Traditional treatments of obesity, now banned, associated with diuretics, amphetamines (diet pills) and thyroid hormones, which are both ineffective and dangerous.

Today, several medicines are available to help fight obesity. A large majority requires a prescription, because their effects on metabolism are not trivial. Some drugs work well on the intestinal enzymes, they inhibit. They reduce 30% of fat absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and are complementary diets. Dietary restriction is necessary, particularly fat, on pain of severe diarrhea.

Other drugs act on the satiety centers of the brain by a mechanism similar to that of amphetamines. Only specialists can prescribe these products.

Surgery is used only in cases of morbid obesity when body mass index (BMI) exceeds 35 or 40, and weight 130 or 150 kg. Bariatric surgery is most commonly performed is to remove part of the stomach, limiting food intake. The results are spectacular in the coming weeks, but this surgery must be accompanied by a strict diet. Psychological support is recommended. Finally in the months following the intervention of small cosmetic surgery may be required to remove folds of skin and abdominal fat deposits disappear easily.

Other interventions include installation of a temporary balloon in the stomach, which by its mere presence, cut hunger and forced to make smaller meals.

* Inventory
* Measures in school

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In many countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the increase in overweight and obesity among children and adults is becoming a serious public health problem.

Obesity is a recognized risk factor for many health problems, including hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, arthritis and certain cancers.

In France, since 2001, the National Health Nutrition (PNNS) aims to improve the health of French acting on one of its major determinants: Nutrition. One of the objectives of P.N.N.S. is to stop the increasing number of children and young people who are overweight, currently estimated at 16% of school-age children (Source: Ready Reference Statistics 2005, Ministry of National Education).

Progress in school

Banning food distributors

The beverage vending machines and food and pay available to students are banned in schools from 1 September 2005, pursuant to Article 30 of Law n ° 2004-806 of August 9, 2004 on policy public health.

However, schools are encouraged to install in conjunction with local authorities, chilled water fountains.

Promoting physical activity

The prevention of overweight and obesity involves learning about the contributions and energy expenditure. Under the National Health Nutrition (PNNS), the school promotes physical activity and sport. The physical education and sports (EPS) are on this essential point.

Recommendations for snacks and lunches

The morning snack at school is so systematic or mandatory. It is not justified for students who took breakfast before coming to school. However, teachers may set up a snack to suit specific situations. In this case, the collation must involve at least two hours before breakfast. Drinks or food offered to students must allow a diverse food supply by focusing on water, fruit juices without added sugar, milk products or semi-skimmed milk, bread, unsweetened cereals.

Other moments in the life of the school have the opportunity to provide supplementary food: birthday parties, Christmas or New Year, etc. These festive events offer a moment of conviviality, sharing and pleasure can not be ignored. However, it is desirable not to multiply them together, for example monthly, to avoid excessive energy intake.

photo credit: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

Although there are many theories on aging, apparently this is influenced by many hereditary and environmental factors. On many of these factors is very little or nothing we can do. But food is a very important factor we can control.

As we have seen, there are good reasons to reduce the number of calories you eat. In the case of middle-aged people is especially recommended to limit the amount of food eaten. As you get older, you lose muscle mass. This causes burn calories less efficiently. The result is an accumulation of fat and obesity. In sedentary individuals this is exacerbated considerably.

Decrease your calorie intake does not mean we have deprived of the pleasures of food. One way to start is by reducing the serving size of foods high in fat and calories. If this is difficult for us, it perhaps best to reserve these meals for special occasions or events.

It is important that we focus on eating foods which are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, eliminating or drastically reducing foods high in sugar and calories but low in nutrients.

It is recommended to increase vegetable consumption of saturated colors such as broccoli, peppers, green beans, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes and carrots. The dark green vegetables are generally rich in substances that can help reduce the risk of cancer. These foods are also rich in antioxidants.

In fact, usually, the darker one is a vegetable contains more antioxidants. Recent studies show that bilberry (blueberry and bilberry) contains powerful antioxidants that help keep the youth of our eyes and our brain. One study even found that blueberry consumption helped to rejuvenate the brain of a group of rats and senile. Other studies point to the plums and other foods rich in antioxidants.

If swallowed seek products that are low-fat milk. If you do not drink milk products in your diet try to include other calcium-rich foods like spinach, parsley, nuts, beans, cauliflower, asparagus and figs. Include plants of the genus Allium such as garlic and onion as it has been found to have significant antibiotic properties and inhibit various cancers.

Increase your fiber intake to at least 25 grams daily. Rich in bran cereals, whole grains, brown rice, beans and lentils as well as fruit and vegetables are excellent sources of fiber.

Daily consumption of a good amount of water is important at any age but as you get older acquires special importance. The older people not only require more fluids to avoid dehydration but also to dilute and eliminate toxins. It must eat at least eight glasses of water a day. The sodas and caffeinated drinks are not substitutes for water.

Eat little, reduce fat, increase consumption of antioxidants, adopting the Mediterranean diet? The choice is yours. Either way the conclusion is the same: food can help us not only have a longer life, but a more healthful.

credit to: Rafael Valle Rivera MA, NL

Sources with the CSIC, the work has been published in the journal Obesity and suggests that the intestinal microflora contributes to energy intake and body composition influences the regulation of body weight.

This new research on the relationship between specific components of the intestinal microflora, lifestyle and body weight regulation may be “key” to advance the development of new strategies for nutritional intervention to prevent obesity and associated metabolic diseases through modulation of the composition of the flora.

So says researcher Yolanda Sanz CSIC, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, who has participated in the study where 36 adolescents with obesity or overweight have been subjected to a treatment based on reducing energy intake and increased physical activity for ten weeks.

The research highlights the differences in the response of adolescents to the treatment applied, as most experienced a significant weight loss, more than four kilos, after treatment, but it was not in a subgroup of thirteen teenagers who lost less than two kilos.

The study suggests that these differences in response may be due in part to the specific composition of the intestinal microflora of individuals.

Thus, the group that experienced a significant weight loss had a higher proportion of Bacteroides and clostridia minor (types of intestinal bacteria) the group that did not experience a significant reduction in weight before and after the intervention.

The analysis of energy intake and diet composition revealed no significant differences between groups, but the total energy detected in the faeces was higher in adolescents who did not experience significant weight reduction.

According to some sources, these data suggest that the gut microflora influences the development of obesity and energy intake contributes to the body.

The research is a collaboration with research groups in EVASYON project, coordinated by researcher Mark Ascension of Cold-litanic Institute (CSIC), and intended to establish a multidisciplinary educational program (diet, physical activity and psychological profile ) for overweight adolescents and obesity.

This project recently received the NAOS prize awarded by the Ministry of Health and Social Policy.

Excess cholesterol now affects more than one third of French. But there are ways to lower its rates.

A diet cholesterol-lowering

When we discover hypercholesterolemia, the first step is to order diet. Action is needed on dietary habits to reduce cholesterol levels to normal. The dietary measures must focus on specific benchmarks, such as Professor Bruckert said: “The regime of high cholesterol should revolve around 4 axes: the reduction of saturated fats (butter, cheese, ham … ), increased fruit and vegetables (including fiber help lower cholesterol), consumption of fish (including Omega 3 can reduce cardiovascular risk) and finally making products fortified with plant sterols, which reduce cholesterol.

The diet before statin

The establishment of an adequate diet should be the first measure to be adopted. Besides the health authorities have issued recommendations in this sense: only by failure of the diet that drug treatment should be implemented. “It depends of course patients.” Underscores Professor Bruckert. If cardiovascular history, is not necessarily expected. But otherwise, it takes three to six months of implementation diet before turning to drugs … But it may be more! In moderate hypercholesterolemia, there is no urgency to initiate drug treatment. We can focus on dietary advice, especially as the habits take time to change .. .

Prescribe a suitable diet

Are these recommendations are followed? One has the impression that physicians tend to be easier on statins, much easier to prescribe a medication to establish a change in eating habits to adopt difficult for patients. However, Professor Bruckert tempers: “No serious study has been conducted in France to check when the doctors put up a statin therapy, they have prescribed dietary changes. It is likely that this is done in a number of cases.

It also believes that patients are more comfortable with medication, sometimes because they wrongly believe that these dietary measures can not solve their problem of excess cholesterol. Yet, they are very effective: “Only by such nutritional measures can reduce very significantly the cholesterol,” says Professor Bruckert. Enough indeed to solve the problems of cholesterol from the majority of patients. For often excess cholesterol remains limited.

Difficult to change eating habits …

Even if we know that dietary changes are effective, difficult to ask a patient to revolutionize the old habits of 30 years or more! “No behavior change is easy, whether diet or taking medication, said Professor Bruckert. The principle of any diet is to adapt to the patient. It must be a compromise between the ‘ideal and the feasible! ”

It is therefore important to make changes smoothly … without losing sight of the goal. “While some are keen to keep a little butter over the meal, we will focus more on reducing meats” and advises Professor Bruckert.

Medication, diet and always!

And it should be noted that even if we go on statins, dietary recommendations are still valid: “I always tell patients that reducing cholesterol, everything is done by the regime, it is less to do with drugs! In addition, dietary changes affect the cardiovascular risk in other ways than just lowering cholesterol, “insists Professor Bruckert.
In fact, eating fruits and vegetables or eat fish, it will have additional benefits for the heart and blood vessels.

Finally, we must not forget that drugs or dietary habits are not the only factors to take into account, as noted by Professor Bruckert: “The dietary management is complementary actions against other risk factors known: stop smoking and practicing regular physical activity in particular.
To fight against cardiovascular disease, it does not take medication or diet, we must adopt a true lifestyle!

If obesity has become a social phenomenon, the excess pounds are primarily responsible for many health problems.

Bad for the heart

Obesity: Why treating it? Among the main consequences of obesity, we must warn the repercussions on the cardiovascular system. Thus, blood pressure increases with weight. There are three times more hypertension in the obese. The risk of atheroma are logically extended: the fat is deposited more easily on artery walls. This increases the risk of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and thrombosis. Risks vein (phlebitis, pulmonary embolism …) are also more numerous.

Besides that obese people often suffer from high cholesterol. But this excess is a factor which further increases cardiac risk.

Bad to the Bone

Being overweight has adverse consequences on the skeleton. The pounds weigh on joints and accelerate wear (hip, knee, spine …). The problems and arthritis are very common. They may require the fitting of prostheses (hip, knee). Hernia problems also appear, resulting in sciatica and lumbago other.

Many respiratory problems

Another major problem associated with obesity during sleep apnea. It stops breathing several times a night (at least 10 seconds, reproducing 5 times per hour of sleep at least). These apneas can be extremely serious. Indeed, if they are not treated, they can be serious consequences: initially the person experiences fatigue, memory loss, headaches, but long term, poor oxygenation of the body will cause problems heart disease, hypertension and even heart attack risk.

Hormonal disorders

One complication most often associated with obesity is diabetes. This disruption of the metabolism of sugars is extremely common in cases of overweight. So much so that there is talk of an epidemic of “diabesity”. If this problem is caught early enough (in pre-diabetes, when blood sugar is just beginning to be too high), it is possible to reverse the tide. But without weight loss and exercise, insulin resistance appears, worsening the disease. But diabetes can cause cardiovascular complications, blindness, amputations …

Various Effect

Many studies have also highlighted the role of obesity in several diseases: cancer, digestive disorders, infertility …

In addition to physical problems, obesity has many repercussions on daily life. As social relationships are severely hampered: reluctance to go out, look for others, etc.. Professionally, difficulties can arise from hiring … The quality of life is often affected, favoring the occurrence of psychological disorders (depression …).

It is therefore essential to treat obesity, because its complications are numerous. They are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths: a recent study, a seven deaths in Europe is attributable to excess weight …