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People these days are so unhealthy. Like seriously, health problems are one of the main causes of death. Some of those health problems are related to bad eating habits and lack of exercise. Yeah, you've heard it before but people just won't listen to those health tips out there. They are there to help us live healthier lives. And there is so many technological advancements that help us in achieving those health goals. It is these advancements that is going to be the topic of this blog entry.
The first thing I think of from the top of my head when it comes to health issues is insulin. Insulin was discovered by Dr. Frederick Banting from Toronto (CANADA REPRESENT!). It is a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps treat diabetes. For your information, diabetes is the case where a person has high glucose levels because the body doesn't produce enough insulin.
Next up on our list is the use of endoscopy. Endoscopy means to look inside. When doctor's can't treat a disease externally, they look inside. That's right; as in looking inside the body. How? With cameras of course. There is this long camera that can explore our whole digestive tract. This is called an endoscope. It's a tube-shaped camera that comes in from our throat and travels through our body. Makes you a little squeamish, but hey it helps.
For those of you who don't enjoy this snake-like thing traveling through your body, go smaller! There is something called a capsule endoscopy. Basically, it's a camera in pill form. Isn't that so awesome? This is more useful for looking at diseases in the small intestine and detect causes of abdominal pain such as Crohn's disease or peptic ulcers.
Let us now tackle a health problem that has overrun most of the human population: OBESITY. You probably know what that means but I'll give an explanation for the sake of it. Obesity is when we accumulate excess body fat to the point that it affects our overall health such as reducing our life expectancy. For those that have problems with exercise due to heart problems or laziness, there is a solution! It's called a "laparoscopic adjustable gastric band." That's a mouthful so we'll call it a lap band for short. The lap band is like a belt for your stomach. It wraps around the upper part of your stomach and controls our hunger. Though a little risky because of some side effects, it is effective.
One final point. This is completely from my general knowledge. People need to start eating healthier foods. For starters there's your fruits and vegetables...common sense (which is not that common). Second, there's so many food alternatives that are being produced for our benefit such as whole grain chips, lower fat content in meat, recipes for making foods healthier, the list goes on. I suggest that we start taking our health seriously and start eating those fruits and vegetables. Third, I think it's time to bust out the gym equipment that's collecting dust in your basement HAHAHA!. By the way, for those without gym equipment, it wouldn't hurt to get up and jog for a few minutes wouldn't it?
WORKS CITED
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endoscopy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_endoscopy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjustable_gastric_band
