Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

posted by admin on Apr 23

Allergies, autoimmune diseases and infections all create a lot of inflammation in your body. People with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis are much more likely to have a heart attack than the general population. You are also more likely to have a heart attack during or soon after having an infection, such as the flu or pneumonia. Sometimes people with chronic hidden infections such as gum disease, Helicobacter pylori or infection with cytomegalovirus are more prone to heart disease.

If you have a hyperstimulated, overworked immune system, it is likely that you have elevated levels of C-reactive protein. Immune cells also release a host of inflammation-promoting chemicals called inflammatory cytokines. Some of these include interferon, interlukin-6 and interleukin-10. As well as causing tissue damage, and the symptoms specific to various immune disorders, these chemicals all promote irritation and damage to your endothelium, or inner lining of your arteries.

To improve the function of your immune system you can:

• Avoid eating foods you are allergic or intolerant to:

If you are continually exposed to something you are allergic or intolerant to, it acts like a poison in your body. Your immune system is continually fighting to counteract the effects of this food, and in the process produces a lot of chemicals that have damaging effects in your body. The foods that most commonly produce allergies/intolerances are dairy products wheat, gluten, eggs, tomatoes, soy and oranges. Possible symptoms you may experience if you have a food allergy/intolerance include:

• Abdominal bloating

• Skin rashes

• Foggy brain and poor concentration

• Fluid retention

• Headaches

• Joint or muscle aches and pains

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Mood changes, anxiety or depression

An elimination diet that is guided by a naturopath or nutritionist is recommended to pinpoint your allergies. Many people with these symptoms have leaky gut syndrome, and this must be treated.

• Eat raw foods to nourish your immune system:

It is very important to eat fresh raw foods every day. Raw foods contain enzymes and nutrients which cooking may destroy and they take very little effort to digest. It is important to eat at least one raw vegetable salad each day; try to vary the vegetables you use and have a variety of different coloured vegetables, as they each have different healing properties. Raw fruit is an excellent snack. As well as getting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from fruit and vegetables to keep free radicals under control and prevent the oxidation of cholesterol, you obtain a lot of fibre from these foods, helping to remove cholesterol via your bowels.

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posted by admin on Apr 23

 Vitamins

The  vitamins are water-soluble which means you lose them when passing urine.

Vitamin B6

Research has shown that giving B6 to women who have trouble conceiving increases their fertility. In one study a group of women who had stopped having periods because of a hormone imbalance were given vitamin B6 for three to four months. Some of the women started to have regular periods again.

And in another study, 12 out of 14 women who had been trying for up to seven years conceived after taking vitamin B6 daily over six months.

You should take up to 50mg a day.

Your partner should take up to 50mg a day.

Vitamin Â12

Vitamin B12 is vital for cellular reproduction and a number of studies have shown its potential for increasing male fertility.”6 In one study in the 1980s, men with low sperm counts were given vitamin B12 each day and over a quarter of them improved by more than five times.

You should take up to 50mg a day.

Your partner should take up to 50mg a day.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant. Like selenium, it plays a protective role in the body and benefits both male and female fertility.

With some couples, the woman is ovulating so her tubes are not blocked, and the man is producing a good quantity of sperm, yet the sperm cannot penetrate the egg, so there is no fertilisation. This is obviously a major problem and, in cases of poor fertilisation, even where the sperm count is good, doctors may have to resort to ICSI.

However, an intriguing piece of research looked at men who had good sperm counts but low fertilisation rates during IVF treatments. These men were given vitamin E each day. One month after starting treatment, the fertilisation rate had increased from 19 per cent to 29 per cent. These findings suggest that the antioxidant activity of vitamin E may make sperm more fertile.

Like other antioxidants, vitamin E combats free radicals. (Linked to cancer, coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and premature ageing, free radicals speed up the ageing process by destroying healthy cells.) High levels of free radicals in semen can cause sub-fertility so it is important that any sperm problems are corrected by ensuring an adequate intake of antioxidants.

If you have been told you have unexplained infertility I would recommend that you and your partner take vitamin E supplements. And if you have had a miscarriage you should take a vitamin E supplement because it prevents abnormal clotting.

One study, published in 1960, showed that giving vitamin E to both partners resulted in a significant increase in fertility.120

If you are over 35, and have been told that your fertility problems are caused by your age, then you are also likely to benefit from taking vitamin E. Studies show that adding antioxidants, such as vitamin Ñ and vitamin E, to an animal’s diet significantly reduces age-related ovulation decline. Another study concluded that ‘these findings may have direct implications for preventing or delaying maternal-age-associated infertility in humans’.

You should take 300-400 IU a day.

Your partner should take 300-400 IU a day.

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posted by admin on Apr 23

•    Although no one knows quite why it should be, hypertension is much more common in fat people. One study of 10,940 hypertensive patients found that 60 per cent of them were overweight. Hypertension does, of course, occur in thin people but it is almost unknown in cultures where all the population is thin. Often, mild blood pressure can be treated simply by losing a stone or two. Certainly preventing obesity also helps prevent high blood pressure. This starts at the cradle. Breastfeeding exclusively for at least six months and then weaning on to unrefined, whole-foods rich in dietary fibre will prevent many children from becoming obese. It is during these rapid-growth early years that obesity sets in, mainly because of poor eating habits and even an addiction to sweet, refined foods. These habits are difficult to change later in life and almost inevitably produce obesity.

A study in California looked at twenty-five obese hypertensives and after only a twelve-week weight-reducing diet found a significant decrease in blood pressure to within the normal range. Furthermore, few (only about a quarter) of the subjects reduced to their ‘ideal’ body weight but the reduction they did achieve was enough to reduce their blood pressure to normal. They found that a 10-30 per cent reduction towards ideal weight was enough to lower blood pressure significantly. Interestingly, such losses in weight reduced the blood pressure of all the obese subjects whether or not they started out with high blood pressure.

•    Several studies have suggested that salt added to food during cooking or at the table is responsible for much of the hypertension we see in the West. However, a great deal of salt (probably the majority) is added during food manufacture and processing and we have little direct control over this hidden salt (especially in cured and processed foods). This is a real danger. Get used to reading labels and avoiding pi ducts where salt comes high î the list (ingredients are listed in order of weight in the product Buy salt-free products if possible. Unfortunately, even drinking water can be very rich in sodium (salt). A Massachusetts study found that a particular town had a very high level of sodium in the drinking water. Even high-school students in this study had raised blood pressures, and it was found that the water they drank accounted for 40 per cent of the difference in total salt intake between these children and those of a neighboring town.

•    When cutting down salt do it slowly over a month or two, first by not adding salt during cooking. Use a salt shaker with smaller holes for adding salt to food at the table, and over 6-8 weeks use less and less. Once again, prevention starts in the cradle. Discourage children from eating salty foods and wean them on to salt-free foods whenever possible. Research suggests that children have already acquired a taste for salt by the age of two.

Interestingly bound up with the salt story is potassium-another essential mineral. Potassium is vital for the transmission of messages in nerves, aids digestive enzymes, and is essential in muscle function. Sodium and potassium are intimately interlinked within and outside cells, and the balance has to be finely maintained if we are to remain healthy. A study at the London Hospital Medical School showed that potassium seemed to act as a shield against sodium-induced hypertension. In the first study sixteen people with mild hypertension and a group with normal blood pressure ate one diet for a twelve-week period, and then a different diet for the next twelve weeks. During the first twelve weeks both groups ate their normal diet plus sodium tablets. During the second period the normal diets were supplemented with potassium and they were asked to avoid salty foods and not to add salt.

The high-sodium diet produced a slow rise in blood pressure in both groups. But with potassium and a low-salt diet both systolic and diastolic pressures fell sharply and significantly in the hypertensive group-in contrast to an insignificant rise in the normal group! A month after the study ended both groups went back to normal eating. The hypertensive blood pressures shot back up again. This rise was explained by the researchers as due to the poor levels of potassium in their food rather than the marginal rise in sodium (salt). Other research found that if you have a family history of blood pressure you are especially likely to be sensitive to the blood-pressure-lowering effect of potassium. Such people develop the condition when the potassium in their diets falls below a certain essential level. Fruits and vegetables are among the best sources of potassium so this could be yet another advantage of a high-fibre diet. Particularly rich sources are potatoes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, wheat germ, dates, chicken, salmon and halibut. A banana contains 350 mg potassium and only 1 mg sodium. A glass of pure orange juice contains 180 mg potassium and only 2 mg sodium.

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posted by admin on Apr 23

Bulimics are generally better suited to the group approach than anorexics. They tend to be older, more socially involved, and thus less afraid of other people. But for many bulimics, dealing with others produces feelings of inadequacy, rejection, and worthlessness, feelings that drive them to seek solace in a heaping plate of food. Groups can provide a setting to improve social interactions. Groups work better if, as in anorexia, members are selected carefully. Some groups are comprised of members who have never been anorexic or who are all married, for example. Having patients of similar age reduces the risk that older patients will ignore younger patients who may have different concerns. However, groups are never “perfectly” compatible. It helps to have patients explore their differences in order to lower resistance and increase their willingness to engage in therapy. The goal should be to achieve a “good enough” fit among members.

One way of selecting a group is by severity of the illness. Patients who binge and purge frequently (at least once a day for several years) but who aren’t in immediate medical danger may need an intensive program with several sessions a week. Twice-a-week bingers might do better in a more relaxed program.

In any case, group therapy should focus on symptomatic eating behavior. When patients regain healthy control over their eating, they can work more productively on other issues.

One such issue is assertiveness. We spend a lot of time discussing ways of handling apologies, compliments, and criticism. One patient complained, “I always do exactly what my husband tells me to do. If I don’t he’ll sulk and pout and make me feel guilty. Maybe we bulimics need a ‘Just Say No’ campaign of our very own!”

Problems: As in anorexia, some common features of bulimia can interfere with group therapy. One writer, Janice M. Cauwels, put it this way: “Bulimics tend to distrust people, especially other women, and most of all bulimic women.”

Bulimics can be perfectionists. If other members of the group don’t quite live up to their expectations, they may feel frustrated or angry.

Some patients place too much emphasis on food. They may use a “verbal binge” as they would a food binge to escape from their feelings. Group should address this issue. For example, during one session a patient said, “Hilary talks so much about food that I feel like I’m stuck in quicksand. I think she’s just doing that so she won’t have to talk about her problems with her boyfriend.”

Some patients expect a “magic cure,” believing that if they just show up at group meetings their symptoms will disappear. The group can help them confront and deal with this misconception.

Gradually, members realize that getting better takes time and work.

As with any group, feelings of competition and rivalry may emerge among patients. In groups that have a more psychodynamic orientation, members – guided by the therapist – can explore such conflicts. Doing so usually results in a deeper understanding of how the patients’ feelings influence their past and present relationships.

Group therapy should offer patients positive role models. Sometimes, however, newer members may feel jealous or inadequate when they see how other people have succeeded at reducing their symptoms. Conversation should focus on such feelings, especially if the patient’s pattern is to binge immediately before or after the group session.

One final note: Eating-disordered patients with drug or alcohol problems need additional help, because such problems can both substitute for bulimic symptoms and trigger them. Abstinence from substance abuse is usually a prerequisite for successful eating disorder treatment.

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posted by admin on Apr 23

Rita Wolberg traded in her scale for a tape measure. It helped her slim down not once, but twice.

When she was 31, Rita, an IRS program analyst from Alexandria, Virginia, decided to join Weight Watchers to unload some extra pounds that had accumulated over the years. “I just overate, and I didn’t know what I should eat to be slim,” she explains. She followed the program to the letter, taking off 22 pounds in 12 weeks.

After the birth of her son some 5 years later, Rita developed chronic sinus infections. Four sinus surgeries later, she found that she had gained 30 pounds. “I had put on so much weight that I moved up 3 clothing sizes,” she says. She went back to Weight Watchers, and this time, she took off 30 pounds in 18 months. “I wasn’t quite as vigilant about sticking with the program,” she admits. “I knew it would work. I just had to be patient.”

On both occasions, Rita used a tape measure—not a scale—to monitor her weight-loss progress. She found that by checking the circumference of her bust, waist, hips, and thighs once a week, she had a more accurate record of her changing body shape. “Even the second time, when the pounds came off slowly, I could count on my tape measure to show that I was improving,” she says. “Some part of my body was getting smaller, even if the scale didn’t show it.”

Rita, age 45, now serves as a program leader for Weight Watchers. “I started there as a receptionist in 1988, and they let me stay even when I regained weight,” she says. “That really inspired me tunity to tell others how valuable a tape measure can be as a weightloss motivator.

WINNING ACTION

Trade your scale for a tape measure. A scale won’t tell you how your body composition has changed, but a tape measure can. As you lose fat and gain muscle, certain body parts get smaller. To check the size of your waist, wrap the tape around the narrowest part of your waist, roughly halfway between your bottom ribs and your hipbones. For your hips, wrap the tape around your hips and butt at their widest points, usually slightly below the actual hipbones. Write down younmeasurements, then track them from week to week.

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