The More Diseases, and the More Serious They are, the Earlier You Will Go

In my article published moments ago, I mentioned that there is a correlation between weight, lifestyle and death.


”The fatter and more unfit you are, the higher your chance of dying and the earlier you will die.”


Diseases, including diabetes, further amplify this correlation. That is to say:


The more diseases you have, the easier and quicker you will die.


In other words, diseases in particular the chronic or degenerative ones, increase the possibility of death. Almost invariably, the medications that you take can lead to further complications (soon or later), especially for the heart, liver and kidneys. Because drugs are drugs no matter what they are called, the more medications the worse off you are. Doctors are well aware of drugs’ side effects.


Also, the more serious the disease you get, the easier and faster you'll die.


I don’t know if there’s any research that supports these statements that I have made here (if there isn’t, then it will come; watch out for it!). Nevertheless, here they are, and they are true.

Premature death is needless. The good news is, your life can be lengthened!

Dying From Fats And Fitlessness

Author’s note: The following article was written about three weeks prior to my last blog. It really should have been published before my last blog (which was only done a couple of hours ago), but I now publish it here for your edification. It lends further weight to the seriousness of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. It’s not just cardiovascular disease alone; death came from diseases, and in the last blog they also included renal, diabetic, liver, neoplastic (tumor), lung and other diseases.

The importance of physical exercise should never be understated—the same with healthy lifestyle and keeping your weight down.

One study published in Archives of Internal Medicine of 2,316 men with no history of stroke or myocardial infarction concluded this way: Among the men studied who had diabetes, “low fitness level was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality within normal weight, overweight, and class 1 obese weight categories.” Which in short means, if you have diabetes, the less fit you are, the greater your likelihood of dying from a cardiovascular event.

179 CVD deaths were noted “during a mean (SD) follow-up of 15.9 (7.9) years and 36,710 man-years of exposure.”


Table 1: Relative Hazard Ratio for CVD Deaths Versus Fitness and Weight

Categories: High Fitness, Normal Weight-Low Fitness, Normal Weight-Low Fitness, Overweight-Low Fitness, Obese (Class 1)
Hazard ratio for CVD deaths: 1.0, 1.3-5.7, 1.4-5.1, 1.4-5.1 respectively


I’d like to highlight this here: The above chart indicates that even if you are having normal weight but unfit, your risk of death from CVD is still high compared with someone who is both physically fit and normal weighted.

You can obtain more evidence of the relationship between health and fitness-weight levels from a large prospective study by Jensen et al (published in Circulation. 2008) of over 54 500 men and women. In this study, it was found during follow-up that only 47 cases (4.1%) of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) occurred in the healthy-lifestyle group. This is very low because during a median of 7.7 years, a total of 1,127 incident cases of registered nonfatal or fatal ACS events actually occurred.


Table 2: Relationship between Hazard Ratio for ACS and Fitness-Weight

Categories: Fit and Normal Weight, Fit but Overweight, Fit but Obese (Class 1)
Hazard ratio for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS): 1.00, 1.65, 2.65 respectively


Jensen and team found that the risk for ACS was significantly higher for the ‘Fit but Obese’ and the ‘Fit but Overweight’ compared with the ‘Fit and Normal-weight’; the risk was respectively 265% and 165% higher.

Jensen et al concluded that “Obesity confers an elevated risk of ACS in both healthy and less healthy subgroups of lifestyle behaviors. Adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors was associated with a lower risk even among obese individuals.”

The above findings add legitimacy and impetus to the correlations I had drawn up during my own research nearly a decade ago, which was also clearly indicated by my study model from which I drew these conclusions. (You may wish to contact me at info@FocusOnTotalHealth.net for discussion on this matter). The correlation or conclusion I came up with is as follows:


The fatter and more unfit you are, the higher your chance of dying, and the earlier you will die.


Time and time again, various researchers have subsequently shown the first part of my conclusion to be true. However, the latter part calls for more research to further validate it; nevertheless, I had proven beyond the shadow of doubt—and I can demonstrate it scientifically—that this second part of my conclusion also holds true.

You Lose 2 to 10 Years, if Overweight!

A follow-up study of close to 900,000 people (mostly western European and North American male; mean recruitment age: 46) found: The longest living participants in the study were among those who had BMI (body mass index) within the normal range (<25 kg/m2 is for Caucasians; note: for Asians, it is <23).

At 30—35 kg/m2, median survival is lowered by 2—4 years. At higher BMI of 40—45 kg/m2, it is reduced by 8—10 years; this is comparable with the effects of smoking.


Your risk of mortality increases when you are overweight, according to the Study

Basically, the study showed that the fatter the person, the more years he shears off his life.

You can read more on The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 18 March 2009 issue.

The above study further supports my earlier finding stated in my book, The Amazing Heart – A Revolutionary View that could Save and Lengthen Your Life! If you have a copy of it, there on pages 92-93, I mentioned that your risk of disease and death increases in direct proportion to your weight! In other words, the heavier you are, the lower your quality of life, and the earlier death will visit.

The above finding calls for actions. There’s always room to get healthier!

Wishing you a happy and longer living—
Ray Chee

Having a Beer Pot on Your Abdomen? Chuck it Away!

Overindulgence --> overweight --> reduced vital capacity --> reduced longevity.


According to the latest research paper published in the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine, the above sequence holds true.

This population-based study found that critical lung function in both male and female is impaired because of metabolic syndrome, mainly the abdominal obesity component. Moreover, the degree of obesity need not be great to raise the risk of impairment.


Even a Slight Potbelly may be at Risk, according to French Study

Reuters Health (March 11, 2008): The findings showed that "mild abdominal adiposity, even with a normal body mass index¹, is associated with lower forced vital capacity (FVC)," as lead author Dr. Nathalie Leone, from Universite Denis Diderot, Paris, said in a statement.

The study included 121,965 men and women examined at the Paris Investigations Préventives et Cliniques Center between 1999 and 2006.

This is yet another piece of evidence to prove my earlier conclusion that excessive tummy circumference (i.e., the paunch or potbelly), or body weight, is not bliss.

Guys...gals, if you happen to belong to the above category, for your own sake, pull up your socks please!







¹ emphases mine

A Glass a Day Keeps the Doctor Coming!

 A glass of wine is far too much to keep the doctor away!


INCA, France’s National Institute of Cancer, says:

“Consuming

just a 125ml glass of wine

increases the mouth, larynx, esophagus, colon-rectum and breast cancer

by 168%.”


Seeing blur when you have a little too much wine? INCA says: Well, don't even drink!


 INCA collated many international studies and came to the conclusion that even a little alcoholic drink is bad for you.

 According to the President of INCA, Dominique Maraninchi,

“Small daily doses of alcohol are the most harmful. There is no amount, however small, which is good for you.”

The INCA research said that alcohol was now the second most avoidable cause of death after tobacco.

The same report also stated that eating more than 500g (1.2lbs) of red meat can also increase the risk of colon cancer, and that excessive amount of salt intake heighten the risk of cancer of the stomach.

You may wish to read more from Daily Mail Online, UK; >>> here.


 Isn’t this confusing to you? At one time they said, a glass of wine or two is good for you because of all those antioxidants^<1> in the wine, especially red wine. But now, whether you see red or not, the experts are saying, “Stop drinking it! Not even a little!” Is this French Absurdity? Whichever the truth, the renowned French Paradox has now given way to the infamous French Paralysis! At least a good part of the population has been “paralyzed” by this report coming from their very own government! Outcries could be heard everywhere. Vintners are considering suing INCA for "misleading information" and for “damaging their image,” and no doubt, their business too.

 It’s no surprise to me. It’s not even an issue for me, as far as I am concerned. Although I used to, what people might call, social drink a glass of beer/wine^<2>, or two, I’ve stopped doing that for a long time (though I must admit that once in a very rare blue moon I allowed some in privately, especially when red wine was offered free-of-charge on airlines, while debating within myself the pros and the cons; perhaps after this study, I might have to say ‘No’ entirely.). Yes, indeed, I’d rather drink some grape juices than sip the wine; I have good reasons beside health reason for doing so. Actually one of the reasons is my concerns over the use of preservatives in the wine, and the Plaster of Paris in the beer—concerns strong enough to put me off alcohol. In addition, wine can be “deceptive,” I feel. Especially when you are down or feeling a little despondent, the initial little alcohol might lead to greater and greater consumption. A little will then amount to much. And before you knew it, you’d found your head spinning! (I experienced this couple of times before, and that was what caused me to stop drinking alcohol during social gatherings.) And worst thing, before you knew it, you’d found yourself driving home and hitting someone on the street (thank God, it hadn’t happened to me!). Imagine a person maimed for life, or even killed, just because of some silly thing you do: allowing yourself to over-drink just that wee bit more! In the presence of friends, business associates or clients, there’s very little resistance, especially when they--out of their “kindness”—keep filling up your glass. Studies say that even a little alcohol might negatively affect your judgment and performance (yes that includes drink-driving too)! Besides, alcoholism almost always starts from just having a few sips.

 So what are you going to do with the advice coming from France’s Health Ministry to all its citizens? I know a lot of people have been, and are still, screaming and protesting about this whole issue. Even if you are not a French citizen, that is applicable to you, yes all of us. “Or, is it?” you might ask. Are you going to be one of those who after hearing about this serious matter cease to drink? Or you tell yourself that you are not going to swallow everything that they say, and continue to drink? I.e., you don't care a damn! I have stated my personal opinions. What do you say, or otherwise, how would you react to the above seeming contradictions?

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^<1> Antioxidants are known to be anti-cancer cells. A little wine is also found to be anti-coronary-heart-disease, says the British Heart Foundation. Judy O'Sullivan, of the Foundation, remarked: “'But there are much healthier ways to look after your heart.

'There is very little evidence that red wine has any specific benefits over other alcoholic drinks.'”<sup><3>


<2></sup> What is to stop you ordering a glass of orange or apple juice instead? By not drinking alcohol, you don’t have to end up being a social outcast! I’m sure your friend will accept you. But if they don’t, they are not worth having as friends!

^<3> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1148611/Drinking-just-glass-wine-day-INCREASE-risk-cancer-168--say-French.html