Tag Archives: Hypertension

Healthy weight

Solving atrial fibrillation by losing weight

August 11, 2016
Solving atrial fibrillation

Solving atrial fibrillation by losing weight. in fact weight complications and diseases are a bad combination

Solving atrial fibrillation by losing weight: Defeating Obesity

When a problem like this (atrial fibrillation) one sets into the body the only logical thing to do is to find not just solutions, but lasting once. Therefore for lasting solutions the place to be is AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury. The experts at this facility understand the implications of obesity in solving atrial fibrillation and so they will help you in the most natural way to reduce your excess weight.  In the process of losing weight, it is important that you know that if you already have atrial fibrillation then you must not relent in the process because health complications associated with obesity like high blood pressure, heart failure, and diabetes has high potential of triggering stroke which is the primary danger of atrial fibrillation. Therefore for precautionary measures the following weight loss techniques will be very helpful for you:

  • Follow a heart-healthy diet low in saturated fats and rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
  • Be physically active for at least 30 minutes periodically on a weekly basis.
  • Ensure that your diabetes condition is put under good control.
  • Reduce your consumption of salt.
  • Sugar is not healthy so consume sparingly.
  • Quite smoking.
  • Avoid excess alcohol consumption.

Solving atrial fibrillation by losing weight: Respiratory diseases

Obesity is a worldwide public health problem, and more than 50% of adults in the United States for example are believed to be overweight or obese. Like I have indicated earlier obesity is inclined with numerous medical diseases, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, dyslipidemia, osteoarthritis, cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, and gall bladder disease. It is also associated with several abnormalities of respiratory function.

Obesity is characterized by altered respiratory system mechanics, resulting in decreased lung volumes. This is related to decreased chest wall compliance from an elastic load on the chest and abdomen as well as decreased lung compliance resulting from the closure of dependent airways. Because of these abnormalities, a greater negative pleural pressure is needed to initiate airflow. Obese patients may also have reduced respiratory muscle strength. Respiratory system resistance is increased as a result of smaller airway caliber associated with decreased lung volumes. The resistance in the larger airways is typically normal. Some people with obesity may be hypoxemic, resulting from ventilation–perfusion mismatching, especially in the poorly expanded lung bases.

Sleep-disordered breathing, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and alveolar hypoventilation, is extremely common among obese people and can contribute to the development of pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale. Morbidly obese patients are at increased risk for developing overt respiratory failure. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), which is usually seen in more severe obesity, is characterized by daytime hypercapnia, an impaired central respiratory drive, and nocturnal hypoventilation. Such people often develop pulmonary hypertension, cor pulmonale, and respiratory failure.

Solving atrial fibrillation by losing weight: Defeating Obesity

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Vitamin D for Fibromyalgia

March 26, 2015

The Use of Vitamin D for Fibromyalgia

Vitamin DAs mentioned in an earlier written article, Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, joint stiffness, and fatigue. The condition is chronic but pain comes and goes and moves about the body. The cause of this disorder is unknown and therefore it is often misdiagnosed or unrecognized and is most of the times complicated by anxiety and mood disorders. this is a common disorder that according to the American College of Rheumatology diagnosis criteria affects about 3-5% of women, most of whom are between ages 20 and 50, but only 0.5- 1.6% of men. This disease is more common in adults than in children but it affects women more than men. This disease is debilitating and is not easily cured. The patients also suffer a lot of pain and use of drugs to manage this pain can result in problems of addiction and dependence on the pain management drugs. The quest to find effective treatment for this disease has led to many researchers doing lots of research on possible treatments or therapies that can be utilized to help mitigate on the adverse symptoms of fibromyalgia. One of these possible alternatives that have been unearthed by past researchers is the use of vitamin D.

Vitamin D being associated with fibromyalgia should not be a surprising discovery as vitamin D has been known to be a strengthening factor to bones especially during early life in a person’s life. Practice such as basking in the sun is common in most parts of the world with biggest benefits being that the sun helps in activating vitamin D that hence works to strengthen bones. Deficiency of vitamin D in children is often characterized by bone deformities such as bowed legs.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston studied patients with fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis, they found that the patients who had levels of vitamin D fared much better than those with lower levels. The result of this study was published in JAMA Neurology.

During this study the vitamin D levels of 465 participants were examined. The patients were then followed over a five year period as part of a study to monitor patients given Betaseron which is an FDA-approved multiple sclerosis drug. They discovered that increasing vitamin D levels within the first 12 months of drug therapy resulted in a 57 percent lower risk of relapse. According to the study, patients with low vitamin D levels early on in the course of the disease had a higher risk factor for long-term multiple sclerosis progression. However this study did not show whether multiple sclerosis causes a fall in the level of vitamin D in the body or whether low vitamin D plays a role in aggravating the disease. however the lead author of the study expressed a belief that the disease is most likely worsened by a fall in the levels of vitamin D. the lead author Alberto Ascherio, D.P.H., M.D., a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at HSPH said, “Most likely, disease activity is exacerbated by low vitamin D levels,” based on what they found in the study when interviewed by Healthline.

Vitamin D supplementation for fibromyalgia

The research on the effects of vitamin D on patients suffering from fibromyalgia was done in Vienna, Austria by Dr. Florian Wepner, of Orthopedic Hospital Vienna Speising. This research showed that higher vitamin D levels are associated to lower levels of pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia patients. In this study there were thirty participants who were all suffering from fibromyalgia. The thirty participants were divided into two groups. One group received vitamin D supplements while the other group was put on a placebo treatment. The researchers noticed that the patients who were put on vitamin D supplements had shown significant reduction in both pain and fatigue symptoms.

According to the findings of this study it can be shown that supplementing vitamin D can help alleviate the suffering of pain that patients suffering from fibromyalgia have to put up with. However the study lead investigator Wepner, M.D advised that fibromyalgia is a very complex condition that cannot only be explained by vitamin D deficiency alone.

Vitamin D“[Vitamin D] may be regarded as a relatively safe and economical treatment and an extremely cost-effective alternative or adjunct to expensive pharmacological treatment,” Wepner said in a journal news release.

Apparently, Dr. Wepner is not the only person that has promoted Vitamin D supplementation as a viable therapy for those suffering from fibromyalgia. Another doctor Dr. Kiran Patel has endorsed the same thought. Dr. Kiran is a pain medicine specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and often deals with fibromyalgia, he said, “Fibromyalgia patients and those with chronic pain should certainly have their vitamin D blood levels checked and, if low, consider supplementation under the guidance of a physician,”

It’s good to bask in the sun

Despite the failure of this research to show the link between vitamin D and fibromyalgia or better yet the mechanism by which vitamin D helps mitigate on the symptoms of the disease, the benefits of vitamin D supplements have been seen and therefore it is good to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D for overall health purposes. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for people ages nine and up, the safe, maximum intake level is 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day. This level of vitamin D can be enough to keep you on the safety levels of vitamin D.

Finally, fibromyalgia is a serious threat that has no known treatment. There is need to come up with safer yet effective alternatives of treating it. This is why here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we are committed to availing the best integrative approaches to treatment of diseases. Visit as at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) will be of help.

The Use of Vitamin D for Fibromyalgia

 

 

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Diseases which are associated with obesity

February 4, 2015

Diseases which are associated with Obesity: They are Chronic in nature

Diseases which are associated with obesity

Diseases which are associated with obesity can be very chronic and prevention should be the best medicine for them

When we mention the conditions associated with weight gain people often think of being lazy or just being less concern with the good healthy nutrition. What many are not aware of is that there are several diseases which are associated with obesity and weight gain. In a series of different articles we are going to be discussing some of these chronic health conditions which we can easily put to control if we get the right information. To help us understand the clear picture or the magnitude of the conditions, we are going to be talking to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care. Therefore doctor Akoury is going to be responding to some of the concerns that we want to bring to you with a view of changing lives for the better. The following are just but a few of the diseases which are associated with obesity:

Diseases which are associated with obesity: Diabetes mellitus

This one such health conditions that is strongly associated with overweight and being obese. The most frustrating point with this condition is that is very difficult to treat and once affected, it can only be managed. Obesity is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus and this cut across both genders and irrespective of where you’re coming from. And in fact the relationship between obesity and diabetes is such intertwined that the connection has been nick named ‘diabesity’. The flow from obesity to diabetes is due to a progressive defect in insulin emission together with a steady rise in insulin resistance. The fact that insulin resistance and improper emission of insulin are happening very prematurely in obese individuals is worsening towards diabetes. An increase in overall fatness, preferentially of visceral as well as ectopic fat depots, is specifically associated with insulin resistance. The accumulation of intramyocellular lipids may be due to reduced lipid oxidation capacity. Therefore the ability to lose weight is related to the capacity to oxidize fat. Thus, a relative defect in fat oxidation capacity is responsible for energy economy and hampered weight loss.

Diseases which are associated with obesity: Hypertension

The relationship between obesity and hypertension has been investigated in a large number of cross-sectional population studies and a smaller number of prospective, observational studies. The results indicate that in most populations, blood pressure increases linearly with increasing relative body weight or body mass index. The relationship is present across all subgroups, although the magnitude of the association appears greater in whites than blacks and greater in younger than older persons. It is estimated that as much as one-third of all hypertension may be attributable to obesity in populations where hypertension and obesity are widely prevalent. Evidence from prospective studies and clinical trials suggests that hypertension in obese patients increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and that drug treatment of hypertension reduces the risk.

However, it is uncertain whether the risks associated with hypertension and the benefits of treatment are as great in obese hypertensives as they are in lean hypertensives. The effects of weight reduction on blood pressure have been investigated in a small number of randomized, controlled trials involving a total of about 600 participants. Overall, the results of the trials indicate that weight reduction lowers blood pressure over intervals of up to one year. The magnitude of the blood pressure response appears to be directly proportional to the amount of weight loss achieved. However, the latter is inversely related to the length of follow-up. Adequate maintenance of weight loss remains a major problem for the much-needed, long-term trials of the effects of weight reduction on blood pressure and the cardiovascular complications of hypertension.

Diseases which are associated with obesity: Heart disease

Obesity is reaching epidemic levels in most parts of the world but the greatest concern is the trail of destruction this condition is leaving on the complications of the heart. How does this happen? Doctor Akoury explains:

Diseases which are associated with obesity: Obesity Leads to Blockage in the Arteries

Let us start by explaining what insulin is, this is a hormone that helps the body metabolize blood sugar, or glucose. When one is obese the insulin resistance goes up causing the body to be less effective in digesting glucose. The result of this is high blood sugar which facilitates the formation of pre-diabetes or diabetes. As we had said above, this is a serious risk factor for heart disease. And due to the ineffectiveness of insulin operations in the liver, triglycerides (fats) increases in the blood causing the bad cholesterol, or LDL to go up and good cholesterol or HDL to come down.

Remember that cholesterol is a chemical which is very vital to a number of functions in the body. However, too much level of cholesterol in the body can be harmful. LDL transport cholesterol from the liver and intestines to various parts of the body. During this transportation process, if there we have excess cholesterol the excess will build up in the walls of arteries throughout the body, including those in the heart and brain. HDL takes cholesterol from the walls of the arteries and carries it back to the liver and intestines where it can be excreted. When there is too little HDL to carry away the excess LDL, it leads to atherosclerosis, which is hardening and narrowing of the arteries. This is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Just to further on the relationship between obesity and heart diseases, obesity is also associated with increased risks of:

  • Coronary artery disease
  • Heart failure
  • Atrial fibrillation
Diseases which are associated with obesity: Coronary artery disease

Various studies have shown that an increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the overweight is real and realistic. This is because while studying some 300 000 adults for 7 years, it was established that about 9% increase in ischaemic-heart disease events for each unit change in BMI.46 moreover, obesity was associated with both fatty streaks and raised atherosclerotic lesions in the right coronary and left anterior descending coronary arteries specifically in young men. Nonetheless as for those individuals with pre-existing heart conditions the link between obesity and cardiovascular mortality is not very strong.

Diseases which are associated with obesity: Heart failure

Doctor Akoury explains that the relationship between obesity and heart failure is complex. According to the Framingham Study where some 6000 individuals with no heart failure records in the past but of age 55 were followed keenly for some14 years. Up on concluding the study, it was established that, the risk of developing heart failure was two-fold higher in obese individuals, in comparison with subjects with a normal body-mass index. On multivariate analysis adjusting for risk factors including hypertension, coronary artery disease and left ventricular hypertrophy, there was an excess risk of 5% in men and 7% in women for each 1 point increase in BMI. It was estimated that 11% of the cases of heart failure in men and 14% in women could be attributed to obesity alone. These complications can be very chronic and the sooner you tackle them the better. To help you get lasting solutions of all these, you will need to call doctor Akoury for an appointment to commence treatment.

Diseases which are associated with obesity – They are Chronic in nature

 

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