fitfamily360 blog

Perhaps the greatest evidence for implementing your own healthy lifestyle are not that 2 billion people in the world are obese or overweight, or that 200 million Americans are either obese or overweight(CDC), or that the medical cost of obesity is nearing or is over 350 Billion dollars annually(Society of Actuaries). But, the latest study of obesity prevention out of England(The Telegraph) show that pregnant women are now being given an oral hypoglycemic agent to reduce the weight of their large unborn babies to prevent them from becoming overweight. The study's effort is to help reduce cesarian sections. The idea of this study has already sent shock waves throughout Britain as to the effectiveness and safety of this method. Actually,no studies show how safe this drug is in this young population. Metformin is one of the numerous older oral hypoglycemic agents originally used to prevent diabetes.No one knows what its effects will be on unborn children. But, clearly eager health o...

This weeks study that watching television could prove as harmful as smoking cigarettes shouldn't come as any surprise to us. Americans created the "Couch Potato Syndrome" as a cute depiction before scientist had shown a "real" syndrome existed known as Syndrome-X(Cardio-Metabolic Syndrome)was put together.The Cardio-Metabolic Syndrome is known to be related to obesity, over-weight status, high cholesterol, high triglyceride, and very high blood glucose.This all lead to a higher morbidity and mortality. Recently, medical studies have been making the tie in between those of us who watch telivision late night and continue to eat at will also being related to a rise in insomnia and diabetes in our country. Children are watching a much higher to alarming amount of television as well and guess what- the rate of obesity has nearly tripled in the last 3 decades along with a rise in pediatric heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and liver disease. O...

In the most recent JAMA(Journal of the American Medical Association) a most provocative article desribes how leading Harvard scientist of obesity are siding with state intervention when it comes to chilhood obesity, particular severe forms. The debate has gone beyond the academic world and was discussed by ABC TV Nightly News and FOX TV. The scientist are stating that obesity is rising in the United States and that severe obesity is impacting childhood morbidity and mortality at such alarming rates that somebody has to be held accountable for it. That accountability will fall ultimately with the parents.It is that cut and that dry. Currently 30 percent of children between 6 and 18 are obese or overweight with over 2 million being over the 99th percentile of weight. Overweight is mathematically described as having a BMI(body mass index of weight over height squared) of between 25-29.Obesity is a BMI greater than 30. Children are overeating and lacking "leisurely" physi...

I came across a very interesting discussion that deals with questioning the cost of healthcare in America. Most of those participating were comfortable to quote the often repeated $2.4 Trillion dollar tag. But, even this grossly conservative underestimation is probably not the "total" package we are all experiencing. You can't just look at the question of the problem of healthcare without giving some sort of solution which might improve spending so rapidly at the rate it's going in healthcare as well.So, I have offered some advice on it. Probably the $2.4 T - 2.6T that is spent annually on healthcare is again "only" a rough low ball park estimate of direct medical care. Direct medical care is care received by a health professional from the physician, nurse, respiratory therapist, or physical/occupational therapist or from hospital stays, clinics, medications, as well as outpatient surgerie. These are those direct services from a therapit. A Second ca...

At this point in the healthcare "storm" our compasses have had our "needles" pointed to what we've thought was politically magnetic north. Many have expressed varying opinions on healthcare as to whether the system we have is the best, whether the system is sutainable and if healthcare is a right or privilege .These are all legitimate questions , but the "magnetics" is off and it appears the navigation of healthcare needs to be pointed at our "health's true magnetic North". Part of this is philosophical, part scientific and partly political. The science of healthcare systems places our system at #37 according to the World Health Organization among developed countries and we rank even lower for child mortality and the efficiency of our system; yet we have the best biomedical technology that money can buy. These statistics don't compute if we are putting in the most money more than any other country in the biomedical industry how ca...

Today, more health advocacy groups are being formed out of the frustration of the current healthcare environment our system has dissloved into. The question for many Americans has come down to if insurance is a right and not merely a privilege! The disconnect is that the insurance industry doesn't consider it either , but rather as an eligible service that can be provided to an eligible customer if you can afford it. By their definition health is a luxury. When we go to Vegas the house bets against our odds of winning at black jack or Roulette; when we invest on Wall Street there is the odds we may lose it all on a stock or derivative. This same analogy might be applied to insurance as well. The house bets against you living long or healthy enough without (over)utilizing medical services so that the "house" can win against your bets(premiums). But,with insurance the "house" doesn't know that you have an "ace up your sleeve" called the choi...

Studies have now began to take the serious rise in early puberty in young girls as a real medical dilemma.In the mid-nineties perhaps 5 percent of girls 7 yeaers old had reached puberty. Today it is as high as 15 %, but as high as 25% in African-American girls. The implications are voluminous in a culture filled with many influences for girls to participate in activities usually reserved for teens , aldolescents and in some cases young adults. Why have we seen such a "monstrous" increase of ancillary body hair(hair in the axilla, pubic hair) and breast buds in 2, 4, 5, and 6 year olds. Is this all coincidental? That's very doubtful since medical science , particularly endocrinology and geneticist understand the normal maturation process of puberty which usually takes place at around age 12. The biochemistry of fat again is playing a role here. The more peripheral adipose(fat) available to the body, the more substrate is available for production into estrogen. So, as ob...