Diet and lifestyle in treating obesity in postmenopause

September 28, 2008

Diet and lifestyle in treating obesity in postmenopause

Most adults is rapidly gaining excess body weight. One of these subpopulations, in which the prevalence of obesity is increasing most rapidly, are women in postmenopause.

Until now, clearly it was not clear itself whether the transitional period leading to a set of weights, however, showed that the physiological decline in estrogen causes changes in the distribution of fat that increases the risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Treatment of obesity in postmenopause logically very simple, but extremely difficult to implement – and few have much to move. According to recent studies have shown that an active lifestyle more important than weight reduction. Therefore, the main recommendation is regular physical exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week, subject to a healthy balanced diet. Unfortunately, there is no “miracle pill” that would apply to long-term care, and all diets “work” regardless of their identity only until they adhere. Substitution of healthy life does not exist.

The U.S. has stabilized the level of obesity

September 27, 2008

The U.S. has stabilized the level of obesity

The level of obesity in the U.S. stabilized after 25 years of uninterrupted growth, reports Reuters.

In the 2005-2006 year, there were about 72 million people suffering from obesity, about the same as in 2003-2004, said the record U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC). However, the problem of obesity is still very relevant: more than a third of adult Americans suffer from the disease, experts indicate CDC.

«The lack of significant growth in the level of obesity in the last few years is encouraging. But we have not seen and to reduce the target », – said CDC epidemiologist Cynthia Ogden (Cynthia Ogden).

Diagnosis «obesity» put at BMI equal to 30 or more. Body mass index (BMI) is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters. A sign of normal weight is considered BMI of 18.5 – 25 units.

According CDC, the U.S. suffers from obesity 35.3% women and 33.3% of men. Despite the fact that obesity is more common among women, the gender gap is gradually narrowing. Ogden said that the country’s tendency to increase the level of obesity in men: in 1999 the proportion of american womens with pathological increase in body weight remained almost unchanged, while the rate of obesity among men has increased steadily.

The most common obesity affects people aged 40-59 years. In this age category, it noted 40% of men and 41% of women, experts indicate CDC.

The report notes that among the different races and ethnic groups living in the United States, the prevalence of obesity is different. The highest rates of obesity observed among american black womens and american womens Mexican origin – respectively 53% and 51% of women in the age group from 40 to 59 years.

Meanwhile, obesity is a risk factor for many diseases, in particular, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, as well as cardiovascular diseases, experts indicate.

Diet may influence the sex of your unborn child

Diet may influence the sex of your unborn child
Experience has shown that in mice, diet, which adheres to the mother before conception may influence the sex of her unborn child. The study shows that mice, which gave drugs, decreases blood sugar significantly more often produced by the light of young females than males.

This discovery confirms the traditional beliefs, which state that if there are certain products that can affect the sex of offspring.

According to popular belief, a crucial role in determining the sex of the child plays the father of semen. But with time scientists find more and more evidence that the mother is also something that depends. For example, previously published papers stating that single mothers often are born girls.

Elissa Cameron of the University of Pretoria (South Africa) and her colleagues decided to see how changes in diet influences sex ratios – the proportion of females and males in this population.

To do so, they help dexamethasone (DEX), steroids, which prevents the ingress of glucose in the blood system, changed the level of sugar in the blood of mice females during fertilization.

Evolutionary advantage

Scientists give 20 female mice water with the addition of DEX for the first three days after they were admitted to males. After that mice given clean water. Several times during the experiment Cameron colleagues measured the levels of sugar in the blood of these mice, as well as 20 blood specimens from the control group.

The average level of glucose in the blood of mice receiving DEX, fell from 6.47 to 5.24 millimol per liter. Researchers found that 53% of young specimens of the control group were males, while among the offspring of mice receiving DEX, such was only 41%.

As it is lowering blood sugar leads to greater per cent of the female progeny, remains unclear. However, it seems that the opposite is true. Previous experience, in which the mouse-Diabetics showed that rodents with high blood sugar give more males than expected.

Biologists suggested that the mother suffers stress or health problems to light often appear young female, because it gives evolutionary advantage: a weak male born to a mother’s sick, can hardly find a pair, and female, no matter how weak it is was likely to bring more offspring.

The rate of the state

“It seems that blood sugar levels can actually speak indicator of whether the mother is in good shape or bad,” – said Ruth Mace of University College London (Britain). Previously, Mays published work, in which it finds that, subject to the shortage of food the mother with a large muscle mass more likely to produce light males.

The idea that diet affects sex ratios, have already joined the People’s practice. According to folk tradition, if a family wants a boy, the mother should have more red meat and salty foods, but if a girl – it must be nalegat for fish, vegetables, chocolate and candy.

“It’s interesting, because the meat for a long period increases the blood sugar level, while the sweet dishes dramatically increase this figure, but briefly, followed by a sharp decline in the level of glucose”, – said Cameron.

Insulin, which is in plants, can partly solve the problem of diabetes

September 1, 2008

Researchers from the University of Central Florida found that insulin, which is in plants, can partly solve the problem of diabetes, so far – in laboratory mice.

To date, scientists have created genetically modified tobacco, which is present in leaves more than normal insulin genes. Insulin received thus injected laboratory mice with diabetes for 8 weeks.

Following such a course, scientists determined that levels of blood sugar in normal mice, and their cells produce the required amount of insulin alone.

In the short term, scientists intend to replace tobacco leaf lettuce leaves, because they are less expensive in production, but also in their cases could be avoided stigmatsii (damaged skin), tobacco-related.

U.S. National Institute of Health has already allocated for this study, 2 million dollars. The date of commencement of testing on humans at the university has not yet been reported.

Scientists remove allergens from food

Agricultural and Technical University of North Carolina North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University announced the opening of revolutionary. His first specialists in the world to remove allergens from the food.

As stated in a press release the University, developed a simple and inexpensive process, which enables them to produce peanuts, to cause allergies. This technology does not affect the quality and taste of nuts, but allows their use in food for people affected by allergies.

The effectiveness of the process is estimated to be 100%. Scientists expect that this discovery will help in the foreseeable future to develop technologies that can remove allergens from other products.

Allergies to nuts are considered the most serious of all food allergies. In the U.S., they suffer some 3 million people (that is, each one hundredth resident of the country) annually allergy to nuts is becoming the cause of death 100-150 – ty people. In particular, according to the Centers Diseases Control and Warning Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the period from 1997 to 2002 doubled the number of cases of allergy to peanuts diagnosis among American children.

In recent decades, the number of allergies in the world is growing rapidly, the reasons for this phenomenon is not clear. For such patients not only dangerous to eat peanuts, but there are products manufactured in factories that use peanuts (such as candy or bars) – dangerous for them is void number peanuts.

Peanuts is considered highly nutritious and useful product. Now, peanuts in the U.S. took 12 – first place in volumes of production of all crops.

Peanut Producers earn approximately $ 1 billion a year.