I'm fat. I'm too skinny. I'd be happy if I were taller, shorter, had curly hair, straight hair, a smaller nose, bigger muscles. Familiar with these statements? Yes, these are some phrases used to imply distorted body images and lack of self esteem in our society. Due to the desperation to improve self image, people can make extremely dangerous decisions that can be fatal or take a path that's detrimental to their health. Consuming diet pills for a quick weight loss is one of the poor decisions people make to their well being.
Weight loss pills have been a subject for heated debates and bitter controversies for decades. Praised by some as life-turning instruments for gaining self-esteem and looking good, diet pills are hailed by others as deadly chemicals that can wreck havoc inside our bodies and very likely kill us. For instance, the 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, who is suspected of having taken a cocktail of prescription drugs for slimming and pain relief shortly before she died is a good example. Indeed, experts are warning that thousands of women are putting their lives at risk by buying diet drugs. However, despite all the warning and dangers, people continue to use diet pills thinking it could do no harm.
Because of extrem stress on the heart and raised blood pressure, side-effects of the pills can include convulsions, heart attacks, strokes, mood swings, chest pain, tremors, irregular heartbeat, nausea, liver damage and headaches. And if overdosed, they can lead to hallucinations, seizures, blurred vision, and vomiting. For instance, Cal-Ban, which for a time came in an uncoated tablet form, could cause serious obstructions in the throat if taken with a small amount of water and also could turn into a glue inside the stomach. In several cases, surgery was needed to remove the mass. Therefore, diet pills should grab the special attention of health care providers in addition to the society's.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi am Nikky, i do find dis topic very interesting because it is one that "most" women in our society internalize. For starters, there are so many factors that link or correlate a woman's or should i say a person's body image and the"desperation" to lose weight but that will be another debate for another day. I do believe that weight loss pills are not as horrible as we make them sound, yes there might be fatal consequences but the consequence of a desperate "weight loss" pill isn't it the same as the consequence of an obessed person? As a matter of fact, the ratio is one to one. In any case, i do believe that before we as a society begin to adress weight loss pills and its consequences, the social, enviromental and enabling factors should be addressed first and lastly, it is unfortunate that the Brazilian model had to die from one of these pills, but as far as we know, the number of people who die as a consequence to wieght loss pill is minscule and shouldn't deter us from making our lifestyle choices.
ReplyDelete"life is a risk on its own and if this is, why can't we decide whats best for us why let the media or third party association influence us"
This was a very informative post, I am going to show this to my friend who was considering taking diet pills,perhaps this can sway her from taking them, and that she will give working out a chance before considering pills
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the reasons im against diet pills, because it has alot of bad side-effects that could harm a person.
ReplyDelete