Living With the Pain of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is defined as a syndrome and not a disease. This makes it very difficult do diagnose as there are no tests that a Watseka Illinois hospital can run to determine if someone has it. People with the condition can have a broad range of symptoms. The most common is widespread pain that has no cause. The patient might have tender spots that hurt when pressure is applied. Sleep problems are common which can lead to an all-encompassing sense of fatigue. The pain and lack of sleep can contribute to patients becoming depressed and anxious. Not everyone with fibromyalgia suffers from all the symptoms which can contribute to the difficulty of diagnosing the condition. Since the symptoms can be caused by several diseases, it can often take years for a patient to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

No one is sure what cases fibromyalgia. Doctors at a Peotone Illinois hospital can tell you there are several theories. There is strong evidence that there is a genetic predisposition to develop the syndrome. Often the syndrome is triggered by either a traumatic illness or injury. Extended periods of stress can be another triggering event. Research is slowly making progress in figuring out the syndrome's mechanism. Evidence is starting to point to the cause being a disturbance in the central nervous system that causes the patient to feel pain in situations that would not be painful to healthy people.

Since there is no known cause, there is no known cure. Patients can work with their healthcare professionals at a womens diagnostic center to develop a plan to control their symptoms. There are several medications that can reduce pain and relieve feelings of depression. A sleep regimen can help combat fatigue. It is easier to get a full night's sleep if you have a set time to go to bed and get up every morning. Distractions such as noise and light should be eliminated from the bedroom since they can interrupt the sleep cycle. Women with a body mass index of 25 or greater are at least 60% more likely to develop fibromyalgia than those with a lower BMI. Those with the syndrome should try to get some exercise. Even if they do not drop excess pounds through exercise, they can experience stress relief that lessens their symptoms. Alternative treatments like acupuncture and meditation might bring some relief. Since fibromyalgia is a chronic condition, patients will be dealing with its effects for many years. They tend to do better if they have a supportive network of family, friends, and therapists to help them deal with the emotional impact of the syndrome.

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Using the Body Mass Index to Assess a Healthy Weight

Obesity is one of the leading health problems in the United States. Obesity in adults can lead to hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and even some cancers. It is very important for people to maintain their weight to avoid health problems. An easy way to test to see if you are overweight and in danger of future problems is by assessing your body's BMI.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is the number used to represent a person's weight and height. For most people, BMI is a reliable way to calculate body fat, but does not directly measure body fat. Calculating a person's BMI is not a direct measure of body fat, but it does function as an inexpensive and easy way to assess body fat and screen for weight categories that may lead to later health problems.

BMI is thought of as more of a preliminary test to show weight problems. After a person's BMI is measured, doctors can assess weather or not they need to do further testing such as skinfold thickness measurements and appropriate health screenings or gather more information such as evaluations of diet, physical activity, and family history.

Though it is indirect, organizations like the Center for Disease Control use BMI because it is one of the best ways to calculate and assess obesity statistics for large populations. It is also beneficial because it is a standard way to measuring the norm. BMI is easy for a person to calculate and compare his or her own Body Mass Index against the average rates. BMI can also be converted between kilograms and meters or pounds and inches to compare international rates.

The formula for measuring BMI for adults 20 years and older in pounds is by dividing weight in pounds by height in inches squared and multiplying by conversion factor of 703. Though BMI is generally accurate, there are correlation variations between race, gender, sex and age. At the same BMI, women can often times have more body fat than men and older people also tend to have more body fat than younger adults. Athletes may also have a distorted BMI due to increases in muscularity rather than body fat.

To fill these gaps, there are different formulas for to calculate the BMI for children and teens. The CDC website has a virtual calculator that will specifically calculate BMI for children 2-19 relating to age and sex.

Neville Street is the Administrative Director for Rodriquez MD, a bilingual medical practice in Lawrenceville, GA that provides health care to infants, children, adolescents and adults. Lawrenceville doctors Deborah and Veronica Rodriguez are sisters with a combined 27 years of experience. The doctors are Board Certified in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and both Gwinnett physicians have extensive experience working in private practice.

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Body Mass Index (BMI) Does Not Determine Your Level of Health

Back in the not-too-distant past, we used to figure out how fat we were by stepping on the bathroom scale.
The more obese we got, as a country, the more we looked for ways to find the scale wrong.
It can't just be about pounds, can it? After all, some people are big-boned, some people are short, some tall.
Sure, you're supposed to figure your weight in conjunction with your height and even age, and while the bathroom scale has become a technologically advanced tool that allows you to store several weight figures in its memory, talk nicely to you and possibly wash your dirty dishes, it doesn't take other important factors into consideration.
At some point, the Body Mass Index became the new scientific way to figure out whether you were fat or lean. The formula works like this:

BMI = weight in pounds/(height in inches x height in inches) x 703.

(The 703 is to convert the index from the original metric version of the formula.)

The Center for Disease Control says a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is ideal.

Below 18.5 is underweight; 25.0 to 29.9 means you're overweight, and 30.0 and above means you're obese.

A mathematician named Lambert A.J. Quetelet came up with the BMI formula in the early 19th century as a means to measure the degree of obesity in the general population. He specifically said the BMI should never be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual. Scientists in the U.S. have ignored that admonishment.
If you do use it on an individual basis, you end up with some of the most physically fit people on the planet falling into the "overweight" category -- people like Michael Jordan, Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger (at 30 is considered "obese"!) and Tom Cruise are on that list.
These celebrities may weigh more than the average person because they have more dense muscle tissue, which is heavier than "normal" muscle. Also, strong bones are more dense than loose fat, which would add points to the BMI. The formula, meanwhile, assumes low muscle mass and high relative fat content.
So, although it sounds scientific, the formula is flawed and misleading, and for many people, completely inaccurate.
One thing that isn't considered when looking at the BMI is waist size.
Dr. Memmot Oz, who has appeared on the "Oprah" show many times and is set to begin his own TV program in the fall, has talked at length about how important waist size is to overall health.
From the Oprah.com site: "Instead of focusing on the number on the scale, Dr. Oz says to focus on the number around your waist. The ideal waistline for women is 32 and a half inches and 35 inches for a man - a goal that is achievable by everyone, no matter your age."
Even that seems to be a very one-size-fits-all statement. Thirty-two and a half inches for ALL women? And 35 inches for every man?
On one "Oprah" show, Dr. Oz brought a couple of specimens of an organ called the omentum, which plays a key role in making us fat. The organ stores fat all around the stomach, where the body has easy access to it when or if needed. But the fat creates an inflammatory process that can put you at risk for blocked arteries.
Ideally, the omentum should be thin and lacey, not thick and fatty. That should be reflected in a trim waist rather than a "beer belly."
Body fat can be more accurately measured, perhaps, through a couple of other tests besides the BMI. One can use a body fat caliper to grip a fold of skin at certain points on the body and measure its thickness. Then there's the "immersion" technique: This method is based on the idea that lean tissue (muscles and bones, etc.) tends to sink in water, while fat floats. A person is seated in a chair which hangs from a scale. The person on the chair is lowered into a pool of water until completely immersed, and the person's weight (while immersed) is recorded. The fatter you are, the more you tend to float and the lower your immersed weight will be -- muscular people weigh more than fat people while immersed. This method is very accurate, but it requires a lot of equipment.
One thing is for sure: The Body Mass Index isn't particularly useful as a tool for discovering whether you're fit.
You might as well go back to the bathroom scale; find one that will speak gently to you and give you a bit of encouragement when the numbers seem too high.
Or abandon numbers altogether ... a three-digit number has nothing to do, really, with your worth as a person.

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