Fat Cells Established in Childhood?

Oh noes....

Number of fat cells remains constant in all body types

A new study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist Bruce Buchholz – along with colleagues from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden; Humboldt University Berlin, Foundation of Research and Technology in Greece; Karolinska University Hospital; and Stockholm University – applied carbon dating to DNA to discover that the number of fat cells stays constant in adulthood in lean and obese individuals, even after marked weight loss, indicating that the number of fat cells is set during childhood and adolescence.

...

In a study of 687 adults, the researchers found that number of fat cells increases in childhood and adolescence, but levels off and remains constant in adulthood. The group looked at whether the number of fat cells changes under extreme conditions such as drastic weight loss by radical reduction in caloric intake, such as through bariatric surgery.

The treatment resulted in a significant decrease in BMI and fat cell volume; however, it did not reduce the number of fat cells two years after the surgery. Similarly, significant weight gain (15-25 percent) over several months in non-obese adult men resulted in significant increase in body fat volume but no change in number. Subsequent weight loss back to baseline resulted in a decrease in fat cell volume but no change in the number of fat cells.

“If you are overweight and you lose weight, you still have the capacity to store lipids because you still have the same number of fat cells. That may be why it’s so hard to keep the weight off,” Buchholz said.

What's further inspiring to note is that one conclusion is to focus on children and preventing them from becoming fat when they are young. It all sounds very discouraging but I refuse to believe that it's already too late for TB, my kids and me to slim down and be healthy!

Let's All Eat Like Cave Men!

This article comes from the Vital Choices newsletter I get in my email. I thought it was fascinating.

The case for eating like a caveman is based on evidence from modern hunter-gatherers, whose diets resemble those of prehistoric ancestors, and from chemical and physical examination of the remains of prehistoric people and their habitats.



From these studies, it is clear that prehistoric hominids and humans ate diets high in wild game (meat and/or fish) and green plants, with no grains and relatively few seeds or starches (largely from tubers).



Scientists call stone-age eating patterns Paleolithic or hunter-gatherer diets, using the terms almost interchangeably due to the diets’ similarity. ...

Pilot clinical trial affirms healthful impacts of “caveman diet”

Last year, scientists at Sweden’s famed Karolinska Institute placed 20 healthy volunteers on a caveman-like diet for three weeks (Osterdahl M et al. 2007).



Before and after the study period, they measured the participants’ weight, body mass index, blood pressure, and cholesterol profiles.



The volunteers were then given a list of “caveman” foods they could eat, including fresh or frozen fruit, berries or vegetables, lean meat, unsalted fish, canned tomatoes, lemon or lime juice, spices and coffee or tea without milk or sugar.



Banned foods included any dairy, cultivated or processed foods, such as beans, grains, salt, peanuts, milk, cheese, bread, pasta or rice, sausages, alcohol, sugar, and fruit juice. ...

So far it doesn't seem too bad except if I did this I'd have to give up cottage cheese, which I love, and garbanzo beans. No more sandwiches! No bread, no processed cold cuts...hm, maybe not so easy. But the results are cool!

At the end of the study, all of the 14 volunteers who completed the diet successfully lost weight, reduced their blood pressure, and slashed blood levels of a clot-causing agent.


These were the average changes (Osterdahl M et al. 2007):



* Lost five pounds.
* Calorie intake dropped by 36 percent.
* Body mass index (BMI) dropped by 0.8 (Healthy BMIs range between 18.5 and 25).
* Systolic blood pressure fell by 3 mmHg.
* Levels of the clotting agent plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 dropped by 72 percent.

Supposedly we are not different from our Neanderthal ancestors in terms of what we should eat and that's why we are having such problems with obesity. I think I'll read the book mentioned in the full article. Fascinating stuff!

Anti-Inflammatory Diet

When I see a title like that, I'm thinking BRAT (bread rice applesauce toast) diet or something similar that you eat when you are sick. When I read the article, though, I realized that it's the same common sense food plan promoted for people to lose weight and stay healthy. I'm not sure why it would be called an anti-inflammatory diet unless the alternative (what most Americans eat) is an inflammatory diet.

This is what Dr. Weil suggests:

Step One: Look at your carbs. The majority of carbohydrates in your diet should be in the form of less-refined, less-processed foods with a low glycemic load. You can do this by replacing your snack foods made with wheat flour and sugar with whole grains, beans, winter squashes, and sweet potatoes.

Step Two: Replace your cooking oil. Instead of safflower and sunflower oils, corn oil, cottonseed oil, mixed vegetable oils, butter and margarine, use extra-virgin olive oil as your main cooking oil (for a neutral tasting oil, use expeller-pressed, organic canola oil).

Step Three: Decrease your consumption of animal protein. Except for fish (such as omega-3 rich salmon) and reduced-fat dairy products, animal derived protein should be limited. You can easily replace meat with vegetable protein such as beans, legumes and whole soy foods.

Step Four: Eat more fiber. Try to eat 40 grams of fiber a day, simple to do if you increase your consumption of fruit, especially berries, vegetables and whole grains.

I really like Dr. Weil's website. I've learned so much from it. He offers so much useful information and tips. Want to learn more? Click here.

There are more and more stories out there about obesity increasing among kids and it's scary. Kids are now at risk for the same complications we adults have with obesity: heart disease, diabetes, and so on. I got an article in my email newsletter about ways parents and grandparents can help kids by setting a good example...even if we ourselves are heavy:

1. Incorporate a vegetable into every meal, especially in casseroles. Peas, broccoli, asparagus, red, yellow or green bell peppers, spinach - you name it, vegetables provide nutrients and fiber.
2. Use more beans and legumes, and less meat. Chickpeas, lentils and beans of all varieties are good sources of fiber and protein.
3. Serve up whole grains. Brown rice and bulghur wheat provide a delicious, grainy taste and texture - and have more fiber and protein than their white counterparts. Choose true, relatively intact whole grains like these over grains that have been ground into flour.
4. Switch sweets. Instead of soda, stock the pantry with sparkling waters. Pour fruit juice into a pitcher and dilute it to lessen the sugar content. Stock your kitchen with fresh, whole fruits, and leave the cookies in the store.

If we start healthy eating habits when kids are little, they're not going to know the difference and they won't miss the sweet or salty junky things. The whole article is here.

Weight and Inadequate Sleep

As I sit here wrestling with insomnia it occurs to me I'm totally not surprised that there's a link between lack of sleep and being overweight/weight gain. In my case, pain and complications of being overweight prevent me from getting a good night's sleep. By day, I'm more listless and less likely to exercisse than I would be if I had enough sleep (roughly 7 hours). Lately, I've been sleeping 2-4 hours, waking for several and then sleeping again for another 2-3. That's just messed up.

The Everyday Health newsletter had an article about being starved for sleep last month. They cited two studies conducted about weight and lack of sleep.

New research suggests that people who don't get enough sleep tend to weigh more -- and that sleep can affect levels of the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin.

"There is a dynamic balance between proper sleep and proper health. Sleep deprivation affects weight and a lot of other things. If you cheat sleep, there are a number of consequences, including affecting your hormones, appetite and mood," said Dr. Patrick Strollo, medical director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Sleep Medicine Center.

The article suggests if you don't get enough sleep, pay attention to your eating habits. If you can't get the sleep you need, go for a short walk rather than snacking on foods. Right...that's if you're not too tired to go for the walk!

Nana Needs To Lose A LOT of Weight

I've posted before that I have an image of myself that is thinner than I actually am. It gets me into trouble when I'm trying to maneuver around and sometimes I've been shocked and embarrassed when I couldn't fit somewhere. Mostly, I can't bear to look at pictures of me.


Who is that? That can't be me,. I think. I don't look like that!

But I do. And now I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life which is why I need the surgery. I haven't been able to get the weight off using other methods and I'm tired of pain and tired of people staring at me like I'm a freak. Usually when I post pictures, I either don't post any of me or I crop everything out except my head. But here is the truth of it from when I was outdoors blowing bubbles with Little T.



I remember feeling surprised when people didn't notice or realize I'd had a breast reducton. Now I understand why--that's a big belly that takes up a lot of the picture!


I have a pretty smile but I don't think that's what people are staring at when I walk by. They don't smile at me--that's how I know. There's a look of distaste or disgust which really annoys or upsets me. It's definitely time to do something!

I realize I won't get down to what I weighed when I graduated high school. Maybe I won't be able to even get this far. This picture was taken a little over 15 years ago. I was about 25 poounds overweight.



I'd e happy with my weight in this picture, taken 5 or 6 years ago.



That's my darling TB on the left of me, by the way. He's in on this with me too.

So here is the big reveal. I'm at 318 lbs now and need to lose at least 100 to feel healthy again. Wish me luck!

Just another thing to add to the list of complications...

After posting about our decision to get bariatric surgery I read an article that came in my email from CBS news:

Fat Belly Linked To Dementia
NEW YORK, March 26, 2008(CBS/AP) Having a big belly in your 40s can boost your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease or other dementia decades later, a new study suggests.

It's not just about your weight. While previous research has found evidence that obesity in middle age raises the chances of developing dementia later, the new work found a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen. Even people who weren't overweight were susceptible.

That abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

"Now we can add dementia to that," said study author Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

So if we're not done in by a heart attack or a stroke, we might just lose our minds. Wonderful. If ever there was good reason to lose weight, it would be the risks of getting hit by any one of these things.

Read the whole article here.

Surgery or Not Revisited

Well...never say never. I was positive I did not want weight loss surgery and if I even considered it, I would only be interested in the lap band. Many months later of pain, increasing disability and inability to enjoy life, TB and I have come to the conclusion that we need and want the surgery.

Yesterday we went to the N.J. Bariatrics Center. This wasn't our first visit. A couple of weeks ago, we went to an informational seminar about the two types of surgery and we had the opportunity to meet both of the doctors, Dr. Brolin and Dr. Chau. The seminar provided a great deal of information and input from a man who'd had a bypass a couple of years ago. We were especially impressed with this man and decided to schedule ourselves an appointment to see Dr. Chau, the surgeon who does the lap bands. Dr. Brolin does riskier bypass surgeries.

If we thought we were informed at the seminar, we learned even more at the consultation. We met with Dr. Chau who explained in detail the benefits and risks of each surgery and what they entail. We also met with a dietician who explained what our lives would be like -- food wise anyway -- post surgery. An insurance specialist explained all the steps we needed to take for precert. The whole process will take 3 months.

TB and I decided that since he is in the most intense pain and the one who needs to get back to work, his procedure will come first. Our next step is to get letters of support from our doctors and to begin a paper trail that shows we are getting counseling about the surgeries.

TB decided that although he is terrified of it, he wants the bypass because it will help him faster. It scares me but I can't sit here and dictate to him what to do when his pain is so severe he gives his quality of life a 1 on a scale of 5. That's pretty sad for a man of only 54.

And so we're off on this new journey.

Always Hungry

One of my biggest stumbling blocks to eating healthier to lose weight is that I always seem to be hungry after the second dzy on the plan. Some plans say I shouldn't let myself get to the point of feeling hungry; others say I just ought to suck it up and get used to it. To lose weight, we have to suffer the hunger pangs. So when I got my daily Managing Diabetes newsletter I was interested to see an article about constant hunger. The link for the article is here.

The first question I have to ask myself is: am I feeling genuinely hungry or do I just want to eat? Hunger is a physiological response and all you want to do is fill that empty stomach. Appetite is different. You just seem to want a specific food--like potato chips, maybe?

How many calories would I need to not feel hungry all the time? The article says:

If you go on a very-low-calorie diet of less than 1,000 calories each day, you will feel very hungry much of the time. It is better for you to eat more calories each day — say 1,200 to 1,500 — for a slower but longer-term weight loss. In the long run, severely restricting calories can backfire, leaving you feeling constantly hungry and constantly wanting to eat. And no matter how much you cut back while you're on the diet, you can't eat so little forever. You'll eventually need to learn to eat at a higher calorie level to maintain your weight.

Well, I don't know about this...when I was on Weight Watchers, I'm assuming I was eating the upper limit of calories 1500-1600 and I still felt hungry! I can only stand feeling hungry for so long before I start raiding the pantry for everything I can find and then I gain it all back! I don't seem to have the will power I did when I was younger.

I should see a nutritionist...

Doctors Treating Fat People

I can feel for these people. They are in a real bind. Obesity is on the rise and it causes any number of health problems. It's probably the leading cause of premature death--or if it isn't yet, it will be. Doctors know this and so do us fat patients. So what is there to do?

Most doctors will mention your weight one time and then delicately not bring it up again unless you do. They figure you know what's what and if they nag, you might not come back to see them when you get really sick.

Then there's the other doctors who tell you they can't help you until you lose weight. Even when they mean well, they can do more damage to you than the ones that ignore the issue. My husband TB and I saw a pain management doctor the other day. TB has been out of work since mid September because of intense pain from spinal stenosis. He was referred to this guy by the rheumatologist and we thought TB was going to get an epidural.

But the doctor wouldn't do it. He told TB, "I don't want you to break my table." He said it very matter-of-factly, not contemptuously. Still words like that hurt. So was he supposed to spare our feelings by putting it another way or covering up by saying he wanted TB to try water physical therapy first to see if that helped? I'm not sure. I was very annoyed, though, when I asked if he treated other types of chronic pain and he answered, "Most of my patients are obese, if that's what you're asking me."

It wasn't.

He didn't rule out the epidural entirely. He just wants TB to lose weight first. What he did do, however, was prescribe another medication for pain and physical therapy in water. He recommended that I go along and follow the exercises because it would benefit me too. That stung a bit.

He also recommended we cut out red meat--we don't eat it every week any more so that's not new--and chicken! Chicken too? Apparently yes. We should be loading up on beans, fish oil to make us feel full, and fish. Hmmm.

Should we feel upset with the doctor for refusing to give TB the epidural?

Some years back I went to a doctor because my breasts were so large and heavy I was getting spasms in my neck and back. The doctor said, lose weight and I'll help you.
I was still suffering in 2005 and told my rheumatologist (same one who recommended TB to the pain doctor), telling him what the doctors said previously. He said, "That isn't always possible and this way, you'll get some relief from the pain." He referred me to a surgeon who did the breast reduction and I did feel so much better.

Around this time in 2001, a friend of mine had a bypass surgery so that he could lose weight and have spinal surgery to relieve pain he was in. My friend seemed to be doing okay after the surgery but died suddenly on the day he was supposed to be discharged from the hospital. Would it have been different if the spinal surgeon had operated in spite of my friend's weight? I don't know...and I guess that's why I don't know what to feel about the issue.

I lost a half a pound, woo hoo...okay, it's not much but I think of it as 2 sticks of butter. It's also great considering all the stress we've been under this week. All the females in the house are having wild mood swings and it's nearly unbearable! The lunatic behavior of women have even extended to our grandson's bus driver!

And now for something completely different: a lot of grown food has so much chemicals and hormones added to the fertilizer and water you're better off getting the organic varieties. And yet, here are some that -- according to Dr. Weil -- are still okay to buy:

11 Items You Don't Have to Buy Organic
The best way to reap the health benefits of fruits and vegetables without exposing yourself to potentially harmful pesticides is to choose organic produce whenever possible, especially those varieties which are more likely to be contaminated. But if organic produce is cutting into your budget, it's okay to buy non-organic varieties of the fruits and vegetables listed below, which tend to contain the least amount of pesticides. However, make it a habit to wash them thoroughly before eating or cooking, to remove dirt and bacteria.

Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cabbage
Corn (sweet, frozen)
Kiwi
Mangos
Onions
Pineapples
Peas (sweet, frozen)

It's a relief because you know that organically grown foods are twice as expensive!

Update on Us

TB and I are wearing down under the enormous stress we're under. My sugar is out of whack again, I've gained weight and I have tingling toes and fingers which could be stress, diabetic neuropathy or Reynaud's. I already know that I have Reynaud's phenomenon and am hoping it's just an episode of that and not neuropathy or something equally evil. For years, I noticed that sometimes my fingers and toes would look blue and feel cold and a doctor told me it was Reynaud's and probably due to low thyroid function. I think stress plays a role in it too--probably more malevolency caused by too much cortisol!

TB is struggling to cope with what's happening to him. He's not able to work right now because of spinal stenosis. He is in so much pain he can barely stand to walk for more than a few minutes at a time. He has no sick leave and so there's no money coming in which adds to the depression and stress he's feeling. It's a terrible thing to be vitally healthy and the support of the whole family and to suddenly have your health do a crash and burn like this.

The adultolescents are not much help and to add fuel to the fire, TB and I are also members of the sandwich generation which means we have elderly parents who are becoming needy. Right now most of that burden is on his sister and my brother but there is only so much that those two will be able to bear without help.

I need to regroup and refocus and try to relax all at the same time!

What! What happened to my menopause?

ARGH, I thought my periods stopped at least a year and possibly even longer ago. I can't remember the last time I had a real period although looking back there may have been times when I had a very very very light day or two ... does that count? If that counts then it hasn't been a full year! I guess I better call my "groinacologist"! That's what you are supposed to do if you have bleeding post menopause.

The cause of uterine bleeding postmenopause may be harmless; however, it's important to understand that there may be other causes of abnormal bleeding such as:

* uterine fibroid tumors
* a hormonal imbalance
* the use of birth control pills
* non-cancerous growths in the lining of the uterus

I need any of the above like I need another hole in my head! Isn't it bad enough I have another infection and my sugar has been too high for the last 10 days?

However...I have to relax and not think about it because I don't want any more cortisol coursing through my body wreaking more havoc! Time to play mindless online computer games!

We're Not #1 In Longevity

It seems like people are living longer and longer thanks to technology but ... the United States is not #1 in the world for longevity! Surprised? I know I was!

Lifelong Health: Life Expectancy in U.S. Drops to 42nd in World
Dr. David Lipschitz
The life expectancy of Americans is at an all-time high. But, before you get too excited, I must let you know that the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics report that America ranks poorly in life expectancy among the world's developed countries. Twenty years ago, America ranked 11th in the world. Today, it has dropped to 42nd. We spend more health dollars per capita than any other nation, and yet Japan, Singapore, Macau, most of Europe, Jordan and the Cayman Islands are all ahead of us in longevity.

The straight statistics are embarrassing, but dig a little deeper, and the story grows worse. Longevity is not just an "American" issue, but a socioeconomic and ethnic one as well. The life expectancy among affluent whites -- 77.9 years of age -- competes well with most countries in Asia and Europe. However, the life expectancy of black males averages 69 years, lower than in Cuba, Iran and Syria.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic of all is that the United States has a higher rate of infant mortality than most other developed countries. Here, the United States ranks 41st behind most developed Asian countries, Europe and Cuba. The average infant mortality in the United States is 6.8 deaths per 1,000 births. However, infant mortality among blacks is 13.7 deaths per thousand births. Before you start pointing to infant deaths as the main cause of our lowered life expectancy, realize that even when excluding deaths during the first year of life, America still ranks 42nd.

So why the declining rank of life expectancy in the United States? First, the National Center for Health Statistics now tracks information from many more countries than it did 20 years ago. However, I do not think this detracts from the fact that most developed countries are doing much better than we are.

In an interview on British Broadcasting Corp., Dr. Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Center, blames the decline in life expectancy on disparities in socioeconomic status, the lack of access to quality health care and the fact that so many Americans are uninsured. He points out that a black man in Harlem, Baltimore or New York has a lower life expectancy than a man living in Bangladesh. He puts much of the blame on commercial health insurance with its massive overhead for marketing, claims adjustment, administrative costs and salaries for senior executives. Butler urges immediate and substantive health care reform -- reducing the number of uninsured Americans, improving access to care and eradicating reduced longevity among minorities and the poor.

Although I often complain about America's focus on acute, high-technology care, this is clearly not a contributing factor in our poor longevity ranking. When it comes to major surgery of any kind, including open heart, abdominal or cancer, the United States ranks at or near the top. Similarly, we rank high in treatment of cancer by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Clearly, an American with cancer will likely have a better outcome than a Bangladeshi with cancer.

But the huge investment in acute care comes at a cost that is much more than financial. Most medical student training concentrates almost exclusively on managing acute illnesses and serious medical problems. Doctors flock to these exciting and well-reimbursed fields at the expense of primary and preventive care, fields in which lack of physicians is approaching crisis levels. It is not surprising, therefore, that the quality of primary and preventive care and the management of chronic diseases leave much to be desired.

There is another likely culprit in America's low ranking in longevity -- unhealthful lifestyle choices such as eating poorly, being sedentary and smoking, all of which contribute significantly to a higher risk of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. This in turn leads to a lowered life expectancy.

For a nation with the resources of the United States, disparities in health care, high infant mortality and an inability to address the obesity, diabetic and heart disease epidemics should always remain center stage in the debate over our nation's priorities and the use of its precious resources.

========

Dr. David Lipschitz is the author of the book "Breaking the Rules of Aging." To find out more about Dr. David Lipschitz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. More information is available at www.drdavidhealth.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

What terrible statistics! I realize our own behavior is to blame for some of this--eating too much fast food, not exercising, etc--but how can we have such an abysmal infant mortality rate? We have got so much money, how is it these babies are dying?

Immune For Life? Think Again!

I was born in 1954 so I actually got a lot of the childhood diseases: measles, mumps, scarlet fever, and possibly even whooping cough. My kindergarten teacher was sure I had it and my mother was furious. I have the scars on my shoulder to show where I got my polio vaccinations--boy did they hurt! I knew that I'm supposed to get a tetanus booster every so often but figured I had immunity for life against all the other nasty kids' disease. But wait! There's this:

The Adult Vaccines You Need

If you can't remember the last time you got a vaccine, call your doctor now.

On a mid-August morning two summers ago, Debbie Twenge started coughing. Just a cold, thought the resident of Dundee, OR, now 56. But the body-racking cough got worse--much worse. Over the next 6 weeks, Twenge had to make two trips to the emergency room. One particularly frightening evening, her daughter called 911 when Twenge's throat closed up during a coughing fit. "I thought I was going to die," she recalls.

By the end of September, her doctor was suggesting tranquilizers--"as if I was just a nervous female," Twenge says with outrage. That's when her husband read about a local outbreak of whooping cough, aka pertussis. A test quickly revealed she had it, but it took 6 months for her to recover from the lingering inflammation and injury to her breathing passages.

So it was with great interest that Twenge recently learned that the CDC now recommends all adults get a booster shot to protect themselves against this "childhood" disease. Health officials estimate that the vaccine could prevent more than 8,000 adult infections and 30 to 40 deaths each year. "If I had known what pertussis was like, I would have jumped at the chance to be vaccinated," says Twenge.

Chances are, when you hit adulthood, you figured that you were pretty much done with vaccines, except for the occasional flu shot. But it's time to roll up your sleeve. Experts say the right vaccines can prevent pain and misery--and could even save your life.

Still hesitant? Worried about side effects? Don't be. Here's the lowdown on the shots you need and when--and why you want them.

Get It Now

Tdap booster: Prevents whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus

You probably got a pertussis shot as a child, or maybe even had a bout of whooping cough, and think you're immune. But experts now realize that neither immunization nor infection provides lifelong protection. In fact, immunity wanes within 10 years, explains Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC's National Immunization Program. That's a big reason there's been a massive resurgence of pertussis over the past 20 years--more than 25,500 cases in the United States in 2005.


Protect yourself: The next time you're due for your 10-year tetanus-diphtheria shot (Td)--and yes, you should be getting a tetanus booster every decade--ask for the Tdap booster, which includes protection against pertussis. Get the shot now if you're in close contact with a baby or someone whose immune system has been weakened by age, chemotherapy, or HIV infection--they might not survive if you pass pertussis to them. (You can get a Tdap booster as soon as 2 years after a previous Td vaccine.)

MMR: Prevents mumps, measles, and rubella Just when we'd almost vanquished mumps, the viral infection is making a comeback. In a typical year, fewer than 300 Americans catch mumps, but in 2006, there were more than 5,800 cases! The reason may be found in England: Lagging childhood immunization rates there have led to a comeback of this disease, and tourists may have carried it here. In adults, mumps can be serious: 1 in 20 women develops swelling of the ovaries; 1 in 5 men, inflammation of the testes. Rarely, adult mumps can cause potentially deadly encephalitis (an infection of the brain).

If you were born between 1957 and 1967, you're particularly susceptible to catching mumps, because the version of the vaccine your pediatrician gave you wasn't effective enough to provide reliable lifelong protection.

Protect yourself: If you're not sure you had mumps or received two MMR doses after 1967, get this vaccine ASAP. (Kids need two shots 28 days apart; as an adult, you'll get only one.)

Flu vaccine: Prevents flu--and potentially deadly pneumonia Late in 2003 and into 2004, doctors in the Baltimore area were helpless to save a previously healthy man in his 50s when he developed an antibiotic-resistant form of pneumonia on the heels of the flu. Three others--women in their 20s and 30s--nearly died the same way.

The bug behind those drug-resistant pneumonias is a new and nasty strain of Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA--and researchers say flu raises the risk of catching it. There are plenty of other reasons to avoid the flu: 36,000 people die each year from flu-related complications. That's why the CDC now says that all adults should get an annual flu shot.

Protect yourself: This fall, get a flu shot or a spritz of the new nasal vaccine, FluMist (approved for adults up to age 50). It's best to get immunized in October or November, but immunization as late as January is still worthwhile--the flu often peaks as late as March.

Get it When You Turn 60

Zostavax: Prevents shingles and postherpetic neuralgia

One in four people who have had chicken­pox eventually develops the blistering rash of shingles--caused when the chickenpox virus, Varicella zoster, is reactivated. Around 40% will go on to suffer what's been described as the worst kind of pain imaginable. Called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), it is so agonizing that it's been known to lead some people to suicide.

Protect yourself: As soon as you hit 60, get a dose of Zostavax, approved by the FDA last year. Schuchat predicts that people in their 50s will eventually be urged to get the vaccine, too, if ongoing tests show that it's equally effective in their age group. You've never had chicken­pox? Then definitely get the chickenpox vaccine, Varivax, as well. Adult chickenpox has a substantially higher risk of complications, such as pneumonia and potentially deadly encephalitis.

Get it if You're Dating

HPV vaccine (Gardasil): Prevents cervical cancer

The benefits of the HPV vaccine for women under 26 have been all over the news. But the headlines overlooked something important: Gardasil may also be lifesaving for older women, especially those who are divorced or in a non­monogamous relationship. Younger women were studied first because they're more likely to be exposed to the cancer-causing human papillomavirus, but research is under way on women over age 26. The vaccine targets four of the viral strains most commonly associated with cervical cancer and genital warts and, says Schuchat, "the chance that any woman has been exposed to all four types is tiny. So the vaccine will probably benefit everyone who gets it."

Protect yourself: Consider getting the three-shot HPV series if you've been mutually monogamous--or abstinent--but are now dating again. (Think about getting a hepatitis B vaccine, too; that sexually transmitted virus sometimes causes liver cancer.) If you're over age 26, your insurance may not cover the $350 cost of the series, at least until Gardasil is approved for older women or a similar shot, called Cervarix, gets okayed (that vaccine was recently green-lighted in Australia for women up to age 45). However, one or both approvals may happen soon.

Put Vaccine Fears to Rest

Fear: Mercury

Fact: A few years back, researchers raised the concern that people (especially babies) might accumulate a toxic dose of mercury from thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that consists largely of the metal. To be on the safe side, thimerosal was removed from many pediatric vaccines. But since then, studies have shown that the form of mercury found in the preservative, ethyl mercury, does not build up in the body.

Fear: Allergic reaction

Fact: These do occur, so tell your doctor if you have an allergy to egg (flu vaccine), gelatin (MMR vaccine), or yeast (HPV and hepatitis B vaccines). If you have an unexpected reaction, the doctor will give you an antihistamine, or a shot of epinephrine if your allergy is severe. It's worth noting, though, that vaccines cause only one death or serious reaction per million shots given--and save many more lives by preventing disease.

Fear: The flu vaccine actually causes the flu

Fact: The flu shot contains no live virus, while FluMist contains one that has been weakened so that it's incapable of causing infection. Neither can give you the flu, says Andrew Kroger, MD, a CDC epidemiologist and vaccine information specialist. But if you were exposed to the flu right before you were immunized, the protection may come too late to keep you from getting sick.

Depression

What a vicious cycle! In my father's family, almost every one of my aunts, uncles and cousins have a mood disorder or alcoholism. My mother seems to be the only one of her siblings afflicted with any kind of emotional problem. She was definitely depressed when I was growing up and now that both my daughters have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there wasn't some of that going on too. I just remember being afraid of her rages. My own battles with depression and anxiety started when I was in my teens.

I wish I knew more about my grandparents' (both sides) generation and back. Were other members of the family depressed? I don't think I'll be able to find out because mood disorders were (are?) so stigmatized. It was a shameful thing to have to see a shrink, something the family was embarrassed to admit and often they'd refuse to get any help for themselves or their loved ones. And being depressed--well, aren't you supposed to just "snap out of it"?

What I do know is that one grandfather was a heavy drinker and the other suffered from rages and terrorized his whole family. Both grandmothers, being women, had to tolerate a lot of crap--that's just the way it was. After the raging grandfather died, my grandmother wrote in her diary that she was finally free. I read her diary after her death and felt so sad...and had a bit more understanding and compassion for my mother.

I read an online article that said:

Physical factors such as genes, hormones, and brain function aren’t the only contributors to depression; life events also play a role. Profound early losses, such as the death of a parent or the withdrawal of a loved one’s affection, may resonate throughout life, eventually expressing themselves as depression. When an individual is unaware of the wellspring of his or her illness, he or she can’t easily move past the depression.

The italics are mine. My grandfather, in a rage, would knock my mother's head against a wall. He'd go after my grandmother or one of my uncles. Also, my mother and her sister were placed in a school for the deaf in the city. They were separated from their families for months at a time. My mother had rages and periods of depression when I was little. Sometimes she was physically abusive and sometimes she'd try to kill herself. I didn't feel her love. In fact, she told me she'd never wanted to have children and that my father forced her. That sure affected me!

What might have happened to my daughters? I made sure I was affectionate with them and supportive and told them I loved them. Even from early childhood, Heidi had mood swings and depression--that biological gene? The girls were 12 and 9 when their dad died and so I think if anything triggered a spiral downward it would be that. What is more traumatic to a kid than arguing with your father one night and waking up the next morning to find out he'd died while you were sleeping, before you could say I didn't mean it, I love you?

So...do I have a depression gene that was dormant until it was triggered by a traumatic event in my teen years and did I pass it on to my girls?

Can you tell I have guilt issues as well?

If that wasn't enough, there is this, from another article:

Parental stress or bullying by peers can make it even tougher for overweight or obese children to get healthy, a U.S. study finds.

"If a parent is distressed, that seems to impact a child's symptoms of depression, which then impacts quality of life. It's the same with peer victimization. It impacts depression, which then impacts quality of life. And it seems to affect not just the emotional aspect of quality of life, but also their health status," lead author David Janicke, assistant professor of clinical and health psychology in the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, in Gainesville, said in a prepared statement.

That is very distressing! I do feel guilty because my older two kids are very obese and Kristin is about 40-50 lbs overweight. Okay, it happened mostly after my first husband died and it was true that I was so flattened by grief that I didn't make sure they were eating the right things or exercising. By the time I "woke up" we'd gained about 300 pounds between the 4 of us.

What is there left to do? I know from my own experience as a heavy adolescent that nagging and ridicule doesn't work. I know the motivation to get healthy has to come from within. But as a mother, it's hard sometimes to think about their futures if they don't lose weight and exercise. They'll end up like me--with health problems and in pain. I don't want that for them. I can offer healthy foods here and not buy junk which is what I do. They've seen me struggling with weight issues all their lives and I haven't been the best role model when they were growing up.

And guess what? Even though weight is a problem on both sides of my family I wouldn't doubt it if my struggles didn't stem from my mom's inability to respond to me when I was little.

A vicious cycle indeed!

Fat Cell Protein, Diabetes & Obesity

Another example of body chemistry working against us:

Obesity, diabetes tied to fat cell protein
CLEVELAND (UPI) -- U.S. scientists suggest a protein involved in the transfer of fat in the blood may influence how fat cells store fat linked to obesity and diabetes.

The study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, looked at how the protein -- called cholesterol ester transfer protein, or CETP -- is involved in the cellular storage and regulation of cholesterol and other fats.

Richard E. Morton and Lahoucine Izem of the Cleveland Clinic say CETP may be essential for lipid metabolism and storage in fat cells and that fat tissue is not only an energy storage tissue but also a major endocrine organ.

"CETP is known to shuttle different types of fat between lipoproteins -- combinations of fat and protein that transport fats in the blood," Morton said in a statement. "In this study, we show that CETP also shuttles fats inside fat cells between two separate areas and that fat cells with reduced levels of CETP are unable to process fats normally."

CETP deficiency disrupts storage of important fats in fat cells, which can lead to insulin resistance -- a major contributor to diabetes -- and the abnormal release of cytokines, proteins that stimulate the immune system, according to Morton. "This unexpected contribution of CETP provides a new understanding of how our body stores and regulates fats and of conditions such as obesity and diabetes," said Morton.




Copyright 2007 by United Press International

The first step to solving a problem is always understanding it...so I hope that now scientists are working on a way to fix CETP deficiency.

Dr. Weil's 3 Nutrition Tips for Arthritis

I really like Dr. Weil's website for all the useful information that can help me to live better and healthier. For instance, it's from his website (and not doctors) that I first learned how omega 3s can help my heart.

I suffer from arthritis in my neck, hands and spine and some days are pretty bad. So I find this information helpful:

3 Nutrition Tips for Arthritis

Stiffness, pain and swelling of joints are common symptoms of osteoarthritis. Aside from getting regular exercise (low-impact is the best) and maintaining a healthy weight, consider the following nutritional changes to help prevent or lessens symptoms.

Eat foods rich in antioxidants. Fresh fruits and vegetables are good sources, and may help reduce tissue damage from inflammation.
Get enough omega-3s. Oily fish such as wild Alaskan salmon, walnuts, freshly ground flaxseed or a good omega-3 supplement may help reduce the inflammation and pain of arthritis.
Regularly use ginger and turmeric for their natural anti-inflammatory properties.

Here again are the omega-3s. Luckily I have a new taste for fish I never had before! Also, I had no idea that ginger and turmeric had any anti-inflammatory properties. Well, I learn something new every day that can help me!

The importance of sleeping

I'm learning that sleep is tied to good health and that tie can't be broken. I've learned that with broken sleep, my fibromyalgia bothers me more. I'm more stressed (no surprise there) and I even begin to gain weight when I don't get enough sleep! I've had a tendency for a long time to nap in the afternoon. Napping, I see from the article I just read, is actually a good thing--if it's the right length. If I sleep too long, I enter a deeper cycle which makes it harder for me to wake up and makes it harder for me to fall asleep. So now I've got to train myself to set my alarm clock to go off a lot sooner than I have been!

Sleep Benefits: Power Napping for Increased Productivity, Stress Relief & Health
From Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,
Your Guide to Stress Management.
Stay up to date!
The Benefits of Sleep and The Power Nap
Why A Power Nap? Facts on Sleep:
While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture generally frowns upon mid-day sleep; however, even in those who get enough sleep (but particularly in those who don’t), many people experience a natural decrease in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. And research shows that you can make yourself more alert reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning with a nap. Mid-day sleep, or a ‘power nap’, means more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning, more efficiency and better health. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of sleep and how a power nap can help you!
How Much Sleep Do You Need? The body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day; 6 hours or less triples your risk of a car accident. (Interestingly, too much sleep--more than 9 hours--can actuallybe harmful for your health; recent studies show that those who sleep more than 9 hours per day don’t live as long as their 8-hour-sleep counterparts!)

The Effects of Missed Sleep: Sleep is cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next. If you miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep deficit’, which impairs the following:


Reaction time
Judgment
Vision
Information processing
Short-term memory
Performance
Motivation
Vigilance
Patience
Fatigued people also experience more moodiness, aggressive behaviors, burnout and more stress.
The Benefit of a Power Nap: Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up.

How Long Should I Sleep? When you sleep you pass through different stages of sleep, known together as a sleep cycle. These stages include light sleep, deep sleep (which is believed to be the stage in which the body repairs itself), and rapid-eye movement sleep, or REM sleep (during which the mind is repaired).

Many experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken. Also, longer naps can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night, especially if your sleep defecit is relatively small. However, research has shown that a 1-hour nap has many more restorative effects than a 30-minute nap, including a much greater improvement in cognitive functioning. The key to taking a longer nap is to get a sense of how long your sleep cycles are, and try to awaken at the end of a sleep cycle. (It’s actually more the interruption of the sleep cycle that makes you groggy, rather than the deeper states of sleep.)

As there are pros and cons to each length of sleep, you may want to let your schedule decide: if you only have 15 minutes to spare, take them! But if you could work in an hour nap, you may do well to complete a whole sleep cycle, even if it means less sleep at night. If you only have 5 minutes to spare, just close your eyes; even a brief rest has the benefit of reducing stress and helping you relax a little, which can give you more energy to complete the tasks of your day.

Tips For a More Effective Nap If you want to obtain more sleep, and the health benefits that go with getting enough sleep, here are some tips for more effective napping and sleep at night:


Avoid caffeine after 3pm. It’s a stimulant that can disrupt your sleep and stay in your system longer than you think; its half-life is four to six hours!
If you don’t want to nap a long time, set an alarm.
If you don’t have time for a power nap, or don’t feel comfortable napping during the day, try meditation; it gives your body a rest and produces slower brain waves similar to sleep.