Tag: Obesity

Magnifying Acid Reflux

Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), the medical term for Acid Reflux is defined as the product of abnormal reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus thus, creating a mucosal damage, likewise known as the chronic symptom.

This disease strikes adult primarily, while infants and children can also be affected. Normally spurred by eating certain foods, if not pregnancy, or taking a sleep right after eating a heavy meal, a large number of persons suffer from acid reflux at one time or another.

Heartburn or acid indigestion is another name that refers to acid reflux. Heartburn, the major symptom of Acid Reflux in the esophagus, is described to cause a burning uneasiness at the back of the sternum.

The symptoms may come as coughing, voice transformation, hoarseness, constant ear ache, or sinusitis. The complications brought upon by acid reflux may lead to esophageal ulcers or worse this can lead to esophageal cancer.

However, constant heartburn sensations do not necessarily mean that one has captured GERD already. The risk occurs when heartburn happened more than once a week, this occasion could possibly lead in developing GERD.

The usual cause of GERD is the increase in acidity or gastric acid production in the body, obesity, pregnancy, or tight-fitting apparels, these all can add to the problem. The yeast infections are also thought to be one of the causes of GERD-like symptoms.

An added ironical cause of the GERD is the insufficient production of stomach acid in the body. The explanation says that the valve, the hollow organ with a flap that insure the one-way course of fluid through the organ, once emptied triggers acidity in the intestines. If the valve fails to open, the contents of the stomach will be blended into the esophagus, and then irritation occurs.

Meanwhile, there are already several treatments for GERD today, one of which is the balance and healthy eating habits. Now if proper diet fails to work, one can shift to medication therapy or surgery as suggested by the doctors. Below are the lists of several selections of Acid Reflux treatment:

Proper Diet: the natural way to cure Acid Reflux is through change in their eating habits. A good number of people affected by GERD found success in following this method. Avoid the food ingredients which can intensify heart burn such as caffeine, soft drinks, and smoking. Avoid eating two hours before sleeping; likewise, avoid lying down after taking meal. These are the regular suggested change in lifestyle.

Another easy way to treat GERD is to elevate the head of the bed. The pharmacologic therapy, the combination of prevention of food two hours before sleeping and the rise of the head of the bed, there is a great chance for a patient to gain a 95 percent relief. The rise of the head of the bed is suggested to range for only 6 to 8 inches or 20 cm. Using this method the backflow of gastric fluids will be hampered.

Drug Treatment: Drugs reduce the secretion of the gastric acid, for instance and famotidine and omeprazole lessen the secretion of gastric acid and the Antacids counteract the acid.

Surgical treatment: the Nissen fundoplication, the standard surgical treatment for Acid Reflux, the medication process will only cover a short period of time. The function of this is to support the sphincter, a spherical bond of muscles that opens and closes to let the food or waste to pass, as well as stop Acid Reflux, and of course restore the hiatal hernia.

Arthritis Management Through Diet

Arthritis Management Through Diet
Kathryn Whittaker

The term arthritis refers to the chronic inflammation of joints throughout the body. Arthritis is one of the most rapidly growing chronic conditions in North America. Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is also known as wear and tear arthritis and degenerative joint disease. This form of arthritis classically affects the knee joint, the hips and other weight bearing joints. Other forms include rheumatoid arthritis and gouty arthritis.

New treatments for arthritis are constantly researched. The most common arthritis medications are non-steroid or steroid anti-inflammatory drugs which, although effective, have serious side-effects. They can have unpleasant side effects: cause weight gain, acne, osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, cataracts and infections. The side effects of steroids impact on almost every system of the body, and the more steroids you take, the more side effects you are likely to experience.

The newest findings link arthritis not only to poor diet and obesity, but also to the overall state of the immune system. Quite recently, researchers have found a protein in the immune system that malfunctioned in patients who have arthritis or other inflammatory diseases. Doctors believe they can block this protein to reduce the need for steroids.

As the general population ages, the number of people with arthritis is growing. Today arthritis medications are aimed at baby-boomers who have spent more years living with obesity than the previous generation. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have found that there are more cases of obesity-related arthritis among baby boomers compared to the previous generation.

What we eat often plays a large role in setting the stage for the start of arthritis. There are a few changes anyone can make to their diet to successfully offset arthritis even without using arthritis medications.

The typical North American diet contains an overwhelming amount of cooked, processed and other acid forming foods. A healthy diet should be 70lkaline and 30cidic. Unfortunately, the average North American diet has reversed this ratio.

Instead of eating cooked foods that are acid forming, a diet of mostly raw, fresh vegetables, fruits and reducing the consumption of meats are an excellent way to help reduce inflammation throughout the body.

To ease your arthritis symptoms without succumbing to arthritis medications, avoid foods that form acid in your body. These foods include bread, coffee, corn, honey, oatmeal, peanuts, rice, soy, pasta and wheat. When treating arthritis, stay away from saturated fats, such as butter, cream, and margarine.

Antioxidants in brightly colored fruits and vegetables offer substantial protection against arthritis. By eating more yellow and orange fruits and vegetables you will consume antioxidants called carotenoids, which can lower your chances of developing inflammatory arthritis. Some dietitians suggest that night-shade vegetables are unsuitable for arthritis patients, which means you should think twice about eating peppers, (red, green and yellow), potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants.

Build your arthritis diet around such alkaline-forming products as most berries, bananas, dates, figs, prunes, raisins, almonds, asparagus, avocado, fresh beans, beets, carrots, grapes, plums, spinach, apricots, broccoli, all kind of cabbage, cantaloupe, celery, cherries, chestnuts, chicory, coconut milk, fresh sweet corn and cucumbers. Focusing on vegetables instead of proteins will ease many other symptoms and help you reduce weight too.

Proper hydration is a must. Drink half your weight in ounces that would be 75 oz of water for a person weighing 150 pounds. If you must drink alcohol, coffee or soda, drink an extra 16 oz of water for every alcoholic drink and cup of coffee or soda you consume in addition to the water you would normally drink.

Arthritis is a condition that takes years to develop. In many cases, arthritis can be avoided or effectively managed through the use of alternative methods that include proper nutrition, hydration and specific nutritional supplements that can reduce the damage done to aging joints.

About the author:

Kathryn writes articles on a number of different topics. For more information on Arthritis please visit http://www.arthritis-resource.comand for additional articles on Arthritis http://www.arthritis-resource.com/arthritis-articles/

Smoking Related Health Problems in Adolescents

Smoking is the cause of many diseases and kills about four hundred and forty two thousand people every year in the United States. In spite of anti smoking campaigns and billboard warnings, more and more people are joining the bandwagon of smokers every year. Out of the total number of new smokers, ninety percent are children and adolescents, replacing smokers who have quit or died early due to a disease caused by smoking. Smoking is the top cause of preventable and premature deaths, followed by obesity.

Smoking not only increases the risk of lung disease, but also increases the risk of contracting lung cancer, oral cancer, emphysema, stroke and heart disease. Certain statistics by the American Lung Associations show alarming results. Over five thousand adolescents smoke their very first cigarette every day, out of which over two thousand turn into regular smokers. Presently there are nearly five million adolescents smokers. Twenty percent of the twelfth graders smoke cigarettes regularly.

Smoking has many harmful affects on the health of a human being. It damages the cardiovascular system, causes high blood pressure, increases heart rate, increases the risk of ischemic stroke, increases the risk of formation of blood clot formation, and decreases the oxygen amount which reaches the tissues in the body, reduces coronary blood flow & cardiac output, and damages the blood vessels. Smoking not only affects physical health, but mental health too. It causes psychological distress and depression.

Smoking not only affects the person who smokes but also other people who surround him/her. According to the American Heart Association, nearly thirty five thousand passive smokers die of smoke inhaled from a lit pipe, cigar or cigarette. People who do not smoke directly and inhale smoke from a cigarette smoke by his/her neighbor is known as passive smoker, secondary smoker or indirect smoker. Among the passive smokers, women, children and infants are at a higher risk. Infants and children who are exposed to smoke develop asthma, frequent ear infections and may even experience infant death syndrome. The symptoms experienced by secondary smokers are coughing, excess mucus formation in the airways, chest discomfort, chest pain, and lung irritation. They even feel irritation of throat, nose and eyes. If the passive smokers experiences chest pain, it can be an indication of a heart disease. Sometimes the symptoms of secondary smoking can coincide with the symptoms of other medical conditions. Hence, it is recommended to contact the doctor immediately after the surfacing of the symptoms.

In active smokers, smoking, apart from building up high cholesterol in blood, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and diabetes. So smoking cessation will not only reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, which is top of the list, but also decreases the risk by fifty percent of heart attacks and deaths caused by it. But quitting smoking undertakes lots of physical and mental efforts. The person should be made mentally relaxed and stress free. In case of adolescents, they can be asked to exercise regularly and sleep adequately. The American Lung Association and The American Academy of Otolaryngology have developed certain tips which can be of great help to the smokers who are thinking of quitting. The smokers must first be made to understand the reason for quitting. Stress only makes even more difficult to quit smoking, so a stress free period should be chosen to quit. Family and friends encouragement and support are extremely necessary to persuade the smoker to quit. If the support isnt sufficient, smokers can join a smoking cessation program or a support group to attain their goals. A balanced diet is a must, along with lots of rest.

Sometimes taking nicotine replacement products, such as nicotine chewing gum, nicotine inhalers, and nicotine patch, are a great help to smokers who want to quit. By using these products the smokers can satisfy their nicotine craving. The good thing is that these nicotine replacement products can deduct the poisonous gases and tars emitted by the cigarettes. But nursing and pregnant women should consult a doctor before trying nicotine replacement products. For such people non-nicotine alternative is available in the market.

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Symptoms and Natural Cure for Acid Reflux

How would a person know if he or she has acid reflux? How does acid reflux feel like? It is a burning sensation that affects the upper abdomen after a heavy meal when a person is already relaxing. Later, the pain goes up to the breastbone and to the chest. From this discomfort, it can lead to the inflammation of the esophagus, indigestion, hoarseness and many other symptoms.

Acid reflux disease is the condition that gives uneasiness to many adults including infants by causing sudden pains and burning in the chest. Its most common symptom is called heartburn. The condition is characterized by refluxing or backing up of the stomach acid into the esophagus. While heartburn can normally take place sometimes, it cannot be always rated as acid reflux disease. But if heartburn occurs twice to thrice a week, it is more probably a symptom of acid reflux.

In many cases, the symptoms of acid reflux disease occur after a fatty meal, when drinking liquor or beverages which contains caffeine, when lying down right after meal and worse when smoking. And because of these unpleasant sensations brought about by acid reflux, it can severely affect your health and your lifestyle. A number of people who suffered from this disease also suffered in the quality of lifestyle. Who would be enjoying life if there were a constant reminder of pain? The symptoms are so obvious that you do not need a doctor to diagnose it.

For this particular disease, there could be a variety of treatments that you can choose from. Symptoms which occur less than five times in a month can easily be treated by over the counter medicines. The doctor can give you pieces of advice on the kind of medicine appropriate for you. However, if your body does not work well with the prescribed medicines, it would be best to shift to a new one or seek for another option. Medicines formulated from natural herbs have less or no side effects.

For cases of acute acid reflux, surgical treatment may already be recommended to you. The standard treatment that has been preferred for a long time is called nissen fundoplication. In this surgical procedure, the stomach is wrapped to reinforce the sphincter and thereby preventing the stomach acid from refluxing.

In any manner, the effective way of finding relief from acid reflux symptoms is the natural way. Some simple steps that can work together with your medications will effectively cast away your suffering from this disease. A modified lifestyle will help you make things better. Things to be changed include your dietary habits, refraining from smoking and minimizing the alcohol intake. Salty foods have been found out to aggravate acid reflux disease as much as the fatty foods. Taking extra table salts in your meal can expose you to graver risks.

Obesity doesn’t only harm the heart but can worsen acid reflux disease as well. The excess fat in the abdomen amplifies the pressure in it causing the stomach acid to rise up to the gullet. So diet must be intensively watched out so as to avoid the symptoms and the discomfort they caused.

Natural cure of this disease also includes exercise. Proper stretching can help reduce the pressure on your stomach and subsequently helping you fight the symptoms of acid reflux disease.

If you can follow the preventive measures against acid reflux disease, then you are on your way to beating acid reflux without turning to medications.