Page 4 - Healthbeat March 2015

health bits
[ DID YOU KNOW?]
The term “colorblindness” is misleading. Many people who are colorblind are ac- tually color deficient — which means they have difficulty distinguishing certain hues. Colorblind people may only be able to distinguish about 20 shades of colors, while those with healthy color vision can differentiate more than 100 hues. Men are more likely to experience colorblindness than women, but the gene for colorblindness is passed by the X chromosome. Colorblindness is often of the red-green variety, but blue-yellow colorblindness is also possible. General doctors or optometrists and ophthalmologists use a simple test to determine colorblindness. The test asks pa- tients to distinguish a letter or number against a colored background. There is no cure for colorblindness, though wearing colored contacts may sharpen a person’s ability to distinguish colors.
— Courtesy of Metro Creative Services
[ THE LATEST ]
Baptist Health program ranked No. 2 for best diets of 2015
[ TERMS ]
Friedreich’s ataxia: This is an inherited disease that damages the nervous system. The damage affects the spinal cord and the nerves that control muscle movement in the arms and legs. Symptoms usually begin between the ages of 5 and 15. The main symptom is ataxia, which means trouble coordinating movements.
SOURCE: THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
Avoiding gluten necessary for some
Gluten is a general name for proteins found in wheat that help foods maintain their shape, but gluten can also be found in cereal grains such as rye and barley, as well as a variety of crossbreeds. While gluten itself is not unhealthy, many people are gluten-intoler- ant. When such people (who may have celiac disease) consume gluten, they may be triggering an immune-system response that causes damage to the intes- tines and prevents the ab- sorption of nutrients need-
ed to maintain health. Some gluten-in- tolerant people
may be allergic
to wheat, and
this can produce various reactions
to wheat allergens.
A gluten-free diet typically recom- mends avoiding the consumption of bread, beer, french fries, pasta, salad dressing, soy sauce and cer- tain soups. However, many food manufacturers have begun to pro- duce gluten-free alternatives to popular foods and beverages.
— Courtesy of Metro Creative Services
LITTLE ROCK – U.S. News & World Report recently announced that the weight-loss program offered at Baptist Health and created by HMR Weight Man- agement Services has been named the No. 2 Best Weight-Loss Diet of 2015. The ranking was based on both short- and long-term HMR weight-loss ratings.
HMR’s programs focus on integrating diet, physi- cal activity and healthy lifestyle skills through weekly coaching. This is the first time that HMR’s diet pro- gram has been included in the annual rankings list. HMR was evaluated against 34 other diets in cat- egories including easiness to follow, ability to pro- duce short- and long-term weight loss, nutritional completeness and safety, and the potential to pre- vent and manage diabetes and heart disease.
During the ranking process, reporters and editors from U.S. News & World Report created in-depth profiles of each diet, and a panel of nationally rec- ognized experts on diet, nutrition, obesity, food psy- chology, diabetes and heart disease rated the diets and their effectiveness.
Established in 2006, the Baptist Health Weight
Loss Program has utilized three different HMR programs to help more than 1,500 clients lose over 45,000 pounds collectively during the past nine years. This program is offered on campuses in both Little Rock and North Little Rock.
“We’re extremely pleased that HMR’s weight- loss program has been recognized nationally as one of the most effective diets for weight loss,” said Stacy Warren, program leader for Baptist Health’s weight-loss program. “Not only is the program highly successful for losing weight, but many of our patients who have high blood pressure and diabe- tes see a drastic improvement in their health, which often leads to a decrease in the need for medica- tions for those conditions.”
Baptist Health is the only hospital in Arkansas that offers the HMR program. Research shows that clinic patients (a mix of participants in HMR Decision-Free and Healthy Solutions) with a body-mass index of 40 or greater who participate in the program for at least 12 weeks experience an average weight loss of 47 pounds.
29.1
THE NUMBER IN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE U.S. WHO HAVE DIABETES
SOURCE: THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
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