What Is Metabolic Syndrome?

It’s not a single disease, but a group of related health problems: too much belly fat, high triglycerides, cholesterol trouble, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. When you have at least three of these issues, your chances for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke are higher than they’d be with any of those health problems on their own.

Large Waistline
When you’re larger around the middle -- you have an apple or pear shape to your body -- that can lead to metabolic syndrome. In general, this means a waist size of 35 inches or more for women and 40 inches or more for men, but your doctor can tell you if that rule applies to you. It’s not just the fat itself that’s the problem, it’s the location: belly fat is more dangerous for heart disease and other conditions.

 High Triglycerides

It’s a type of fat in the blood that your body makes from extra calories. If you can’t keep your level below 150 mg/dL, you could be more likely to get metabolic syndrome. You can take medicine to lower your triglyceride levels, but the best way is to lose weight, exercise, and cut back on calories.

 Too Little HDL Cholesterol (the good one )

HDL is “good” cholesterol that may help remove LDL, the “bad” kind, from your arteries. If your HDL is less than 50 mg/dL for a woman, or less than 40 mg/dL for a man, that can set you up for metabolic syndrome. You may be able to raise your HDL levels with weight loss, a better diet, and other lifestyle changes.

 High Fasting Blood Sugar

When you don’t eat for 8 hours or so, your body begins to run out of blood sugar from food and it starts to break down the stored form. Your body uses the hormone insulin to keep levels in a healthy range. But sometimes it can’t manage this balancing act and your “fasting” blood sugar gets too high. Anything over 100 mg/dL could lead to metabolic syndrome.

 High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against your arteries as your heart pumps and rests. If yours is higher than 130/85, you could get metabolic syndrome. But you may be able to cut your numbers naturally if you lose just 5% of your body weight. Exercise, quitting smoking, and a healthy, low-salt diet can also help.

 What Causes Metabolic Syndrome?

You’re more likely to get it as you get older, and you also may have some genes that raise your odds. There’s not much you can do about that. But you can make other changes to prevent the condition and lower the chances you’ll get coronary heart disease, heart attacks, and type 2 diabetes.

 Stay Active

People who don’t get enough physical activity are more likely to get metabolic syndrome. You should get about 30 minutes of exercise a day, at least 5 days a week. But don’t stop there. The more you get up and move around throughout the day, the better your health will be. Even 10 minutes of exercise at a time can make a big difference.

 Watch Your Weight

Too much body fat is another possible cause of metabolic syndrome. It’s strongly linked to all of the health problems that make up the condition. It also can make your body stop responding to insulin, the hormone that keeps blood sugar levels stable. That’s called insulin resistance, and it’s another common reason that people get metabolic syndrome.

 Other Possible Causes

If you have inflammation throughout your body or if your blood clots too easily, you may be more likely to get metabolic syndrome. Other conditions that may play a role are:

A fatty liver: Too many triglycerides and other fats in the liver

Polycystic ovarian syndrome: When women get cysts on their ovaries

Gallstones: Hard pieces made from digestive fluid in the gallbladder

Sleep apnea: You stop breathing over and over during sleep, which means you don’t get enough oxygen

 Change Your Habits

This is the first thing your doctor will suggest to treat metabolic syndrome. Cut back on sugar, salt, saturated fat, and processed foods, and eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Get more exercise. If you smoke, talk to your doctor about quitting. All of these habits can help you lower your blood sugar, blood pressure, and triglycerides, as well as raise your good cholesterol and trim your waistline -- the five things that add up to metabolic syndrome.

Medication May Help
If lifestyle changes don’t control your metabolic syndrome, your doctor may suggest medicine. It won’t replace lifestyle changes, but it can help. You may get a drug called a statin to lower your cholesterol. Other medicines may:

Lower your chance of a heart attack

Lower your blood pressure

Prevent blood clots

Fight coronary heart disease

 BOTTOM LINE: Everybody is talking about type 2 diabetes .Make no mistake,Metabolic Syndrome is just as deadly.  

    Do you feel “bad” or “guilty” about this emotion? If so, you may be at risk for poorer longer-term psychological health.A study in the July 2017 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology you looked at the psychological health of people who accept, rather than negatively judge, their emotional experiences. Researchers found that accepting these experiences led to fewer negative emotions when confronted with daily stressors.The article reported on three separate, but related, studies that explored how accepting negative emotions, rather than reacting to them, affects a person’s psychological health.

      The first study aimed to see whether accepting emotions was associated with greater psychological health, and if this association was moderated by several demographic variables. Undergraduate students at the University of California at Berkley completed evaluations to assess acceptance, stress level, and psychological health. The researchers found that accepting mental health experiences was associated with greater psychological health across a range of demographic variables including gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Further, results indicated that the benefits to psychological health were associated with accepting the emotions associated with a negative event, rather than the situation that triggered those emotions.

      In the second study, the authors examined a potential explanation for how the tendency to accept negative emotions is related to psychological health. They explored whether accepting one’s mental experiences helps to decrease negative emotions when experiencing stressors. A consistent reduction in negative emotions should, in time, improve overall psychological health.

      Again, a group of undergraduates completed questionnaires related to acceptance and to their emotional responses to a stressful task completed in the lab. Results indicated that by habitually accepting emotions and thoughts, people experienced a lower degree of negative emotion when in stressful situations.

       Finally, the authors wanted to see if these results held up for people other than college students. They followed people in a Denver community for a six-month period. These study volunteers completed measures of acceptance, psychological health, and stress, and kept nightly diaries for two weeks identifying the degree of negative emotion felt when experiencing stressors that day.

      Results indicated that people who habitually accept their emotional experiences were more likely to report greater psychological health six months later. This was true regardless of gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Further, people who accepted these emotions were less likely to respond negatively to stressors. That is, people who routinely accept their emotions and thoughts when under stress, experience less daily negative emotion during these times. This in turn is associated with increased psychological health six months later.

     Taken together, these three studies highlight the benefits of accepting emotions and thoughts, rather than judging them, on psychological health. It seems like common sense. When a stressful situation causes negative emotions, accepting feelings of frustration or upset — rather than trying to pretend you’re not upset, or beating yourself up for feeling this way — reduces guilt and negative self-image. Over time, this will in turn lead to increased psychological health.

Bottom Line: Emotions are part of being human. Don't beat yourself and add to the anxiety . If they persist or you become concerned seek professional help immediatley.  

The Road to Change: Starts Here Pt.1/3

You’ve been invited to a party, and you are on your way. As you pull out of your driveway , you realize you forgot to ask where it is or how to get there. In fact,you’re not even sure you have petrol in your car. Without planning ahead—charting your course,understanding the time commitment, and making sure you (and your car)are ready to go—you could miss out on a great time. Improving health and well-being is quite similar. Think of good health as your goal and exercise as the vehicle you use to get there  
Get S.M.A.R.T
Many people avoid goal setting because they don’t want to set themselves up for disappointment. But if you rethink this,how about seeting your goals so that you can achieve them? Take things slowly and build on your success,Create a plan that meets the following criteria:  
Specific: Avoid general goals,such as “getting in shape”. Instead ,aspire for more specific goals such as “walking a mile every morning” or joining a gym and going at least twice a week. 
Measurable:Note the way your clothes are fitting or how long it takes you to walk a mile .Repeat the measurements at 1-month intervals---so you’ll see your success  
Attainable: Be realistic. Be honest with yourself. Make what you say you are going to do matter .Create and exercise plan that is simple and doable and build from that.  
Relevant: Does the fitness program you’ve decided on meet  with your goals, and does it suit your lifestyle? Is the program enhancing your quality of life?  
Trackable: Log your workouts on your mobile device,notebook or calender.Frequently look back ti the first week or month of exercise and note your progress. It’s a great motivator.There also are a host of wearable apps that can assist you with tracking.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

The 7 Stages of Change

Are you considering losing weight or changing to a healthy eating lifestyle that includes regular exercise? Not sure you’re ready ? There are 7 stages of change a person will go through to be successful at whatever the change is they are attempting to accomplish. It’s important you know what stage you are at . This knowledge will tell you what the chances are of you obtaining long term success.   

The stages of change are:

Precontemplation (Not yet acknowledging that there is a problem behavior that needs to be changed)

Contemplation (Acknowledging that there is a problem but not yet ready or sure of  wanting to make a change)

Preparation/Determination (Getting ready to change)

Action/Willpower (Changing behavior)

Maintenance (Maintaining the behavior change)

Relapse (Returning to older behaviors and abandoning the new changes)

Transcendence (you will reach a point where you will be able to work with your emotions and understand your own behavior and view it in a new light

 

Stage One: Precontemplation

In the precontemplation stage, people are not thinking seriously about changing and are not interested in any kind of help. People in this stage tend to defend their current bad habit(s) and do not feel it is a problem. They may be defensive in the face of other people's efforts to pressure them to quit.

Are you in the precontemplation stage? No, because the fact that you are reading this shows that you are already ready to consider that you may have a problem with one or more bad habits.  

Stage Two: Contemplation

In the contemplation stage people are more aware of the personal consequences of their bad habit and they spend time thinking about their problem. Although they are able to consider the possibility of changing, they tend to be ambivalent about it. 

In this stage, people are on a teeter-totter, weighing the pros and cons of quitting or modifying their behavior. Although they think about the negative aspects of their bad habit and the positives associated with giving it up (or reducing), they may doubt that the long-term benefits associated with quitting will outweigh the short-term costs. 

It might take as little as a couple weeks or as long as a lifetime to get through the contemplation stage. (In fact, some people think and think and think about giving up their bad habit and may die never having gotten beyond this stage)

On the plus side, people are more open to receiving information about their bad habit, and more likely to actually use educational interventions and reflect on their own feelings and thoughts concerning their bad habit. 

Stage Three: Preparation/Determination

In the preparation/determination stage, people have made a commitment to make a change. Their motivation for changing is reflected by statements such as: "I've got to do something about this - this is serious. Something has to change. What can I do?"

This is sort of a research phase: people are now taking small steps toward cessation. They are trying to gather information (sometimes by reading things like this) about what they will need to do to change their behavior.  

Or they will call a lot of clinics, trying to find out what strategies and resources are available to help them in their attempt. Too often, people skip this stage: they try to move directly from contemplation into action and fall flat on their faces because they haven't adequately researched or accepted what it is going to take to make this major lifestyle change. 

Stage Four: Action/Willpower

This is the stage where people believe they have the ability to change their behavior and are actively involved in taking steps to change their bad behavior by using a variety of different techniques. 

This is the shortest of all the stages. The amount of time people spend in action varies. It generally lasts about 6 months, but it can literally be as short as one hour! This is a stage when people most depend on their own willpower. They are making overt efforts to quit or change the behavior and are at greatest risk for relapse.

Mentally, they review their commitment to themselves and develop plans to deal with both personal and external pressures that may lead to slips. They may use short-term rewards to sustain their motivation, and analyze their behavior change efforts in a way that enhances their self-confidence. People in this stage also tend to be open to receiving help and are also likely to seek support from others (a very important element). 

Hopefully, people will then move to:

Stage Five: Maintenance

Maintenance involves being able to successfully avoid any temptations to return to the bad habit. The goal of the maintenance stage is to maintain the new status quo. People in this stage tend to remind themselves of how much progress they have made. 

People in maintenance constantly reformulate the rules of their lives and are acquiring new skills to deal with life and avoid relapse. They are able to anticipate the situations in which a relapse could occur and prepare coping strategies in advance.

They remain aware that what they are striving for is personally worthwhile and meaningful. They are patient with themselves and recognize that it often takes a while to let go of old behavior patterns and practice new ones until they are second nature to them. Even though they may have thoughts of returning to their old bad habits, they resist the temptation and stay on track. 

As you progress through your own stages of change, it can be helpful to re-evaluate your progress in moving up and down through these stages. 

(Even in the course of one day, you may go through several different stages of change). 

And remember: it is normal and natural to regress, to attain one stage only to fall back to a previous stage. This is just a normal part of making changes in your behavior.

Stage 6 : Relapse

Along the way to permanent cessation or stable reduction of a bad habit, most people experience relapse. In fact, it is much more common to have at least one relapse than not. Relapse is often accompanied by feelings of discouragement and seeing oneself as a failure. 

While relapse can be discouraging, the majority of people who successfully quit do not follow a straight path to a life time free of self-destructive bad habits. Rather, they cycle through the five stages several times before achieving a stable life style change. Consequently, the Stages of Change Model considers relapse to be normal. 

There is a real risk that people who relapse will experience an immediate sense of failure that can seriously undermine their self-confidence. The important thing is that if they do slip and say, have a cigarette or a drink, they shouldn't see themselves as having failed. 

Rather, they should analyze how the slip happened and use it as an opportunity to learn how to cope differently. In fact, relapses can be important opportunities for learning and becoming stronger.

Relapsing is like falling off a horse - the best thing you can do is get right back on again. However, if you do "fall off the horse" and relapse, it is important that you do not fall back to the precontemplation or contemplation stages. Rather, restart the process again at preparation, action or even the maintenance stages. 

People who have relapsed may need to learn to anticipate high-risk situations (such as being with their family) more effectively, control environmental cues that tempt them to engage in their bad habits (such as being around drinking buddies), and learn how to handle unexpected episodes of stress without returning to the bad habit. This gives them a stronger sense of self control and the ability to get back on track. 

 Stage 7: Transcendence

Eventually, if you "maintain maintenance" long enough, you will reach a point where you will be able to work with your emotions and understand your own behavior and view it in a new light. This is the stage of "transcendence," a transcendence to a new life. In this stage, not only is your bad habit no longer an integral part of your life but to return to it would seem atypical, abnormal, even weird to you.

When you reach this point in your process of change, you will know that you have transcended the old bad habits and that you are truly becoming a new "you", who no longer needs the old behaviors to sustain yourself.  

Bottom Line : Changing to a healthy lifestyle is the single hardest thing a person can do. Remember,relapse is a normal part of the process. Don’t let it derail you .   

How Worry Affects Your Body

How Much Is Too Much?

We all worry from time to time, but if you can’t shake it after a few weeks or it starts to get in the way of your normal work or home life, talk to your doctor. It can take a toll on your health and might be linked to an anxiety disorder. Therapy, drugs, and other strategies can help. 

Nervous System

This messaging network is made up of your brain, spinal cord, nerves, and special cells called neurons. Worrying too much can trigger it to release "stress hormones" that speed up your heart rate and breathing, raise your blood sugar, and send more blood to your arms and legs. Over time, this can affect your heart, blood vessels, muscles, and other systems 

Muscles

When you’re troubled about something, the muscles in your shoulder and neck can tense up, and that can lead to migraines or tension headaches. Massage or relaxation techniques, like deep breathing and yoga, may help. 

Breathing

If you’re worried a lot, you might breathe more deeply or more often without realizing it. While this usually isn’t a big deal, it can be serious if you already have breathing problems linked to asthma, lung disease, or other conditions.

 

Heart

If it sticks around long enough, something as small as a nagging concern in the back of your mind can affect your heart. It can make you more likely to have high blood pressure, a heart attack, or a stroke. Higher levels of anxiety can trigger those stress hormones that make your heart beat faster and harder. If that happens over and over, your blood vessels may get inflamed, which can lead to hardened artery walls, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and other problems.  

Blood Sugar

When you’re worried about something, stress hormones also give you a burst of fuel (in the form of blood sugar). This can be a good thing if you need to run from danger, but what happens if you don’t use that fuel? Your body normally stores it to use later. But sometimes, if you’re overweight or have diabetes, for example, your blood sugar can stay too high for too long. This can lead to heart disease, strokes, or kidney disease  

Immune System

If your body is affected by the physical effects of worry, it may not fight germs as well. Just thinking about things that made you angry or depressed in the past can take a toll. It can make it harder for you to fend off the flu, herpes, shingles, and other viruses. 

Stomach

You may feel “butterflies” in your stomach when you’re nervous -- in more serious times, you may feel nauseous or even vomit. If this happens often, it can lead to stomach pain and sores in your stomach lining (ulcers). And if you eat a lot of foods high in fat and sugar, your stomach has to work harder to digest them, and that makes more acid. This can cause acid reflux -- when acid flows up into your throat. 

Intestines

Constant fretting can affect your bowel habits -- you could have diarrhea or find it hard to go to the bathroom. Diet, exercise, and over-the-counter medicines can often help, but you might be able to keep these problems from happening if you find ways to calm your anxiety.  

Sexual Health

Worry can tire you out and distract you so you’re less interested in sex. Over the long term, it can lower a man’s levels of the sex hormone testosterone. That can affect sperm development and slow or stop his body’s normal response when he wants to have sex. For women who have gone through menopause, it can make hot flashes and sleep issues worse.  

Bottom Line : A wise man said “ I’ve never seen worrying solve anything”. True words.

8 non-invasive pain relief techniques that really work

Sometimes pain has a purpose — it can alert us that we've sprained an ankle, for example. But for many people, pain can linger for weeks or even months, causing needless suffering and interfering with quality of life.

If your pain has overstayed its welcome, you should know that you have more treatment options today than ever before. Here, we've listed eight techniques to control and reduce your pain that don't require an invasive procedure — or even taking a pill.

1. Cold and heat. These two tried-and-true methods are still the cornerstone of relieving pain for certain kinds of injuries. If a homemade hot or cold pack doesn't do the trick, try asking a physical therapist or chiropractor for their versions of these treatments, which can penetrate deeper into the muscle and tissue. 

2. Exercise. Physical activity plays a crucial role in interrupting the "vicious cycle" of pain and reduced mobility found in some chronic conditions such as arthritis and fibromyalgia. Try gentle aerobic activities such as walking, swimming, or cycling. 

3. Physical therapy and occupational therapy. These two specialties can be among your staunchest allies in the fight against pain. Physical therapists guide you through a series of exercises designed to preserve or improve your strength and mobility. Occupational therapists help you learn to perform a range of daily activities in a way that doesn't aggravate your pain. 

4. Mind-body techniques. These techniques, which include meditation, mindfulness, and breathing exercises (among many others), help you restore a sense of control over your body and turn down the "fight or flight" response, which can worsen chronic muscle tension and pain.

5. Yoga and tai chi. These two exercise practices incorporate breath control, meditation, and gentle movements to stretch and strengthen muscles. Many studies have shown that they can help people manage pain caused by a host of conditions, from headaches to arthritis to lingering injuries. 

6. Biofeedback. This technique involves learning relaxation and breathing exercises with the help of a biofeedback machine, which turns data on physiological functions (such as heart rate and blood pressure) into visual cues such as a graph, a blinking light, or even an animation. Watching and modifying the visualizations gives you a degree of control over your body's response to pain. 

7. Music therapy. Studies have shown that music can help relieve pain during and after surgery and childbirth. Classical music has proven to work especially well, but there's no harm in trying your favorite genre — listening to any kind of music can distract you from pain or discomfort. 

8. Therapeutic massage. Not just an indulgence, massage can ease pain by working tension out of muscles and joints, relieving stress and anxiety, and possibly helping to distract you from pain by introducing a "competing" sensation that overrides pain signals.

Bottom Line: If you have any kind of inflamation and continued pain get it checked out . Don't tuen a little thing into a big thing by neglect. 

What Can 5% Do for You?

You don’t have to slim down to your high school size to get real health benefits. Losing just a few pounds makes a big difference. Five percent of your body weight -- 10 pounds for a 200-pound person -- can improve all kinds of health problems, and make you feel better, too. Talk to your doctor about whether it might help you.

Ease Up on Joints

Just 10 extra pounds add 40 pounds of pressure on your knees and other lower body joints. That can wear them out quicker. Extra fat can also cause inflammation -- when chemicals in your body damage your own tissues over time, including your joints. Losing even a little weight can ease these effects. If you keep it off, you’re much less likely to get arthritis later in life.

Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

If you’re more likely to get the condition, weight loss is one of two ways to prevent or delay it. The other is moderate exercise -- 30 minutes on 5 days a week. If you weigh 160 pounds, you could lose just 8-12 of them to get the benefit. If you already have diabetes, losing that weight can help you take less medication, keep control of your blood sugar, and lower the odds that the condition will cause other health problems.

A “Good” Cholesterol Bump

You can lower your LDL or “bad” cholesterol with healthier food and medications. But it’s harder to raise levels of the “good” kind of cholesterol, HDL. That’s the type that clears bad LDL from your blood, so the more you have, the better. Exercise and losing body fat can get you into the ideal HDL range: above 60 mg/dl, which lowers your odds of having heart disease.

Bring Down Triglycerides

They’re particles in your body that transport fat for storage and energy. High levels (more than 200 mg/dl) mean you’re more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. You can get closer to healthy levels (around 150 mg/dl) if you slim down a little.

Ease High Blood Pressure

Extra body weight makes your blood push harder against your artery walls. That makes your heart work harder, too. You can lower the pressure by about 5 points if you trim 5% from that number on the scale. Cut your salt and eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy, and you may lower it even more.

Reverse Insulin Resistance

Fat, especially in your belly area, gives off chemicals that make your body stop reacting to the effects of insulin, a hormone that keeps the level of sugar in your blood normal. Even though your pancreas works harder to make more insulin, your blood sugar can get too high. A little bit of weight loss can help reverse this effect.

Cut Your Cancer Risk

Extra body weight seems to raise your odds of having cancer, including in the breast, colon, liver, kidneys, ovaries, cervix, and prostate. There’s no clear proof that losing weight protects you from the disease, but some of the body changes that happen when people shed pounds hint that it might. For example, overweight people who slim down end up with lower levels of hormones linked to cancer, like estrogens, insulin, and androgens.

Stop Sleep Apnea

People who are overweight gain extra tissue in the back of their throat. When your body relaxes when you sleep, that tissue can drop down and block your airway. It makes you stop breathing over and over all night, which causes all kinds of health problems, especially for your heart. Slimming down a little can improve sleep apnea -- sometimes enough that you can stop using the bulky breathing devices that treat it.

Sleep Longer and Better

You’re likely to get more ZZZs if you lose weight. And it will be better rest, too. But you won’t see much of a change unless you drop at least 5%. In one study, people who did slept an extra 21.6 minutes a night, compared with only 1.2 minutes for those who lost less than 5%.

A Better Mood

Weight loss may help chase your blues away. Scientists are still trying to work out why, but better body image and improved sleep may be part of the reason. In one study, depressed people who were very overweight felt better after they lost an average of 8% of their body weight. Other research shows you’ll continue to feel better, even after 2 years -- as long as you keep the weight off.

Bring Down Inflammation

Fat cells, especially those around the belly, can release chemicals that irritate and inflame tissues all over the body. This is linked to health problems like arthritis, heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Work toward a 10% weight loss goal, and you can lower the amount of these substances and cut your chances of having a serious illness.

Have More Sex

When you’re overweight, you typically have less sex. It might be because you just don’t feel good about your body. But it also may be that you have less desire and that even when you’re in the mood, your body doesn’t respond as well. Shed a few pounds and you’ll not only feel better about yourself, you may be in the mood more often, too.

Lose the Weight: Diet

There’s no one perfect diet to help you slim down, but there are some basic rules. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Keep your protein lean and unprocessed: Choose meats trimmed of fat, and eat seafood, beans, nuts, and seeds. Replace refined grains like white bread and white rice with whole grains like multigrain bread, brown rice, and oatmeal. Special weight loss surgery may be an option if you are seriously overweight.

Lose the Weight: Exercise

You should be getting 30 minutes of moderate activity -- a bike ride or brisk walk -- on at least 5 days a week simply to stay in good health. To lose weight and keep it off, you may need more than that. Also include moves to strengthen your muscles, like pushups or light weight training. Check with your doctor about the healthiest ways for you to work out, especially if you haven’t done it in a while. 

 Bottom Line: As you can clearly see,it doesn’t take much to improve you overall

                        health and well being.C’mon! Anybody can lose 5% !