Weight reduction

IS A DOCTOR NECESSARY? 

Weight reduction on a sound basis calls for the special knowledge of a physician. He will make certain that you do not lose your health while losing excess weight; that you do not reduce too rapidly and thereby put a strain on your heart and circulation; that you do not find yourself with a cosmetic problem because you have lost weight but have not regained skin tone and end up with flabby masses of pendulous skin. He will suggest proper exercise. 

He will also prescribe vitamins, minerals, and other substances, if necessary, to prevent weakening of bones and organs and to maintain resistance to disease. For example, if you use a "no-calorie" salad dressing made of mineral oil, your doctor may want you to take some vitamins, because mineral oil lends to prevent adequate absorption of some of the vitamins your diet would ordinarily provide. Moreover, it helps considerably if you can have your diet suitably adjusted to your eating habits.

You may be one of those who will be miserable if deprived of a bedtime snack. You may prefer a substantial dinner and be willing to cut down on lunch to have it. A physician can help you establish a sound diet and one best suited to your needs. He may, if necessary, prescribe sedatives for your use during the toughest phase of dieting; the psychological aspects of a relationship with a sympathetic, encouraging physician also can be of great importance during dieting and later on in maintaining low weight. A doctor's encouragement and praise of a patient's efforts in reducing, we have found, can be of major value.

PILLS AS PROPS

 Should you take drugs to reduce? Without a doctor's supervision, never. If, in an individual case, a physician feels that an anti-appetite drug as a temporary prop is justifiable, he will prescribe it-and it should be taken exactly as prescribed. Most physicians, however, prefer to have a patient Weight Control / 67 rely on willpower and determination rather than on drugs and to adjust the diet so this is feasible. In the past, medicines for weight reduction generally were based on amphetamine and so stimulated patients that physicians were reluctant to use them. Now, a number of appetite-reducing agents are available, free of the side effect of overstimulation.

These apparently safer agents are available only on prescription. Over-the-counter reducing preparations are big business. At worst, they can be risky business because of the possibility of side effects; at best, the money is foolishly spent because in and of them the medicines are not to be relied upon for effective permanent weight reduction. The problem with even safe reducing agents is that they are only supports that help temporarily. 

It makes much more sense-s-and has far greater chance of permanent success-to regulate your diet by a healthy change in eating habits which, once desired weight reduction is achieved, can be continued with some upward shift in calorie intake, to maintain you at proper weight. 

How Your Food Causes illnesses and remedies

THE FOOD YOU EAT IS THERE 

someone food or class of foods with special value for preventing disease? The science of nutrition has much to offer for health but it does not take the form of a panacea food or food combination. The one fact that stands out most clearly as new advances are made is that except for certain specific problems-disease states for which special diets have been definitely established as helpful-the healthiest diet has two basic characteristics: it is balanced and it is varied.

NEW REASONS

FOR BALANCE AND VARIETY One of today's most exciting research stories have to do with investigations into the role of trace elements in health and disease. It has long been known that an amount of iron that would bulk up no bigger than a couple of nails stands between us and suffocation, for iron is an essential part of the blood substance hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to body tissues. But it now seems that many other elements in minute amounts-each constituting at most 1/10,000 of body weight and very often far less- may play significant roles.

Recent studies have suggested that lack of adequate zinc in the diet can delay wound healing and may be a factor in diseases of the arteries. In one investigation, zinc supplements were given to some Air Force men who had undergone surgery. Their surgical wounds healed in less than half the time required in other men who had had the same surgery but did not receive zinc supplements. The results not only demonstrated zinc's role in speeding healing; they suggested that the diet of these airmen may well have been Zinc-deficient.  

Building General Health as Preventive Therapy In a later study, investigators treated with zinc supplements a group of patients who had skin sores that refused to heal. Of the 17 patients in the group, 11 were found to be deficient in zinc, and in all 11 the chronic skin ulcers healed with zinc treatment. The remaining was not zinc- deficient, and although they received the same treatment, their wounds still did not heal. Although the relationship between zinc deficiency and hardening of leg arteries that can block circulation and cause gangrene is not clearly established, some patients who were deficient in zinc and had advanced degeneration of the arteries have shown improvement with zinc therapy. 

10 ways to check your Medication is Proper or Not.

If a patient is receiving hydrocortisone and then is given either an antihistamine or a barbiturate, the hydrocortisone effect is lessened. If a patient is taking an antihistamine for an allergy and uses alcohol, the result may be central nervous system depression. If a patient is using alcohol and takes a barbiturate, there is a marked increase in the effect of the barbiturate, which has been responsible for many deaths. An understanding of the complex details of drug interaction is some- thing for a doctor to be aware of and make use of, not for a patient to worry about. And the point of mentioning the subject here is simply this:

If you are already taking one or more drugs for a condition, when you see a physician about a new condition let him know what you are taking. If you are taking drugs under a physician's direction, get his advice even on such a seemingly simple matter as whether it will be all right, if you develop a headache or a cold, to take aspirin or other agents to make yourself more comfortable.

PROPER USE OF MEDICATION 

Although most sick people benefit from their contact with the treasure chest of modern medications, the experience is unhappy for too many. Much of the unhappiness could be avoided by common sense procedures based on awareness of the realities of diseases and medications. The rules are simple and few:

1.       Take medications on your own only for the most minor conditions, and seek medical advice if there is no clear improvement within a day or two.

2.        A Special Word about Medicine Taking If you are using a medication prescribed by a physician, do not take any medications on your own for some other problem unless you have been informed they will cause no trouble.

3. When you seek medical help for a problem, leave it up to the physician to determine whether you really need medication or whether it may be wiser, in a particular situation, to let the body use its defenses to overcome the problem-for the body often can do exactly that. Don't be in a rush to take something, to pressure the physician to give you some- thing. Make it clear to him that you understand that sometimes no medicine is the best medicine.

 4. Follow the physician's instructions to the letter when he gives you a prescription. Get it filled immediately. Take exactly as directed-in the prescribed dosage, for the prescribed length of time.

5. If you notice any untoward reactions while taking a medication, let your physician know immediately. A side reaction may not be serious -or it may be. If it's the latter, prompt measures can ameliorate it.

6. Do not save leftover drugs.

7. Ask your physician to instruct the druggist to label the bottle or other container of any medication prescribed with the name of the medication. You will find that more and more doctors today believe strongly in this. It can be a safety measure, helping you to avoid mistakes in taking medication.

8. And if trouble should arise during the course of taking the medication. If there should be an accidental overdose, if a child should happen to get hold of the medication and use it, the immediate identification of the compound may well help to prevent fatality.

Moreover, your knowledge of what you are taking can come in handy if you have to consult another physician while your own is away.

9. Safeguard medication. Never leave any, including aspirin, standing around on a dresser or a table. Return it to the medicine cabinet immediately after use. A medicine cabinet should be kept closed and locked. It's a good idea, especially in any household with children, to have a medicine cabinet equipped with a combination padlock, or a drug safe or chest with combination lock. Your druggist can advise you about obtaining one at reasonable cost.

10. Teach your children to properly respect medications. Do not tell a child that medicine is like "candy" because it tastes good. Instead, even at a very early age, teach him that medicine is to help overcome illness, and that it doesn't matter whether he likes it or not, it is something he must have when sick to make him well, and never at any other time.