Tag Archives: weight-loss

Carvings   August 1, 2025

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In the news

Walking is great – but it’s not enough.

            I commend all those who walk several times a week. Besides improving heart and lung fitness, it strengthens the core muscles (back and abdomen) and adds to the bone strength of the legs, which includes the hips. But if you fall while walking (!) and land on your outstretched hands, it could result in a fracture of one or both wrists or elbows or collarbones. We need resistance-type exercises that provide numerous health benefits, including stronger bones for the upper body.

            When you exercise your biceps, for example, it puts stress on the bones of the arm where the muscle is attached. The bone reacts by becoming thicker and stronger, thus resistant to breakage. But there’s more.  A beneficial by-product of using barbells, dumbbells, elastic bands and exercise machines is maintaining the health of specialized nerve endings attached to each muscle cell that help us to retain balance. One reason why seniors are prone to falls is that when they lose muscle cells because of inactivity they also lose those nerve structures that maintain balance.

            Although a fitness center is ideal, a home exercise program is a good start. Any household item that fits comfortably in your hand, e.g., a can or jug that holds food or juice, will do. Gym memberships are often available for less than $25 a month and some senior insurance programs will cover the cost.

            For persons with a chronic illness such as arthritis or heart disease, a physical therapist can provide a suitable, safe program. Four or five hours a week of regular, moderately intense physical activity, at any age, results in greater energy and a feeling of well-being. You’ll never go back to being a couch potato!

Lifestyle

“Don’t be a spectator, don’t let life pass you by.” Lou Holtz

            Lou Holtz, the famous Notre Dame football coach, is an outstanding motivational speaker. I have modified one of the elements of his repertoire as follows:

            For a meaningful life, have:

                        Someone to love

                        Something to believe in

                        Something to hope for

                        Something to give

                        Something that brings you daily joy

Carvings June 15, 2025

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In the news

Wither goest Ozempic?

            Ozempic and Wegovy, made by the same company, are the trade names of the GLP-1 drugs known as semaglutides. Although they are chemically identical, the dosage, the packaging and their intended uses are different. Such is the way of marketing!

            These medications are intended to improve the health of obese, diabetic persons. They have several actions, including decreasing the appetite, providing a feeling of fullness, slowing digestion, decreasing glucose production in the liver and increasing the release of insulin. Ozempic is intended to slow the progress of type 2 diabetes while Wegovy is designed to aid in weight management, i.e., weight loss. 

            In clinical trials they were helpful in managing both problems, although the regimen used also included reducing calories and increasing physical activity, fundamental measures in any weight loss program.

            Patients taking Wegovy lost 15 percent of their body weight in a 16-month trial period. Those taking Ozempic lost 7 percent. If we can assume that the average weight of the participants was approximately 225 pounds, both groups would still have been overweight or obese at the end of the trial. To be sure, even such modest weight loss is beneficial in managing type 2 diabetes and in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. In fact, among study subjects, those taking these drugs showed a significant decrease in cardiovascular disease, and in slowing of the progression of kidney disease.

            Is this the best solution to the national epidemics of obesity (42 percent) and type 2 diabetes (12 percent). Consider the following challenges.

            The cost of Ozempic is nearly $1000 per month; Wegovy costs about $1350. Few patients will pay that much because of insurance, or pricing plans offered by the company.

            This is a weekly injection, not a pill. Side effects are not common, most being in the range of ten percent or less, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation. Infrequent but serious side effects include inflammation of the pancreas and gallbladder; allergies, temporary hair loss, vision problems and mood changes have been reported.

            Losing weight is frustratingly difficult, as most overweight persons are aware. Drugs are convenient; lifestyle changes are not. Some of the current generation of weight-challenged persons may find some success with prescription drugs. The long-term hope is that coming generations will be encouraged to avoid excess weight gain in the first place, but that will probably require draconian governmental intervention. The combined cost of obesity and diabetes is more than a half-trillion dollars annually. I’ll discuss what might be a real solution in a coming post.

Lifestyle

Preventing falls: things we overlook

            Falls, especially among the older generation, are a serious problem, often resulting in death. The frailty that accompanies aging is only part of the problem and one that can be postponed for decades if we are committed to a lifetime of regular, moderately intense physical activity. In addition, there are some steps, especially as we get older, that will lower our risk.

            How safe is your flooring? Secure or remove loose rugs.

            Some shoes don’t belong in your wardrobe. Get rid of those that are too slippery (smooth leather soles) or too clingy (crepe soles).

            Bare feet and socks increase the risk of falls.

            Improve lighting with night lights and lighting strips. They are cheap insurance.

            Move frequently used kitchen items to a lower shelf. And never stand on a chair!

            If you wear bifocals or transitional lenses you just might have to move more deliberately.

            Face it! You can’t hold your liquor like you did at 20. Adjust.

            On a new medication? Be extra careful. Some cause dizziness.

            It’s worth getting a consultation on fall prevention from an occupational therapist. Discuss this with your physician. Things like grab bars in the shower can be literal lifesavers. And they increase resale value!

Carvings April 1, 2025

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No April Fool: It’s time to put an end to nutritional pornography.

            In a few months we will reach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century with no end in sight of the three epidemics that threaten to overwhelm our health system and our economy: obesity, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis. The first two were almost non-existent at the beginning of the preceding century. The obesity rate in 1900 was approximately 5 percent; it is now 42 percent. Diabetes was almost entirely type 1, the juvenile form, a totally different disease from type 2 diabetes. The latter now affects 12.2 percent of the general population, more than one-third of people over the age of 65 and increasing numbers of children below the age of 18, some as young as six years! Type 2 diabetes was so uncommon in the pre-World War One era that it wasn’t clearly distinguished from type 1 diabetes until the 1950s.

Osteoporosis, the Third Epidemic, is going to crash down on us with a vengeance in about 30 years, as today’s young people fail to build a strong skeleton during the bone-building window between ages five and twenty-five. They transport themselves on electric bikes, scooters and skateboards, and replace childhood sports and games with screen-watching, eliminating the muscle stresses that nature intended to form a strong skeleton.  

            Someone recently sent me an insightful post: “Ninety percent of today’s supermarket food didn’t exist a hundred years ago. Neither did ninety percent of today’s diseases. Think about that.”

            Government edicts will determine what supermarkets will offer us in the coming decade. Trans fats have already been outlawed. Food coloring restrictions are imminent; the sugar content of processed foods is probably next; saturated fat and salt mandates will reach us in a few short years. SNAP (welfare) recipients are not allowed to use those funds to purchase alcohol or tobacco. It’s likely that they will see junk food added to that list during the current administration. Legislation is pending now in Tennessee to disallow the purchase of candy and soft drinks with SNAP funds. Other states will follow suit, and so will the federal government.