Health World News and Features

ARA) – Are you taking risks with your life without even knowing it? You may be one of the nearly 6 million Americans who have type 2 diabetes and don’t even know it.

Diabetes affects nearly 24 million children and adults in the United States and another 57 million have pre-diabetes, a condition that places them at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. If you don’t know the risk factors or symptoms for diabetes, you may very well be risking your life to this silent killer.

Diabetes is a silent killer because many people can live with the disease for years and never find out that they have it until they start experiencing diabetes-related damage that can lead to a heart attack, stroke, vision problems or kidney disease. In fact, most people with type 2 diabetes do not notice the symptoms because some signs of diabetes aren’t easy to recognize. Symptoms of diabetes include:

* Being very thirsty
* Urinating often
* Losing weight without trying
* Having vision problems, such as blurred vision

Diabetes is a serious disease, but early diagnosis and treatment can help people with diabetes live healthy and active lives. A person’s risk for diabetes goes up as they get older, gain weight, or if they do not stay active. So how can you find out if you might be at risk for diabetes? Risk factors include:

* Being overweight or obese
* Not being physically active
* Having a family history of diabetes
* Having high blood pressure
* Having diabetes during pregnancy or having a baby weighing more than 9 pounds at birth
* Being older than 45 years of age

Diabetes is also more common in African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

To find out if you or a loved one are at risk for type 2 diabetes, you can take the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Risk Test. This is a simple test that asks questions about weight, age, family history and other potential risk factors for diabetes. Based on your response, you can find out whether you are at low, moderate or high risk for diabetes. You can take the test online at www.diabetes.org/alert or by phone (in English or Spanish) at (800) DIABETES (800-342-2383).

If you find that you are at high risk for having diabetes, talk with your doctor to find out for sure. Only your doctor can determine if you have diabetes.

To learn more about diabetes risk factors, diagnosis and treatment, or to take the Diabetes Risk Test, visit the American Diabetes Association’s Web site at www.diabetes.org or call (800) DIABETES (800-342-2383).

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Confident children get more out of life. They face unfamiliar experiences head on, make friends easily, and thrive on challenges. Because of this, their lives are enriched with the various activities and experiences that they fearlessly undertake.

A way to raise confident and healthy children is to ensure that they are protected from common sickness, especially during the rainy days when they are more prone to getting sick.

Anchor 1 + with Nutri-Care, the world's first and only fortified growing-up milk powder proven by doctors to provide two times more protection against common childhood sickness, shares some information on common childhood diseases and ways to prevent them to keep your child healthy and his confidence level up.

* Cough and colds: Symptoms include sore throat, clogged nose, watery nasal discharges, and fever. To prevent your child from catching cough and colds, wash their hands regularly to keep them from contracting the virus. Parents should also watch out for danger signs that include poor appetite, noisy and/or fast breathing. A child with cough, accompanied by danger signs, has to be brought to the hospital for treatment.

* Flu: Children can get the flu when the influenza virus gets into the body by being exposed to an infected person. Keep your children away from people with flu. Symptoms are fever of at least 38°C, headache, cough and colds, sore throat, and muscle or joint pains. A with flu must have adequate rest, increase his intake of fluids and nutritious food. Taking antiviral agents within the first two days may halt the course of the illness and paracetamol can be given for fever.

*Dengue fever: Dengue cause the sudden onset of high fever that may last two to seven days, joint and muscle pain, pain behind the eyes, weakness, abdominal pain, skin rashes, and nose bleeding. A child who has these symptoms should immediately seek proper medical treatment.

To prevent dengue, regularly change water in flower vases, throw away old tin cans or any old containers that could hold water where dengue mosquitoes could breed.

* Leptospirosis: Children could get this disease when they come in contact with the leptospira bacteria which enter the body through wounds, when playing in flood waters, vegetation, and moist soil contaminated with the urine of infected animals, especially rats. Don't allow your child to play in flood waters so he would not catch leptospirosis. Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, calf-muscle pain, and reddish eyes in some cases. Early recognition of the disease and treatment within two days of illness prevent complications.

* Diarrhea: Children get diarrhea by ingesting contaminated food or water. Symptoms include frequent or at least thrice-a-day passage of watery stools, excessive thirst, sunken eyeballs and bumbunan for infants.

Oral dehydration solution should be given to a child with diarrhea to replace lost body fluids. To keep your child from getting diarrhea, teach him/her to observe proper hygiene, see to it that your child only drinks water from safe sources and eats well-cooked and properly prepared food.

Milk fortified with a specific combination of nutrients has been proven to help protect children against the most common illness, as revealed in the results of the world’s first-ever clinical trial on fortified children's milk.

The trial, conducted a team of researchers led by child nutrition expert Dr. Sunil Sazawal, was done on over 600 children supplemented over a 12-month period with fortified milk. Anchor 1+with Nutri-Care, fortified with vitamins A, C and E, and minerals selenium, zinc and iron, was the growing-up milk powder used during the study. Anchor 1+ Growing Up Milk was proven by doctors o provide two times more protection against common childhood illnesses.

Philippine Star -November 29, 2005

New York (Reuters Health) – Pooled data from 13 trials indicate that the drug Strattera, known technically as atomoxetine, continues to work well for teens with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder ADHD over at least two years, with no surprise side effects.

In comments to Reuters Health, Dr. Timothy Wilens from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, said: “Given that atomoxetine is relatively new to the market, our longer term findings in adolescents are reassuring in that the medication continues to be effective without evidence of tolerance and is well tolerated without any unforeseen side effects emerging with chronic use.

Wilens and colleagues note in the Journal of Pediatrics that young children with ADHD are often treated with the stimulant drug Ritalin, but atomoxetine, a nonstimulant, has appeal for use in order children and adolescents with ADHD; it is dosed once daily, limited abuse potential, and has a long duration of action.

The researchers report on 601 subjects 12 to 18 years of age treated with atomoxetine in clinical trials. Of these, 219 completed at least two years of treatment.

According to the authors, atomoxetine produced “significant improvement” in ADHD symptoms over the first three months of treatment, and symptoms remained improved up to two years without the need up the dose of the drug.

During the two-year period, 99 subjects (16.5 percent) stopped taking atomoxetine due to lack of effectiveness and 31 (5.2 percent) discontinued treatment due to side effects.

January 15, 2007, Philippine Star

Achieving a trim and fit body need not be as torturous as shunning snacks in between meals. Staying fit, after all, means providing your body with essential nutrients to keep it functioning properly.

Munching on junk food such as potato chips and washing it down with your favorite softdrink is a fun snack idea, but will it still be fun when you start looking bulky in your outfits?
The solution is simple – choose the right food and adopt healthy eating habits.

Aside from knowing the “friendly” foods, it is also best to know your “enemies” when it comes to the food you eat. High sugar, fat and sodium content has been proven to do your body harm. So try to read the labels of the food items you pick in the grocery to avoid unwanted weight gain.
We love cakes, cookies, soft drinks, ice cream, and artificially flavored juice drinks – all of which, are in the list of top junk foods we should avoid.

These are packed with sugars that turn into fat which stick to the arteries ad cause blockages leading to heart disease and strokes.

Potato chips and French fries, although they are made from potato, contain a lot of salt and fat because they are deep fried. Pizzas are also high in sodium, fat, and carbohydrates and also lose a lot of nutrient as they are cooked under high temperature.

For a “quick fix,” snacking with fruits is the best alternative. Fruits contain a variety of natural vitamins, minerals and plant phytochemicals that make them the healthiest food around.

Fruits are also ideal for weight watchers as they have very low sodium and calorie contents.

This means you can eat a lot of it without having to worry about packing extra pounds.
A 130-gram can of Del Monte Fruit Express, contains the same nutrients from fresh fruits while at the same time provides the convenience of having a ready-to-eat snack anytime.

It comes in five flavors – tropical fruit cocktail, tropical fruit cocktail with lychee, tropical fruit cocktail with passion fruit juice, tropical fruit cocktail with peaches, and golden sweet pineapples. October 5, 2005- Manila Bulletin

Illness due to contaminated food is one of the most widespread yet preventable health concerns, the World Health Organization said as it issued Ten Golden Rules for Safe Food Preparation to correct common errors the preparation of food.

In infants, children, immuno-compromised people, pregnant women, and the elderly, the consumption of contaminated food can result in life-endangering food-borne ailments and food handling is largely responsible for the occurrence of food-borne diseases.

The WHO list was held significant in the wake of the recent tragedy that befell 28 schoolchildren in Bohol who died from food poisoning after partaking of snacks bought from street vendors.

To reduce significantly the risk of food-borne pathogens, the WHO issued the following rules for safe food preparation:

1. Choose food processed for safety (i.e. choose pasteurized over raw milk etc.).
2. Cook food thoroughly.
3. Eat cooked food immediately. The preparation of food several hours before consumption is discouraged because it favors the growth of bacteria and/or the formation of toxins.
4. Store cooked foods carefully.
5. Reheat cooked foods thoroughly. Insufficient cooking or preheating favors the growth of pathogenic bacteria.
6. Avoid contact between raw and cooked foods.
7. Wash hands repeatedly. Proper personal hygiene must be observed by all food handlers.
8. Keep all kitchen surfaces meticulously clean.
9. Protect foods from insects, rodents, and other animals.
10. Use safe water.


-CHRISTINA I. HERMOSO, Manila Bulletin

The woman’s body has been manipulated throughout tim. Women not only in the entertainment industry are pressured to “measure up” to a stereotyped body image. Take the case of the breast. It is the first victim of this “psychological disturbance” among many women. It undergoes breast augmentation, enhancement, a lift, etc. to achieve that desirable form.

But we must realize that the most psychologically disturbing experience anyone can have is discovering a lump in her breast! Cysts (fluid lumps) or masses growth hence can alter the size and shape of the breast leading to potential distortion and even deterioration of body image. A woman who finds out that she has a lump in the breast will probably suspect cancer. A visit to the doctor to confirm what the lump is all about should be done immediately so that early treatment could be administered.

Since every woman’s breast change several times even in a month’s time following the menstrual cycle, frequent visits are not really necessary! A woman can do breast self examination (BSE). But first, she should know what is her “normal breast” and how her breasts “normally feel” so she can easily identify changes during BSE. Any change that is seen and felt is identified and compared to the other breast.

How to do the BSE:

*Stand or sit in front of the mirror for visual inspection. Raise the hands and place behind the head. Look for dimples, discharges, folds, lumps, thickening, size and shape change, and swelling. Check also the underarm for any lump.

*Next, examine the breast using the second and third fingers of the opposite hand. Start the finger-walk around the perimeter of the nipple, moving about an inch away each time you complete the perimeter creating a bigger spiral until the outermost edge of the breast is covered.

*Continue up towards and under the armpit. If your breast is large relative to the “average” allow the fingers pads to apply heavier pressure to better evaluate underlying breast tissue.

*Repeat the visual scan and finger walk at the other breast.

*Finger walk at the breasts should be repeated when lying down.

Early breast cancer is painless, non-tender when pressed, movable and feels like a mongo seed or a marble upon hand palpation. The mass is movable at early stage then becoming non-movable at late stage, with irregular borders. Other late stage signs are nipple discharge, nipple inversion dimpling and or swelling of breast skin, and or armpit mass.

September 13, 2005 – Philippine Star

People eat in different ways. Some gobble up their food, while others make an art of it. Does it matter? Definitely! How we eat also affects our health.

In “Cooking Naturally for Pleasure and Health,” authors Gail Watson and Michael Blate share guidelines on how to eat for better health:

Eat the right diet for the climate or region in which you live-eat regionally and seasonally, emphasizing fresh foods grown within 50 miles of your home.

Food should be chewed at least 30 times per mouthful. This will help restore acid/alkaline balance within the digestive system, which is vital proper digestion and assimilation

Proper chewing

Thorough chewing accomplishes several things: analysis (taste is developed and, if the food is bad, it can be spat out); proper chewing restricts excess food intake while providing complete nutrition; proper chewing massages important digestive acupressure points in the mouth and jaw to improve digestion.

3. Eat moderately – avoid food extremes (e.g. excessively large, salty, sweet, and/or highly spiced meals, etc.).

4. Eat with an eye to the medical repercussions of food. If it tastes sweet, it will affect – and, in large amounts, injure-the spleen, pancreas and stomach. If it tastes salty, in large amounts, it will injure the kidneys and urinary bladder.

Liver

If it tastes sour, large amounts will injure the liver and gallbladder. It is tastes bitter large quantities will injure the heart and small intestine. And if the tastes spicy or pungent, in quantity, it will injure the lungs and large intestine.

5. Discover – and avoid – any hidden food (or other) allergens.

6. Avoid food and drinks that are too hot or too cold. Food is best eaten at body temperature, since extreme temperatures injure the digestive tract. Food or drink that is too cold could injure the lungs, liver and gallbladder, while food that is too hot injures the stomach, spleen, pancreas, small intestine and heart.

7. Drink as little as possible with meals – ideally, wait at least a half-hour after eating (excess liquids in the stomach dilute the hydrochloric acid necessary for proper food assimilation).

Generations

8. Learn to use and enjoy miso, tofu, seaweeds and other tasty-yet-unusual traditionally oriental foods.

These have evolved over generations of logical, not haphazard eating.

9. Avoid eating frequently in restaurants. Their portions are too large – and cost, not quality, is ordinary their ultimate guiding light.

10. Substitute carob for chocolate, fruit juices for sugary, carbonated softdrinks, herbal teas for coffee and other caffeinated drinks.

Exercise and Diet can Treat Gestational Diabetes

During pregnancy, the physical and emotional experiences that a mother go through are shared with the child inside her. One condition that pregnant women should be watchful is gestational diabetes. In the United States alone, 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes are reported each year.

Gestational diabetes happens to pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy.

With this condition, the body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for her condition. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia. There is no clear explanation as to why this condition happens to some pregnant women.

However, most doctors claim that some hormones in the placenta block the action of the mother’s insulin in her body. Insulin resistance makes it hard for the mother’s body to use insulin that she needs.
Gestational diabetes is usually diagnosed between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy when insulin resistance usually begins.

Pregnant women who have a family history of diabetes, are overweight, are 30 years old and above and those who have a previous delivery of a baby weighing more than nine pounds, are at the risk of experiencing gestational diabetes.

High sugar levels in your blood can be unhealthy for both mother and baby.
If the diabetes isn’t addressed immediately, the baby may be more likely to have problems at birth. This can lead to macrosomia, or an overweight baby.

Babies with macrosomia face health problems of their own, including damage to their shoulders during birth. Because of the extra insulin made by the baby’s pancreas, newborns may have very low blood glucose levels at birth and are also at higher risk of breathing problems.

Babies with excess insulin become children who are at risk for obesity and adults who are at risk for type two diabetes.

The good news is that gestational diabetes normally goes away after giving birth.

However treating gestational diabetes greatly lowers the baby’s chances of having health problems.
Pregnant women who have gestational diabetes must schedule regular exercise in their routine. It may also include daily blood glucose testing and insulin injections. Most importantly, expecting mothers must follow simple daily guidelines, like eating a variety of foods including fresh fruits and vegetables that limit fat intake to 30 percent or less of daily calories.

For pregnant women who need to watch their sugar intake, there are already a variety of sugar-free snacks available in the market.

One of these is the Murray Sugar Free cookies which come in different variants like chocolate chip, chewy double fudge, chocolate sandwich, vanilla craaèmes, shortbread, peanut butter and oatmeal chocolate chip.
Murray Sugar Free Cookies are available in leading supermarket nationwide and is exclusively distributed by Benby Enterprises.

Manila Bulletin