Dec
11
Posted by Waikhu
Obesity continued to increase dramatically during the late 1990s for Americans of all ages according to the data collected and analyzed by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The percent of children and teens who are overweight also continues to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent (almost 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999-2000 data, or triple what the proportion was in 1980. In addition, the data shows that another 15 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 are considered at risk of becoming overweight.
Obesity can be defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat, which results in individuals being at least 20 percent heavier than their ideal body weight. "Overweight" is defined as any weight in excess of the ideal range. Obesity is a common eating disorder associated with adolescence.
Although children have fewer weight-related health problems than adults, overweight children are at high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults. Overweight people of all ages are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and some forms of cancer.
Obesity can weaken physical health and well-being, and can shorten life expectancy. It can also lead to social disabilities and unhappiness, which may cause stress and even mental illness. A study released in May 2004 suggests that overweight children are more likely to be involved in bullying than normal-weight children are, both as victims and as perpetrators of teasing, name-calling and physical bullying.
The development of a personal identity and body image is an important goal for adolescents. Your parents, physician and teachers can help you. If you think you are overweight, talk to a trusted adult about what you can do to improve your health.
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Teen Obesity
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Dec
11
Posted by Waikhu
If you know someone with Alzheimer's disease, this information may help you understand the illness.
Some facts
- Alzheimer's disease kills brain cells, causing them to shrink or die. When people have this disease, they forget how to do familiar things, they don't recognize the people they love, they have difficulty understanding a conversation or they may act in an unusual manner, for example, pacing around a room. These changes occur over many years and get worse over time. These actions are not their fault. Alzheimer's disease makes people act in this way.
- Right now, no one knows what causes Alzheimer's disease and there is no cure. There are drugs that can help with some of the symptoms of the disease so people are less anxious and can maintain their independence for a longer period of time. But, eventually individuals will lose many of their abilities and will need to rely upon others to take care of them.
- Alzheimer's disease was named after a scientist called Dr. Alois Alzheimer who discovered the disease around 1906. It usually affects people who are over 65 years old. But occasionally the disease affects people who are younger than that, for example, in their 40s and 50s. Both men and women can get the disease, but not young people. As the population ages, you will probably know more people who are getting Alzheimer's disease. It also means more people are caring for someone with the disease.
Can you imagine?
It is probably difficult to imagine what it would be like to lose part of yourself. Some of the situations in Teen's Reality may apply to you. Some of the situations in Alzheimer Reality apply to people with Alzheimer's disease. Match them up to try to imagine what effect Alzheimer's disease may have on someone.
| Teen's Reality |
Alzheimer Reality |
- Getting a driver's licence
- Leaving home for your own apartment
- Finding that special someone in your life
- Doing your homework or studying at university
- Trying the latest fashion trend
- Doing your laundry and making your own meals
- Being among friends who understand what you are going through
|
- Not recognizing your husband or wife of 50 years
- Not understanding what you read in the newspaper
- Having your driver's licence taken away because you confuse the gas pedal with the brake
- Forgetting where you live and getting lost in your neighbourhood
- Forgetting how to work the washing machine and stove, putting your clothes on inside out
- Forgetting how to tie your shoes
- Feeling alone among strangers and not knowing what to do
|
Can you relate?
If you were the person with Alzheimer's disease, what are some feelings you might experience? (Refer to list of emotions at bottom of page.)
Is Alzheimer's disease affecting your life?
If your mom or dad is caring for a grandparent, you have probably noticed some changes. They may be very busy with work, home and caring for your grandparent. You may notice that your parents are tired, impatient or don't have enough time for you. They may ask you to help out.
You may have many feelings about this, such as resenting the demands on your time, being uneasy about having friends over, or feeling helpless because you don't know what to do. First of all, if this is happening to you, talk to your parents, teacher or an adult you trust about how you are feeling. Second, contact the Alzheimer Society to get help and to learn more about the disease. One example of coping with your feelings is to keep a journal.
Even though your grandparent may not be able to do many things, some of his/her abilities and interests will remain. You may be surprised how much you can help.
Here are a few examples. Let's say, your grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. If your grandfather liked to listen to music, you can share your favourite artist's CD. If he liked to garden, he may enjoy helping you with yard work. Perhaps your grandfather played sports. He probably would enjoy your company on a regular walking program after school. Or, maybe the two of you could wash the car.
Caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease is not easy. Some days will be frustrating and other days will be better. Do the best you can. Remember, when you spend time with the individual in a meaningful way, he/she will always feel your love.
Make a personal biography: Become a Journalist
Your grandparent will remember things from his/her past; why not interview your grandmother or grandfather on what it was like to be a teen? Tape the interview and write up a personal biography to share with other family members.
- Who was your best friend?
- What did you do after school?
- Did you have a part-time job?
- What chores did you do around the house?
- What kind of clothes did you wear?
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Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
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Nov
15
Posted by Admin
In the world of human afflictions, the general public often overlooks influenza, considering it an unwanted guest that must be endured during the winter months. But few diseases match the year-in, year-out power of this deadly viral infection. Each year it takes the lives of about 37,000 people in the United States and between 250,000 and 500,000 worldwide. While that toll is significant enough, influenza always has the potential to turn far more lethal, because the viruses can mutate rapidly into new strains. To public health officials, flu tops the list of diseases that could cause a pandemic — a global epidemic.
Influenza got its name in the 1700s from an Italian folk word that attributed colds, cough, and fever to the influence of the stars. Highly contagious, the flu virus passes through the air via water droplets from coughing and sneezing. The organism can survive for hours outside the body. A person infected with flu remains contagious for about a week, beginning one day before symptoms show up.
With its generalized symptoms, the flu mimics the initial stages of many diseases, including the common cold. Flu can be clinically determined by a throat culture and blood test, but by the time results arrive, symptoms may have already run their course. Antiviral drugs can be effective if taken within two days of the start of symptoms.
The flu usually causes fever, body aches, and intestinal problems, as well as upper respiratory tract infections in about 5 percent to 15 percent of the population. Up to 50 million Americans get the flu each year. On average, adults lose three workdays a year as a result. The flu can turn deadly in combination with bacterial pneumonia, an opportunistic infection that attacks flu-weakened lungs. Severe illness affects between three million and five million people each year. The flu is particularly hard on the elderly, who account for 90 percent of the deaths.
Historians believe it was influenza that plagued Greece in 430 B.C.E. during the Peloponnesian War, and that it also ravaged Charlemagne's army in 876 C.E. The first recorded appearance, though, came in New England in 1647, where residents colorfully dubbed the unknown affliction as the "jolly rant," the "new acquaintance," and the "grippe."
New strains of flu arise early each year, and world health officials hurry to identify them in order to develop an effective vaccine. Because the virus mutates so often, immunity doesn't carry over from one year to the next. A flu pandemic sparked by a particularly virulent strain has typically occurred a few times each century, and no one can predict which strain in which year might have global impact. Constant vigilance and early action by global public health authorities is essential because vaccines take six months to produce, test, and distribute — too long to ward off a pandemic once it has taken hold. Another constraint is that at present, vaccines are grown in fertilized eggs, and at any given moment, the number of eggs available in the world is limited. New methods of vaccine production not dependent on eggs are crucial.
Experts agree that another flu epidemic is not only inevitable, but also likely to happen soon. Three times during the 1900s a sub-strain of flu underwent a major genetic change, leading to pandemics: The worse occurred in 1918, and there were serious but less dangerous pandemic strains in 1957 (The Asian Flu) and in the 1968 (The Hong Kong Flu). Health officials fear a repeat of the Great Spanish Influenza of 1918, in which an estimated one billion people came down with the disease. Between 21 million and 50 million died — several times the total number of deaths in all of World War I, which ended the year the epidemic began. In the United States alone, 550,000 lost their lives to the disease. Busy gravediggers sang as they worked: "I had a little bird/ Its name was Enza/ I opened the window/ And In-Flu-Enza." As mysteriously as the Spanish flu appeared, it disappeared, leaving health workers to wonder if and when it might return.
A more severe form of human influenza, one that attacks not just the respiratory system but every tissue of the body, can originate in birds, chickens, and pigs. Until 1997, this so-called avian flu hadn't been known to strike humans. But that year in Hong Kong, 18 people came down with severe respiratory disease at the same time a widespread avian flu outbreak hit poultry. Investigations showed that the virus had jumped from birds to humans — the first known instance of that happening.
Within days, Hong Kong authorities destroyed the entire poultry population — about 1.5 million birds — a response that may have averted a pandemic. This avian-to-human transmission of the flu alarmed health officials, and subsequent years have seen minor outbreaks of avian flu in humans elsewhere, including the Netherlands and Vietnam. The real danger is if the avian flu strain evolves from a disease that humans catch from animals to a disease that humans can spread to other humans. The antiviral drug Tamiflu™ may be helpful in fighting symptoms for human victims, and many nations are trying to secure supplies in the event of a large-scale outbreak.
Meanwhile, a new vaccine against the avian flu virus, made by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur, has proved effective in 115 volunteer subjects when given in two large doses. While this is hopeful news, critics point out that the large amounts needed mean that the hundreds of millions of doses required to fight a pandemic could never be produced with existing production methods. Vaccines that work at much lower doses are still urgently needed.
Whether the next pandemic originates in humans or birds, its effects will likely be dramatic. An estimated two million to seven million people could die, with tens of millions requiring medical attention. One nightmare scenario: A single person becomes infected with both common and avian flu, allowing the genetic material to mix. The resulting strain would doubtlessly be as lethal as it is contagious.
The key to containing all pandemics is fast action by global health authorities. Western nations stockpile antiviral drugs to protect their own citizens. But rather than combating a virus already spreading globally, health officials suggest rushing drugs and vaccines to the source of the infection and quarantining the area. The goal is to keep the disease from spreading beyond these areas where it breaks out.
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Influenza
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