PharmaPassport Health Tips Blog

August 12, 2010

Hormonal Contraceptives are Less Effective in Obese/Overweight Women

Filed under: birth control pills,obesity,pregnancy — Tags: birth control pill, birth control study, hormonal contraceptives, hormonal implant, nuvaring, obesity, over weight, pregnancy, skin patch, vaginal ring — Amanda @ 4:35 pm

A systematic review of results reported online has concluded that hormonal contraceptives (such as skin patches, vaginal rings, implants, pills, and injections) may not be as effective in overweight and obese women.

With obesity rates increasing worldwide every year, it is important that these findings be shared with the public.

The results from seven studies on 39,531 women on the success of hormonal contraceptives were examined and the results were varied among the different methods of birth control. Some methods such as the birth control pill were less effective at preventing pregnancy in the obese and overweight women who used a hormonal contraceptive.

Body mass index, or BMI, played a large role in the effectiveness of the birth control pill. Women with a BMI higher than 25 (classified as overweight), were more likely to get pregnant while using the pill than women with a BMI under 25.

Body weight, on the other hand, was the factor among women using the skin patch, vaginal ring, implant, or injection. The body weight due to fat on the body determined the pregnancy risk among women using contraception. Overweight and obese women using the skin patch, progestin implant, and vaginal ring were more likely to get pregnant than women of normal weight using these forms of contraception. Curiously enough, the effectiveness of the hormonal injection was not affected by BMI or body weight. One possible reason for the decreased effectiveness of the skin patch is simply that there is a higher density of fat cells in areas where the patch is to be placed. The fat cells in the way of the blood stream can absorb and store the hormones preventing them from reaching the blood stream.

The exact reason why overweight and obese women are at a greater risk of pregnancy while using hormonal contraceptives is unknown. Although several theories imply that it has something to do with specific biological factors.

Liver Enzymes – overweight women can experience an increased regulation of liver metabolism. These higher levels of enzymes can help break down the hormones in oral contraceptives. Heavier women have a greater circulating blood volume and body mass therefore there is more tissue for blood to circulate though. The chance that enzymes will break down the hormones in contraception is faster therefore the levels of circulating hormones can be decreased.

Hormone Storage – Hormones like estrogen and progestin that are found in birth control are stored in body fat. The more fat cells on a woman, the greater her chances of the hormones becoming stored in her fat rather than flowing into her bloodstream.

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Another Risk Factor- the Size of Your Waist

Filed under: obesity — Tags: heart disease, obesity, risk factors, waist size — Tanveen @ 4:35 pm

Obesity is a huge issue in the United States. More than a quarter of the people who live in the US are affected by this condition. It has many emotional and physical effects on a person and is responsible for causing many different health conditions. For example, heart disease is one of the most common. In order to lower obesity, many measures have been taken to reinforce healthy living over the years.

The focus has been on losing weight and achieving a healthy body mass index (BMI). However, recent research claims that even if one has a healthy BMI, if they have a large waist they will have a much higher risk of death in comparison to someone with a smaller waist, approximately twice as much of a risk.

The waist size recommended for men by the American Heart Association is less than 40 inches. For women, they recommend less than 35 inches. It has been found that every four inches of extra waist can mean a 25% higher risk of dying.

The reason why having a large waist can lead to death is because fat in the waist region means that there is a great amount of fat around vital organs. This sort of fat is the cause of many health complications.

This study was based on 100 000 people (a mixture of both men and women) that were 50 years or older. The people were studied over a time period of nine years and many ended up dying due to their health condition. The results were based on one study so the research has not technically been proven as of now. However, it wouldn’t hurt to burn off some of the fat hanging around, right?

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March 25, 2010

Oversleeping: More Harmful than Helpful

Filed under: causes of heart disease,depression,diabetes,headaches,hypersomnia,obesity,Uncategorized — Amanda @ 4:05 pm

Oversleeping is another one of those situations that really does you more harm than good. Although it seems as though sleeping longer could benefit you, it has actually been linked to a number of medical problems, the most harmful being diabetes, and heart disease.

Many of us don’t know how much sleep we need as individuals to function our best. The average amount of sleep varies over your lifetime due to a number of factors such as age, activity level, general health, and lifestyle routines. If you are experiencing a period of stress, for example, your energy levels will decrease much faster than if you are not stressed therefore you will require more sleep. The average adult functions best after 7 or 8 hours of sleep, however there are many adults who find they only need 5 or 6 and others who need 9 or 10 hours of sleep to feel their best.

In order to determine the number of hours that your body requires for optimal function, keep a sleep diary. Record how many hours you sleep each night, the times you went to sleep and got up, how you felt in the morning, afternoon, and evening, if you had any bad dreams, and your general mood. The patterns you see will start to give you an idea of the number of hours you need.

Several recent studies have found that too much or too little sleep can be linked to many medical problems including obesity, diabetes, and even death.

Diabetes - In a recent study at the Boston University School of Medicine found that participants that had reported sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours a day had an 50% greater risk of diabetes than those who slept for 7 or 8 hours.

Obesity - In addition, another study found that people who slept for 9 or 10 hours every night were 21% more likely to become obese over a six year period than the people who slept for 7 or 8 hours. The relationship between sleep and obesity remained the same even after food intake and exercise were taken into account.

Heart Disease – A study involving nearly 72,000 women found that women who slept 9 to 11 hours each night were 38% more likely to have coronary heart disease than women who slept for 8 hours.

Death - Frighteningly enough, several studies have found that people who sleep 9 hours or more a night have significantly higher death rates than people who sleep between 7 and 8 hours a night.

Headaches - Sleeping longer than usual on a weekend can cause headaches. Researchers believe that oversleeping has an effect on neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin. People who sleep during the day and disrupt their nighttime sleep might also find that they are suffering from headaches in the morning.

Other studies have found that depression and back pain are also associated with oversleeping.

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December 4, 2009

5 Foods to Cut From Your Diet

Filed under: childhood obeseity,healthy diet,healthy food,losing weight,obesity,Uncategorized,weight loss,weight loss tips,worst weight loss foods — Candace @ 5:11 pm

Obesity is a major problem in North America and worldwide. One-third of American adults are obese. There are diet pills and tons of books written on weight loss and solutions. Fortunately small changes like omitting a few foods from your diet can have an immense effect.

1. Avoid white bread
Although something like a sandwich is considerably healthy, it is best if you do not use white bread. White bread has no nutritional value. White bread is equivalent to table sugar. It has high glucose levels and lacks any other important nutrients. A simple whole wheat bread offers much better nutritional value and is a good alternative.

2. Ice cream
Ice cream is tremendously calorie dense. It is full of sugar; one cup of vanilla ice cream has over 360 calories. A solution to this is to buy yogurt, and freeze it. Make sure you mix it before freezing it if it isn’t the premixed kind. It tastes just as good as ice cream, but has less calories and is a better, healthier snack.

3. No Pop!
The average pop can has 10 packets of sugar, which add up to 150 empty calories. Pop has been pegged guilty of association with childhood and adult obesity. A better option to a can of pop are fruit spritzers, or vanilla extract which you can add to plain seltzer water or tonic water.

4. Full fat cheeses
Full fat cheeses can have up to 10 grams of fat per ounce with a lot of saturated fat included. For example, lasagna is filled with cheese and saturated fat, which makes it a bad choice for dieters. A better alternative to full fat cheeses are low fat ricotta cheese. For other dairy products the healthier options include skim milk, plain yogurt (add your own fruit), and cottage cheese.

5. Regular bacon
Although bacon is extremely tempting and delicious, it is fried fat and salt. 2 slices of regular bacon contain 120 calories and 10 grams of fat. Cured meats, including bacon, have been linked to dangerous stomach and colon cancers. A better option would be vegetarian sausage. 2 links of this only have 80 calories and 3 grams of fat. Turkey bacon is another healthy choice, saving you 40 calories, and 7g fat.

Although it seems hard and almost impossible at times to lose weight, certain changes to your diet and lifestyle can greatly contribute to weight loss.

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