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Lack of energy Being underweight can leave you feeling drained and tired. You may suffer from anemia (a lack of red blood cells) because you’re not consuming enough iron.
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Nutritional deficiencies If you’re underweight, you may be suffering from a lack of the vital nutrients that your body needs to grow and work properly. Calcium, for example, is important for the maintenance of strong and healthy bones. Being underweight increases the risk of osteoporosis (fragile bone disease) later in life.
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Weakened immune system Your immune system is not at 100% when you’re underweight, leaving you more likely to catch a cold, the flu or other infections.
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For women Interrupted periods and difficulty becoming pregnant in the future. Women who are underweight can find that their periods stop. This increases the risk of future problems with fertility.
Blood Pressure
Blood provides all the organs in our body with materials to stay alive and healthy. The circulatory system is a network of blood vessels through which the blood flows and is pumped through your body by your heart. Blood pressure is the pressure blood exerts against the walls of the arteries in which it is contained.
Normal blood pressure varies from person to person, but usually normal blood pressure at rest is anything between 140/90. It is lower in children.
Systolic pressure, the top number (140), represents the maximum pressure in the arteries as the heart contracts and ejects blood into the circulation.
Diastolic pressure, the bottom number (90), represents the minimum blood pressure as the heart relaxes following a contraction.
Together the diastolic and systolic pressures give the measurement known as blood pressure.
High blood pressure is called hypertension and is a major problem that needs treatment as soon as possible. The heart pumps blood too forcefully around the body. It can damage the wall of the body’s arteries. In the early stages the artery wall becomes thickened. Later fatty patches form in the wall of the artery and further reduce the flow of blood through the artery. If left untreated it can damage the heart, blood vessels and kidneys. And lead to other conditions such as strokes and heart disease. It can also cause an artery to rupture and bleed. If this happens in the brain it may cause a haemorrhage.
Peak Flow
Peak flow indicates if your lungs are healthy. A peak flow meter is used to measure your breathing rate and volume of air taken in by a person during each breath. You have to blow as hard as you can into a tube. This determines whether your lungs are functioning properly. The best score out of three blows is usually used. A peak flow meter diagnoses whether you have a problem with your lungs by comparing your results to a chart of expected results. Readings are generally higher in men than women. If you have obstructive lung diseases such as bronchitis or asthma your readings will be lower. Other conditions that can cause shortness of breath are blood clots in the lungs, lung cancer, heart failure, cystic fibrosis, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The normal readings for men and women are 48 litres/min (men) and 42 litres (women). Exercise can also alter your score. Exercise makes your lungs more powerful and improves the ability to take in oxygen. If don’t exercise enough your score might go down.