Bradley Waggoner, MD

Overweight in 20s could lead to serious problems in 40s

People who are obese and have type 2 diabetes in their 20s will be at higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke in their 40s if they do not change their lifestyle.

"If your blood pressure is 136/88 and you’re a man with a waist over 40 or a woman with a waist over 35 it spells trouble," said Dr. Dale J. Hamilton, diabetes clinical services chief at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. "These are two of the five symptoms of metabolic syndrome, a problem that can lead to type 2 diabetes. All you need is three to begin seeing increased atherosclerosis."

"High triglyceride levels over 150, insulin resistance and a low LDL (good cholesterol) are factors of metabolic syndrome, along with high blood pressure and central obesity. According to the American Heart Association more than 47 million Americans have it. Many of these patients will end up suffering with type 2 diabetes, which can eventually lead to coronary artery disease and stroke.

"Small changes every day can help curb big problems later on," Hamilton said. "Losing five to 10 pounds will help lower blood pressure. Reducing saturated fats, carbohydrates, and eating about two-thirds the amount you eat now will help you lose weight around the middle. Walk 45 minutes a day instead of 30."

Some experts believe replacing sugar with high fructose corn syrup in processed foods in the United States and Canada in the 1990s has played a role in the rise of type 2 diabetes cases. High fructose corn syrup is made by changing the sugar in corn starch to fructose, another form of sugar. It has become popular because it extends the shelf life of processed foods and is cheaper than sugar. It has also become a popular ingredient in many sodas and fruit-flavored drinks.

"The problem with high fructose corn syrup is that it promotes central obesity," Hamilton said. "Another problem with it is that it fools your body into thinking you are hungry. I don’t think you need to eliminate it from your diet, you just need to be aware of how much of it you are consuming on a daily basis because too much can lead to serious weight gain."

Keep in mind, he said, type 2 diabetes symptoms often go untreated because there are few or no symptoms until it is too late.

"Having three or more of the risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes over an extended period of time is the equivalent of already having a heart attack," Hamilton said. "These risk factors need to be treated aggressively in order to curb the problem and give you a better chance at a longer, healthier life."

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Story Source: Adapted from materials provided by  The Methodist Hospital - Houston.

Medical Advice Disclaimer: The content of this blog entry is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician, or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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If you are considering weight loss surgery, you owe it to yourself to choose a physician who is not only highly skilled, but caring and compassionate as well. Many physicians out there will treat your obesity. Dr. Waggoner will treat you!

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Favorite Holiday Foods Making You Sick?

Many people experience nasal congestion, indigestion, and diarrhea during the holidays that might not be flu or cold-related at all. Instead, they might be caused by our favorite holiday foods such as turkey stuffing, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie, and cookies.¹

The culprit could be gluten, a protein found in the wheat flour used to make these holidays foods, says Carol Fenster, Ph .D., an authority on gluten-free cooking. Symptoms like those above and other reactions -- including fatigue, skin rashes, stomach aches, and migraine headaches -- often increase during the holidays because most holiday foods contain wheat.

"Reactions to wheat should be taken seriously," says Carol Fenster, Ph .D., who develops gluten-free products for manufacturers. "Chronic sinus congestion can lead to infection and eventually antibiotics. People who are merely intolerant to wheat become mildly ill. But for those with true wheat allergies, wheat can be fatal."

In addition, many Americans -- 1 in every 133, according to the National Institutes of Health -- have a little known, but increasingly common autoimmune condition called celiac disease. The gluten in wheat (and related grains such barley, rye, and spelt) inhibits absorption of nutrients from food and, left untreated, celiac disease can lead to anemia, osteoporosis, lymphoma, and even death.

"People can be sensitive to wheat and not even know it. Testing by a qualified health professional is required to identify wheat or other common food culprits such as milk or eggs," says Fenster, who wrote Gluten-Free 101 and 6 other gluten-free cookbooks since discovering her own sensitivity 18 years ago. "An allergist diagnoses allergies; a gastroenterologist diagnoses celiac disease."

Fenster offers tips for indulging in your favorite holiday foods without unwanted symptoms:

• Purchase gluten-free foods at your local health food store or obtain them via mail-order
• Make your own food with cookbooks that use substitutes for the offending ingredients
• Offer to bring a gluten-free dish to holiday get-togethers

¹http://www.redorbit.com/. "Favorite Holiday Foods Making You Sick?" December 11, 2009.

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If you are considering weight loss surgery, you owe it to yourself to choose a physician who is not only highly skilled, but caring and compassionate as well. Many physicians out there will treat your obesity. Dr. Waggoner will treat you!

Contact Bradley Waggoner, MD:

• If you are ready to set-up an appoint to discuss your weight loss options.
• Reserve your seat at the next free seminar on Lap-Band Surgery and meet Bradley Waggoner in person.

If you'd like to set-up an appointment to further discuss your weight loss surgical options, please contact us.

"Mental Budgets" Help Control Consumption

If you feel like you're in a losing battle with a triple-chocolate cake, a "mental budget" can help, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"There are some behaviors that consumers try to limit but have trouble doing so," write authors Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy (University of Houston) and Sonja Prokopec (ESSEC Business School, France). "Even as one aims to curtail consumption of sugars and fat, one ends up consuming the tiramisu or the triple-chocolate cake. Such discrepancies between one's goals and actual behaviors represent instances of self-control failure."

Overconsumption is a serious issue in the United States. For example, National Institutes of Health statistics show that two-thirds of American adults are overweight, with associated direct economic medical costs of $78.5 billion each year. About 70 million Americans are attempting to control their food intake.

So, how do consumers rein in overeating? In weight-loss systems like Weight Watchers^®, each food is assigned a point value and members are encouraged to limit their total daily consumption to a pre-specified amount of points.

The authors conducted several studies where they encouraged some participants to set mental budgets and compared them to people who did not set budgets. They examined their consumption of sweet treats.

They discovered several patterns. First, having a mental budget alone was not sufficient. Participants also needed to have an active goal of not wanting to consume sweets. Second, the information about the products needed to match the units of the mental budgets. Third, mental budgets succeeded when consumers followed specific numerical recommendations, like the Weight Watchers^® points.

"For those who wish to cut out those desserts, our research suggests some simple tips," the authors write. "First, it is important to have a mental budget. At the very least, it allows you to keep track of how you are doing with respect to your goal. Second, make sure the budget works as a limit rather than a license for the consumption behavior. To do this, it is important to have an active goal of controlling the consumption."

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¹Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy and Sonja Prokopec. "Resisting That Triple-Chocolate Cake: Mental Budgets and Self-Control." Journal of Consumer Research: June 2010. A preprint of this article (to be officially published online soon) can be found at http://journals.uchicago.edu/jcr.

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If you are considering weight loss surgery, you owe it to yourself to choose a physician who is not only highly skilled, but caring and compassionate as well. Many physicians out there will treat your obesity. Dr. Waggoner will treat you!

Contact Bradley Waggoner, MD:

• If you are ready to set-up an appoint to discuss your weight loss options.
• Reserve your seat at the next free seminar on Lap-Band Surgery and meet Bradley Waggoner in person.

If you'd like to set-up an appointment to further discuss your weight loss surgical options, please contact us.