Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are one of the main types of food. Your liver breaks down carbohydrates into glucose (blood sugar). Your body uses this sugar for energy for your cells, tissues and organs.

Carbohydrates are called simple or complex, depending on how fast your body digests and absorbs the sugar. You get simple carbohydrates from fruits, milk products and table sugar. Complex carbohydrates include whole grain breads and cereals, starchy vegetables and legumes. Complex carbohydrates and some simple carbohydrates provide vitamins, minerals and fiber. Products made with refined sugar provide little nutrition. It is wise to limit these products.

Cancer--Living with Cancer

Cancer is a major illness, but not everyone who gets cancer will die from it. Millions of Americans alive today have a history of cancer and had successful treatment. For them, cancer has become an ongoing health problem, like high blood pressure or diabetes.

For most people with cancer, living with the disease is the biggest challenge they have ever faced. The disease changes your routines, roles and relationships. It can cause money and work problems. The treatment can change the way you feel and look. This page includes information on different aspects of living with cancer. Special sections cover nutritional, financial, emotional and sexual issues.

Cancer

Cancer begins in your cells, which are the building blocks of your body. Normally, your body forms new cells as you need them, replacing old cells that die. Sometimes this process goes wrong. New cells grow even when you don't need them, and old cells don't die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass called a tumor. Tumors can be benign or malignant. Benign tumors aren't cancer while malignant ones are. Cells from malignant tumors can invade nearby tissues. They can also break away and spread to other parts of the body.
Most cancers are named for where they start. For example, lung cancer starts in the lung, and breast cancer starts in the breast. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis. Symptoms and treatment depend on the cancer type and how advanced it is. Treatment plans may include surgery, radiation and/or chemotheraphy.

Calcium

You have more calcium in your body than any other mineral. Calcium has many important jobs. The body stores more than 99 percent of its calcium in the bones and teeth to help make and keep them strong. The rest is throughout the body in blood, muscle and the fluid between cells. Your body needs calcium to help muscles and blood vessels contract and expand, to secrete hormones and enzymes and to send messages through the nervous system.

It is important to get plenty of calcium in the foods you eat. Foods rich in calcium include diary products such as milk, cheese and yogurt, and leafy, green vegetables. The exact amount of calcium you need depends on your age and other factors. Growing children and teenagers need more calcium than young adults. Older women need plenty of calcium to prevent osteoporosis. People who do not eat enough high-calcium foods should take a calcium supplement.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a bitter substance found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, some nuts and certain medicines. It has many effects on the body's metabolism, including stimulating the central nervous system. This can make you more alert and give you a boost of energy.

For most people, the amount of caffeine in two to four cups of coffee a day is not harmful. However, too much caffeine can make you restless, anxious and irritable. It may also keep you from sleeping well and cause headaches, abnormal heart rhythms or other problems. If you stop using caffeine, you could get withdrawal symptoms.

Some people are more sensitive to the effects of caffeine than others. They should limit their use of caffeine. So should pregnant and nursing women. Certain drugs and supplements may interact with caffeine. If you have questions about whether caffeine is safe for you, talk with your health care provider.

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease is the most ordinary type of heart illness. It is the leading cause of loss in the United States in together men and women.

CAD happens when the arteries that provide blood to heart muscle become hard-bitten and narrowed. This is due to the buildup of cholesterol and other material, called plaque, on their inner walls. As the buildup grows, less blood can flow during the arteries. As a result, the heart muscle can't get the blood or oxygen it needs. This can lead to chest pain or a heart assault. Most heart attacks come about when a blood clot suddenly cuts off the hearts' blood supply, causing enduring heart damage.

Over time, CAD can also weaken the heart muscle and add to heart failure and arrhythmias. Heart failure income the heart can't pump blood well to the rest of the body. Arrhythmias are change in the usual beating rhythm of the heart.

Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

If you have coronary artery disease (CAD), the artery that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle become toughened and narrowed. If way of life change and medicines don't help, your doctor may advise coronary artery bypass surgery.

The surgery uses a part of a vein from the leg or vein from the chest or wrist. The surgeon attach this to the coronary artery above and below the pointed area or blockage. This allows blood to bypass the blockage. Some people need additional than one bypass.

You may need bypass surgery for a variety of reasons. Another procedure for CAD, angioplasty, may not have widen the artery enough. In some cases, the angioplasty tube can't reach the obstruction.

A bypass too can close again. This happens in additional than 10 percent of bypass surgeries, typically after 10 or more years.