Dr. Oz is taking your calls and tackling your tough medical questions. He talks with two callers about the surprising connection between belly fat and unwanted facial hair, and the often overlooked causes of stubborn headaches that won't go away.
I am a 5'3", 210 pound woman. What can I do to get rid of unwanted facial hair?
Dr. Oz says that a woman who is 5'3" tall and weighs 210 pounds is carrying excessive omental fat, or fat around the midsection, which is the underlying cause of the unwanted facial hair.
According to Dr. Oz, it is critically important for us to have fat stores in our body—fat stores calories, allows us to whether the storms of famine when they occur and is important for a lot of reproductive functions and normal growth, as well as sustaining our health.
When you have extra fat onboard, Dr. Oz says that fat becomes metabolically active. It wakes up and starts to change the hormonal system of the body, he says, and it actually starts to convert hormones into estrogen and progesterone. This leads to something called metabolic syndrome in which the body actually becomes resistant to the effects of insulin, Dr. Oz says, all created because the fat cells have become alive.
In the caller's case, he says her excess belly fat is interfering with her body's ability to process hormones properly, which is most likely leading to the unwanted hair growth on her face. The solution is to shed those extra pounds. "It is absolutely essential that you drop your waist size," Dr. Oz says.
I've suffered from painful headaches for many years and have tried multiple treatments which have provided only minor relief. Can you provide any insight?
Dr. Oz says there are a number of potential causes for severe headaches. He says one possible cause could be a hole in the heart, which can be revealed by a test called an echocardiogram.
Another potential cause could be misaligned teeth. The huge amount of force applied by the jaw's movements can lead to headaches, so having a specialist check out and correct your jaw alignment is important, he says.
The presence of potentially harmful toxins or allergens in your environment or food should also be taken into consideration, Dr. Oz says.
As for treatment, Dr. Oz recommends drug alternatives such as acupuncture, biofeedback, acupressure and deep tissue massage.
