A recent study conducted at the Columbia University has claimed that the overweight mothers and kids underestimate their actual weight. Inaccurate estimates about weight can lead to health problems both in mothers and kids.

About 82% of obese women involved in the study underestimated their actual weight.

Nearly one-third of the kids in United States are now overweight or obese which puts them at a risk of a number of diseases including type II diabetes, sleep apnea and heart disease. A healthy diet and lifestyle can help the people in reducing their weight. Performing various exercises, playing, and running could also be helpful for the kids.

Kids who munch on junk food or high- fat and high-sugar food are more likely to become overweight. Parents are advised to make sure than their kids eat plenty of real, fresh foods and vegetables so that they can maintain a healthy weight.

Experts suggest the parents not to buy sugary juices, pop, processed foods and fattening snacks for their kids. Healthy and conscious food choices will significantly improve the health of whole family.

Current research  indicates that almost 50 per cent of type-2 diabetics in India also suffer from the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) survey reveals that nearly 9.3 per cent of the adult population in urban and metro areas in India suffer from sleep apnea, says Aparajito Mukherjee, Country Head, ResMed India.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), also known as sleep apnea, is a breathing disorder during sleep when the upper airway partially or completely collapses, causing obstruction in breathing and restricts airflow. This causes the person to wake up and it can happen as many as hundreds of times per night.

Snoring is a common symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Other common signs and symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, obesity, high blood pressure, morning headaches, inability to concentrate and depression.

UAE Philips conducted an online Sleep Apnea Awareness campaign titled Do You Snore, to help build public consciousness about Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in the UAE. Email invitations were sent out to fill out a short and straight forward survey to more than 200,000 recipients based in the country, targeting a sample group of the age 25 and above.

A high number of respondents showed positive results and are very likely to be suffering fromObstructive Sleep Apnea ( OSA). The potential patients were advised to print their report and seek further medical advice and diagnostic tests for sleep apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders worldwide. It is a condition that causes a persons breathing to stop repeatedly during the night, causing disruption in their sleep as they struggle to breathe. As a result, they never get the deep, restorative sleep that is needed. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can not only negatively impact a persons overall quality of life and productivity, but it can also potentially lead to serious health issues like increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm, strokes and other conditions. Read the rest of this entry

A Cornell University research study concludes that medical costs related to obesity are costing U.S. taxpayers $168 billion annually. This is a figure double the amount of the U.S. health care budget previously estimated.

The study was conducted by Chad Meyerhoefer, assistant professor of economics, in collaboration with John Cawley, associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University. The data was taken over a five-year period from 14,000 adults.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity increases risk for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, a variety of cancers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems. Read the rest of this entry

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Diabetes have a close relationship.

“There is increasing attention to the causes, consequences, and treatment of OSA. OSA is a condition that millions of Americans suffer from, many without knowing it”,says .Dr. Gary D. Foster, a member of the Advisory Board for DiabetesCare.net

According to Dr. Foster obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is closely associated with impaired faster glucose, glucose intolerance, and type 2 diabetes.

“A recent comprehensive literature review, comprised of 83 studies, found among all of the sleep disorders, OSA has the strongest association with type 2 diabetes,. It is possible that the relationship goes in both directions. Poor sleep quality and intermittent hypoxemia from OSA may serve as the catalyst for glucose dysregulation. Over time these abnormalities may accelerate weight gain, which increases the severity of OSA”, explained Dr. Foster

A recently concluded  research study established that the patients denied bariatric surgery by their insurer developed a host of new obesity-related diseases and conditions including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) , within three years. 

Another study on insurers, showed that patients on insurance-mandated diet programs for six months before bariatric surgery did no better than patients with no such insurance requirement. However, patients on these programs had to wait, on average, about four months longer for surgery. 

Findings of this new research study were presented at the 27th annual scientific meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) recently.

If you have the disorder, you’re not breathing properly while you sleep because your airflow is blocked repeatedly throughout the night. Nearly one in four men and one in ten women suffer from it. (There are a couple of other varieties, but OSA is the most common.) And it goes hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes. In a survey on the subject, Gary D. Foster, PhD, wrote that, “among all of the sleep disorders, OSA has the strongest association with type 2 diabetes.”  That’s even taking into account other risk factors, such as weight, sex and age.

The main risk factor for OSA is obesity. “Excess weight deposits extra fat around the thorax, reducing chest compliance and functional capacity, while increasing oxygen demand,” wrote Foster, a professor of medicine and public health and the Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. Read the rest of this entry