Almost 108 million Americans were overweight or obese in 1999. Until now, obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels with the year 2020.( Health Journal ) Individual way to control this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese. Here are various diseases that you are putting yourself in chance of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds: 1. heart disease 2. stroke 3. diabetes 4. tumor 5. arthritis 6. hyperte

Sanjeev Arora, MD is professor of medicine, director of Project ECHO, and executive vice-chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM. Please give me an overview of Project ECHO. Project ECHO stands for Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes. Our mission is to develop the capacity to safely and effectively treat chronic, common and complex diseases in rural and underserved areas and to monitor out

Neal Barnard, MD I’ve been researching the most common and devastating diseases Americans are dealing with, with the aim of finding a common thread running throughout both cause and reversal. As it is now, one out of every two of us will get cancer or heart disease, and one out of every three children born after the year 2000 will be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. These are devastating diseases, certainly to those who are burdened by them, but also to a health care system that is struggling

Mounting scientific research continues to suggest that health, quality of life, and even the very length of life, are all profoundly affected by our mental and emotional states. The emerging field of mind/body medicine explains how our thoughts and emotions can powerfully affect brain, endocrine (hormone), and immune system function. This influence is facilitated by chemical messengers called neuropeptides, which are released with ones’ every emotion. They are rapidly picked up by cells in th

Children have more energy requirements since they are in the growing stage. A nutritive diet is essential for their healthy development. Unlike adults, children are more prone to diseases. When they consume more number of calories than they actually burn, the extra calories get stored in their body in the form of fats. Childhood obesity is of immense concern today. It has become a universal phenomenon. Children, who are overweight, tend to grow up as obese. Therefore, they develop higher risk