Sunday, August 31, 2008

Definition of Menopause

Menopause refers to the condition when menstruation or fertility ends forever. Menopause is a unique experience for each woman. While some women accept this event naturally and gracefully, some can not. The later group of women feels depressed about it and goes through a strong sense of low self esteem and distorted self image.

Every woman has to pass through this stage. This is not any sort of medical illness, but a natural process that no woman can possibly avoid it in her lifetime. There are lots of myths around the concept of menopause. While this is such a natural condition, many people still believe that it is a curse and women with a pure mind can only avoid this condition.

Many women in different culture believe that menopause is the end of everything. However, this is not correct. It does not have any influence on femininity or sexuality. In fact, it is a period of liberty when a woman does not need to bother about her monthly periods or pregnancy.

Although menopause is not an illness, many women really need to take care of their health sincerely due to severe symptoms of menopause. The treatments may vary from lifestyle adjustments to hormonal therapy depending upon the condition.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

What Is eDiets?

eDiets is referred to the largest online weight loss program. It is one of the most common and popular weight loss diets. They host the largest community and the number of current registered members is not less than 1.3 millions. Recommended and awarded by many popular publications like Forbes, Time Magazine and many others, eDiets are now advocated by many different organizations.

eDiets are subscription based system and the members need to pay on a quarterly basis. Members receive benefits like customizable diet plan, recipes, shopping list, access to online body calculator and email assistance. Launched in the year of 1996, ediets have made significant changes in their diet plan, which are also subject to change and they are going to add more.

Here is a sampling list to give you an idea what eDiets may cover in recent times –

* Atkins Nutritional Approach

* Bill Phillips’ Eating For Life


* Cholesterol Lowering


* eDiets.com Weight Loss Plan


* Glycemic Impact Diet


* Healthy Soy


* Heart Smart Diet (based off the AHA plan)


* High Fiber


* Lactose Free


* Low Sodium


* Low Sugar


* Low-Fat


* Mediterranean Diet


* Type 2 Diabetes Diet


* Vegetarian


eDiets have many successful testimonials. They have huge branding and advertisements. The successful combination of nutrition and healthy lifestyle can certainly do well to you if you are able to follow them wisely.


Friday, August 29, 2008

Is There Any Practical Advantages of Botanical Skin Care?

From the ancient period of time, women from different cultures use botanical skin care as an integral part of their beautification and bodily protection. Botanical skin care is primarily formulated from the extracted components of a wide array of medicinal plants. Botanical skin care not only aids the surface area of the skin, but also provides a great benefit to the internal system as well.

Botanical skin care products are designed with the help of different medicinal plants such as rosemary, aloe vera, calendula, hyssop, jojoba, lavender, chamomile and many others. These plants are the wise source of essential nutrients and antioxidants. Botanical skin care products are meant to provide maximum health benefit along with external enhancement and internal nourishment.

However, to the great disappointment, not all botanical skin care manufacturing companies produce the quality products as they actually claim in their propaganda. In fact, they use a very less amount of botanical extracts, yet loads of harmful chemical ingredients, which are indeed harmful to health, without any doubt. Practically they demand a high price against a useless product.

So before choosing any product, consider taking an all-inclusive survey that must consist of testimonials from real sources. I am not talking about pseudo testimonial listings available in the site of the botanical skin care products. Believe in your eyes first, before you fix your mind on any particular product. It is necessary to go with branded products. Don’t compromise with the price and only look for long-established reputation.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Weight Loss Diet

Weight loss diet is not only preferred by the people who want to escape from their obesity problem, but for those as well who want to live a happier life with perfect shape. Obesity referred to as one of the most complex health complications influencing an increasing number of individuals. There is no specific age group of these people suffering from obesity problem. Needless to say, it is nothing but the open doorway of many life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or high cholesterol. So, switch your diet to weight loss diet to keep your figure on balance and in perfect shape.

What Is Your Emotional State?

Before you switch your diet to weight loss diet, you should understand the interrelation between your food habit and corresponding emotional state. Try to understand your impulse and put the best effort to take a great control over it. You can not do it abruptly; rather you need to follow a systematic way to control your urge for junk or unhealthy foods. Give yourself at least 10-12 minutes time when you have any impulse for food before you take any actual action. It works like a magic!

Provide little extra time to control your impulse

If you feel like eating now, provide some extra little time to get a hold on your impulse. Say, for example, you feel that you need to feed now and hunger is hitting you up badly, try to give yourself at least 10 minutes time before you actually turn yourself into any action. It helps.

Drink Plenty Amount of Water

8-10 glass of water is compulsory. Water helps us a lot to detoxify our system. It is important that you drink at least one full glass of water before your meal, if you do really care a lot about your weight loss diet. When you drink a glass-full of water before your meal, it will certainly help you to consume less than usual due to its full feeling effect. Needless to say, it is the best natural weight loss diet, since it brings a complete homeostasis in our body.


Eat Plenty of Fruits and Green Vegetables

Green vegetables like lettuce, spinach, coriander and others help us a lot to stay active. Any seasonal food can help you to get a healthy body and mind. A minimum of 3-5 servings per day should be included in an ideal weight loss diet. In this blog you will get plenty of useful resources on weight loss diet. You can check this post and more are coming soon.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Safety Issues Concerning the Usage of Weight Loss Supplements

Weight loss supplements have become a popular and obvious choice among many obese people around the world. In many cultures, obese people have a poor self-image and suffer from low self esteem. We all know that inadequate self image offers a negative impact on social interaction. So, in many cases, obese people are used to prefer different weight loss supplements to get rid off their problem.

The manufacturers of weight loss supplements assert that their weight loss supplements work best as weight reducer. In some cases, there are many businessmen who claim that their weight loss supplements can show results within a fortnight. People who believe in magical impact or who love to put many excuses to justify their unwillingness to exercise typically get trapped into such claim.

Unfortunately, there are very few (or probably none) weight loss supplements out there that are able to show the result as they claim. In fact, in many cases, the side effects of these weight loss supplements are so critical that may turn out to be life-threatening as well. So it is really necessary to consult doctors if you fix up your mind already to go for any weight loss supplements.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Different Types of Weight Loss Supplements

"Mirror, Mirror, tell me, is there anyone more beautiful than me?" No, I am not talking about any fairytale stories. Although in fairytales we all have heard of it from a witch, but in reality, probably there is no one who does not find him or her more beautiful than others. If s/he thinks in other way, probably s/he might have a strong desire to become beautiful.

Body shape is one of the most important determinants of physical beauty. All of us want to stay in good shape. While obesity is an increasing problem and growing in most developed and developing countries at an alarming rate, the health conscious people wish to lose their excessive weight as well. This is where many weight loss supplements take an entry.

Weight loss supplements are available in different forms – most commonly herbs or pills claiming a wise solution from the problem of obesity or overweight. Now let us find out some information on 2 popular weight loss supplements. Here we go.

Chitosan

Found in the shell of the lobster, shellfish and shrimp, chitosan is a form of indigestible fiber. It works as a fat-binder and absorber. Not enough scientific reports have been documented yet to support the effectiveness of such weight loss supplements. It comes with few common side effects such as allergic reactions, gas problem and constipation.

Chromium

Found in the form of chromium picolinate, it works as a lean mass booster and body fat reducer. There is a strong debate associated with its effective usage. While one group of the debater touts about its safety, the other group doubts.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Weight Loss Exercise

In this twenty first century people have become very health conscious. To maintain a slim and trim figure they are ready to adopt any method and what can be the best method of being healthy than exercise without having the tension of facing any adverse effect on the body. Many people say that dieting is the best method of losing weight but they forget that by not taking proper diet they are not only depriving their body of the daily nutrition but they are also harming themselves as they develop other health problems like anemia, weakness, dehydration, dizziness and many other problems.

Choice of Workout Program

The choice of an exercise or a workout program is very important but it is also very difficult. The best way to choose the most appropriate exercise is to consult your doctor who will be able to advice you about the kind of exercise that will the most suitable according to your health and body needs. Always keep in mind that exercise is the best method of losing weight but if it is not done correctly or overdone it can adversely affect the body. You should also keep in mind that only exercise is not enough along with that you have to change your eating habits to get the best result.

Types of Exercise for Weight Loss

There are many types of exercises that can be adopted for weight loss. The most common type of exercises are walking, jogging, running, aerobics, yoga, doing the household work, climbing the stairs, swimming, cycling and heavy exercises like going to the gym, treadmill walking, weight lifting, and other exercises. You can choose any type of exercise but only keep one thing in mind that it should suit your body and your health. Before beginning any exercise it is best to take the help of a trainer who can guide you about the best way of doing the exercise so that you can obtain the maximum benefit.

Best Exercise for Weight Loss

All the exercises except the heavy exercises are good for losing weight. Heavy exercises do not burn fat they are required for other purpose. Only those exercises which help to build your muscles are best for weight loss as developed muscles consume lots of energy and to supply this energy the body has to burn fat which helps you to reduce your weight. Any kind of exercise that you choose after consulting your doctor will be the best exercise if you are consistent. So you have to follow the routine everyday. For this you can fix the time according to your convenience.

It is a fact that you will have your food everyday and if you do not burn the calories that you have consumed your body will store it as fat which will increase your weight so you have to exercise everyday to maintain the ideal weight of your body. Choose the exercise that you will enjoy doing everyday. This will not only help you to be consistent but will also be an enjoyable workout which you will prefer as a part of your daily routine.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Fast Weight Loss Ideas

Obesity is an increasing problem and fast weight loss ideas are selling like a hot cake. In this post, we will try to find out few easy but interesting fast weight loss ideas. In today's world, almost all of us are in hurry. When you ask you someone for a casual visit to your place, the first thing you will hear is that he/she has no time. It's not because he/she is ignoring you or does not enough care for you, but because of the reason, everything has become apparently faster and so we all are running faster (probably not even knowing how long or how far we need to run!).

So is true with people like us who are working online to make their living. We are also in hurry and do not have enough time to spend on something that brings slow result. Take my example, my blogs are really new, but still I can't wait to see it popular. I spend so many hours working online sitting at the same couch and gaining weight inevitably. I know the problem, but still I can't help myself running after popularizing my blogs. Why? It is because, I need result faster.

Anyways, I don’t want to make the post longer with the issue on self-criticism. Rather I would like to shed light on few fast weight loss ideas that offer me benefits.

First of all, late nights are harmful to health. It is equally bad if you have coffee, tea or cold drinks. If you are a coffee maniac, don’t throw excuses like cold drinks are only bad for health. I used to have 2lit soft drinks each night! I quit. Instead of drinking coffee, tea or soft drinks (or even hard drinks), drink plenty of water. It will definitely help you to lose your weight faster.

Avoid excessive carbohydrates. So avoid junk foods. Just hate your sedentary behavior and lifestyle. Have some self-esteem dude! You are not just a mere money-making machine. Love yourself. Respect yourself. Spend time with yourself. Take a walk every morning. Do enough exercise. Keep yourself busy with at least few household jobs (no matter even if you are earning like the head of the family, you should have some household responsibilities that will keep you in shape, trust me!).

So, take these three as keywords for fast weight loss: Drink plenty water, have healthy diet and do enough exercise. I bet you are going to get a good shape soon.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Popular Weight Loss Diets

Weight loss diets, as its name implies, are those diets that promote weight loss. Granted the problem of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate, a considerable number of people in general become health conscious and they mostly prefer to depend on good and healthy weight loss diets rather than any artificial and chemical based health supplements.

There are many popular weight loss diets out there and no one can say that this one is better than that one. These popular weight loss diets are eDiets, Medifast, NutriSystem, Atkins Diet, Sonoma Diet, Glycemic Index Diets, Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet and 5 Factor Diet.

However, the list is not limited to the above mentioned weight loss diets only. Rather there are many other weight loss diets like 3 Day Diet, 3 Hour Diet, 7 Day Diet, Abs Diet, Anne Collins Weight Loss Program, Apple Cider Vinegar Diet, Bernstein Diet, Best Life Diet, Beverly Hills Diet, Biggest Loser Club, Bikini Bootcamp, Blood Type Diet, Body for Life, Bread for Life, British Heart Foundation, Cabbage Soup Diet, Cambridge Diet, Carbohydrate Addicts, Cardio-Free Diet, Change One, Cookie Diet, and lots more.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Major Obstacles to Healthy Weight Loss Plan

We all are looking for healthy weight loss plan. Unfortunately, there is a real big gap between our desire and reality indeed. So is true to get a real healthy weight loss plan, since there are so many obstacles we have to fetch when we opt to have a healthy weight loss plan. Let us find out what are those obstacles so that we can be more aware on that issue.

There are both psychological and physical burdens that make it more difficult to carry out with this healthy weight loss plan. When we talk about psychological part, the first thing that brings attention is a strong feeling of deprivation. After all, the carbs, sugars and fats are curtailed from your diet, what else is left then, huh? Secondly, you feel depressed, since you are precisely isolated in many social gatherings. You have to say, "Sorry, I am on diet and not having it!", "Sorry, but I guess, this one is not for me!, "Nop, I am just quite OK with this (boring) diet!"

This leads to de-motivation, and needless to say, with a strong desire to discontinue the strictness of diet and soon after, you are far away from your (boring) diet. So when you are on a healthy diet, you do have a cycle of psychological breakdowns. Although sounds easy, but some of them are really tough to face.

Now when we talk about physical part, the first thing is to gain weight even after following so many strict and boring schedules. Another problem is not being able to maintain weight. In this case, an individual loses weight, but soon he regains. Quite frustrating, huh? Another unavoidable problem is with slow metabolism. When you minimize your calorie intake, you metabolism turns out to be slower. This leads to weight gain.

I am not talking about financial part, since you all know well, even you can't lose your weight for 1 pound, but you need to spend huge bucks just to get the plan or staying aligned to it. So these are the obstacles to healthy weight loss plan and these are the major determinants of the failure of such plans. Be aware.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Weight Loss Tips



The three wonderful weight loss tips are -

1. Proper and healthy diet
2. Turbulence Training
3. Weight training exercise

These weight loss tips offer benefits to busy men and women and are just completely aligned to their tough daily schedule. If you are interested to explore more about it, do visit http://www.turbulencetraining.com/ to have a greater overview of great weight loss tips.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Alternative Treatment Approach that May Offer Benefit to Mesothelioma Cancer Pain

Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer and it is not curable. However, different treatment approaches are adopted to alleviate the pain sensation associated with the disease. Many people try to use alternative approaches along with conventional treatment plan. Relaxation techniques, meditation, deep breathing, guided imagery, biofeedback, distraction, acupuncture, skin stimulation, hypnosis, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), physical exercising, emotional guidance and counseling are the names of few alternative approaches used to lessen the mesothelioma cancer pain.

Alternative treatment approaches are not yet considered as the integral part of the conventional medications. In fact, these alternative therapies are termed as complementary when used along with the traditional treatment. Some of these alternative treatment approaches are found to beneficial in alleviating few symptoms of mesothelioma including pain. In addition, these approaches work following holistic model, so they offer benefits in physical, mental and spiritual level. But remember, these approaches should not be administered solely by completely substituting traditional treatment plan.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Not All Weight Loss Herbs Are Beneficial, Rather Harmful!

We all know how serious obesity problem is nowadays. Life becomes really tougher. The attraction of junk foods containing unhealthy saturated fat and other greasy contents is simply unavoidable, while on the other hand, many of us suffering from serious obesity problem. Granted there are many medications are now available with a promise to lose excessive weight. However, these medications may come with adverse side effects. In order to avoid these adverse side effects, many people now switch to herbal solution for weight loss with a belief that these herbs will offer them natural solution without any possible harmful effects. But this is not true. Read this post to discover more.

There are few herbs that are strictly prohibited by FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for possible serious negative side effects. As confirmed by FDA, these side effects may lead to even death. So you must STAY AWAY from these herbs.

Ephedra

This is also referred to as ma huang. There are many dishonest herbal weight loss solution providers who use Ephedra as an ingredient in their product. But when it is mixed in higher dosage in the solution, it increases the blood pressure, lifts up heart beat and promotes hyper-stimulation of central nervous system (CNS). According to FDA studies, the use of Ephedra may lead to serious heart palpitations, chest pain, stroke, heart attack and seizure and even death.

Herbal Fen-phen

This is dangerous. In this weight loss supplement, known as fen fen, Ephedra is used as the primary ingredient. Although it is sold to many people with a strong desire for weight loss, it may lead to severe side effects including irregular heartbeats, stroke and heart attack and even death.


Herbal Laxatives

Although many fraudulent sellers use herbal laxatives as a mode of weight loss supplements, these are also harmful. Herbal laxatives are sold as cascara, buckthorn, rhubarb root, diet tea, senna and aloe. These herbs may result in diarrhea, muscle cramping and if used in high dosage, it may cause serious hamper to your natural bowel function.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

How the South Beach Diet Works

The planning of the South Beach Diet depends on the fact that Americans are carbohydrates-prone. This is why the induction phase is induced. The first 14 days are intentionally designed as a carb abstinence phase. This phase helps people to quit their carb consuming habits. It is the help of this phase the intake of carbohydrates is significantly minimized throughout the entire South Beach Diet plan.

According to South Beach Diet theoretical approach, highly processed carbohydrates are highly digestible. So when you consume highly processed carbohydrate foods, your insulin level increases sharply. Insulin promotes to build up faster sugar in the blood stream. So, when your insulin level rises, you will feel more urge to eat more food. So, when you are feeling strong urge to eat, what are you going to consume? More carbs, isn’t it?

So, the South Beach Diet helps in breaking this vicious cycle of consuming more carbs. With the help of the South Beach Diet, you will consume less food, yet, better food

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

What Foods Are Not Included Into the South Beach Diet Plan?

When you are with the South Beach Diet plan, you don’t need to starve for longer period of time, which is quite common in many other diets. In fact, the South Beach Diet promotes planned snacking. Moreover, the South Beach Diet never tells us about strict calories or portion sizes, however, it yet deliberately avoids gorging. Basically, the fundamental idea is to eat in normal amount, although it may seem to be small at the initial days. The primary objective is to satisfy hunger, but not more than that.

The South Beach Diet plan discards any sugar-rich carbohydrate contents such as potatoes and rice. Beets and corn should also need to be avoided for the same reason. Needless to say, you should not have pastries or any other sugar rich desserts. At the initial stages, alcohol is absolutely forbidden, and restricted in the long-term diet plan.

Now let us talk about the South Beach Diet menu and find out what are not included into the South Beach Diet plan. It contains three stages.

Stage 1 or Induction Phase: In this phase, the South Beach Diet plan discards the intake of rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, fruit and baked goods. You also can not consume even a drop of alcohol, beer or wine. As claimed by the designer of this diet, you won’t miss these foods after you will follow the diet for couple of weeks. As far as dairy products are concerned, you can have low-fat or non-fat dairy products including milk, buttermilk or yogurt at this time. This phase is referred to as ‘Induction Phase’ and it is continued for 14 days or first 2 weeks.

Stage 2 or The Phase of Reintroducing Carbohydrates: At this stages, as its name implies, some of the carbohydrate foods discarded before are added back to the diet plan once again. Hey, not every one of them, but certainly some of them. For instance, if you are a pasta lover, well, you can have some, but not too much. Carrots are ok at the very beginning of 2nd phase. Although tomatoes and onions are restricted in the first phase, you don’t have any restriction from the second phase and onwards. Fruits may also be added. But remember to limit them to small amount. Do it till you meet your weight loss goal.

Stage 3 or Lifetime Management: This third phase of this diet plan ensure the lifelong management of health. However you have to follow few fundamental guidelines.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Offer Unconditional Support and Love

Helping Someone to Quit Smoking: a Personal Account (Part-3) continued from (Part-2)

Love is such a pure feeling that can not be compromised under any circumstances. Love should be unconditional always. So is true with support. When you are providing support to a would-be-quitter, it should not be conditional, such as “if you can quit smoking, you will have all my support then.” This is wrong unless you don’t love the person core from your heart.

Whatever be the circumstances, you should not fail showing your love for the concerned person. Remember, at the initial phases of quitting, the would-be-quitter may show irritation and anxiety. These are very common and are the part of withdrawal symptoms. Apart from these symptoms, the smokers feel depressed and a strong urge to smoke.

I can share my current condition with you now. Initially, my husband decided to quit the habit all at once and he maintained a long 15 hours of abstinence, but then he found it tough to stay away from it. Then he smoked one cigarette. Now he is having three cigarettes each day and has a plan to reduce it to 2 and then 1. Let’s see.

Since quitting nicotine addiction is primarily a subjective experience, no one can say that this way is better than that way. So, I will definitely keep you updated about my husband’s smoking habits, if he becomes able to quit smoking or not. Stay tuned till then.

End of This Post

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Offer Encouragement

Helping Someone to Quit Smoking: a Personal Account (Part-2) continued from (Part-1)

Offer as much encouragement as possible for you. Currently my husband is trying to quit smoking and he is just doing his best right now. Well, he used to be a hard-core smoker for past 10 long years. He used to smoke 15-18 cigarettes on a daily basis. He was planning to quit smoking for last few weeks.

He used to started making complain about his own usage and the money wasted on such a bad habit. It was pretty unusual since he always nagged on for the opposite such as “since I am spending so many hours at home working and do not spend much time for amusements, so I can spend money on cigarettes”, or “I love smoking cigarettes, and I find no real reason to quit”.

So, you can see it is quite unusual when initially he started complaining about his smoking habit. I am not saying that my reaction to him was the ideal reaction, but I did only smile, not reacting in other way. But with my smile, I just implied that ‘I am with you’. I believe this is one of the most important things that an addict is looking for.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Helping Someone to Quit Smoking: a Personal Account (Part-1)

So, are you going to help someone to quit smoking? Needless to say, this is a wonderful idea. But you should have solid information about the dangers of smoking before you tell someone to leave it for life, right? Do you know that a cigarette contains over 500 harmful chemicals like nicotine, carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, arsenic, hydrogen cyanide, DDT and many others? Surprised?

Although general people are only talking about nicotine, it is the major component of cigarette, but in combination with others, it brings disasters in life. Well, let us talk about nicotine at first. Do you know nicotine is a highly addictive compound? When a smoker smokes, it immediately goes to the lungs and to the brain less than 6 seconds.

When used in smaller amount, it works like a brain stimulator; however, an excessively large dose can cause real danger, sometimes even leading to mortality. Needless to say, most of these harmful chemicals stay in the lungs and brains for weeks, months and even for years long.

Now what could be your possible role that you can take to support your near ones when he or she plans to quit smoking? Well, there are practically too many, except nagging or forcing them to do so. In fact, it is really very hard to quit smoking without any support from close ones. So what are the things that you can do in the name of support? Let us explore.

Friday, August 8, 2008

What Is the South Beach Diet?

The South Beach Diet is also known as heart-friendly version of Atkins Diet. Both of these diets share many common features. The South Beach Diet is designed by cardiologist Arthur Agaston, MD. Both Atkins and the South Beach Diets are formulated by medical practitioners and both of these diets are highly popular among the health conscious people. Both of these diets play a leading role in many standard weight loss programs.

Both Atkins and the South Beach Diets do not allow people to have carbs. Rather to say that both of these diets put a strict limitation over the intake of carbohydrate diet. Granted that the diet allows ‘good carbs’, but they say a goodbye to fruits, cereal, pasta, beets, corn, bread, rice and carrots for first 15 days.

Like Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet employs a strict initiation stage, which is followed by a long-term diet plan. Although there are so many similarities between Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet, there are two distinct differences. First of all, the South Beach Diet puts a strict restriction over unhealthy fats by substituting it with healthy fats.

And secondly, the South Beach Diet does not amount on the quantity of carbohydrates. While Atkins Diet tries to change an individual from a carb-burning machine into a fat-burning machine, the South Beach Diet does allow low sugar carbs, the foods containing low glycemic index and they consider these foods good. So, when we term Atkins Diet a low carb diet, we can’t say the same thing about the South Beach Diet, since it is neither a low-carb diet nor a low-fat diet, as mentioned by the designer of this diet program.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Potential Health Risks of Using Statin Drugs

Are You Really Getting the Truth behind Cholesterol Lowering Drugs? If Not, This Is the Perfect Time to Read this Piece (Part-5) continued from (Part-4)

Unfortunately this is the most ignored part to be discussed. Doctors and pharmaceutical company leaders are only talking about the benefits of using statin drugs, alas!, there is almost no one who comes up discussing about the dangers. According to British Medical Journal, 29% people on trial show one or more adverse side effects after going through prescribed statin drugs(1). As discussed in US General Accounting Office, over 51% people show critical adverse side effects as a result of statin drugs administration which can not even be detected before giving the authorization to use(2). It is very unfortunate that the majority of the population including doctors does not know that the potential health risks associated with statin drugs administration can be life threatening over time (3).

Increased Risk for Congestive Heart Failure

Statin Drugs are potent to reduce the production of CoQ10, a natural substance responsible for the management of healthy heart condition. Since our heart is designed in such a fashion that needs abundant energy supply in order to function appropriately. The natural and vital substance CoQ10 makes it certain that the energy flows to the heart properly and sufficiently. As because the production of CoQ10 decreases due to the administration of statin drugs, it inevitably leads to heart muscle weakening, increasing the likelihood of congestive heart failure. Although it has been hypothesized that additional CoQ10 supplement may protect an individual from getting congestive heart failure, several studies have found no such relation.

Decreased Memory and Increased Attention Deficit

Apart from the risk for developing congestive heart failure, statin drugs also increase the risk for developing attention deficit problem accompanied by reduced memory. Since cholesterol is a natural protector of myelin sheath, reduction in the level of cholesterol can be hypothesized to have negative impact on an individual’s memory and attention. Several studies have found this hypothesis holds true.

Apart from all these health issues, statin drugs are found to increase the risk for developing cancer in general. Different studies have proved that there is a strong correlation between statin drugs administration and cancer development (4). Unfortunately, statin drug manufacturing companies are doing their business successfully by ignoring these facts and US Food and Drug Administration has also approved these drugs. It is said that the studies are done on rodents as subjects and the likelihood of developing cancer for humans thus is uncertain. However, the fact is what we can see around us.

References

1. Law, M.R. et al. Quantifying effect of statins on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ischaemic heart disease, and stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal. 2003 June 28; 326 (7404): 1423.

2. Strom, Brian L. Potential for Conflict of Interest in the Evaluation of Suspected Adverse Drug Reactions. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2004;292: (DOI 10.1001/jama.21.2643).

3. Cohen, S. Jay. Over Dose. 2001. ISBN 1-58542-123-5.

4. Newman, Thomas B. et al. “Carcinogenicity of Lipid-Lowering Drugs.” Journal of the American Medical Association. January 3, 1996-Vol 275, No. 1.

My acknowledgment to Shane Ellison, M.Sc. for writing such a wonderful and informative content "Hidden Truth about Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs! (Revised and Explained) courtesy of www.healthmyths.net

END OF THIS POST

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Pharmaceutical Market Statistics

Are You Really Getting the Truth behind Cholesterol Lowering Drugs? If Not, This Is the Perfect Time to Read this Piece (Part-4) continued from (Part-3)

In the year 2002, cholesterol lowering drugs covered the total share of 12.5 billion in the market, which holds basically 6.5% of the total market. Geared by excessive marketing campaign, the sales of cholesterol lowering drugs continued to heave. In the year 2004, only Lipitor held the 10 billion dollar market and needless to say, the quantity is increasing day by day. Quite obviously, huge revenue outshines the actual fact. Statin drugs are of no exception. This is why you will once in a blue moon hear the truth about the wellbeing and effectiveness of these drugs. In its place, what you will usually hear is the market propaganda geared on the way to healthy individuals who have enough and secure level of cholesterol. But the fact is: high level of cholesterol can promote longer life and there is no role played by the statin drugs except increasing the health risks of the person involved.

Reference

http://www.inpharm.com/External/InpH/1,2580,1-4-5675-0-inp_intelligence_news-0-306068,00.html

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Business Model Designed by Pharmaceutical Companies

(Are You Really Getting the Truth behind Cholesterol Lowering Drugs? If Not, This Is the Perfect Time to Read this Piece (Part-3) continued from Part-2)

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) announced a forged resolution about cholesterol lowering drugs. The former class of cholesterol lowering drugs is referred to as ‘fibrates’, while the newer known as ‘statins’. Consider it from the perspective of pharmaceutical companies. Isn’t it really great to make normal healthy people to patient in order to increase business for them? So their proposed business model is a 3 point business model – 1st point: the problem, which is cholesterol; 2nd point: state of reaction and 3rd point: treatment, which is cholesterol lowering drugs. Do you know that statin drugs are most extensively purchased pharmaceutical drugs in the history of medical science?

Monday, August 4, 2008

The Benefits of Atkins Diet (Part-3)

Continued from yesterday’s post

However, like any other popular diet plans, Atkins Diet is not free from criticism. Skeptics of this plan argue that Atkins Diet offers a short term benefit and it may be possibly packed with health risks as the amount of fat intake is not restricted, so saturated fat leads in increasing heart risk and increased ketones may lead to weakness, vomiting and a possibly hazardous fluid loss.

So, it is strongly advised that you should consult dieticians and your doctors before you fix your mind on any diet plan or start dieting. Atkins Diet plan should only be used under strict supervision. Although the simplicity of this diet plan may encourage to believe or to use it abruptly, it should not be done so. Now it is up to you, make your mind and take a decision to lose your weight wisely.

End of This Post

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Benefits of Atkins Diet (Part-2)

Continued from yesterday’s post

There are several studies that put a close emphasis over the positive output of Atkins Diet program. These studies ensure that there are a positive weight loss and other associated health benefits found as the outputs of Akins Diet program. The benefits include positive weight loss, increased protection against heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, reduced obesity, and so on.


In Atkins Diet program, it is allowed to take fat and protein as much as an individual wants. Since the protein intake increases in the diet plan, it helps in the cutback of food craving, hence promotes faster weight loss. Another great advantage of this program lies on its simplicity. It is comparatively easy to follow and this diet plan combines simple meal plan.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Benefits of Atkins Diet (Part-1)

According to Atkins Diet, we are able to alter our own metabolism and lose weight accordingly by consuming foods rich in proteins and fat and by restricting carbohydrate intakes. When you consume high volume of carbohydrate, you are practically moving at higher risk for developing increased amount of insulin, which promotes increased level of hunger and weight gain problem. Consequently, you are gaining weight when you are feeding yourself by diet rich in carbohydrate.

Atkins Diet program works on 4 consecutive phases – (1) induction, (2) ongoing weight loss, (3) pre-maintenance and (4) lifetime maintenance. In the first phase, the program intends to take the body into the state of ketosis as an immediate effect and the carbohydrate intake at this stage is limited up to 20 net gm each day. Following this phase, the carbohydrate intake gradually decreases as the phase progresses.

Followers