Have A Headache? See Your Dentist
Have A Headache? See Your Dentist
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Headaches

Do you or someone you know suffer from chronic headaches or Migraines? Usually these people have seen a variety of different doctors, with little if any relief. Their symptoms are being treated, but the cause of the problem still persists. Ever thought about seeing your dentist for a migraine? Well that is just one of the conditions that Neuromuscular dentistry is being used to treat. Neuromuscular dentistry is one of the new technologies available in dentistry today. It is different from regular dentistry in that it focuses on the muscles of the jaw and neck and how they are related to the teeth.

Neuromuscular dentistry recognizes that the muscles that move the jaw must be in a comfortable, relaxed position in order to not be in conflict with the teeth and jaw joint i.e. we must have " happy muscles." ? Some of the symptoms that occur when we do not have these" happy muscles" include: Headaches, Loose teeth, Clenching or grinding, root abfractions, Pain or clicking and popping in the jaw joints, Shoulder, neck, and back pain, Numbness in arms and fingers, non-specific Facial pain, problems swallowing , hot or cold sensitive teeth ,Crowded teeth , Receding gums , Ringing or congestion in the ears. A person could experience Migraine headaches and no other symptoms for example, yet be suffering from a neuromuscular dental problem.

There are a number of different types of equipment used in Neuromuscular dentistry to help us get a person to a position of "Happy Muscles". First, we must find a position at rest that is most comfortable for the patient. . This is position where the muscles are relaxed, regardless of where the teeth line up. A device known as the Myo-monitor is used to help relax the patient’s muscles. It is a low frequency T.E.N.S. (Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation)unit. The Myo-monitor stimulates the Trigeminal Nerve and The Facial nerve using a very mild electrical impulse.

This TENSing accomplishes 3 things. First, It pumps waste metabolites and lactic acid away from the stressed muscles. Second, it increases the blood flow to the muscle, which increases the oxygen, glucose, and energy to the muscle itself. Finally, it allows the jaw to relax into its ideal position. Tensing usually takes 45- 60 minutes depending on how bad a patients symptom are and how tight their muscles are. Sometimes we will use an EMG machine to measure the level of tightness in the different muscles. Before tensing ,the EMG shows how hyperactivity of the muscles. After TENSing there is much less activity and the muscle are much "happier".

After TENSing and finding the ideal position of the jaw where the muscles are happy, we make an appliance called an orthotic to keep the muscles in this position. Keeping the muscles in this position is very important because it allows them to remain at their ideal length, which prevents them from going into spasm. Again, we want to get to a state of "Happy Muscles".

Wearing the orthotic allows the muscles to heal, pain to dissipate and/or disappear and the jaw joint to heal. The orthotic is usually worn for 1-3 months to make sure the bite is correct and that the symptoms disappear. Once the patient has become symptom free, we make a decision about Phase 2 of treatment. The patient may decide to wear the orthotic indefinitely, have orthodontic treatment done to move teeth into the correct position, have the teeth restored or adjust the teeth to their ideal bite.

The following three patient cases recently came to me for migraine treatment.

Alan is a 68-year-old male with a history of migraine headaches 6-10 times per month for the past 25 years. "I had seen every imaginable type of doctor in the country, including the Mayo clinic. Nothing would stop the headaches; just control the pain with drugs. It got to the point where I had to carry narcotics with me everywhere I went." Alan was treated using neuromuscular dentistry and is now virtually headache free. "I am so happy with the results of my treatment. I am practically headache free and don’t have to take any headache medications anymore. What a relief after all these years."

Barbara is a 43-year-old mom of three with a history of headaches and stiff neck for the past 7 years. She had seen numerous physicians, specialists, chiropractors and acupuncturists over the years. "Nobody was able to stop the headaches and I haven’t been able to move my neck completely for 1 and ½ years. I had to miss my 10 year old’s birthday party because of a migraine." When Barbara came to our office, she had a severe headache and a knot the size of a golf ball in the muscles of her neck. We used the TENS unit on her for 1 hr. "I couldn’t believe it. My headache had disappeared, the knot in my neck was gone, and I could move my neck from side to side for the first time in a year and a half." Barbara has been virtually pain free for the last 3 months, and is extremely happy with the results of her orthotic use. "I can’t wait to have my mouth restored."

Deaun had occasional migraines until two years ago. "I was at a comedy club with my husband and I felt a migraine coming on. We left the club, went home and I went to bed. Ever since then, the migraines have been pretty much all the time for the last two years." Deaun had been to numerous doctors with no resolution. "They kept telling me that all they could do was give me pain medication. Then I heard about Dr. Cohen. My husband didn’t think anything would work, but I really wanted to try neuromuscular dentistry. I am so glad that I did. My headaches have been reduced to about 1 every 6 weeks, and even my husband, the skeptic, is amazed at the improvement. I am religious about wearing my orthotic and feel great."

For more information go to http://www.dentalsedationcenter.com/

By Patric Cohen
Published: 5/10/2006 

 Brushing Your Teeth Keeps Them Healthy, Right? Well, Maybe Not
Parents and dentists everywhere raise children to believe that they need to brush their teeth at least once a day to prevent tooth decay and gum disease. But without sanitizing the brush, you may just be inviting decay and disease into your mouth.
Brushing Your Teeth Keeps Them Healthy, Right? Well, Maybe Not
By Linda Orlando

People the world over have been paying attention to tooth care for centuries. The Babylonians used a chewing stick in 3500 B.C. to clean the teeth and mouth like a toothpick. The first toothbrush was invented by the Chinese in the 15th century, and early toothbrushes were made of stiff animal hair from wild boars and horses. The Egyptians were very concerned about dental hygiene, as evidenced by the fact that many Egyptians were buried with small tree branches that they used to clean their teeth.

Taking care of teeth has long been a concern of civilized societies around the globe. You’d think that with today’s modern technology, tooth care would be absolutely flawless, right? The truth is actually far from that—unless a toothbrush is kept sanitary, brushing your teeth may actually contribute to tooth decay and gum disease. And sanitizing means more than just rinsing the brush after you finish.

Dr. Gary Westerman, of the Creighton University School of Dentistry in Omaha, assigned his first-year students a research project to demonstrate the effects of not cleaning a toothbrush properly. Westerman’s students were told to test how much bacteria remains on a toothbrush after it has been rinsed off. "That bacteria’s got to go someplace," Westerman said. "Most of it will be in the saliva, which we will ultimately rinse out or swallow. But some of it will be on the toothbrush."

Most people put their toothbrush in a specially designed holder, set it on a counter, or stick it in a drawer. But as the project demonstrated, none of those options is sufficient for keeping the brush clean. The evidence was clear in the petrie dishes of Westerman’s experiment. After just 24 hours of incubation, one student’s brush contained over 2,000 bacterial colonies. "This is pretty typical," said student Shannon Sena. "We had 14 samples that I counted yesterday, and they were all in the ballpark of this, about 2,000 colonies per person."

Westerman said that although that much bacteria shouldn’t make you sick, it can cause tooth decay and gum disease. The bacteria just sits right there waiting for you, to affix itself to your teeth the next time you brush. But there are ways to sanitize a toothbrush to prevent the bacteria from hanging around.

One group of Westerman’s students tried soaking brushes for 10 minutes I an antibacterial mouth rinse after use. Part of the group used Listerine, and another used Peridex, a rinse available only by prescription. A third group of students placed their toothbrushes in a Violight toothbrush sanitizer, which sells for about $30 and is marketed as being able to kill "up to 99.9% of the bacteria" in 7 minutes. Westerman questioned the validity of those claims, asking "The light shines on the bristles, but how far down on the toothbrush does it go? And did it really get all the bacteria on the head of the toothbrush?"

Surprisingly, the results of the tests showed that all three methods were pretty equal in how well they sanitized the brushes. The Listerine and Peridex treatments both killed 98-99% of the bacteria, and so did the Violight. So paying $30 for an electronic cleaner or maybe more for a prescription rinse isn’t necessary; plain old Listerine will work just as well.

Westerman’s research project showed that toothbrushes should be sanitized after each use, and then allowed to air dry. Don’t’ store a brush inside a drawer, or in a cover that may trap bacteria inside. And there’s no need to soak the brush for hours in an antibacterial rinse—10 minutes is enough, and then let it air dry. Whether you use a manual or electric toothbrush, dentists say you should change the brush every three months or so to keep that smile white and healthy.

By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 5/4/2006

Could a Novel Toothbrush Topper Knock Out Bad Breath?
It’s true that sometimes the causes of bad breath run deep indeed. But more often than not, the condition’s manageable. You might be able to end a bad breath problem with a trip to the kitchen table ... or a rummage through your cupboards. What could be simpler?
Could a Novel Toothbrush Topper Knock Out Bad Breath?
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You’re so used to that minty, fresh taste of toothpaste kick-starting you awake every morning that you just can’t dream of doing away with it. Well, you don’t have to… just make sure you brush with something else added to your toothbrush, and you might find you’ve kissed bad breath goodbye!

Please Pass the Salt
Would you believe that something as simple as salt and pepper on your brush goes a long way in preventing and checking bad breath? The combination gets rid of bacteria build-up in the mouth and promises you cleaner, fresher breath. So get those pepper and salt shakers off your dining table and into your bathrooms.

And how does this unlikely pair prevent bad breath? Pepper is a strong anti-bacterial agent. Salt too, for that matter. In addition, salt helps tighten the gums around the base of the teeth, which discourages gum disease, a problem that typically starts when food particles get trapped in these crevices and start putrefying. Put salt and pepper together and you have a winning combo for your teeth! So shake them on and brush away bad breath.

The director of the Environmental Dental Association has an even better solution – equal measures of salt and baking soda. Wash out your toothbrush with a 1:1 solution of peroxide and water, dip it into the powder and brush away. You might grimace at the taste, but you’ll smile when you smell your breath.

Tend to That Tongue
What also makes a huge difference to some peoples’ bad breath -- and can even make it disappear -- is to clean your tongue every day, maybe twice a day. Research on oral hygiene has identified a coated tongue as one of the key areas that contribute to bad breath. So get yourself a good tongue cleaner – no, don’t use your toothbrush – and get to work.

When using one, be sure to clean from the inside out, from the throat area toward the lips. Bring it down firmly without pressing the flesh too hard (a good tongue cleaner will help prevent the gag effect). What your cleaner or scraper should do is remove the gooey stuff accumulated on the tongue without irritation or harm.

For many people, a copper tongue cleaner works best. It’s firm and doesn’t rust. And it soon gets rid of days of bad eating and drinking and the resulting deposits on your tongue. Who would have ever thought a clean tongue would be so important? Well, try it and see. Pay attention to the part at the very back, where the greatest number of odor-causing bacteria is found. If your bad breath stems from all that stuff on your tongue, it’s very possible to get rid of it!

Wash Out Your Mouth (But Not with Soap)
What also helps many people is mouthwash, as long as you don’t make the mistake of buying the kind with alcohol, which can worsen bad breath.

You could make an herbal, all-natural mouthwash at home with a cup of water and a drop of peppermint oil. Or, try water in which mint leaves have been steeped for 10 minutes. Or use a light infusion of green tea, which has been shown to have a potent effect on bad breath.

Keep it Simple
So remember your brush-teeth, scrape-tongue routine and you’re on the right track to fresher breath. Just remember, when you brush your teeth, use a soft toothbrush and angle it slightly when you brush the area between the teeth and the gums. Push the toothbrush upwards to get rid of any food particles trapped there. Even better, use a powerful oral irrigator, and don’t forget to floss, because any food trapped between your teeth is bound to putrefy -- not the effect you were going for.

Too simple? But who says bad breath is always complicated? Granted, sometimes the causes run much deeper. But for many people, all it takes are a few extra nods toward hygiene, and you’re all set to smell like a rose every time you open your mouth!

About the Author

Nathan Fischer is a staff writer for http://www.curesforbadbreath.com. Stop by the site to learn more about bad breath cures and to download the free Bad Breath Bible.
           By Blake Kritzberg
Published: 4/3/2006 

Cosmetic Dentistry - A Closer Look?
Cosmetic Dentistry - A Closer Look?
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Of course, all cosmetic dentistry procedures must be carefully planned with expected outcomes clearly discussed but it can be a procedure as relatively simple as reshaping a few teeth.

The past few years, one of the most requested "cosmetic dentistry" procedures is tooth whitening. It's literally taken America by storm. Tooth whitening can be approached in a number of different ways. It simply depends on your budget and what type of results you desire.

The most cost effective method is purchasing over-the-counter products, which will normally produce "acceptable" results to systems using trays made from impressions of your teeth. The trays are created in a dentist's office and are used with one of several whitening (bleaching) agents. For those who want a one-shot approach, there are also a few different in-office systems that usually employ a very bright light to enhance the speed and efficacy after whitening.

Something to keep in mind is that if you are someone with dark colored or excessively grey teeth whitening may not be as effective as you would have hoped. Of course, if your teeth are like this your dentist should discuss this beforehand. In addition, if you've had a high number of fillings, crowns or other dental procedures of this type on your teeth then bleaching may not be the right option for you either. Tooth-colored bonded resin fillings and bonded porcelain fillings and crowns on the back teeth would certainly fall under the category of cosmetic dentistry.

Colored resin that matches the color of your teeth is a material that can often be bonded to areas of the front teeth. This resin can be shaped and sculpted to repair fractures of the front teeth, close spaces and reshape teeth. There are a number of advantages to this procedure. First, it can usually be done in one visit. Two, it's conservative. Three, it can look very nice and four, it's less expensive than some other options. A few disadvantages would include the life expectancy of this process is somewhat limited (usually five to seven years). Plus, staining and discoloration occurs over time, strength is much less than with porcelain and resin bonding has esthetic limitations depending upon the size of the case.

The gold standard in restoring a beautiful smile is bonding porcelain veneers or laminates directly to teeth. Under the direction of a skilled dentist and staff (including ceramist) porcelain veneers can create incredibly beautiful and natural smiles. The advantages are unsurpassed beauty, longevity and strength. On the other hand, two disadvantages are cost (can be very expensive) and that some minimal tooth structure needs to be removed.

There are many other cosmetic dentistry options available which should be discussed with your cosmetic dentist. Of course, one of the most important elements for you is to find a dentist that has the skill, experience and aesthetic eye to give you a beautiful smile.

A great smile is an under-appreciated asset. First impressions are important in all aspects of live (personal and business) and one of the first things people see and judge when they meet someone are their eyes and smile.

Studies by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) have shown that people with attractive smiles get better jobs, are held in higher regard, normally make a better impression and in many instances make more money. But another less obvious benefit is the increase in esteem and confidence that comes with a smile you can be proud of.

It is such a freeing experience for someone who hides their smile to start smiling big and confidently.

By Scott Knutson
Published: 2/24/2006 

Teeth whitening products – A true love story
This is a story of one man’s questions about teeth whitening products.
Teeth whitening products – A true love story
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There were so many teeth whitening products found in the dental aisle at the local grocery store, that Jonathan could not decide which one was best for him. All he wanted was to finally have white teeth, but after looking around he could not decide exactly how much should a bright smile cost. There was a diverse amount of teeth whitening products on both sides of him, and the shelves were absolutely packed with gels, toothpastes and creams that all touted themselves as the absolute best choice in tooth whiteners.

With all his worries about how much should a bright smile cost, Jonathan found himself picking up every tooth whitener around him and reading the product information to himself but out loud. "This tooth whitening gel eliminates stains and will guarantee the white teeth you have always dreamed of," he told one teeth whitening product, as if the box of tooth whitener would somehow speak back. "And this product promises to guarantee teeth whitening also – or your money back." Jonathan began to worry more; all he wanted was to whiten his smile before tomorrow’s big date with Sheila – they had met in this very grocery store last week.

Just as Jon felt he might drown in a sea of teeth whitening products, he reached out for one more white teeth remedy, and he placed his hand on someone else’s hand who was also reaching for the same product that promised a low bright smile cost. He looked up from his hand to those same piercing green eyes he’d met last week. "What are you doing here Sheila?" He asked her.

She told him she’d come to the tooth whitener aisle for the same reason he had; she wanted to have beautiful white teeth for when she met him tomorrow. So she came back to the store to get some teeth whitening products, but had seen Jon looking through all the products for the very same reason. "Well, I don’t know how much might a bright smile cost, but I might do know one thing." Jon told her with his own bright smile. "I know that I’m glad we are both nervous about the same silly thing, and that makes me think that tomorrow will be the start of something absolutely wonderful." And it was.

Find more about teeth whitening on Teeth whitening products. http://www.tigilet.com – Web content experts.

By Oliver Turner
Published: 1/25/2006 

Natural Dental Care: Keep Your Mouth Clean the All-Natural Way
You don’t need to call in the chemical troops to keep your mouth fresh and clean. Try these all-natural substances for effective, inexpensive oral care.
Natural Dental Care: Keep Your Mouth Clean the All-Natural Way
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So you think you need harsh chemicals to fight gingivitis, bad breath or tooth plaque? Not so! Natural therapies for oral hygiene can boost your gum disease fighting power both inside and out. Let's examine a few of the most popular natural therapies used today.

Herbal Natural Therapies for Oral Hygiene

Certain herbs have antibacterial properties and can aid in your oral hygiene routine as well as make your breath smell a little sweeter. Essential oils of almond, peppermint and spearmint, for example, may all be rubbed around the base of the gums as therapies for oral hygiene.

Tea tree oil has even more bacterial-fighting agents than the essential oils previously mentioned as therapies for oral hygiene. Adding a few drops of tea tree oil to your toothbrush during regular brushing will leave your gums feeling clean and invigorated.

Green tea has been credited for centuries as one of the best natural therapies for oral hygiene. The Chinese have long used green tea as an oral rinse for daily mouth care. Green tea contains powerful antioxidants that also help boost the immune system.

Vitamin Natural Therapies for Oral Hygiene

Vitamin C is known to boost your immune system, and can aid in fighting the growth of anaerobic bacteria that cause plaque on your teeth. Of all the therapies for oral hygiene, vitamin C therapy also helps fight off other illnesses such as colds and flues.

More Natural Therapies for Oral Hygiene

Ordinary baking soda is often accounted one of the best oral antibacterial substances out there. When brushing with baking soda, make sure the soda is thoroughly moistened, and that you aren’t pressing too hard on the brush. For extra cleansing power, rinse your toothbrush in food grade hydrogen peroxide before brushing.

Common Sense Natural Therapies For Oral Hygiene

   1. Brush after meals.
   2. Floss between teeth every day.
   3. Swish water between teeth to rinse food particles out, or better yet, use a water pick or oral irrigator designed for the job.
   4. Replace your toothbrush every six months, and consider getting the electric kind for efficient cleaning. Battery-powered toothbrushes are inexpensive and easy to find if you're not ready to invest in a countertop solution.



While all of these natural therapies for oral hygiene are helpful in preventing gum disease, you should still see your dentist twice a year for a thorough oral check up.

About the Author

Blake Kritzberg is proprietor of CuresForBadBreath.com. Stop by to learn more about bad breath cures and causes of halitosis.
           By Blake Kritzberg
Published: 10/12/2005 

Hazards of Teeth Whitening May Outweigh Having a Dazzling Smile
Many people spend thousands of dollars to obtain a blindingly white smile. But the quest for whiter teeth has hidden hazards that can wipe that white smile right off your face.
Hazards of Teeth Whitening May Outweigh Having a Dazzling Smile
You’re surrounded by gorgeous airbrushed models and celebrities all day long—every time you turn on the television, leaf through a magazine, or even driving past a billboard, there's some happy face sporting a huge mouthful of blindingly white teeth. And all of them have smiles so huge and laser-white that you almost have to wear sunglasses to look at them. Everybody today wants to look just like those celebrities, so of course the passion for having the whitest teeth possible is a popular obsession for millions of people the world over. People wanting to make their smile as bright as possible have many options available to them for doing just that. Their obsession can even turn them into what some dentists call "whitening junkies" or "bleach-orexics"—those who just can’t seem to reach the ultimate nirvana of pearly whiteness that they’re hoping to achieve. But at what cost?

For years, when a patient wanted their teeth whitened, they would look in a mirror at the dentist’s office and compare their teeth to sample shade models and pick the most natural-looking upgrade to their existing color. But now, thanks to our society’s outrageous focus on physical appearance, the standard shade model is whiter than white. So if people have a blindingly white selection available to them, they’ll probably take it. But how white is too white? "You can definitely hurt yourself, absolutely," says Dr. Marlo Griesser, a cosmetic dentist in Sugar Land, Texas. According to Griesser, the side effects of too much bleaching can include gum irritation and damage, and can leave teeth extremely sensitive. And even worse, overbleaching can result in blotchy or discolored teeth. "Possibly some discoloration of the teeth, where you’re not getting the color that you want, and it’s going to be a multi-colored surface," Griesser says. Plus, whitening products work only on the natural tooth; crowns and cavities cannot be whitened.

Dentists usually advise patients to have a checkup before beginning any teeth-whitening procedure using over-the-counter products. Such at-home treatments can contain ingredients that are too acidic, and they can slowly erode the enamel of the teeth, although the risk for permanent damage is relatively small. If the treatment begins to do serious damage, the patient will usually just stop, but some damage may have already occurred, particularly to gums. Some recent studies have even suggested that too much whitening may lead to oral cancer. However, some researchers have cautioned that the research is still being conducted, and it is probably too early to jump to that conclusion.

If you are really insistent on trying to achieve the dazzling white smile of a Hollywood star, you should remember that most celebrities have veneers over their teeth, and veneers do not require whitening. And of course celebrities have access to a smile-enhancing advantage that most average consumers don’t have access to—an airbrush!

By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 6/6/2005
 

Dentists: We love to hate them
Ordinarily, a trip to the doctor is always rather painful, and if he turned out to be a dentist, well, then he’s more hated for his profession than any other physician possibly in this world!
The Whizzing Effect

As a child I possessed a sweet jaw, I know most people have a sweet tooth, but in my case I always remembered having a sweet jaw. Actually my frequent visits to the dentists kept confirming this from time to time. And like you really need to be destined for being treated with a good physician, so it is with a Dentist. Most of all I detest the whizzing sound of the drilling machine.

But to tell you the truth, it is also true that every dentist, thanks to all their expensive equipment and paraphernalia almost always is on the hunt for amassing loads of money from you! Perhaps it was no wonder that the look on my dad’s face also added to the general aura of ire that was created.

But kids being kids and their fascination for some of the most colourful sweets and candies are always prone to temptation. In fact, I can safely say that most of us still nurture the child in us by giving in to almost nothing but temptation. Moreover, dentists have this scary and rather eerie disposition. They are so close to you and with their funny looking instruments, they somehow always seem to have this large ‘know-it-all’ grin that’s quite remarkable.

I mean you might find it amongst many but not predictably all of them. I for one hate them! At most I’d brush religiously after every meal and chew on a gum for hours to clean my teeth rather than suffer the pain and anguish from a despicable lot and pay them through my nose!

They are all the same

Most dentists are all the same. They all have this hugely built palace-like misdemeanor they call their dispensary. It’s always this well lit room with soft music flowing through, already making you aware that your treatment is going to cost you a great deal! Add to that the misery of looking at the doctor in the eye, as like it or not his instruments are so close to your face that it’s almost impossible to miss him!

But like I said, you need to be destined to get a good doctor, as believe it or not there are some, no make that many doctors that don’t even bother to look at your tooth through the x-ray. I mean it may sound like an idealistic scene, but I think you need to encourage each member in your family to become one, coz as much as I hate to admit it, it sure is a great way for making money!

There was this huge talk of everything in the dentist’s artillery following the laser route, wonder what happened to that! I guess their idea of making money especially this one would really run them into huge losses, or at least that is what they claim. But on an average, there are a number of people who are innately scared of dentists. Although they make no bones about it, it’s a forgone conclusion!

But on the serious note, they sure do make us realize the importance of good hygiene in their own unique way. So as much as you and I might hate them with the bottom of our hearts, they are simply like those necessary evils that we all need to go with! Trust me on this one!
           By Prerna Salla
Published: 5/7/2004

Could Pure Fruit Juice Help To Lower Obesity In Children?
It has long been held that you should not give your children pure fruit juice because it encourages weight gain, but is this really the case? A new study has provided an interesting answer.
There has been a general belief for a long time that giving young children pure fruit juice might make them overweight and thus could be contributing to some degree to the current dramatic rise in childhood obesity.

This debate has been going on for some time largely because of the inconsistency in the data from various studies, and it was not until very recently that the results of a study involving 3,618 children from 2 and 11 years of age revealed the truth about drinking pure fruit juice.

There was a wide variation in the consumption of pure fruit juice amongst the children in the study from children who consumed almost none at all to those who consumed an average of about 12 ounces or more daily. The average consumption amongst the children was just over 4 ounces a day, which is consistent with the daily amount recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The results of the study showed that there was no evidence that children who drank pure fruit juice were overweight as a result, or that drinking fruit juice put them at risk of becoming overweight. Indeed, the opposite was shown to be true with children in the 2 to 3 age group for example, who consumed the most fruit juice, being nearly three times less likely to be overweight than children in the same age group who did not drink pure fruit juice.

More interestingly though, the study also revealed that children who consumed pure fruit juice ate less total fat, saturated fats and added fats as well as less sugar and sodium. These children also ate more whole fruit and had higher intakes of a range of key minerals and vitamins including iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.

So, contrary to popular belief, rather than putting children at risk from gaining weight, pure fruit juice would appear to help in maintaining children's weight at the correct level and also provides them the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals for strong and healthy growth.

GastricBypassFacts.info is a substantial resource center providing information on all aspects of gastric bypass surgery and includes a number of articles covering such things as morbid obesity.

By Donald Saunders
Published: 6/30/2007

Childhood Obesity Statistics and Facts
According to research, Childhood Obesity results in high percentage of Obesity at adult stage as much as 70 percent. What is worse is that this rate is on increase and almost doubled in the last three decades. Let us have a look at more intriguing Statistics and Facts about childhood Obesity
Childhood Obesity Statistics and Facts
Obesity is a major problem, not only in America, but also in most countries, both developed and developing. This is a major concern for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in America and the WHO (World Health Organization) because childhood obesity statistics show that obese children and especially those in the teenage years have a 70% chance of being obese as adults. What is worse is that percentage increases to 80% if either one or both of the parents are obese as well.

This is a major concern because obesity is the cause of many major health concerns later in life. This does not only affect the person themselves, but those who love them and society in general as this causes health insurance to rise and eventually decreases the number of people who are fit to work, thus putting a strain on the economy. This article will present the results of research on obesity, and childhood obesity facts and obesity statistics.

Childhood Obesity Statistics
In 2004, there was a research report written about a study that lasted from 1999 to 2002 entitled "Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents: United States" conducted by the CDC. According to that report "16 % children (over 9 million) 6-19 year olds are overweight or obese" this is three times what it was in 1980. In addition, this report brings out the fact that also during this same time period an additional 15% were "at risk of becoming overweight".

Not only has this number tripled, but in the past three decades (according to this same study) obesity has "more than doubled" in both children and adolescents from ages 2-5 and also ages 12-19 while more than tripling in children between the ages of 6-11.

Childhood obesity facts
Economic Costs - In the twenty years from 1979-1991 the hospital costs for children and youth have risen from 35 million in 1979-1981 to 127 million from 1997-1991 (Preventing childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, 2005, Institute of Medicine).

Health Costs - Our children are paying dearly and at their young age are not realizing this. Type 2 Diabetes has risen from 4% new cases seen in the pre-1990's to between 8-45% during the 1990's. In addition the incidence of a single risk factor for heart disease has also risen to nearly 60% of children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old who are obese. Not only that, but those with at least 2 risk factors has also risen to 25%. Some of these risk factors are those that generally we associate with the elderly, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides. These children are having diseases at 5 and 10 years old that in the past took decades to get.

However, this problem is not only an "American" problem where we need to look shamefacedly at the other nations of the world when this subject is brought up. Other nation’s rates of obesity have also risen and I think it safe to assume that some of those statistics also represent obesity in children.

Some of the other nations that have a higher rate of obesity and should also be staring at their stomach’s instead of their toes are Samoa has the highest worldwide with a 74% of obesity compared to that of America’s 34% and China’s 2%. These particular statistics represent the high, mid-range and the low rate of obesity per nation. These statistics come from International Obesity Task Force, WHO figures 2002.

Why are these children suffering as if they have been eating and assaulting their bodies for decades when in reality they have been alive for only 5 or 10 years? The first, of two main causes, is the fast food that is prevalent, not only in America, but in most other nation. Having lived in South Korea for most of the 90's myself I know that Seoul and most other cities there not only have American fast food restaurants, such as Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other down home American favorites, but also have their own fast food equivalents as well.

Not only is it what we have been feeding our kids and what they have demanded at times, but it is also the lack of exercise, not only in the schools, but also after school at home. You know the scenario, you’re sitting with your friend when her kids come home and they begin to fight over it. They are yelling and screaming, demanding that it is their turn to use whatever mechanical device may have just rolled off the shelves at the nearest Wal-mart ® or other store. These devices range from DVD players, to video games, to the latest video or other fantastic toy that has become number one on the ratings list.

We ourselves are at fault for what is happening to our children. Some of them are too young to even know better, so it is up to us to watch what our children are eating and how much exercise they are getting.
           By Jayashree Pakhare
Published: 6/25/2007