Binge eating, drinking all too common

One in 6 U.S. adults binge drinks. That is defined as having four or more drinks if a woman and five or more if a man, within two hours. But when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently examined data on 400,000 adults, they discovered that the average binge drinker does so 53 times annually, downing seven drinks each time!

The toll is profound: Health risks include car crashes, falls, burns and alcohol poisoning; violence, including homicide, suicide and domestic assault ; STDS; high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and liver disease; and cancer of the breast, throat, liver and colon.

And binge eating — overeating compulsively, often in secret and when not hungry — is also more common than previously realized. It affects 2.8 million people in the U.S. The health risks are obesity as well as arthritis, sleep apnea, some cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, much the same as binge drinking.

For binge drinking and binge eating, seek counseling and 12-step programs, work with your doctor to improve your health, and learn mindful meditation to ease depression or anxiety.

Outcomes for stroke survivors

Far too many of the 7 million Americans who are stroke survivors aren’t getting back in their game because they’ve missed essential post-stroke recovery steps.

According to the American Heart Association, fewer than 1 in 100 stroke survivors is following all of the recovery guidelines. They include not smoking, getting regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet, plus achieving normal body mass index, blood pressure, glucose levels and total cholesterol. And we would add two more: learning how to manage stress and getting post-stroke rehab.

Rehab — done as early as possible — boosts quality of life. It involves putting together a team of doctors, family, caregivers, physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists and others. To help figure this out, check out www.strokeassociation. org. Search for “Choosing the Right Stroke Rehab Facility.”

To meet the dietary guidelines: Adopt the MIND Diet (Mediterranean-dash Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) to protect the brain. To reduce the increased post-stroke risks of elevated glucose, BP and LDL cholesterol levels and ease depression and fatigue, boost your physical activity.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.