Health Risk Factors of Fiona Di Capri
...ks involved, including high cholesterol, high blood glucose and many more. * and * will be talking about diet and nutrition later on, but generally a poor diet is a primary risk factor that can lead to many other health problems. Fiona’s high alcohol consumption poses a very high risk for a number of health issues. Firstly it is a very energy dense nutrient, and together with her high caloric intake increases here risk of obesity. Her current alcohol consumption is about 12 standard drinks per week, which is classified as heavy drinking for women. Alcohol can affect nearly every organ system in the body, either directly or indirectly. Alcohol can damage the liver, gastrointestinal tract, and can also cause some cancers. It has been shown that by having just two standard drinks a day the risk of breast cancer is increased by up to 25%. A high alcohol intake can also affect the immune system, leaving her susceptible to viruses. Over 60 studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption can decrease risk of death due to coronary heart disease by about 30%. Although compared to all causes of death, more than 2 drinks a day increases risks by up to 30%. In Fiona’s case alcohol will overall have a negative effect because of other accompanying risk factors. The fact that Fiona quit smoking 2 years ago, in terms of weight gain, doesn’t have to be a bigger problem as believed. Although many studies show that most people do gain weight after cession of smoking, this can all be managed. According to the study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1 in 8 women gain up to 12kg after they quit. There are a few reasons for this that have to be considered to manage weight. Nicotine suppresses the appetite and causes the liver to release glycogen, which raises the blood sugar levels slightly. So when someone stops smoking, and nicotine is eliminated, they generally feel hungry more often. So, it seems obvious: if you continue to eat the same amount of food as you did before you quit smoking, there shouldn’t be any weight gain, but this isn’t the case. Smoking artificially increases the heart rate, which increases metabolism. So when you stop smoking the body has to readjust to a lower metabolic rate. This means if she is eating the same as before she stopped smoking the body will use less and store more food, as fat. So a dieting program should also be implemented at the same time as cession of smoking. A couple of other points to consider are; smoking dulls the taste buds. So a new non-smoker may be discovering a whole new range of tastes, increasing their wont for food. Also there may be an oral fixation; meaning an ex-smoker may feel normal to have something in their mouth, in many cases food replaces the cigarette. From Fiona’s 14 kg weight gain in the last 4 years, I don’t actually think she new about all these effects, and although she doesn’t smoke anymore, she did for 5 years, and she can still be at risk to smoking related diseases, such as cancer etc. These are the main concerns in Fiona’s life, although there are many more minor issues. There are two issues that I feel Fiona may be at a higher risk of than others. These are breast cancer and diabetes. Breast cancer is usually associated with the older age bracket, although there are many aspects of Fiona’s life th...