Health and Nutrition

by Ray Barmore

Stroke Rises Among Pregnant Women

According to the CDC strokes have risen sharply in pregnant women and new moms. The reason according to the experts is that more of them are obese before they get pregnant and are suffering from high blood pressure and heart disease.

There is a program to help women called WISEWOMAN

The WISEWOMAN program is administered through CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP). The WISEWOMAN program provides low-income, under-insured or uninsured women with chronic disease risk factor screening, lifestyle intervention, and referral services in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease. The priority age group is women aged 40–64 years.

CDC funds 21 WISEWOMAN programs, which operate on the local level in states and tribal organizations. WISEWOMAN programs provide standard preventive services including blood pressure and cholesterol testing. WISEWOMAN programs also offer testing for diabetes.

Women are not just tested and referred, but can also take advantage of lifestyle programs that target poor nutrition and physical inactivity, such as healthy cooking classes, walking clubs, or lifestyle counseling. Women who smoke are encouraged to quit and are referred to proactive quit lines or quit-smoking classes. The interventions vary from program to program, but all are designed to promote lasting, healthy lifestyle changes.

They provide nutritional support and help you with weight loss, even if it’s only to lose 10 pounds, or to lose that baby weight.

Stroke Facts

• Stroke is a leading cause of death in the United States. Over 800,000 people die in the U.S. each year from cardiovascular disease and strokes.¹
• A stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, occurs when a clot blocks the blood supply to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts.
• Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Every four minutes someone dies of stroke.²
• Every year, about 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes. About 185,000 people who survive a stroke eventually have another.²
• Stroke is an important cause of disability. In 2005, nearly 1.1 million stroke survivors reported difficulty performing basic activities of daily life.³
• In 2010, the estimated cost of stroke in the United States was $53.9 billion.2 This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.

Common stroke warning signs and symptoms include—

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg—especially on one side of the body.
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
• You can’t control some stroke risk factors, such as heredity, age, gender, and ethnicity. Some medical conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, overweight or obesity, and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), can raise also your stroke risk. Not smoking, not drinking excessively, and getting exercise are all choices you can make to reduce your risk.

References

1. Miniño AM, Murphy SL, Xu J, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final data for 2008 [PDF-2.9M]. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 59 no 10. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2011.

2. Roger VL, Go AS, Lloyd-Jones DM, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2011 update: a report from the American Heart Association . Circulation. 2011 Feb 1;123(4):e18-e209. Epub 2010 Dec 15.

3. CDC. Prevalence and most common causes of disability among adults—United States, 2005. MMWR 2009;58(16):421–426.

For more information on strokes, you can go to:

American Heart Association - http://stroke.ahajournals.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - http://www.cdc.gov/stroke/
National Stroke Association – www.stroke.org/

Mayo Clinic - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stroke/DS00150/

Get help losing weight and keeping it off. I’m offering you the hassle-free, low-hunger path to weight-loss success. Created by doctors and scientifically based, this program is all about personalization – giving your body the nutritional support you need. If you are trying to lose weight, rather it’s to lose 10 pounds or that baby weight, I offer weight loss help.

I can help you with diet planning and counseling.

For information on nutrition and losing weight, go to Rays Nutrition Center
or contact me at: raybarmore@gmail.com
For information on a home based business.
Ray R Barmore
The Herbal Guy
Health and Wellness Coach
San Diego California
619-876-5273
Skype: barmore4

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Health and Nutrition

by Ray Barmore

THE TOO-FAT SOCIETY

The obesity epidemic is one of the country's most serious health problems. Adult obesity rates have doubled since 1980, from 15 to 30 percent, while childhood obesity rates have more than tripled. Rising obesity rates have significant health consequences, contributing to increased rates of more than 30 serious diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. These conditions create a major strain on the health care system. More than one-quarter of health care costs are now related to obesity.

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and health care costs in the country. Two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight. The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and Micro Health Simulations conducted an analysis to examine how much the United States could save in health care costs if obesity rates were reduced by five percent. The analysis found that the country could save $29.8 billion in five years, $158.1 billion in 10 years and $611.7 billion in 20 years.

For the past five years, TFAH has issued an annual report F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America to track obesity trends and policies. We conclude that the country is failing to address the obesity crisis with the urgency it deserves. TFAH recommends that a National Strategy to Combat Obesity be created with roles for individuals, families, communities, schools, employers, businesses, insurers, and government.

Keeping people healthier is one of the most common sense and effective ways to reduce health care costs. (1)

Obese adults should get counseling, federal task force says.

Under the healthcare law, insurance companies would be required to cover the panel's recommended weight-loss treatments.

In a move that could significantly expand insurance coverage of weight-loss treatments, a federal health advisory panel on Monday recommended that all obese adults receive intensive counseling in an effort to rein in a growing health crisis in America.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urged doctors to identify patients with a body mass index of 30 or more — currently 1 in 3 Americans — and either provide counseling themselves or refer the patient to a program designed to promote weight loss and improve health prospects.

Under the current healthcare law, Medicare and most private insurers would be required to cover the entire cost of weight-loss services that meet or exceed the task force's standards.

Few private health insurers now reimburse physicians for weight-loss counseling or pay for programs that patients seek out on their own. A growing number, in fact, charge obese patients more for coverage — a policy that some public health officials have denounced as punitive and ineffective.

The task force concluded after a review of the medical literature that the most successful programs in improving patients' health were "intensive, multi-component behavioral interventions." They involve 12 to 26 counseling sessions a year with a physician or community-based program, the panel said.

Successful programs set weight-loss goals, improve knowledge about nutrition, teach patients how to track their eating and set limits, identify barriers to change (such as a scarcity of healthful food choices near home) and strategize on ways to maintain lifestyle changes, the panel found.

In some cases, programs include exercise sessions as well.

It follows a November decision by Medicare to reimburse physicians for providing "intensive weight counseling" to the roughly 14 million obese Americans insured by the government program.

The new guidelines were met with cautious support by many physicians on the front lines of the nation's struggle against excess fat.

Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the nonpartisan think tank Trust for America's Health, said the recommendations would put physicians in a difficult position: Few have the time or resources to provide obese patients with intensive counseling, he said.

And since programs meeting the standards set by the task force remain scarce, most doctors won't know where to send their obese patients.

"The question is whether the services will develop fast enough to meet the potential demand," Levi said.

Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, said it was unclear how the report would affect the industry and patients. But, she said, "there's a lot being done" already by health insurers to help their enrollees lose weight.

Obesity and obesity-related diseases are already responsible for an estimated $147 billion in annual healthcare spending. Widespread adoption of the panel's recommendation would increase that spending, at least initially.

The panel acknowledged that one problem with its recommendation was that no studies have shown such intensive programs provide long-term health benefits. (2)

Get help losing weight and keeping it off. I’m offering you the hassle-free, low-hunger path to weight-loss success. Created by doctors and scientifically based, this program is all about personalization – giving your body the nutritional support you need. If you are trying to lose weight, rather it’s to lose 10 pounds or that baby weight, I offer weight loss help.

(1) Trust for America’s Health
(2) June 26, 2012 by Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times

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I can help you with diet planning and counseling.

For information on nutrition and losing weight, go to Rays Nutrition Center

or contact me at: raybarmore@gmail.com

For information on a home based business.
Ray R Barmore
Health and Wellness Coach
San Diego California
619-876-5273
Skype: barmore4


Other Blogs:
God in America
Integrated marketing

Other Website:
Integrated marketing