Who Are The Best Candidates for Liposuction Procedure ?
July 7, 2009 by Amy Nutt
Filed under weight loss
It is a safe assumption that everyone on the planet wants to look their very best. Although it may be for drastically different reasons, there is a need for people who look as if they had just had a makeover most of the time. Luckily, there happen to be many different methods for this to happen, regardless of what a person considers to be an area a problematic area for them, and they may choose the procedure known as liposuction.
Will it work for me? For a resounding amount of people, the problem usually seems to be their weight. Many people are simply not pleased with how much they weigh, and liposuction can generally help them out with their discomfort with the extra weight that they may have accumulated. Although, this may be an embarrassing topic for many, it is quite normal, and the procedure generally works in the favor of everyone who decides to choose this approach in combating weight.
In talking about liposuction, many people feel as if it may be a little risky, and they generally wonder if they are the ideal candidate for it. Luckily, everyone can usually have it done, as it is not a very strenuous process. The criterion for the perfect liposuction patient is:
- In good health - Non-smoking - Within twenty five pounds of the target weight - Without any significant health problems - Exercise regularly - Does not have fluctuations in health - Are genuinely realistic about the surgery
It is also noteworthy to state that the person does not require that this is a weight-loss method, which is the common misconception about weight loss. The desiring candidate should know that this is a reshaping process for aesthetic purposes. Other areas for concern are the age of the patient, although it is not absolutely a huge concern, but the elasticity of the skin obviously deteriorates over the course of time.
Other noteworthy mention is the state of the skin when choosing to undergo the liposuction procedure. For instance, those with cellulite and/or stretch marks do not have the same results as people that do not, and may not find that their surgery wasn’t as much as a success than what they had envisioned it to be.
Results After liposuction, the patient will generally feel amazing about the choice that they made, and they will absolutely love the way that they look. The procedure is usually one that does not incur many problematic experiences, and the recovery is something that can be described as one of a breeze. For the person who would like to have this method done to improve the way that they look, it is wise to state that they should talk to their doctor with a more in-depth consideration into what they are about to embark on. Although it is very rewarding, the process may not be for everyone, so proper research about liposuction would most definitely be advisable for those looking to improve their look!
Easy Ways To Lose Weight Fast - Are They Really Effective?
June 30, 2009 by Chloe Bishop
Filed under weight loss
Most people nowadays are looking for easy ways to lose weight fast. We long to have lean, toned and attractive physique and yet we are not willing to work for it.
And this strong desire for easy ways to lose weight fast is exactly what the diet and weight loss industries are fully exploiting.
Ever heard these:
“Simply peel and stick to burn fat and lose weight!” (ad selling diet patches)
“This product will change your body in 4 minutes a day!”
“Forget about long, difficult exercises! We have a range of treatments and surgeries to make you lose weight…”
“Take this pill, go to bed… wake up skinny! It’s magic!”
If you really think about it - can you honestly believe their promises are true?
Because weight loss is an emotional issue for many, it’s not surprising that many people fall for these scams.
Others may call it “business”, but surely when you are paying for something, you ought to know the truth about what it can (and cannot) do for you, right?
Don’t get scammed again. Behind all the sales hype are truths being kept away from you. Here are just some of them:
1. “Weight loss” is not necessarily beneficial.
Many of these quick-fix weight loss “solutions” like slimming teas, cellulite creams, body wraps, etc. only make you lose bodily fluids.
Losing water changes nothing about how much body fat you have. Remember that your body is 75% water. It’s sick that their strategy for making you lose weight is by dehydrating you.
But you gotta hand it to them - dehydration IS an easy way to lose weight fast! Clever, indeed.
You might as well have both of your legs amputated - you’ll definitely lose weight instantly and permanently - and that’s a guarantee!
2. When You Starve Yourself, You Lose Muscle Mass and Keep the fat!
Suppressing your appetite is how some quick fix solutions work. Suppressing your appetite means you’ll be on a low calorie diet, but this method is flawed because ultimately an extremely low-calorie diet makes your body hoard fat.
The problem is that our body responds to starvation by hoarding fat, cannibalizing on our muscles and shutting down our metabolism - 3 of the worst possible things that can happen if your goal is to lose fat and acquire a toned look as efficiently as possible.
Is that what you really want?
3. The effects of many quick fix solutions are only for the short-term.
Another problem with all these quick fix solutions is that you have to keep spending money on these products. After all, that’s what they’re designed to do: give you fast, easy solutions to symptoms but never the actual problem so that vendors get repeat customers.
Considering this reason alone, you may want to ask yourself if it’s really worth it.
Conclusion
Don’t aim to ‘lose weight’ - lose fat instead, and lose it using safe and permanent means.
A tailored nutrition plan, exercise and motivational training are the hallmarks of a tried and tested fat loss program.
Using natural methods, you may need to pay a higher price with your sweat and resilience to see results, but the benefits are worth it.
Don’t be fooled and believe that there are magic potions/creams/pills out there that can magically transform your body without much effort on your part. If there are such magical solutions, we would all be consuming them!
Recommendation
The best way to ensure you don’t fall for such shenanigans is to educate yourself about how to eat well and exercise properly to achieve your own fat loss goals.
The most comprehensive fat loss program I’ve found is Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program.
Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is touted as the “Fat Loss Bible” because no other book covers the confusing subject of fat loss as comprehensively.
Tone Abdominal Muscles With Proper Dieting
June 24, 2009 by Frank Powell
Filed under weight loss
Many adults, regardless of age level, have an interest in toning the ab muscles so that they can have that nice looking stomach. In order to flatten and firm up your ab muscles, you have to do ab workouts continually and keep your body fats low. You have to do abdominal exercises that will strengthen your abs faithfully in order to develop the desired results that you want.
Many people feel the shame of having a huge belly gut, while others are blessed to have nice flat abs with no effort on their part. If you have that huge belly that we all dread, then you currently have a layer of fat surrounding your ab muscles. This layer of fat will hinder your ab muscles from showing. In order to solve this, you need to pay close attention to your dieting so that you can get rid of the fat surrounding your ab muscles. 25% of your effort should be focused on exercising your ab muscles, while 75% should be focused on eating and dieting properly.
The diet plays the largest role in toning ab muscles. However, with so many diet programs out there, you might find it hard to pick the best one that might work for you. The secret is to eat certain foods that can help in decreasing the body fat. Most of the diet programs help individuals in cutting down their calorie intake. If your body cant get enough calories from the foods you eat, then the fat stored in your body (particularly in your stomach area) will be used. If you start eating properly, you can surely shed those unwanted fats.
It is advised that you consult your doctor first before trying to select an eating or dieting plan. Doing this will ensure that you get meal plans that are perfectly suitable for your health conditions. Also, you need to learn which foods provide fewer calories. Remember, the less calories your body intakes, the more fat that is naturally burned by the body. This is why you need to change unhealthy eating habits that force you to intake large amounts of calories per day.
In order to tone up your ab muscles, it is imperative that you focus on abdominal exercises. The most general and basic ab exercise is the abdominal crunch, which is a really effective exercise for strengthening the abs. A lot of people also do ab crunches on an exercise ball in order to help them workout their abdominal muscles properly. There are a bunch of videos online that will help you to do ab exercises on the exercise ball. You can watch these videos for free on sites like youtube. Other effective ab exercises that you can do are leg lifts, jackknife sit ups, and v-ups.
Abdominal muscles require the most patience to see any results with. It can take months before you start seeing that flat tummy and firm ab that you desire. But if you stick with your workout plan of exercising and dieting, then you should have hard firm abs in a few months. Just work towards shedding off as much fat around your stomach so that you can work on toning your ab muscles.
Belly Fat
May 26, 2009 by Dr. Madison Spurlock
Filed under weight loss
So first lets go over some numbers. The simple numbers are 35 and 40. That is for a women you want your waist less than 35 inches and for a man any number shy of 40 for optimal health. This spot you measure from is usually just above your belly button, at the smallest part of your waist. A more accurate measure is you hip-to-waist ratio. Your hips measurement is taken at the widest part of the hips. For guys you want a 1 to 1 ratio or less, meaning that the waist needs to be the same size or smaller than the hip and not the other way around. For us gals if you divided the waist by the hips the number should be .8 or less. So here youd rather be a pear shaped lady that an apple. So for example if your hips are 38 inches, you would want a 30-inch or smaller waist.
So first lets go over some numbers. The simple numbers are 35 and 40. That is for a women you want your waist less than 35 inches and for a man any number shy of 40 for optimal health. This spot you measure from is usually just above your belly button, at the smallest part of your waist. A more accurate measure is you hip-to-waist ratio. Your hips measurement is taken at the widest part of the hips. For guys you want a 1 to 1 ratio or less, meaning that the waist needs to be the same size or smaller than the hip and not the other way around. For us gals if you divided the waist by the hips the number should be .8 or less. So here youd rather be a pear shaped lady that an apple. So for example if your hips are 38 inches, you would want a 30-inch or smaller waist.
Why are we picking on belly or visceral fat rather than just overall obesity? Fat distribution does matter. If you have more fat around your belly, youre more likely to have more fat under your muscles trapped around your organs. And apple shaped folks have their odds just about doubled for heart attack or stroke. Whats more researchers have found that a wide waste will increase your risk of diabetes and certain cancers. The details are waiting to be ironed out, what we do know is belly fat increases inflammation in the whole body. And inflammation is the seed that leads to many problems in the body. Extra fat in the belly also equals excess fat in the liver and encasing your other organs. This deep fat is actually metabolized by the liver, which in turn makes it into cholesterol, which then circulates in your blood.
Body By Laser unlike other procedures allows the patient to continue their daily activities without interruptions from surgery, pain, or wounds.
With all this going on the body is now functioning at a substandard level, and it set up for problems. The good news is change can begin with just a few small choices to turn the tide.
Body By Laser is a new body-sculpting procedure designed to remove fat and contour the body without invasive surgery.
Just like with cards, there is a bit of luck with health, but the choices you make with hand your are dealt can often determine how long you can sit at the table.
When is Female Breast Reduction Necessary?
May 17, 2009 by Amy Nutt
Filed under weight loss
Most women have a breast size that is in standard proportion to their body. There are some women who have large beasts that can cause discomfort or even pain. For those women, choosing a breast reduction becomes a viable option.
A female breast reduction, also referred to as a reduction mammoplasty, is a surgical procedure that involves the removal of extra fat, glandular tissue, from the breast thereby reducing breast weight and size.
Many refer to the process of breast reduction is usually considered cosmetic surgery because the patients life is not in danger. In other words, there is not a significant life or death risk that requires the reduction. However, there are cases where large breasts can cause physical pain and emotional anguish.
Reasons for Breast Reduction Many women choose breast reduction as a way of alleviating or eliminating chronic back, neck, and shoulder pain. Women who receive the surgery will improve mobility and functionality. There is less skin irritation in the folds of the breast. As well, those women with very large breasts find that the procedure improves their physical appearance. Their self confidence is boosted. They find themselves better able to find clothes that fit. They are also able to participate in more sports activities. There is some evidence that a breast reduction may decrease the chances of developing breast cancer. Although research into breast reduction and breast cancer is still in process, there is some evidence that breast reduction may reduce the chances of acquiring breast cancer.
Breast Reduction Qualifications To qualify for cosmetic surgery, you will normally require a referral from a general practitioner. You will then consult with a plastic surgeon and possibly a psychiatrist. They will decide if you qualify for the surgery. During the consultation, your surgeon will explain the risks associated with your particular case. Risks can include scarring and possibly different sized breasts, and the inability to breast feed. The surgical process will also be explained. Your skin condition, age, size, and shape of your breasts are important considerations when assessing your candidacy for surgery. The surgeon will then examine and photograph your breasts for use during surgery. You may also be required to have a mammogram.
Surgical Procedure The patient is normally given a general anesthetic. An incision is made around the areola, the brownish area around the nipple. Then, the incision is moved down the breast and along the crease beneath the breast. The surgeon removes the excess fat, glandular tissue, and skin from the breast. The length of the surgery can vary from 2 to 4 hours.
Results of Breast Reduction The type of breast reduction surgical method that is used often will usually determine results. After surgery, breasts will be much smaller. The results are immediate as patients have reported an improvement in comfort and less pain. Scars and swelling can vary and can last a varying amount of time. Scars can be covered using clothing, bras, and swim wear. Patients have reported that within a month, there pain has almost completely diminished, their scars faded within about six months, their clothing fit better, and they have an improved self-image.
If you have health and self esteem issues regarding the size of your breasts. It is important to have an in-depth discussion with your medical professionals that includes your doctor, plastic surgeon, and psychiatrist/psychologist. By doing so, you will maintain reasonable expectations regarding the outcome of the surgery.
Burn Fat While You Sleep
May 16, 2009 by Demottoni Fairbank
Filed under weight loss
The internet is a great place to do business with fat loss products. By getting good search engine positions you can have success. If someone searches for “Diet Meal Plan”, “Best Medical Weight Loss” or “Diabetes Low Carb Diet“, you want them to come to your site.
Dozens of studies indicate that the appropriate dietary practices, coupled with regular exercise, will induce simultaneous muscle gain and fat loss without counting calories. Physiologists are discovering that the quality of the calories you consume is far more important than the overall quantity. Likewise, the quality of the food is far more important than the food group to which it be-longs.
The best way to attain fat loss is through a combination of resistance training and intense, short-duration exercise. Resistance training builds muscle and, a little muscle goes a long way toward increasing metabolic rate, caloric expenditure, and fat burning. Likewise, brief intervals of intense exercise induce a hormonal response that increases resting metabolic rate and increases overall fat burning for up to two days.
Muscle toning equals fat burning. Every ounce of toned muscle you possess increases around the clock fat burning. Protein is the most important macronutrient in your muscle-toning arsenal.
Growth hormone is a major player in numerous metabolic processes. By stimulating the release of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-l) from the liver, growth hormone is indirectly responsible for long bone growth in children. In adults, the combined effects of growth hormone and IGF-l do everything from reducing body fat, to promoting muscle tissue development, to preventing cosmetic symptoms of aging such as thinning skin.
It might seem fairly obvious, but the complete explanation is exceedingly complicated. In essence, however, it all boils down to homeostasis, which is really just a fancy word for physiological balance, or equilibrium. The more steadfast and unfaltering our overall homeostasis is the better our state of health.
Omega-3 essential fatty acids don’t just lower bad cholesterol. They also raise good cholesterol while decreasing the risk of heart disease and heart attack. Fish oil supplementation has also been credited with boosting immune function, lowering blood pressure, and reducing your risk for vessel disease, stroke, obesity, autoimmune disease, and diabetes.
Stone Age humans did not eat commercially prepared baked goods or deep fried fast foods. Hence, their diets were essentially free of the deadly trans-fatty acids that plague our modern menus. Likewise, hunter-gatherers did not have ready access to the polyunsaturated vegetable oils with their ill-boding, pro-inflammatory omega-6 to omega3 essential fatty acid ratios.
No More Bread’ Obviously, grains can be consumed in moderate quantities by most people without causing any overt signs of disease. Unfortunately, if you think about it, covert disease and widespread, low grade, chronic inflammation is what usually does us in! By the time the symptoms of chronic illnesses like diabetes, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and heart disease manifest, the damage has already been done and it is often too late to reverse the degenerative changes that will Impact the quality of the remainder of our lives. We did not evolve eating grains.
Your physique will literally transform before your eyes as every passing week brings visible, tangible improvements. By now, along with increased muscle tone, a leaner body composition, and a revved metabolism, you’ve also gained new strength, stamina, and coordination. You are probably finding that the 20-minute routine has become progressively less challenging.
One of the big business opportunities online is the weight loss industry. You can get sales from organic searches if you get the right searches to find your site. You can do well with “Low Fat Diet No”, and also “Online Weight Loss Contest”.
Food Pyramid Weight Loss
April 30, 2009 by Leal Chaussidon
Filed under weight loss
If you want to sell weight loss products, you can use the internet as a good medium. By getting good search engine positions you can have success. Some good keyword phrases would be “Fruit And Vegetable Diet For Weight Loss“, “Kids Weight Loss” and “Rice Diet Meal”.
As a fatty acid subclass, saturated fat has undergone conspicuous vilification over the past thirty years because of its alleged connection to obesity and heart disease. Although a diet that is high in saturated fat may raise total cholesterol, some researchers contend that there is little direct evidence linking saturated fat to either weight gain or heart disease. According to several extensive reviews of existing research data, statistically speaking, saturated fat does not appear to make us flabbier, nor does it appear to raise our risk for a cardiac event.
From the moment we are conceived until the moment we draw our last breath, our life represents a glorious and temporarily successful battle against the most lethal force in the universe, entropy, the tendency towards chaos. Our very existence as living organisms relies on a precariously maintained balance between interdependent systems and processes. Should even a tiny component of this bewildering array of life sustaining functions be thrown off kilter, it damages our health and jeopardizes our ability to offset future disturbances.
Everything from heart disease and autoimmune disorders to more aesthetic concerns like poor body composition and wrinkled skin owes its existence to chronic inflammation. In addition to marbleized beef and polyunsaturated vegetable oils, the turn of the century gave Americans one more reason to die young. In 1897 someone got the bright idea to take polyunsaturated vegetable oil and hydrogenate it, a process that entails heating the oil to very high temperatures in order to disrupt the double bonds within the carbon chains of the fatty acids.
Bench dips target triceps, deltoids, and pectorals. Bench dips eradicate upper arm jiggle. The primary benefits are upper body strength, stamina, and coordination.
More than a quarter of a century later, the repercussions of low fat eating can still be felt in our collective subconscious. Ironically, our fear of fat has played a massive role in making us the fattest population in the history of the planet.
Gram for gram, fat contains more than twice the calories found in either protein or carbohydrate. But despite its high calorie content, dietary fat does not make you fat. In fact, current research indicates that the exact opposite is true that you need to eat fat in order to burn fat.
How do you take the high out of high glycemic index’ Well, sometimes you don’t need to. When researchers conduct studies to determine the glycemic index of different carbohydrates, they use a standard 50gram serving (about 200 calories worth) of the food they are indexing.
How do these figures translate in terms of our health as a nation’ Put simply, nearly two thirds of Americans are at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and arthritis as a direct result of their weight. Many of these same individuals will also encounter job discrimination and social rejection, suffer from low self-esteem and depression, and die prematurely.
The meal plan, which emphasizes healthy protein, carbohydrate, and fat sources, involves no calorie counting, no complicated systems, and no messy portion measuring. There are no upper limits placed on healthy choice food consumption, so you never have to feel hungry or deprived. Best of all, you won’t need to hire a chef to make your meals palatable.
A good online business can be selling weight loss products. Learn which search terms help you make money. A couple of good search terms might be “Diet And Excercise Tips”, and “Lose My Tummy Fat”.
Body constructing
April 29, 2009 by Andy
Filed under weight loss
The play of physical structure making has become steady in popularity over the years. From its heyday in the 1970’s to now, technical approaches and also nutritionary improvements have made physical structure making a sport that focusing on the artwork of the man body and what is achievable when it is pushed. physical structure constructing is more than only raising weights, however. To get an effective body constructing programme, you have to focusing on numerous different matters - specially if you are serious about your ends. As A Matter Of Fact, preparing destinations can be an important components of an effective physical structure building program. What do you want to reach when you start body making? Keep your goal constantly at the head of your mind so that you don’t get off track.
Milk Whey protein may be a best protein add-on which you can implement into your workout program. It’s totally Typical and can provide the best outcomes when it is taken in the adequate drugs and the adequate amounts. You could also choose creatine for a physical structure making supplement. Creatin as well facilitates fighting wear and provides for better workouts. Creatine is of course produced in your physical structure, so taking a creatine add-on in your physical structure constructing routine can take approximately the nicest results. When you are lifting weights in your physical structure constructing exercise, your muscularities are under a certain measure of strain. The body grows nitric oxide to combat this stress. If you have a specially stressful physical exercise, you’ll need to refill that enzyme with a physical structure building add-on. Nitric oxide can also have some great side effects with sexual health, so if you think that this is the nicest physical structure building add-on for you, by all implies, opt it.
You must get a balanced body constructing physical exercise routine in order to concentrate on particular muscle groupings and develop your entire physical structure. You’ll require to include not simply burden raising, but a cardio physical exercise is as well main. The whole body requires to be sound and it takes on your heart. Whenever you get a strengthened heart muscle, you will be capable to workout more effectively.
Proponents of Natural physical structure making will agree that an effective exercise program united with efficient supplements and nutrition can make for a healthy, modulated physical structure. Typical physical structure making is unquestionably the way to go if your goal in a physical structure making program is to get sound and experience great. steroids and growth hormones should be avoided at any cost.
Explore different brand names and select a company that has tested consequences. There are many companies who ask to have effective wares when they are actually just offering add-on that do not do anything at all.
Hgh body constructing - the typical body building Technique
April 29, 2009 by Rita
Filed under weight loss
Muscle development is due to the working of the HGH physical structure building amino groups acids in the Somato Tropical hormone created by the Pituitary gland. This will be an fascinating clause for those trying to build muscle in the physical structure either by nature or by using any affixes in the stimulus process.
health professionals have united that the base for good health stays in the ability to have a adequate mixture of right genetic sciences, eating a good diet, and involved in a right exercise program. Regrettably, for those who are seeking to build and tone their physical structure so that it exhibits a higher level of effectiveness, there must be a kind of body making and even some employment of body constructing add-on just to attain the destinations that are desirable. Collecting muscularity mass is something that is relatively hard to reach. It takes a lot of work and dedication. body building affixes can be highly beneficial when it follows to toning the body and making muscle volume rapidly.
HGH physical structure building will too be applied in improving the sleep in the night, with elevated performance of storage and rising vision and hearing capacity of the mortal. It plays a major role in the melioration and growth of the skin. They preclude older appearing if they function usually. This is the reason why citizenry are being tried just about their age by the sight itself. The preceding HGH physical structure constructing is to be finished naturally without any stimulation and outside concern. When there is a fall in the performance then this had to be done by the help of steroid hormones. Now a day’s sex hormones are employed for making muscle and amending the muscularity level in the body. Mostly all of the sex hormones in this domain are injectable only. There is just few makers supplying them in the kind of pills.
The reason that numerous are obtainable simply in injectant kind is, injections are the sharp activators of the stimulus process. While pills need to be breaked and digested by the organs and then took up by the bloodstream which needs at least a day time. numerous of the steroid hormones employed in body constructing are not sold in foreign countries where it is manufactured. Some of the steroid hormones which are sold-out in United States of America are the “Emergence Hormone”, Humatropin, Genotropin, Saizen and Protopin. These are drugs constructed by different manufacturing diligences. They are not all the same licensed by the FDA. The body constructing HGH can’t be tested to the kids unnaturally as they will be mortal.
The materia medica explanation about the HGH body building is that the affixes used will work in the hypothalamus in the Pituitary. This will result in the production of development hormone. This is not however available for utilization. This has to be freed by the pituitary gland. For this another process takes place to produce the development hormone releasing hormone (GHRH). this will only free the Somato Tropin into the blood stream. HGH body making capacity will fall from the age of thirty. There will be a loss in yield of the hormone up to sixty percent at the age of forty. This will far go down to five percent when the person gains eighty. Hence a low amount of steroid will be needed from the age of thirty.
Cancer Treatment Modalities and Informed Consent
April 29, 2009 by Cancer Treatment Information
Filed under cancer
When a person’s cancer is treated using only one treatment modality, this is called monotherapy or single-modality therapy. When more than one treatment modality is used, the term is combination therapy or multimodality therapy. Combination therapies can be administered at the same time (simultaneously), one after the other (sequentially), or in alternating cycles. When more than one treatment is administered simultaneously, the specialists involved must coordinate and schedule the treatments carefully. In one common sequential treatment, either surgery or radiation therapy is used first, to remove or shrink the tumor mass. This is followed by chemotherapy to treat any cells that may have metastasized.
Most cancer treatments are designed to cure the disease either by removing the tumor or by killing all the cancer cells. Sometimes, however, cure is impossible. The goal of treatment in these cases is to reduce the patients’ symptoms, improve their quality of life, and prolong their lives. This kind of treatment is called palliative care.
Because different people with the same diagnosis and stage of disease will differ in characteristics such as age or general health, an oncologist must consider the competing risks when determining which treatment is best for each individual. In addition, the oncologist must consider three additional concerns: whether the cancer is confined to the primary (local) tumor, whether other nearby (regional) tissues are involved, and whether cancer cells may have metastasized to distant sites.
Whatever type of treatment you receive, you will be given an informed consent form to read-carefully-and sign. In addition to giving the doctor and the treating institution permission to provide the treatment, this form describes the treatment and all of its likely or possible side effects, which can include physical symptoms (such as nausea), abnormal blood tests (low blood counts), and abnormal results of imaging tests (so that, for example, future x-rays may show an abnormality where a tumor has been treated with radiation). Although the extensive list of side effects in the informed consent form is necessary, in part for legal reasons, it can be frightening. However, most people experience only a few of the side effects described in the form. Many forms, in fact, subdivide side effects into those that are acute and late and those that are common, uncommon, rare, and extremely rare.
Acute side effects occur during treatment and usually disappear a few days or weeks after treatment ends. Their severity is usually graded on a scale of 1 to 5. Grade 1 side effects are usually mild and may be barely noticeable. People who experience Grade 2 or 3 side effects may need a drug such as an antibiotic to cure an infection, an antiemetic to relieve nausea, or a drug to control pain (and methods of controlling pain have been greatly improved). Many people who develop Grade 4 or 5 side effects must be hospitalized-their symptoms may be life-threatening. In some cases, the cancer treatment may need to be changed because of the side effects.



