Interrelationships between Health Problems - Essay Example

Explain the connection between heredity and obesity. What is the role of diet? How can one prevent obesity in adults?
Heredity plays a large role in obesity. Genes can influence how the body burns calories for energy and how the body stores fat.  What people eat and their level of physical activity help determine whether they will gain weight ("Overweight and Obesity", CDC). Being overweight can be prevented in adults by eating a balanced diet and by proper exercise.

Differentiate between weight loss and weight control.
Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (diet, exercise) or involuntary (illness) circumstances ("Definition of Weight loss", Medicinet.com). Weight control is controlling the gain of weight by food habits, lifestyle, and exercise.

Why are some weight-loss methods considered dangerous?
Some weight loss methods are dangerous because they can lead to depletions in protein and other substances in the body which can actually be harmful ("Definition of Weight loss", Medicinet.com). Some methods of weight loss use administration of drugs like laxatives and herbs which can have their own side effects including affecting renal function.

Create a chart that identifies symptoms, features, effects over time, cause, and treatment for the following disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, pica, pagophagia, amylophagia, and plumbism.

Disease

Symptoms

Features

Effect overtime

Cause

Treatment

Anorexia nervosa

Control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs

Low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight.

Malnutrition

Depression

Suicidal tendencies

Genetic

Psychologic

Socio-environmental

Psychotherapy

Restore weight gain

Bulimia nervosa

Recurrent binge eating is followed by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-condemnation, and intentional purging to compensate for the excessive eating, usually to prevent weight gain

Recurrent episodes of binge eating and recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior to prevent weight gain at least once a week for three months with self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight

Malnutrition

Obesity and side effects

Multiorgan dysfunction

Peptic ulcer

Psychological

Psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Binge eating

Episodes of uncontrollable overeating

Try to hide this behavior from others, and often feel ashamed or depressed about their overeating

Obesity and side effects

Usually not a mental disorder

Advice on eating

Pica

Appetite for non-nutritive substances like coal, soil, chalk, paper, etc.

Persist for more than one month, at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate.

Lead poisoning

Parasites

Gastrointestinal obstruction

Biochemical deficiency

Iron deficiency

Hookworm infection.

Psychosocial, environmental, and family guidance approaches

Pagophagia

The compulsive consumption of ice.

-

-

Nutritional deficiency

Responds to iron supplementation

Amylophagia

The compulsive consumption of excessive amounts of purified starch like corn starch

-

-

Often seen in pregnancy.

Combination of biochemical, hematological, psychological, and cultural factors.

-

Plumbism

Lead poisoning

Decreased IQ and behavioral problems.

Iron deficiency anemia

Asymptomatic in many cases

Unrealized consumption of lead in the form of paints and other lead derived products

Treat anemia

Chelation therapy

Diabetes has two main types with unique causes. Identify the types, cause, risk factors, and treatment for each. What typical individual would you expect has each type?

Type

Cause

Risk factor

Treatment

Type of individual

Diabetes type-1

Loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, leading to a deficiency of insulin

Autoimmune cause

Replacement of insulin combined with careful monitoring of blood glucose levels using blood testing monitors.

Healthy, non-obese individual

Diabetes type-2

Due to insulin resistance or reduced insulin sensitivity, combined with reduced insulin secretion.

Central obesity

Aging

Family history of diabetes

Increasing physical activity, decreasing carbohydrate intake, and losing weight.

Oral antidiabetic drugs.

Lastly insulin treatment

Obese individuals with poor lifestyles.

What is the glycemic index? What relationship to blood glucose and carbohydrate type can be connected with this index?
The glycemic index of a food is defined by the area under the two-hour blood glucose response curve following the ingestion of a fixed portion of carbohydrate (usually 50 g).

The Glycemic index is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their effect on blood glucose levels. It compares available carbohydrates gram for gram in individual foods, providing a numerical, evidence-based index of postprandial (post-meal) glycemia (“Diabetes.”)

What is heart disease? What is the connection between diet and heart disease?
Heart disease is a number of abnormal conditions affecting the heart and the blood vessels in the heart, the most common of which is an affectation of coronary arteries. Improper diet can lead to deposition of cholesterol plaques inside the coronary arteries, causing myocardial ischemia.

Compare and contrast HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and their relationships to health.
LDL is considered as bad cholesterol. It can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain and together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This is known as atherosclerosis.
HDL cholesterol is known as good cholesterol. High levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack and low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) also increase the risk of heart disease (“LDL and HDL Cholesterol”).

.