What Counts in Diets
Health and fitness experts want everyone to know and understand that there are different reasons for counting certain things while dieting. Some people count calories, some count fat, some count carbohydrates, and some just count things like sodium, depending on what health benefits they want to achieve.
If you are dieting just to lose weight you need to count calories. A certain amount of calories lost, like 3500 equal one pound. That’s pure math and that’s bottom line to control how much you weigh. Counting fat and carbs will help to ensure that the calories you are consuming are healthy for your body, however you could still lose weigh, being on a chocolate cake and banana split diet as long as you observed the right calorie count. Of course such a diet wouldn’t be healthy for you at all, but you would lose the weight.
Counting fat and carbs is good for a healthy well balanced diet, but let’s say you ate the right amount of fat and carb grams but went way over on protein and other things. You would likely be over calories for the day and not lose weight.
Bottom line is that you need to count everything if you want to be thin and healthy.
Tamiflu Almost Useless
The Center for Disease Control has said that they recieved reports that eight more children have died of the flu, making the total now seventeen across the country. Some of the children, most over the age of twelve also had secondary infections which could have contributed to their deaths.
A surprise to me is that the CDC says, 98% of these flu strains that are killing children are resistant to Tamiflu, making it almost useless. These strains are not all from the same bacteria, as they come from different strains themselves. Get your flu shots today for your kids at least.
Hope for Some MS Patients
Some people with MS have improved walking using the drug fampridine. Phase III research had studied 301 patients, half were given a placebo and half were given fampridine. The doctors evaluated walking ability after 2, 6, 10, and 14 weeks.
35% of those given fampridine and only 8% of those given the placebo showed improvement in walking speed and those given the drug showed increases in leg strength.
The problem is that 5 % of those given the drug had to stop taking the drug because of side effects, namely severe anxiety and seizures.
Doctors are encouraged but hesitant because of adverse effects the drug may have, aside from the many usual side effects that are possible.
Flu Shots
Just a reminder that it might not be a bad idea to get flu shots now that they say we’re in peak season for the flu. We’ve lost a few kids to it already not to mention the usual elderly, all who may have weakened immune systems for some reason.
I’ve heard that one of the strains going around now is a real bad one, and this comes from people who are healthy and active. So if you have the chance to get the shot, do it. Why risk lives over the flu?
How Many Times are They Going to Research This?
You’ll all be surprised to know that the uninsured are in poorer health than the insured. apparently this was studied again. Did they think there was a mistake made in the first bunch of studies? Maybe they thought that things would change on their own, like maybe people who don’t have insurance would stop getting sick.
They are on Obama and his administration to come up with some way that all Americans can have some form of insurance that they can afford and that can be used when they spot symtoms of illness.
I still think part of the answer is to have more nurse run clinics for the most simple and obvious illnesses. As a matter of fact, a lot of major diseases start with the simplest of conditions. Nutrition and obesity for example lead right to heart and diabetes which lead to many other conditions. Think about that.
Kicking a Dead Horse, Again
Sorry for bringing up this subject again, but I can’t get it out of my mind that there are people dying of cancer in hospice wards right now, and they are suffering in terrible pain, and no one is addressing that pain.
Since my dad died in early December I can still hear the hospice nurse tell us that he is resting comfortably. Remember, he was supposed to be given pain meds every two hours and after I asked how long since his last dose, the same nurse said it’s been 5 hours. The man was unable to respond except for widening his eyes when talked to. His mouth and lips were so dried and cracked he could not udder a sound. He couldn’t move at all. Resting comfortably? Have any of you ever had a severe case of dry mouth? I have from some meds I was taking.
He was not given any nourishment or hydration because they said fluid was accumulating in his stomach and causing more pain. However I can’t help but feel that something can be done. Maybe some kind of wax or oil based coating for the mouth and throat so he could swallow. What about a permanent spinal block when the last few days approach? It’s not like in the movies, you know when the last few days are here.
Peanut Related Recalls
The number of food product recalls is up to 2300 now because of the salmonella outbreak, and don’t be fooled, as I predicted, the products that might also be contaminated are not just limited to peanuts. Things such as seasonings, pet food, and other things are on the list. If you remember from one of my last posts, the reason is that many of these companies use the same machinery and if it’s not cleaned and sterilized all food processed on it will become contaminated. Over 600 people have been made sick and nine so far have died from this bacterial outbreak.
Check with the FDA website to see if a specific food is on the list. They now have a searchable database where you can do this. You want to be especially careful with the very young, the very old, and those who are already sick or have weak immune systems.
New Rules for Doctors on Certain Narcotics
I was always under the impression that all doctors could prescribe all drugs, and up to now this has been pretty much the case. There are some drugs that doctors have prescribed in the past without fully understanding side effects or interactions. When enough people complained and got sicker or died, the FDA would step in and just pull the drug from the market if after warnings were given and not heeded.
They want to pass new measures on 24 strong narcotic pain killers which would require doctors to be more responsible and knowledgable about what they are giving for what kind of pain and patient they are giving it to. Too many people are given too strong a narcotic for minor pain and becoming addicted. Others who are suffering severe pain are being under medicated.
At first I though this idea was insane, but I do agree with doctors having to be more educated about what they are giving to people. My suggestion would be having them use a program that would inform them at a buttons touch about reccomendations, side effects, and interactions.
These measures are a good idea if for no other reason than to have a middle solution to a mild warning and the total pulling of a drug off the market.