Liposuction…when is it beneficial

Every technology is both a boon as well as a curse. It all depends on the usage. When the right applications are explored and the technology is used in the right way, you have a boon. However on other occasions if the technology is exploited in areas which are not indicated for the application, it may become a curse. Liposuction is one such technology. This is the scientific technique which removes the lipid deposits in terms of fats stored below the tissues and organs of the body. These deposits are removed by a simple surgical procedure.

Liposuction has a myriad of view in public based on the experiences of different patients. The most important factor which needs to be discussed is the wrong use of liposuction to slim down and fight obesity. On account of laziness and low determination, many people are succumbing to liposuction to reduce their body weight. This is the biggest misfortune. Imagine a pineapple which wants to reduce to the size of a grape. Is this tremendous reduction in body size possible by inserting needles and mechanical reduction of mass of the pineapple. If this would be the case, ruptures, breakage of mass o the pineapple and malformations would result. Also, any radical change when done drastically results in many complications. On the other hand, slow changes are better adapted to by the body and if these changes avoid any foreign particle or invasion, the results can be extraordinary. Similarly, if an obese person increases his metabolic rate and eats the right kind of food, the weight loss is the best of its kind, it might be slow but it is healthy and permanent. On the other hand, if liposuction is used for faster results, bleeding, tissue breakage, sagging and pigmentation may result in further worsening the problem of obesity. Hence, liposuction is surely not a substitute for exercise and diet management in weight loss.

What is the right application of liposuction?

Despite good health and a reasonable level of fitness, some people may still have a body with disproportionate contours due to localized fat deposits. These areas may be due to family traits rather than a lack of weight control or fitness.

Liposuction slims and reshapes specific areas of the body by removing excess fat deposits, improving your body contours and proportion, and ultimately, enhancing your self-image.

Liposuction techniques may be used to reduce localized fat deposits of the:

• Thighs
• Hips and buttocks
• Abdomen and waist
• Upper arms
• Back
• Inner knee
• Chest area
• Cheeks, chin and neck
• Calves and ankles

In some cases, liposuction is performed alone, in other cases it is used with plastic surgery procedures such as a face lift, breast reduction or a tummy tuck.

When should liposuction be used?

Ideal candidates for liposuction are:

• Adults within 30% of their ideal weight who have firm, elastic skin and good muscle tone
• Healthy individuals who do not have a life-threatening illness or medical conditions that can impair healing
• Non-smokers
• Individuals with a positive outlook and specific goals in mind for body contouring

How is liposuction carried out?

Medications are administered for your comfort during the surgical procedures. The choices include intravenous sedation and general anesthesia.

Liposuction is performed through small, inconspicuous incisions.

First, sterile liquid solution is infused to reduce bleeding and trauma. Then a thin hollow tube, or cannula, is inserted through these incisions to loosen excess fat using a controlled back and forth motion.

The dislodged fat is then suctioned out of the body using a surgical vacuum or syringe attached to the cannula.

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Healthy and happy looking little ones are a lovely sight. But obesity in those tender years rings an alarm. Children are the future and we look forward to a healthy future, don’t we?

Childhood Obesity-A Global Epidemic

The world is changing. Children do not think or act like children anymore. They are introduced to the rational world quite early and they learn to think, discern and act like adults. Children are changing physically too. The International Journal of Pediatric Obesity observed that at least 46% of the child population in North and South America are going to be overweight by 2010. It is predicted that 25% of Chinese children will be overweight by 2010 while 38% of all children in the European Union are also feared to join the gang. In India, the prevalence of Childhood Obesity has been marked as 22% in 2002. Dr. Anoop Misra, (Director and Dept Head of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Hospitals, New Delhi) raises his concerns on the rising number of obese Indians. Among Indians, Obesity is often the predecessor of Diabetes, lipid disorders and Heart Diseases. Further, obese children stand the chance of growing up into obese adults.

What is Obesity?

A “complex condition, one with serious social and psychological dimensions, that affects virtually all age and socioeconomic groups and threatens to overwhelm both developed and developing countries”, is what WHO says about obesity. Obesity is not just having a few extra pounds but having a high proportion of body fat. A person is considered obese when his or her weight is 20% or more than the normal weight.

The Risk Factors

1. Hypertension
2. Lipid disorders like Dyslipidemia
3. Heart diseases
4. Some Cancers
5. Stroke
6. Metabolic syndrome especially Hyperinsulinemia
7. Lower chances of recovery especially from cancers
8. Reproductive and gynecological problems in women
9. Fatty liver disease
10. Osteoarthritis
11. Gout
12. Breathing problems in some cases and
13. Sleeping disorders

Reasons for Obesity among Children

Childhood obesity is often the result of an imbalance between the calories taken and the calories burnt. It is highly altered because of the modern life style. Children do not eat, play or participate in activities as before.

1. Poor Food Habits:

Children are introduced and encouraged to have food which were not given to kids a decade ago. Many of them do not get the privilege of home-made food as tiffins. They are free to eat food available in the school or outside. These kinds of food habits deprive children of their required nutrition while earning them those extra calories.

Children by themselves are not aware of the health hazards they are exposed to while doing so. The Indian family represented in the Indian (Hindi) Movie Tara Rum Pum serves as a good example to this.

2. Overeating, Of course!

Among the affluent and the elite section of the society , not only children, but the adults also are exposed to abundance. Many of us do hold obesity as a sign of prosperity.

Jokes apart, the western diet is high in fructose and low in fibre. This diet affects the insulin in the body which in turn acts on the brain leading to overeating. Insulin also suppresses leptin, another hormone that increases physical activity and well-being and reduces appetite.

3. Lack of Physical Activities

Children do not have any compulsory physical activity in schools. People with the habit of sitting for hours on demand of school or work without any regular exercise can gain weight. They need not do any overeating. Some people have the habit of eating while watching TV or during work. The practice of eating when not hungry is another cause for Obesity.

4. Family and Genes !

Obesity can be hereditary. The lifestyle and food habits followed by a particular family can be a contributing factor. But it can be kept in check through diet and exercise.

5. Medical Conditions

Illnesses like neurological problems plays a major role in increasing body weight.

6. Medications

Steroids, oral contraceptives, phenothiazines, insulin and certain psychiatric medicines like some antidepressants may cause appetite stimulation and consequent weight gain.

7. E motional Problems and Events Causing Mental Stress

Those with psychological problems like depression or low morale tend to eat more. It is an interesting fact that you tend to eat less or more in response to your emotions. In most of these cases, there are no physiological factors leading to weight loss or weight gain.

Fat people go though a phase of low self-esteem, depression, shame, rejection and isolation. And children facing this kind of social discrimination end up with psychological problems.

Put an End to those Increasing Waistlines

The awareness should be brought on the public level. Children cannot be blamed alone for this as it is the responsibility of the whole society to build up a healthy generation. Parents as well as teachers need to work together for effective remedies. Only a balanced diet with sufficient physical activity can limit obesity among children.

For this, children have to be aware of the health problems they are prone to. Depriving the littles ones from their favorite food stuffs is both insensitive and injudicious. On the other hand, children need to be taught the values of quantity and quality. Parents and teachers share the responsibility of encouraging them for physical activities. Swimming and jogging can be real fun if the whole family gets into it. Parents need to spend some quality time with their children sharing their little joys and worries. A listening parent gives the child the confidence to face the world.

-Aparna K V

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What is a fast? The connotation of a fast would vary with the culture, native place and even age of a person. For an American, avoiding non vegetarian food would imply a fast, whereas in India many people are vegetarians throughout their lives. Does this mean they are fasting lifelong? The deviation and contradiction in the connotation is not restricted to countries alone.

In India, within the same religion, a few people consider themselves to fast when they have only fruits and liquids, some others take the liberty of consuming semi solids to if they are without onions and garlic, some other devotees are rigid enough to consume only water when they are fasting. How do we comprehend a single word in different connotations?

Medically, a person is fasting when he consumes only water and nothing else, not even salt for at least 24 hours. Perhaps, this is what is expected when you go for a sugar test, though instead of a days fast you take a 12 hours fast. It is during this time that the bodies metabolic activities undergo a change and the fats and carbohydrates stored within the body are utilized to release energy. It is because of this that many youngsters fast as a fad to lose weight and gain their dream figure. But incomplete knowledge is very dangerous. When the fast is prolonged to such an extent that the fats and carbohydrate stores are exhausted, the proteins are reduced to liberate energy. This is an unfavorable situation as the proteins are obtained from the muscles of the body and the resultant weak musculature would be a heavy penalty to be paid for the dream waist line. A weak musculature could result in poor stamina, poor performance and many other symptoms in the body. Hence the benefits of fasting turn into the drawbacks when the proteins are utilized. It is then that fasting turns into starving!!

A typical strategy to lose weight today is to starve and not to fast though both terms are wrongly used colloquially. Sacrificing meals in form of a balanced diet and never do good for the body, specially not for more than a day. However, there have been some studies which encourage fasting for a day to boost immunity , promoting protein synthesis, reducing metabolic rate, energizing and revitalizing the mind and so on. On the other hand some other reports propagate the idea “ The body needs fuel to work. So why run it empty and add stress to it?”

These researchers believe that the efficiency and overall performance of a body including his mind reduces drastically when fasting as the body s under