What can I do if the optic nerve is damaged?
Question from a reader: My son this year had a brain tumor removed, unfortunately it had damaged the optic nerve and left him partially sighted in one eye and blind in the other. In the six months since the operation his sight in the “good eye” has improved but nothing in the blind eye. Is there anything we could do about his blindness in that eye treatment or operation? Dear Parent: It is great news that sight in the "good eye" has improved. Unfortunately, if there was damage to the optic nerve of the other eye, then there is nothing available to help your son with the blind eye.
Depending on how much vision remains in the "good eye", your son may benefit from a low vision specialist evaluation who is an eye doctor specializing in patients with impaired vision. There are computers and aides that may benefit your son. Best regards,
Andrew Doan, MD, PhD
What is a healthy body mass index (BMI) or body fat percentage for me?
Citizens of developed countries enjoy better jobs, higher pay, and luxuries not available to previous generations. Unfortunately, unlike our predecessors, we do less manual labor and live more sedentary lifestyles. "Obesity is an epidemic, rising at troubling proportions," said John S. Evans, a senior lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health. Two billion people worldwide will be overweight by 2015, and more than 700 million will be obese.
A recent study shows that morbidly obese adults are sedentary for more than 99 percent of the day. A study of 10 men and women found that participants spent an average of 23 hours and 52 minutes sleeping, lying down or sitting each day. More exercise is one way to lose weight; however, you can also lose weight by eating less than your body requires. In order to do this, you will need to know the body weight and body fat percentage needed to maintain good health.
Determining your ideal body mass index (BMI) may not be the same for everyone. Athletic people with a lot of muscle mass may appear to be obese using standard BMI calculators. These individuals may have to calculate body fat percentage based on body measurements. Below are several methods to determine your healthy weight. These calculators are general guidelines. Each person will be different, and your situation will be unique.
What is a healthy body mass index (BMI) for you?
For adults, a healthy weight is defined as the appropriate weight in relation to height. This ratio of weight to height is known as the BMI. People who are overweight might have too much body weight for their height. People who are obese almost always have a large amount of body fat in relation to their height. There are exceptions, of course. Big athletes with lots of muscle might have a BMI over 30.0 but would not be considered obese from the perspective of health risk.
Use a BMI calculator for adults and determine your BMI by entering your height and weight. I recommend using an electronic scale to determine your weight. As indicated above, BMI is only one consideration. If you are an athletic person with a large amount of muscle, then you might have a high BMI but will not be considered obese.
Waste measurements as indicator for obesity.
Waste measurements can be used to calculate if you are overweight. If you carry fat mainly around your waist, you are more likely to develop health problems than if you carry fat mainly in your hips and thighs. This is true even if your BMI falls within the normal range. To measure your waist circumference, place a tape measure around your bare abdomen just above your hip bone. Be sure that the tape is snug, but does not compress your skin, and is parallel to the floor. Relax, exhale, and measure your waist. Women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches or men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches may have a higher disease risk than people with smaller waist measurements because of where their fat lies.
Calculating body fat percentage based on body measurements.
Your body fat percentage can be calculated based on height, neck circumference, and waste circumference for men and height, neck circumference, waste circumference and hip circumference for women. Measurements are taken as follows: Height (taken without shoes), Neck (taken below the larynx sloping slightly downward at the front), Waist (for men at navel height, for women at the smallest point), and Hips (women only - at the largest point). You can use this Body Fat Calculator to determine your body fat percentage. How much body fat percentage is healthy? This is based on your age and sex. In the Navy, if your body fat percentage exceeds the following, then you are considered to be overweight:
Male - Age 17 to 39 - 22 percent
Male - Age 40 + - 23 percent Female - Age 17 to 39 - 33 percent
Female - Age 40 + - 34 percent
What about a healthy body weight for children and teens?
Our children are affected by obesity too. Studies have shown that there are increasing numbers of obese children, and that obesity in children is associated with serious medical problems, such as sleep apnea, diabetes, bone and joint problems, and heart disease.
For children and teens, overweight is defined differently than it is for adults. Because children are still growing, and boys and girls develop at different rates, BMIs for children 2 to 20 years old are determined by comparing their weight and height against growth charts that take their age and gender into account.
A child's "BMI-for-age" shows how his or her BMI compares with other boys or girls of the same age. A child or teen who is between the 85th and 95th percentile on the growth chart is considered at risk of overweight. A child or teen who is at the 95th percentile or above is considered overweight. Consult your pediatrician to determine a healthy weight for your child.
Summary
I recommend that you use a combination of the above three methods to determine your ideal body weight to be healthy. If you exceed the upper limits for any one calculator, then consider making life style changes to lose weight, increase exercise, and eating healthier. I also recommend consulting a health professional before starting new exercise regimens or weight loss programs.
Understanding your healthy BMI and body fat percentage is the first step in being healthier and losing weight. In the next article, I will discuss basic metabolic rate (BMR) and how BMR determines if you maintain, lose, or gain weight.
 [Index Article]  ReferencesBody Fat Calculator. About.com. Accessed April 12, 2009. Body Mass Index Calculator and Waist Measurement. Medical College of Wisconsin. Accessed April 12, 2009. Desk jobs making more people obese, study finds. Reuters. Accessed April 12, 2009. Learn about Body Mass Index (BMI). National Heart Lung and Blood Institutes. Accessed April 12, 2009. Very obese adults almost completely sedentary. Reuters. Accessed April 12, 2009. Labels: weight loss
How do I live longer and healthier?
By Andrew Doan, MD, PhD The answer to this question is clear, but Americans and citizens of industrialized nations are having difficulty achieving it. Lose weight. In a study by Dr. Emily B. Levitan of Boston, Dr. Levitan and her team demonstrated that both body mass index (BMI) and waist size increase people’s risk of being hospitalized with heart failure or dying from heart disease. Dr. Levitan's team looked at 36,873 women aged 48 to 83 and 43,487 men 45 to 79 years old who were participating in long-term studies of the general Swedish population. During six years of follow up, 382 of the women and 718 of the men were hospitalized for heart failure or died from the disease. Dr. Levitan’s team showed that for every additional BMI point, the risk of heart failure hospitalization or death increased by 3% in women and 7% in men. Furthermore, a 10-centimeter or ~4-inch increase in waste size increased risk by 19% in women and 30% in men! Obesity places an incredible burden on your heart. The heart is a living pump responsible for circulating blood to all of your organs. An increase in body mass increases the working demands on your heart by requiring it to pump to more surface area. When the patient becomes obese, there is an increased risk of “pump failure”, which is also referred to as heart failure. Obesity increases blood pressure, cholesterol, and risk of developing diabetes, which are risk factors known to cause heart disease. If you want to live longer, healthier and reduce your health care costs, then the first step is losing your excess pounds. In the next series of articles, I will write about how to determine how much food your body needs and how to lose weight without fad diets, pills, or gimmicks. If you can do basic addition and subtraction, then you can lose weight because losing weight is knowing how many calories your body needs daily and what you should eat to get those calories. In my next article, I will discuss BMI and basic metabolic rate (BMR), and why BMI and BMR are important to losing weight. [Index Article] References
Large waist may boost heart failure risk. Reuters. Accessed on the web April 11, 2009. Links to Follow-Up Articles Releated Articles Labels: weight loss
Is our food supply safe?
Salmonella outbreak linked to contaminated peanut butter. Pistachios are recalled because Salmonella was found in "critical areas" of a processing plant. Salmonella is a group of bacteria that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. They are microscopic living creatures that pass from the feces of people or animals to other people or other animals. There are many different kinds of Salmonella bacteria. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis are the most common in the United States. Salmonella germs have been known to cause illness for over 100 years. They were discovered by an American scientist named Salmon, for whom they are named. In general, our food supply is safe, and in developed countries, such as the United States, the food supply is of good quality. On the other hand, while medications and pharmaceuticals are highly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), food is not as carefully monitored. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) performed research and have found that there are "gaps in the current food safety system". Foodborne diseases remain an important public health problem in the United States. The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) of CDC's Emerging Infections Program collects data from 10 U.S. states on diseases caused by enteric pathogens transmitted commonly through food. FoodNet is an active, population-based surveillance system for these laboratory-confirmed infections. This report describes preliminary surveillance data for 2008 and trends since 1996. In 2008, the estimated incidence of infections caused by Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia did not change significantly when compared with the preceding 3 years. For most infections, incidence was highest among children aged <4>50 years. None of the Healthy People 2010 targets for reduction of foodborne pathogens (objective 10-1) were reached in 2008. The lack of recent progress points to gaps in the current food safety system and the need to continue to develop and evaluate food safety practices as food moves from the farm to the table. [Reference from the CDC].
How much does the United States spend on health care?
In 2006, the United States devoted 15.3% of its GDP to health-care spending (i.e., health goods and services plus health-care infrastructure). Seven other countries devoted >10% of their GDP to health-care spending: Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, and Canada. Five countries devoted <7%> One of the questions we should consider: are Americans healthier because more spending is devoted to health care? I would argue not. Citizens of industrialized countries are facing health problems related to obesity and chronic diseases. Health care costs can be reduced when there is more investment in preventative care, education, and endorsement of healthy habits. Resource: CDC
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