Question #1
Dear Dr. John: Could you take some time to discuss the hazards of corn syrup on one of your spots on 9 News, please? I recently learned that that product is very harmful to your health. Yet, when I started reading labels, it is in almost EVERYTHING! What advice do you have for the average consumer when buying foods? Should we stay away from products containing corn syrup or is the hazard being overstated? Thank you. I appreciate the information that you share with viewers. Lela
High fructose corn syrup is often labeled as corn syrup on many products. Today it is being used as a sweetener in many products available at your grocery store. Although similar to your regular table sugar, fructose is processed a bit differently and has slightly different percentages of the basic components used in both this sweetener and in regular sugar, glucose and fructose. Researchers are still trying to find the final answer as to how our bodies respond to fructose and whether it is treated any differently than regular sugar. But the bottom line for most of us is that we need to reduce the amount of overall sweetener in our daily diets, regardless of what the source is. Recommendations are for women to limit sweetener additives to 6 teaspoons a day and men to 9 teaspoons. Unfortunately most of us consume much more than that, usually because of the amount added to most premade food products we purchase.
Question #2
Dr. John, My son was diagnosed with Nutcracker Syndrome last September. Doctors took a wait and see approach. We were told to put some weight on and let him do some more growing to see if this would correct the amount of room in his body cavity. The CAT scan that was taken last year showed his kidney was almost doubled in size. The surgeries to correct this are few and are major. They are considering surgery at this point to correct it. I was curious if there are advocates or if we could request a case manager for him through the insurance company? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Denise
Nutcracker Syndrome is a rare condition affecting the vein supplying blood to the left kidney. That vein gets compressed which over time can disrupted the flow of blood to that kidney resulting in symptoms ranging from abdominal and flank pain to blood in a person's urine. Treatment for this condition often involves medicine or surgery. But for this syndrome, which typically requires multiple doctors visits or hospitalizations, having a patient advocate is a great idea. Oftentimes you, as the patient, can get overwhelmed with all the information presented. On top of this your are also thinking about what your future holds and might have a tough time concentrating on what is being discussed with you at any given time. This is where a patient advocate comes into play. They are there to help you not only understand what the medical staff is telling you but also to help you get all your questions answered. If you think you are having issues that either haven't been resolved or questions that haven't been fully answered either a patient advocate or an assigned case manager can help you. Getting one is a good first step in your overall treatment plan.
Question #3
Hi Dr. John, I am Chris and I am an eighteen year old and I used to weigh 256 pounds up until January of last year when I decided to really start counting my calories and intake of fat per day using a notepad on my computer. I was successfully able to lose 86 pounds and go down to my current weight of 170 pounds. Keep in mind that I am 5'8" so 256 made me really overweight especially given my height. I was wondering if 170 pounds is a healthy weight for my height and age? Thank You, Chris
Going from 256 lbs to 170 lbs is an amazing feat. Keeping it off is even more important so keep up the good work. Right now at a height of 5'8" and 170 lbs your BMI is 25.8 (BMI calculator http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/) . This still puts you in the overweight category which goes from a BMI of 25 to 29.9. However, you need to realize that the BMI has certain limitations that can limit how accurate it is. It can overestimate body fat in those with muscular builds and underestimate body fat in older persons or those that have lost some muscle mass. A new measurement known as the BAI, Body Adiposity Index, is proving to be more accurate but is also a little more difficult to use. This method not only uses your height and weight but also adds your waist measurement into the equation to give you your overall body fat. And since we know your waist size is one of the more important ways to measure your health, this method seems to give a better idea of where you stand. To measure your own BAI you can go to http://www.intmath.com/functions-and-graphs/bmi-bai-comparison.php.
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