Monday, July 4, 2011

Your Thyroid and Weight loss – The Connection is Real

Your thyroid dictates much of your metabolism, any malfunction or disease afflicting this area may cause you to have problems in metabolism leading to a drastic problem with your weight – you may either gain weight, lose weight, or may find that losing weight is harder than usual.

Those that plan diets do not take into consideration how their thyroids and metabolism may affect their weight loss program. Most experts and even the media pitch in and recommend that the best way to lose weight is cut calories.

Those with a condition called hyperthyroidism suffer from an overactive thyroid leading to one having his or her metabolism skyrocket. If this is the case, then you will probably lose weight fast. This is a nice proposition for some who wish to lose weight. However, this is actually hazardous to the health.

Aside from the medical difficulties such a disease brings, one will also notice weight problems as a result. These people have trouble keeping on weight and may notice weakness and bulging of the eyes. This disease may need special treatment from doctors.

Hypothyroidism on the other hand works in the other direction – slowing metabolism until the body gains weight at an incredible rate. Like hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism causes a general weakness in the body. It too may need special treatment and may cause serious health problems if left unattended.

While cutting calories in itself can be very hard for most people – imagine, the people involved in life and death struggles at the supermarket regarding whether to buy that extra box of sweets, some have exactly the opposite problem.

Instead of eating too much calories – which is a problem in itself, they eat too little calories instead.

Problem? What Problem
The problem with some is that they believe that since the experts say that they have to cut calories, cutting calories to an inordinate amount will reap greater results. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. While cutting calories helps diets, consuming too little calories pushed the body into a hoard mode, the body’s metabolism slow to adapt to the lesser amount of available energy.

If your body enters this mode, your body will work at such slow metabolism that losing weight becomes impossible.  The technique here should be to reduce calories without the body slowing its metabolism. Only then can losing weight become easier.

Another problem that can arise from decreased metabolism is that when your metabolism slows due to a drastic reduction in metabolism, and then you suddenly eat a good, hearty, calorie-filled meal, you are bound to gain more weight owing to the increased surplus of energy.

This is why an imbalanced meal is highly discouraged among those that seek to lose weight. The sudden loss and increase of calories will cause an imbalance in one’s energy consumption directly affecting fat deposit.

Here is a simple computation to help you get to the right amount of calories you will need per day so that you get your nutrients in the right balance.

First of all, multiply your weight in kilograms by 30. If you only know your weight in pounds, divide it by 2.2 to get to its English equivalent. We divide this number by 30 because that is the number of calories you need to maintain your weight per pound of weight.

For example if your weight in pounds is 150, divide it by 2.2. That will give you a figure of 68.18. This is your weight in kilograms. Multiply this by 30 and you will arrive at the amount of calories you will need per day to maintain 150 lbs.

You may consult a nutritionist to help you come lose weight. In the end it all comes down to math. If you consume more that your body needs, it stores it as fat. Now is probably a good time to start studying the back of those grocery cartons.

Try to keep your diet at a 40% protein, 25% fat, and 35% carbohydrate meals at 300 calories per meal. Spread out these meals in a day for optimum results.

While it may be simple computation to get at numbers, do not forget the earlier mentioned fact that the body adapts to its condition. Expose it to extreme ones and you may find yourself getting results you never wanted. Consult a nutritionist for more advice.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

The Symptoms and Causes of Mesothelioma




Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that occurs in the thin tissue that lines most of the internal organs (mesothelium). The doctor divides mesothelioma into several types based on which part of this cancer occurs.
  • Pleural malignant mesothelioma, which occurs in the tissue lining around the lungs and is the most common type.
  • Peritoneal mesothelioma, occurring in tissues that line the stomach.
  • Pericardial mesothelioma, occurring in the tissue lining around the heart.
  • Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis, occurs in the lining around the testicles
The symptoms of Mesothelioma

Signs and the symptoms of mesothelioma varies based on where the cancer occurs.

Pleural mesothelioma, signs and symptoms include:
• Shortness of breath
• Pain when breathing
• Pain when coughing
• Pain in the lower rib
• an unusual lump in the chest under the skin layer
• Lost weight suddenly
• Dry cough

Peritoneal mesothelioma, signs and symptoms include:
• Pain in abdomen
• Swelling in the abdomen
• Changes in bowel movements, such as more frequent diarrhea or constipation
• Lump in the tissues in the abdominal area
• Lost weight suddenly

Other forms of mesothelioma
Signs and the symptoms pericardial mesothelioma and tunica vaginalis are unclear. On health , there is no complete information about this. Pericardial mesothelioma have signs and symptoms that may include difficulty breathing or chest pain. While mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis can be detected first by the enlargement of the testicles.

The Causes of Mesothelioma

In general, cancer occurs when cell DNA mutation. This mutation makes the cells continued to grow and flourish while others have normal cell cycles of life and death. Accumulation of cancer cells can form a malignant tumor.

It is unclear what causes the initial genetic mutations that lead to mesothelioma although scientists identify factors that may increase the risk. Cancer may result from a combination of several factors, such as heredity, environment, health condition and lifestyle.

Benign pleural mesothelioma
Benign tumors that form in the chest sometimes called benign mesothelioma. But the term is misleading. Benign mesothelioma is not started on the same cell where the cancer is formed. And in some cases kacil, benign mesothelioma can be very aggressive. For this reason, some doctors now prefer to call this tumor as a solitary fibrous tumor.

Solitary fibrous tumors usually do not cause signs and the symptoms. It is unclear what caused the solitary fibrous tumor, but tumors are associated with asbestos contamination pollutants. Treatment for solitary fibrous tumors usually includes surgery procedures.