists within their dental office. Laser teeth whitening is the common practice of dentist to whiten teeth stained by nicotine, food, or even liquids.

Peroxide-based whitening compounds usually depend on two factors:

1.The concentration of peroxide in a whitening compound
2.The amount of time a whitener is put in contact in the surface of the teeth

Laser teeth whitening utilize a higher concentration of whitener for a shorter period of time, say for hours or for few appointments.

The whitening compounds and associated equipment (bleaching light or laser) used by dentists are normally purchased from a manufacturer as a franchise, system, or simply as a kit. In fact, many manufacturers have provided national campaigns about their whitening products and equipment, and dentists play a vital part in the promotion of a manufacturers product because they are actually using the product to their patients.

Below is a list of some professional whitening products dentists and professionals choose. (The kind of bleaching laser or light is enclosed in parentheses.)

1.BriteSmile (gas plasma light/light emitting diode)
2.LaserSmile (a Biolase laser)
3.LumaArch (halogen light)
4.Rembrandt Sapphire (plasma arc light)
5.Zoom! (metal halide light)

Each of these whitening systems has its own degree of effectiveness. However, we can summarize three standard steps when using these types of products.

1.The dentist will compare the tooth shade of the patient with a tooth shade guide.
Surface stain and tartar are removed before determining the tooth shade. A dentist needs to document a pre-treatment and a post-treatment tooth shade to assess the effectiveness of the whitening treatment system applied. A dentist may make use of variously shaded tooth-shaped porcelain tabs and compare them to a patients set of teeth and each match is documented. Some dentists even take pictures of a patients teeth before and after the treatment.

Flour of pumice is used to polish each tooth to ensure that stains are completely removed.

2.The dentist will isolate teeth being whitened.

Bleaching agents, normally peroxide-based, can irritate or even damage delicate tissues within and inside mouth of patients. To protect these tissues, dentist use dental dam barriers.

Thin sheet of latex punched with a hole for each tooth and dental gels painted around each tooth are used to protect teeth being treated. When the latter is used, a cheek retractor, cotton rolls and gauze are used to make sure that the patients lips and cheeks are held out of the way. Afterwards, these items are simply peeled off.

3.Bib covering and eye protection are placed on the patient.

Unexpected things can happen. Bibs are worn by patients to protect their skin against the caustic nature of these bleaching agents.

Eye protection is also placed to ensure that whiteners will not irritate even the eyes of the patients. Moreover, it is a common knowledge that an intense bleaching light or a laser used to activate the components of bleaching compounds could cause eye damage.

What else can I do if I have undergone professional whitening?

To get rid off typical stainsthe coffee and cigarette varietycan be washed away alternately with professional whitening systems. Here are some additional tips:

Munch some apple and drink water afterwards.

Brush after every meal to have a less chance of keeping stains on your teeth. Brush gently but effectively by using a dentist-approved toothpaste and toothbrush. Practice the correct ways of brushing.

Researches on dentistry note that an electric toothbrush removes a plaque percentage that is about 98.2 percent.

Gargle with a mouthwash that has an antibacterial action. This practice will surely will reduce stain-catching plaque.

Dont depend on quick-fix remedies like using super-whitening tooth polishes because these also make the enamel of teeth thinner. And as enamel gets thinner, more of the dentin will show off making your teeth appear as heavily stained.

To put it simply, here are some reasons why or why not choose professional whitening systems.

1.The effect can be seen even instantly.

2.The whitening can be completed in just a few appointments (possibly even just one).

3.Professional teeth whitening remedies cost more than do-it-yourself teeth whitening items.

Hope this article brightens up your smile!

Bad Habits Related to Health

Bad habits can often damage your health. They can make you feel unwell. They can have long-term affects on your physical condition. If you want to live a long life and healthy life, there may be some bad habits you need to overcome.

Many of the bad habits that make you feel poorly are related to eating. A growing number of people in the US are obese. This is mainly due to the fact that they have developed the bad habit of overeating.

This can lead to numerous conditions and diseases. Heart disease, diabetes, bone and joint distress, and many other physical conditions can result. Even some forms of cancer occur more often in obese people. What is more, very obese people are often bedridden and cannot care for themselves.

Some people do not have the habit of overeating in general. They just eat the wrong things when they do eat. They may eat fast food at every meal. This can literally make you sick. The high quantities of fats, sugars, and starches in fast foods make them very unhealthy.

Other foods can be bad habits to eat as well. Other fried foods cause health problems. Foods that are low in fiber lack a substance the body needs to function well. It is a bad habit to avoid this. Foods high in sugar are bad habits, if not addictions. They affect the metabolism in drastic ways, causing an imbalance in energy and insulin.

People have trouble knowing what kinds of electrolytes they need. Some people have bad habits when it comes to salt. They will salt all the food on their plate as soon as they sit down. They will not taste any of it first. Too much salt can lead to hypertension.

Even if you eat right, you will be weak if you do not exercise. Living a sedentary lifestyle is a bad habit. You may not have much choice about how much movement is allowed at your job. That does not mean that you cannot get out and get your heart beating before or after work.

In fact, if you do not have time to exercise outside of work, you probably have another bad habit in the health area. Overworking is a cause for several illnesses. High blood pressure, heart disease, and others can plague you if you do not stop and take time to relax at home.

A discussion of bad health habits would not be complete without reference to smoking, drinking, and drugs. Each of these has dire health risks that are known by most people. If you smoke, you might get lung cancer. You might also get COPD, another breathing disorder. If you drink, you might have liver failure. Drugs can do all kinds of damage, including damage to your brain.

Others care about your health, as you should care, too. It may be difficult, but kicking your bad habits and making yourself healthy again is a worthy goal to aspire to. Why not start today?

Avoiding Bad Habits

Would it not be nice if you could avoid bad habits instead of having to quit them after starting? No one will avoid all bad habits. There are just too many to stay away from them all. Yet, you can reduce the number of bad habits you have to conquer.

There are certain bad habits that you can avoid altogether. Your body has no need for nicotine or tar from cigarettes. So, if you do not take that first cigarette, you will never have to face the daunting task of giving them up. It is well worth any social discomfort you might feel to dodge that bullet.

Other bad habits are a matter of degree. Your body needs food. Many people realize that they will gain a lot of weight if they do not take action. However, you cannot just stop eating altogether. You could for awhile, but that would not be healthy either. Instead you must find a way to limit yourself.

To avoid the bad habits involved in letting yourself become overweight, you need to think differently. You can do this by thinking of food as a special treat that you only get at certain times. You can eat like a thin person-picking out the best part and leaving the rest. There are a host of different thinking patterns you can take on to avoid getting fat.

Not exercising is another of the bad habits that will make you gain weight. You may know that you need to get up and move around. You may have every intention to do so. The energy does not seem to be there when you need it. To avoid this bad habit, start slowly. What you may not realize is that the energy will increase as your exercise increases.

Bad habits of personal hygiene can be avoided by developing a positive routine. If you fear going out in public smelling bad, you can make it a habit to shower every morning. Shower more than once a day if the situation calls for it. Brush your teeth and comb your hair. If you are just starting out on your own, you could even make a list. After all, you are probably past those teen years when everyone else made sure you were decent.

Relationships are difficult enough without developing bad habits. If you are getting married, make a point of discussing all the possible trouble areas first. You can do this with a pre-marriage counselor or on your own. Either way, it is good to learn how you each can contribute to keeping away the bad habits of jealousy or neglect.

Many bad habits can be avoided if you will only consider the needs of yourself and of others equally. Putting yourself first at all times makes you selfish and hard to abide. Putting others first all the time just makes you a doormat.

For every bad habit, there is a way to avoid it. The trouble is that no one can be vigilant enough to control that many behaviors. What is more, many bad habits start before people are old enough to think much about it. If you want to, though, you can pass up some of them.