THE DANGER OF SLIMMING PILLS

Recent news events have told us about women stricken with complications arising from taking slimming pills with unauthorized and dangerous substances. Many distributors of slimming products make unfounded claims in the effectiveness of their products making their product look seemingly innocent. " There is no shortcut way in one's bid to lose weight" Due to the lack of knowledge and ignorance on the side of users, many people are given misleading or incorrect information about the slimming product or pills that they are taking. Slimming pills stimulate weight loss in a variety of ways. Slimming pills that suppress the appetite often contain adrenaline derivatives which cause harmful and unpleasant side effects such as palpitations, dry mouth, insomnia, restlessness and anxiety. These side effects may add to the existing problem of obesity and create medical complications. Slimming pills that contain diuretics stimulate water-loss and are usually ineffective because of the body's natural tendency to replace lost fluids. If you take a pill that makes you lose say 1 pound of water, your weight will be reduced by the same amount, but the moment you drink liquids, the depleted quantity of water will be replaced and your weight will return to normal. Diuretics can be potentially harmful because they may also cause potassium depletion, which can lead to muscular weakness, including weakening of the heart muscle and mental confusion. Water depletion is also particularly dangerous if you are living in hot climates countries where dehydration may create numerous complications. Slimming pills that contain laxatives may lead to severe diarrhea, dehydration from water loss, vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Pills containing harsh laxatives tend to destroy normal movement of the bowels. Taken over a long time, they prevent the ability to produce normal stools. If you feel slimming pills are an option for you, speak to your doctor. You and your doctor should discuss the long term effects of a product in relation to your health before deciding if the pills are appropriate for you. Slimming pills are potentially very dangerous and should only be used with the recommendation of your doctor and taken as prescribed.This is true if you intend to use them for a long period of time. The most healthy and effective way to control your weight is through long-term healthy eating and regular exercise.Your body requires certain quantities of vitamins and minerals daily for optimum health. The healthy diet should be based on lower calorie nutritious food such as vegetables, fruits, lean meat, poultry, fish, low fat dairy products and cereals. Eating healthy to lose weight is a great idea but your weight loss plan will be far more effective if you add regular exercise to it. To keep your weight down in the long term, get at least 30 minutes of exercise everyday. There are lots of ways to increase the amount of activity you do. Aerobics classes, running, brisk walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels. Choose activities that suit your lifestyle and that you find enjoyable. You are then more likely to build it into your routine and continue to exercise. Alternatively, you could join a fitness class to make physical activity a regular habit. As you exercise more often, you will be able to increase the length and intensity of your workout. Do not lose weight rapidly. Remember that there is no shortcut way in one's bid to lose weight.

Diabetes: the heart and blood vessels

Maintaining blood sugar levels is not what concerns a cardiologist primarily. This is the province of the endocrinologist. Cardiologists are more concerned about the effects of chronically elevated blood sugar.

When the pancreas malfunctions, there is insulin deficiency, and blood sugar rises, sometimes severely. These issues are very well studied, and has been addressed with the use of insulin injections (discovered by Dr F. Banting and Charles Best in 1921) and also the drugs that work primarily in stimulating the pancreas to produce extra insulin, like glibenclamide.

In the 21st century, we have obesity by the ton, forgive my pun. Obese people can have high levels of insulin and yet high levels of blood sugar. This paradox was initially puzzling but we now know that the potbelly produces substances that cause the body cells not to respond to insulin. In our language, obesity causes insulin resistance.

This truncal obesity, together with hypertension, insulin resistance, high triglyceride and low HDL-cholesterol, form a syndrome that we call the "metabolic syndrome", truncal obesity being the main component of this cardio-damaging disease.

The potbelly is a very active organ (not as docile as it may seem), producing hormones and chemicals that cause insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension and these two in combination severely aggravate heart disease.

Persistent high insulin levels, as often occurs with insulin resistance, changes excess blood sugars into fats, and this further aggravates the potbelly.

Hence, a potbelly begets a potbelly. What�s worse, the persistent high blood sugar causes the blood, blood cells and also the artery wall cells, including the heart, kidney and brain arteries, to be sticky. This promotes blockages in the artery wall.

Therefore, although pancreatic malfunction causes one type of diabetes, obesity and potbelly, very much a 21st century disease, causes another type of diabetes, which comes with hypertension. This latter variety is highly cardiac and blood vessel damaging.

To reiterate, obesity causes insulin resistance and fat metabolism disorder, which in turn causes hypertension and diabetes mellitus (metabolic syndrome), which in turn causes coronary artery disease. When we should be sitting on our fat, we are allowing the fat belly to sit on us and cause us all these problems. Now this bothers cardiologists, a lot.

Complications of diabetes

The saying is true that no one actually dies from diabetes itself anymore. The pre-insulin days where patients waste away from severe high blood sugar and diabetic coma is nowadays a rarity with the advent of insulin. That's why, I guess, Dr Banting and Best won the Nobel prize for Physiology in 1925.

Patients with diabetes nowadays develop kidney, eyes, brain and nerves, and heart and blood vessel complications. In fact all the diabetic complications are blood vessel related. Small blood vessel damage leads to eye problems, kidney disease, kidney failure and nerve damage. Bigger blood vessel damage leads to strokes, CAD with heart attacks and poor limb circulation resulting in amputation for some.

Eventually diabetes translates to cardiac and vascular disorders as blood vessel walls thicken and get clogged up with sluggish circulation and damaged blood vessel wall cells.

Yes, main target organs can be damaged, resulting in complications like kidney failure and renal dialysis, blindness, strokes, heart attacks, angina attacks, angioplasties, bypass surgery, limb gangrene, poor healing wounds and limb amputations.

What is also important to emphasise is that once you are afflicted with diabetes, your risk for every medical illness becomes worse. Even common cough and colds take longer to recover in diabetics, and is more likely to be complicated.

The bbcnews.com recently reported that obese people suffer more complications following motor vehicle accidents. It is as if diabetes weakens your whole body. All cardiac procedures carry a higher risk of complications and the outcomes tend to be worse, in the short and long term, be it angioplasties, or bypass surgery.

Management of diabetes

For those who are already diabetic, please realise that your life is in your hands. Proper treatment by qualified medical practitioners can do much to delay or even avoid complications.

A careless attitude and non-compliance to medical treatment invariably results in worse outcome and target organ failure.

The drugs for the insulin deficient type of diabetes is a little different from the drugs used for the obesity, potbelly type of diabetes. There are very good drugs for both types as our understanding of the disease has improved tremendously.

We have drugs that will help the pancreas to produce more insulin, like the sulphonyl ureas, and insulin injections (for the insulin deficient kind) and drugs that sensitise the cells and tissues to insulin, like the biguanides and "glitazones" (for the insulin resistant kind).

Soon we will have a nasal spray insulin for easier administration. There is also an anti-obesity drug about to be launched that promises to make subjects lose weight and lessen the risk of heart disease, acting through a new body system called the Endocanabinoid system. Interesting. Help for the potbellies is on the way.

Prevention is better than cure

But drug treatment for diabetes, though good, is not the best strategy, both for the patient and for the nation. It is much, much better that diabetes, especially the metabolic syndrome (potbelly type), is prevented.

Potbelly is invariably the result of eating the wrong food and a sedentary lifestyle. This is the age of computers and the remote control. We want instant gratification, without ever having to move from our seat in front of the big, flat screen. We do not exercise enough. We love the elevator, even to go up one to two floors, rather than use the staircase.

Cycling to work has been suggested as a way to overcome this problem. Well, let us see how many will follow. We love junk food. Fast food, almost synonymous with junk food, is springing up all over the place. French fries are many a child�s regular diet. Add to it salt and a sugar-rich carbonated drink, you have the classical diabetic, hypertensive diet.

We have identified some of the problems. Prevention then is relatively easy, but involves sacrifice. Promoting a low salt diet (3 gms a day), with avoidance of carbonated drink would be a good start.

Fruits and vegetables are healthy and should be encouraged. White meat is preferred. Except for service lifts, and lifts for the handicapped and infirm, lifts should go to every third floor. Remote controls for TVs and radios should be banned. Regularly walk 15km a week. Have regular check-ups. All males above 40 years and all females above 50 years should go for a medical checkup.

DIABETES AND THE HEART

Almost 15-20% of our population, including those in the rural areas of Malaysia, suffer from diabetes mellitus. And approximately 30-40% of our heart patients have diabetes as well. "Once you are afflicted with diabetes, your risk for every medical illness becomes worse" Diabetics do worse in all measures of heart disease outcomes, be it angioplasty outcomes, bypass surgery outcomes, heart attacks outcomes and even plain angina attack outcomes. That is why cardiologists spend a lot of their time understanding diabetes. We will try and understand how diabetes is the bad-tempered close relative of CAD. Diabetes mellitus Diabetes is "kencing manis", or sweet urine, giving us our first impression that diabetes is a condition of too much sugar in the urine. There is too much sugar in the blood, causing the excess sugar to overflow into the urine. Well this impression is largely correct. But the reverse must also quickly be mentioned, so as to correct a very large and present misconception, and that is, if there is no sugar in the urine, I do not have diabetes. Well this is not true. Back in the 60s and early 70s, we used to use urine sugar as a way of testing for diabetes. You remember the Benedict's solution as a way of testing for sugar in the urine? This has been found to be unreliable and largely abandoned, although being a cheap test, some clinics continue to use it as a rough guide to diabetes follow-up. Sugar is a simple molecule, circulating freely in the blood circulation, reaching all organs, and helping all cells to function. It is the energy-providing, life-sustaining molecule that all cells require. Diabetes occurs when there is too much sugar in the blood stream and yet this high blood sugar level somehow cannot get into the cells where it is required. As we often say, it is almost like the saying "water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink". Now to the science of diabetes through the eyes of a cardiologist - the pancreas is a leaf-shaped organ situated at the back of the abdomen, lying stretched across the spine. This organ is mainly responsible for the regulation and maintenance of blood sugar levels within a narrow range of about 4-6 mmols/litre. Too low a level will make the cells malfunction, just as would too high a blood sugar level. Depending on which cells or organs are affected most, hypoglycaemia (low sugar level) it may present as lethargy and tiredness on the one hand, or violence and aggression on the other. Of course, extreme hypoglycaemia can result in coma. Hypoglycaemia is a much lesser medical issue then hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), and is usually the result of drug treatment for hyperglycaemia. The pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that is required for the proper maintenance of blood sugar levels. It basically facilitates the movement of sugar from the blood stream into cells and tissues for their energy-requiring functions. Sugar in the cells is broken down to produce energy to drive the cell's function. Insulin production is increased in response to high circulating blood sugar level, as will occur after meals containing carbohydrates/sugar. The increased outpouring of insulin after a meal causes the sugar in the blood stream to move into cells and tissues (eg muscle cells, brain cells and heart muscle cells) so that these cells can use the sugar to produce energy for their important functions. Excess sugar is stored in the liver with the help of insulin. In the event of low sugar levels in the blood, the pancreas also produces another hormone, called glucagon, which functions to facilitate the movement of sugar out of the liver cells where sugar is stored and to the blood stream to normalise the blood sugar level. So like all body systems, there is always a "yin-yang" balancing to maintain body equilibrium.

Britney Spears Has a Budget — $130,000 on Plastic Surgery

The following article is reprinted from Make Me Heal 's Celebrity Plastic Surgery News. The article, along with photos can be found at the following link:Is Britney Spears’s Latest Weight Loss From Plastic Surgery?.

Tabloids have been reporting that between appearances on the TV show How I Met Your Mother, Britney Spears has lost anywhere from 15-30 pounds in only a few short weeks. Make Me Heal decided to take a look at the evidence of the entertainer’s rapid weight loss and weigh in on the possibility that plastic surgery is behind her makeover.

The former teen idol was well known for her incredible body and when she lost it to pregnancy, critics were harsh on the 26-year old mother. Make Me Heal has previously reported on Britney Spears penchant for plastic surgery, from her rhinoplasty to her breast augmentations to her various liposuction treatments (see Make Me Heal’s stories on Britney Spears’s nose job and Britney Spears’s breast implants and Britney Spears’s liposuctions). In the past, Britney’s rumored weight loss has been attributed to Lipodissolve, a type of mesotherapy procedure. Mesotherapy is a procedure that is popular in Europe that is aimed at reducing fat and improving the appearance of cellulite through a series of injections with micro needles. She has also been rumored to have used laser liposuction procedures such as Smartlipo as well as more invasive lipo procedures.

It is hard to tell from Britney’s appearance on television, but recent pictures of Britney in a bikini do appear to show the pop star restored to her pre-baby glory days, making Make Me Heal think that it is possible that the star may have gotten a cosmetic surgery procedure to speed up her weight loss. After any liposuction procedure, whether it is tumescent liposuction or minimally invasive laser/infrared light liposuction alternatives (i.e. Smartlipo, SmoothShapes, Velasmooth, Velashape, CoolLipo), the area usually swells or otherwise appears inflamed. In Britney’s case, however, there doesn’t appear to be any signs of recent work in Britney’s pictures.

Plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia says, “It seems more likely to me that she starved herself or used stimulants. The swelling from lipo would still be there. I’d wager she’s had lipo in the past though.”

Whatever the reason for Britney’s recent weight loss, Britney must be looking good enough for television as there are already rumors that she will have yet another appearance on the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Cameron Diaz Is Shocked By Plastic Surgery Fanatics

Cameron Diaz is shocked by ordinary people who want to undergo plastic surgery to look more like Britney Spears or Brad Pitt. The 34-year old star has also vowed to never have any additional cosmetic surgery in her life to improve her looks beyond the rhinoplasty (nose job) that she had in early 2007 and which she insists was performed strictly for medical reasons.

Cameron Diaz finds it "sick" that people would want to go under the knife to look more like celebrities, as she feels that having these procedures “destroys” their character. Speaking about reality television shows that depict extreme makeovers and celebrity look-alike plastic surgery, Cameron Diaz says "Urgh! Have you seen those shows where ordinary people want to look like Britney Spears or Brad Pitt? What on earth possesses them to want to destroy their own character? To go under the knife to do that, well, it's sick."

Cameron Diaz vehemently objects to having plastic surgery and does not intend on going under the knife ever in her life to enhance her looks, even when she gets older.

"I had to have work on my nose for a deviated septum, but I would never do anything else. I think beauty comes from inside," says Diaz.

Diaz had a rhinoplasty (nose job) in 2007, which she claims was done to repair a deviated septum and alleviate breathing problems that she’s been having due to having broken her nose four times over the years. Despite these allegations, photos of Diaz’s new nose show a cosmetic improvement in her look. Diaz's new nose has a straighter bridge when compared to her older crooked nose whose bridge was twisted towards the right in the top area of her nose.

"When I see women who have had plastic surgery I find it unnerving. All I can see is the surgery. The person who has had it has vanished. I don't want to look like that."

Cameron Diaz had a rhinoplasty (nose job) in 2007 which she says was performed only for medical reasons to repair a deviated septum and alleviate breathing problems that she’s been having after having broken her nose four times previously. However, this time fixing Diaz's nose is because of a surfing accident in 2005. Looking closely at Diaz’s new look, though, it appears the nose job that she had done was not only for medical reasons as the procedure also imparted some cosmetic benefits. Diaz's new nose has a straighter bridge when compared to her older crooked nose whose bridge was twisted towards the right in the top area of her nose. This procedure is hypocritical of the statement Cameron Diaz made about plastic surgery in Britain's Daily Express: "Have you seen those shows where ordinary people want to look like Britney Spears or Brad Pitt? What on Earth possesses them to want to destroy their own character? To go under the knife to do that, well, it's sick. I would never have anything done. I think beauty comes from the inside. When I see women who have had plastic surgery I find it unnerving. All I can see is the surgery. The person who has had it has vanished. I don't want to look like that."

Cameron Diaz's nose job was performed by Dr. Raj Kanodia, a leading plastic surgeon who also reshaped the noses of stars Jennifer Aniston and Ashlee Simpson.

Mariah Carey’s Plastic Surgery Revisited

Carey, Mariah

Singer Mariah Carey is rumored to have had a breast augmentation. According to Dr. Anthony Youn, "She appears to have had a breast augmentation, with the implants placed below the muscle. This accounts for the space between her breasts, and the fact that she really can't move them together to get midline cleavage, ala Dolly Parton."

With the release of her new album, Mariah Carey's breasts seem rounder and higher than in the past leading many to believe that she may have had a second set of breast implants. At 38, Mariah Carey seems ageless and her face is completely free of fine lines and wrinkles causing much speculation on the possibility of Botox, Juvederm, laser skin treatments, and chemical peels use. Her body, especially her stomach and thighs, is completely free from cellulite and so toned that many have wondered if Mariah Carey has had liposuction. Mariah Carey may also have had rhinoplasty as her nose seems to have slimmed down and has become more refined at the tip.

Dr. Anthony Youn has said, "Part of the reason she looks so natural is that she might have been having various moderate procedures over the years, instead of a few huge ones all at once that cause one’s appearance to look unnatural and jolting." Dr. Youn also estimated that throughout the years, Mariah’s possible plastic surgery and beauty treatments bill has mushroomed to $150,000.

David Beckham Bitten By The Plastic Surgery Bug

Beckham, David

David Beckham, the Soccer star and husband to Victoria Beckham is rumored to share his wife's plastic surgery hobby and get Botox injections. Newly transplanted Los Angeles resident David Beckham has been bitten by the local plastic surgery bug and appears to be dabbling in Botox and other filler injections to get rid of his wrinkles and has even donned a blonde surfer hairdo to blend in his new surroundings.

David Beckham Bitten By The Plastic Surgery Bug

The following article is reprinted from Make Me Heal 's Celebrity Plastic Surgery News. The article, along with photos can be found at the following link: David Beckham Bitten By The Plastic Surgery Bug.

Newly transplanted Los Angeles resident David Beckham has been bitten by the local plastic surgery bug and appears to be dabbling in Botox and other filler injections to get rid of his wrinkles and has even donned a blonde surfer hairdo to blend in his new surroundings. The 32-year old former captain of the England soccer team used to have a large wrinkle running across his forehead and some crows’ feet extending from his eyes. These imperfections have all but disappeared, as the bleach blond Beckham is sporting a flawless forehead and no crows’ feet. Given his wife Victoria “Posh’’s love for plastic surgery (she’s had 3 breast augmentations to date), it is not a far stretch to think that her husband would join her in her cosmetic escapades (read more about Victoria Beckham’s Plastic Surgery past. An insider suggests that the couple may have been having cosmetic doctors over at their home for some botox parties. “Victoria often has therapists and doctors visiting their Madrid home and some friends have hinted they may be doing more than providing them with facials and peels.”

London-based plastic surgeon Dr. Alex Karidis confirms his belief that Beckham had botox. “He used to have a large line across his forehead which seems to have vanished. He has all the hallmarks of a botox forehead. He also appears to have had a lift on his eyebrows, that can often happen when botox is injected into that area.”

“And there were quite deep crow’s feet around the eyes a couple of years ago. These seem to have almost disappeared. Changes like this in other celebrities are usually thanks to botox.

Additionally, it seems that some of David Beckham’s naso-labial lines (laugh lines that extend from the nose to the mouth) may have also been treated to some injection fillers such as Restylane. Dr. Karidis adds, “It could be that he’s also used fillers on his nose-to-mouth lines. These used to be quite prominent in pictures. Usually these things get worse not better with age. But Beckham seems to have lost them and looks much younger now.”

David Beckham is one of the best looking athletes in the world and while we are all for cosmetic enhancements when they’re needed, we think Beckham really does not need them in this case. The old Beckham is much hotter than this new blond, expressionless blond Ken Doll reincarnation of himself. For once, don’t listen to your wife and keep them doctors out of your house.

The question that comes to mind is whether young impressionable male fans who have been changing their hairdos in response to Beckham’s ever-changing hairstyle will also be Botoxing it like Beckham.

Celebrities With Botox Injections & Other Fillers

Beckham, Victoria

From Make Me Heal

Victoria Beckham: Before & After Breast Implants

It is rumored that Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham had three breast augmentation procedures to achieve her current result. Victoria Beckham’s breast implants are a puzzling choice, as the result is not very natural-looking and the implants are too round, hard-looking, and have an unnatural high “shelf-like” projection. With the many techniques available today, one would think that Victoria could have gotten a better breast augmentation. Nowadays, women with little breast tissue such as Victoria can achieve great results by going under the muscle to obtain a softer look.

Victoria has also had Botox, as evidenced by her wrinkle-free skin on her face, that she showed up in at the MTV Film Awards in June 2007. Victoria is also rumored to have had a lip augmentation. Victoria Beckham is wife to soccer star David Beckham.

MTV Film Awards Plastic Surgery Recap

The following article is reprinted from Make Me Heal 's Celebrity Plastic Surgery News. The article, along with photos can be found at the following link: MTV Film Awards Plastic Surgery Recap.

Victoria Beckham’s breasts actually looked subdued at the MTV Awards compared to other public outings, as Posh Spice’s trademark hard-balled implants did not pop out of her dress in perfectly round fashion. Beckham had three breast augmentation procedures to achieve her current result.

Beckham’s flawless and wrinkle-free skin also reminded us of the Botox parties that she allegedly has with her husband David Beckham in their home. The married couple also appear to be sharing the same hair bleach bottle, as they both are both sporting blond haircuts these days.

WHAT IS CHIKUNGUNYA

Chikungunya (in the Makonde language "that which bends up") virus (CHIKV) is an insect-borne virus, of the genus, Alphavirus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes.^[1] There have been recent outbreaks of CHIKV associated with severe morbidity. CHIKV causes an illness with symptoms similar to dengue fever. CHIKV manifests itself with an acute febrile phase of the illness lasts only two to five days, followed by a prolonged arthralgic disease that affects the joints of the extremities. The pain associated with CHIKV infection of the joints persists for weeks or months.

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus is a member of the genus Alphavirus, in the family Togaviridae. Chikungunya fever is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., joint swelling), laboratory testing, and the possibility of exposure to infected mosquitoes.

Chikungunya VIRUS INFECTION can cause a debilitating illness, most often characterized by fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, rash, and joint pain. The term ‘chikungunya’ means ‘that which bends up’ in the Kimakonde language of Mozambique.

SYMPTOMS OF CHIKUGUNYA
Acute chikungunya fever typically lasts a few days to a few weeks, but as with dengue, West Nile fever and other arboviral fevers, some patients have prolonged fatigue lasting several weeks. Additionally, some patients have reported incapacitating joint pain, or arthritis which may last for weeks or months. The prolonged joint pain associated with chikungunya virus is not typical of dengue.

HOW TO PREVENT CHIKUNGUNYA
The best way to prevent chikungunya virus infection is to avoid mosquito bites. There is no vaccine or preventive drug currently available. Prevention tips are similar to those for other viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue or West Nile.
TREATMENT OF AND CURE FOR CHIKUNGUNYA
There are currently no medications or vaccines for the treatment of chikungunya fever. However lots of rest, a nutritious diet, plenty of fluids and mild pain medications may relieve symptoms of fever and body aches. If you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above, you are advised to see a doctor immediately.