Weight Watching Blog

Archive for the ‘Overweight Risk’ Category

This video demonstrates the dangers overweight trucks can pose to drivers on the highways. Here, an overweight truck burns up its breaks trying to control its decent down a steep grade West Virginia mountain. Currently, the maximum weight permitted by law is 80,000lbs but the trucking industry is lobbying Congress to increase that weight to 120,000lbs. This will pose a serious safety risk to the motoring public. Contact your local member of Congress and tell them NO to bigger truck sizes and weights and contact the Truck Safety Coaltion to find out how you can fight these increases. www.trucksafety.org

Copyright ©2010 Scioto Valley Productions. All Rights Reserved.

The Truck Safety Coalition has Scioto Valley Production’s permission to post and use this clip.

Duration : 0:1:0

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Technorati Tags: automobiles, breaks, burning, cars, control, grade, hazard, mountain, of, out, Overweight, steep, truck

Get your FREE Guide to the Health Risks of Being Overweight or Obese. http://diet.LasVegashCGdrops.com.

Does Losing Weight Reduce Blood Pressure?
What Are The Consequences of Being Obese or Carrying Excess Weight?
Does Losing Weight Reduce Blood Pressure?
Does Being Overweight Cause Arthritis?

Get Your FREE Guide “10 Things You Must Know About The Health Risks of Being Overweight”

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Technorati Tags: childhood obesity, health risks of obesity, losing weight, obesity health risks, overweight health risks, Weight Loss

Heart Attack Risk Factors address the two types of risk factors associated with heart attacks, factors that a person can control and factors they cannot. Knowing the risk factors is so important because having just one risk factor doubles a person’s chance of developing heart disease.

This video is presented by the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and can be viewed at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/videos/heart-disease-risk-factors.html

Duration : 0:2:2

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Technorati Tags: attack, blood, cholesterol, diabetes, disease, factors, health, heart, high, Institutes, National, NHLBI, NIH, obese, Overweight, pressure, risk, smoking, triglyceride, truth

My dogs name is Humphrey, he is a 9 year old Golden Retriever and is the sweetest thing you will ever meet in the world, he would never harm a flea haha but he is not exactly "the sharpest tool in the shed" if you know what I mean. But recently we took Humphrey to the vet and the veterinarian said he was about 15 pounds overweight… Humphrey is about 90 pounds and the vet said a medium sized golden retriever like Humphrey should be about 65-75 pounds but he is 90 and I have become very worried. We used to have a German Shepherd named Malcolm but Malcolm recently passed away so Humphrey has become so much less active. All he does is eat, sleep, and lie around the house moping. We have a huge dog bowl always full of food that Malcolm and Humphrey both shared but since Malcolm died the huge bowl has become a doggy feast for Humphrey. Recently I have began walking Humphrey and putting the huge dog bowl up and giving Humphrey 2 cups of dog food at dinner with boiled veggies mixed in and doggy snacks in between. But my family undos all my hard work so easily it infuriates me. they feed Humphrey human food….they do it more out of a force of habit than malevolent intent. Can someone please give me advice how to make my family understand that Humphrey is a huge risk for diabetes and heart disease not only because he is older but because he is overweight as well. Also can you please give me advice on how to make him lose weight??? I cannot stand the thought of losing Humphrey so soon after losing Malcolm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73247724@N04/

Here is a link so you can see pictures of Humphrey tell me if you think he is really overweight

I do think it would be a good idea for him to lose weight. You are right about diabetes and heart problems being more common in overweight and obese dogs. These, while common, most certainly can be avoided most of the time through proper diet and exercise. Arthritis and hip displaysia are also common things that having extra pounds could complicate - should he develop joint and bone disorders any extra weight will add unnecessary stress to the bones and make it harder to cope with.

Another great reason for him to lose weight is because 90% of a vets exam is done by simply feeling an animal. On a healthy sized animal, a vet may be able to feel a pets abdomen and notice "hey, this feels a little enlarged". With overweight or obese pets, more times than not, important organs are not able to be felt. We could miss something important. Or, here’s another example: An obese cat came in the other day with a possible UTI. Normally we collect urine through a cystocentisis - drawing urine directly from the bladder with a thin needle and syrgine. This ensures that we have a sterile sample to examine. Unfortunately, the cat was again, obese, and we were unable to feel the bladder through the fat pads on his stomach. He also would not cooperate and began to get aggressive so using a urinary catheter was out of the question - now how in the world are we going to evaluate urine when we cannot get a sample?! Being overweight as a pet, especially older pets who are prone to many different things, can complicate simple procedures exponentially.

A big part of losing weight is keeping a very strict diet. I understand your difficulty with this - my cat is getting older and is overweight and there is next to nothing I can do to stop whom I live with from sneaking extra food to him behind my back…and I WORK in the veterinary field! :P!!! Luckily my cat is very active, and even with extra food he will be able to run around and shed the pounds that way. If your dog is physically slowing down and will not commit to an exercise routine, then your only and best bet really is feeding him appropriately. On the bag of dog food he eats there should be guidelines on how much to feed. Try feeding him either exactly that or even going down to the weight range below his. Don’t keep the food out all day either - try splitting the daily food requirement in half and offering half of it to him twice a day. The food is designed to include all the nutrition a healthy dog needs - extra veggies and treat are not necessary. Of course, he’s probably a very good dog and deserves a treat from time to time. If cutting table food out completely is out of the question, try giving only one or two extra veggies (carrots, green beans, and sweet potato slices work great) to him at dinner time instead of a large portion. Try limiting the treats to one a day, or even only to encourage a good behavior - such as after going for a walk, or playing a game of fetch! This way he knows he will be rewarded for his activity. Or use the veggie slices as treats instead! It will be hard if not everyone in the household is committed to these ideas, but you do need to be very firm and explain that for his health it is important for him to lose weight. Just like an aging human, we need to start taking precautions with the animals we care about.

It might also be a good idea to see if the vet noticed any arthritis at his last visit. Going for a mile long run will not be helpful for him if he does have a significant amount of that — ouch! You could always start him on a joint supplement - your vet will be able to recommend on for you. A good sport that you can try once it gets a little warmer is swimming - great for keeping fit and easy on the joints.

Have a happy new year!

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In this clip, Jay Harness, MD, FACS explains what the risk factors for developing breast cancer are.

What are the risk factors for breast cancer? Well first of all, we don’t know the exact cause of breast cancer other than we know if you are gene-positive, you are approaching 80% chance of developing breast cancer. But what are the other typical risk factors for breast cancer? And there are multiple ones: not ever having children; nulliparous is certainly one of the risk factors. Actually as you age, the older you get; the greater your risk.

The one in eight number from the American Cancer Society for the risk of breast cancer actually comes if you live up to, let’s say on to, age 94. Other risk factors are: late birthing — we are not exactly sure why having children later in life is an increased risk factor for breast cancer —, alcohol consumption is rising a little bit more as a risk factor for breast cancer, being obese or overweight is a risk factor for breast cancer, and clearly, having a family history is a risk factor for a breast cancer.

So the list includes now cigarette smoking as a risk factor for breast cancer. Many people have been worried about pesticides. They are worried about other environmental factors. The link there and the risk there are probably not as clear as many of the ones that I have mentioned so far, and particularly, if you have any kind of family history for breast cancer, you want to be sure that you understand risk factors.

People often ask me, “What can I do to lower my risk of developing breast cancer?” The simple answer is: live heart-healthy, don’t smoke, minimal alcohol consumption, exercise regularly, try and stay as close as you can to ideal body weight, eating a protein sort of base diet that is more in the better proteins than it is in the negative proteins… things of that sort.

There’s no guarantee you won’t develop breast cancer but those are the kinds of things that you can do to help prevent breast cancer.

This information should not be relied upon as a substitute for personal medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Use the information provided on this site solely at your own risk.  If you have any concerns about your health, please consult with a physician.

Duration : 0:3:9

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