Smoking and the Big Four Killers

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the top four preventable non-communicable diseases in the world. These diseases combined kill 3 out of 5 people.
These four diseases are diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, and cancer.
Smoking clearly contributes to 3 of the 4, and there is some evidence that suggests that it may be linked to diabetes as well.
The WHO lists four major risk factors for developing these diseases. By developing programs to help people to stop doing these risky behaviors, the WHO hopes to lessen the impact that these diseases have on the world.
If you are interested in improving your health, eliminating these four risk factors from your life is a good starting point for preventing the chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease that often lead to early death and disability.
How many of the following risk factors do you have?

1. Smoking and tobacco use. This includes second-hand smoke exposure. The longer you smoke, the higher your risk. Quit smoking today. The sooner you quit, the sooner your body can start to repair itself. Not all the damage done by smoking is reversible, but quitting is still the best thing that you can do for your health.
2. Lack of exercise. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly. Getting started is tough for many people. Try to do something every day first to make it a habit, then increase the time and intensity of your exercise gradually. Of course, check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.
3. Harmful use of alcohol. Some studies show that a glass or two of wine a day may be beneficial to the heart, but more than that can be detrimental to your health. If you dont generally drink alcohol, dont start. If you drink more than two drinks daily, cut back or stop. If you have a history of drinking too much in you or your family, be especially careful of your alcohol consumption.
4. Poor diet and obesity. In general, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, avoid sugary foods and foods that are high in saturated fats. Avoid processed and refined foods. Keep your weight at a reasonable level.

If you have made changes in your life to reduce these risk factors, congratulations! Even making small changes in these areas can have a great impact on your health.
Dr. Tim Ferenchick is a board certified family physician who works with smokers to help them quit. He runs multi-session stop smoking groups in partnership with the American Lung Association. He can be reached at http://www.committoquitsmoking.com

Fat China – Is The New Prosperity A Ticket To Obesity?

China is the most heavily populated country in the world. Along with that it is also emerging as the next superpower with a rapidly growing middle class fueled by the spoils of massive industrialization and technological advancement. In the midst of all this fanfare there is a silent epidemic with future catastrophic outcomes that is also unfolding right under the nose of much media noise – obesity. Some startling facts show that China has the biggest number of smokers in the world standing at 350 million.
Apart from this amazing figure of tobacco use, it has been shown that another health time bomb is that of obesity with as many as a 100 million people thought to be obese in 2008 up from 18 million in 2005. Observers agree that there are certain key factors that is driving China down this road. As already mentioned the overwhelming prosperity in the last 10 years has been really an important factor to this problem. On the other hand obesity is also thought to be the negative outcome of the one child policy fiercely implemented by the government.

Exercise Ball Can Help You Have A Slim And Trim Body

Exercise Ball Can Help You Have A Slim And Trim Body

I don’t know whether you are aware or not but many claim that the best way to remain fit and healthy is to get an exercise ball. It is not just a stress-free technique to workout but it is also a very simple technique.

There was a time when athletes used the exercise ball to quickly recover from their injuries without causing unnecessary stress on the body but you will find that many are using this ball to keep fit these days. Te best thing about an exercise ball is that the exercises that are performed by using this ball will tone your body and they are also easy to carry out. You may or may not be aware but many people are using exercise balls to perform yoga, aerobics and Pilates.

While the advantages of an exercise ball are plenty, not many people believe that it can benefit us. This is probably the main reason why many are not using it when they work out regularly. You need to be aware that many physicians have successfully made used to of these balls to assist the severely injured athletes recover.