The federal government’s stimulus plan isn’t just for the fat cats of Wall Street. It’s also being aimed at reversing our country’s obesity epidemic.
The Obama administration is going to provide states and local governments with money to control obesity, which will include investing in public transportation to encourage more walking, says Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Sebelius says that the majority of the $1 billion stimulus plan appropriated by Congress for disease prevention would go to a CDC-planned initiative to fight obesity, heart disease and other chronic conditions.
As if obesity doesn’t come with enough collateral health damage – heart disease, diabetes, cancer, to name a few – now the obese may be more susceptible to the H1N1 swine flu virus.
Researchers in the U.S., including Dr. Lena Napolitano of the University of Michigan Medical Center, studied 10 patients admitted to the university’s intensive care unit with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by infection with H1N1.
“Of the 10 patients, nine were obese (body mass index more than 30), including seven who were extremely obese (BMI more than 40),” the experts wrote in the report published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report on death and disease.
Many of the diseases and cancers seen in our society could be preventable or postponed if we shifted our focus to prevention rather than treating a disease. Too often people go on medication to lower their cholesterol or help with their blood pressure, but had they considered diet and exercise years before it’s likely that they wouldn’t have to depend on medication at all.
Obesity is another medical issue that could probably be avoided if we paid more attention to what we put into our mouths and how much exercise we get. The cost of prevention (eating right and exercising) is far cheaper than the cost of medical expenses (doctor visits, hospital stays, medications, etc.).
All this being said, what can you do to start this road of prevention? In my eyes, it’s never too late to start getting healthier. So what can you do?
As more of our population become obese and overweight, obesity diseases become much more prevalent. Hypertension is one such disease, and here I explain what it is, why it affects the overweight, symptoms and prevention.
What is it?
Hypertension is one word meaning elevated or high blood pressure. Known as the “silent killer” due to it being asymptomatic (not showing significant signs or symptoms). It typically leads to having a fatal stroke or heart attack. High blood pressure is defined as having a consistently elevated arterial blood pressure. When a doctor or nurse takes your blood pressure, they measure the systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Being hypertensive means you have a systolic blood pressure above 140mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure is above 90mm Hg (normal blood pressure = systolic of 130mm Hg and diastolic of 85mm Hg). Untreated hypertension can result in heart failure, renal disease, and peripheral vascular disease.
As more of our population become obese and overweight, obesity diseases become much more prevalent. High Cholesterol is one such disease, and here I explain what it is, why it affects the overweight, symptoms and prevention.
What is it?
Cholesterol is in every cell in your body and is important for proper functioning of your body (i.e. used to build healthy cells and some vital hormones). With high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia), fatty deposits may develop in your blood vessels, making it difficult for blood to properly flow through the arteries. With this restricted flow your heart may not get the oxygen-rich blood that it needs, possibly causing a heart attack or stroke, if blood flow is restricted to your brain.
Why is it affected by obesity/overweight?
Obesity is mainly caused by taking in more calories than are expended through physical activity and daily life. Taking in too many calories, or too much saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol will increase blood cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is an obesity-associated disease due to the increased amount of fat, especially when that fat is found in the abdominal region (“apple”-shaped individuals). Obesity raises blood LDL “bad” cholesterol and lowers HDL “good” cholesterol.
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