obesity •

Obesity Could Be Treated with Bariatric Embolization

April 4, 2016 By Joe Hennessey Leave a Comment

The latest studies showed that obesity is a worldwide concern.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to the date provided by a preliminary study, obesity could be treated with bariatric embolization. The procedure is commonly used in managing stomach bleeds, but it also proved itself useful in controlling the hunger hormone.

Clifford Weiss, the lead author of the study and an associate radiology professor at Baltimore’s John Hopkins University, believes that obesity could be treated with bariatric embolization.

For the moment, the idea is purely theoretical, and the radiologist and his team will begin a much more elaborate study in order to analyze the potential that the procedure could have.

The United States Health National Institutes believe that the method could be accompanied by a series of dangerous health risks. For example, they stated that on a short-term basis the bariatric embolization could cause infections and bleeding. Furthermore, on the long term, the procedure could trigger dangerous hernias.

Bariatric embolization is a medical procedure used by surgeons when patients are at risk of bleeding into their stomach. In order to prevent that from happening, they inject microscopic beads into the artery that is supplying the stomach.

Upon analyzing a sample of 32 patients that had the procedure, Weiss and his team discovered that there is a connection between the blocked artery and weight loss.

Upon further investigation, he found that patients who had the beads injected into their left gastric artery lost approximately eight percent out of their total body weight in three months.

By contrast, people that had the beads injected into a different artery only lost one percent out of their total body mass.

The explanation for this occurrence is simple. The left gastric artery is responsible for supplying the fundus, which is a part of the stomach which produces the ghrelin hormone or the hunger hormone.

Due to the fact that the microscopic beads slow the blood flow from the artery to the fundus, the ghrelin hormone is produced in smaller quantities, thus making the patient crave less food.

Weiss presented his preliminary conclusions during the annual meeting of the International Radiology Society that took place in Vancouver, Canada.

Some of his colleagues were skeptical about his research, stating that the procedure could prove to cause much more complications than relevant weight loss progress.

Others were pleased with his presentation saying that the John Hopkins professor is on his way to revolutionizing the treatment of obesity.

Obesity could be treated with bariatric embolization, but only if the broader study concludes that the procedure is safe for the patients.

Image source: YouTube

If You Sleep Less, You Will Eat More

March 1, 2016 By John Birks Leave a Comment

A small study has revealed that the body craves for more food when it doesn’t get enough sleep.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – No matter what coffee shops or energy drink commercials might tell you, sleep is not overrated. In fact, according to the researchers, if you sleep less you will eat more. So those extra pounds you were trying to explain are, in effect, caused by the lack of a proper snooze.

If you sleep less you will eat more, in consequence, you will get fatter, and/or you will develop additional health problems that are related to an unhealthy food regime.

A new study that was published in the Sleep journal analyzed the link between a lack of Zs and the munchies. It seems that everything is chemically connected, and our body makes us want to eat more in a desperate attempt to balance the chemicals in our organisms.

In order to gather more information on the chemical imbalances that take place in our bodies when we don’t get enough rest, the researchers collected a sample of 14 volunteers.

They divided the participants into two groups. The first would sleep roughly seven hours and a half per night in a session, and the others only a bit over four hours.

In the next session, the sleeping hours were changed between the patients.

While they were involved in the experiment, the volunteers received three regular meals at nine am two pm and seven pm.

The food was carefully chosen in order for the candidates to receive all of the calories they required in a day.

At the end of every session, the participants were allowed to eat as much as they wanted.

The researchers discovered that the individuals who were in the four-hour sleep group usually ate roughly 300 calories more than those from the seven-hour group.

In order to explain this crave, the researchers took blood samples and analyzed the chemicals levels present in each group.

It seems that the ones that slept less had higher levels of ghrelin (also known as lenomorelin, or the hunger hormone) while the others presented increased rates of leptin (or the satiety hormone).

Furthermore, the members of the sleep-deprived group presented themselves with significant levels of endocannabinoids.

It was already proven in previous studies that the endocannabinoid system is activated by marijuana. This system which is typical for mammals gives a false impression of hunger to the affected individuals, making them crave for fatty or sweet foods.

What is more interesting is that the sleep-deprived volunteers presented traces of endocannabinoids even in the next afternoon, which means that if you sleep less, you will eat more for a longer period of time.

Image source: www.pixabay.com

There Are Too Many Obese Children in the World

January 31, 2016 By Matthew Slotkin Leave a Comment

"there are 41 million obese children in the world"

Childhood obesity has become a global problem

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Obesity has recently become a global problem and it’s even more concerning when it comes to kids as there are too many obese children in the world.

It was thought that obesity is a problem occurring mostly in developed country. The U.S. has been for many years now the center of obesity for both adults and children as we are the ones eating the most fast food and drinking the most sugary drinks.

However, it appears that obesity has slowly become a problem in developing countries as well and things are starting to get serious. In Africa, the continent on which people are known to be starving, between 1990 and 2014 the number of obese children has doubled from 5.4 million to 10.3 million.

And we are talking only about children under five. Globally, it is estimated that there are 41 million overweight children, also who are under five. The data on older children and adolescents hasn’t been gathered yet but by the looks of it, the numbers won’t be encouraging either. Moreover, there are also many children who are on the course of becoming obese, but have not reached yet the limit, so this is definitely a big problem.

The number of overweight and obese children has also risen in low and middle income countries in Asia. This significant increase is threatening life expectancy by leading to disease, death and reduced quality of life.

With all the new medical and scientific research conducted we have learnt that eating junk food and being couch potatoes are not the only things that lead to obesity. Genetics also have to be taken into consideration.

But still the main problem is that unhealthy foods have become globalized and people have started to lead more sedentary lives. According to the World Health Organization this is no longer a problem that requires individual treatment but rather a problem at national and international level that must be solved by authorities and governments.

They must implement solutions, raising awareness about the problem. Health programs should be introduced in schools to educate children about leading a healthy lifestyle as well as giving them access to physical activity and healthy food.

Image source: www.bing.com

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