Are we over-medicated?

[Workingman]

Good as an ethos for when things are fine. Not very good when it comes down to difficult times. One of the best phrases I ever heard to describe this was

"When a patient has an unbalanced condition such as diet, then the treatment must also be unbalanced". That, for me, is the whole crux of the thing.

And that is what I was/am getting at. We are not being looked at as individuals and our many variable conditions, we are treated for the conditions we present, but not for how those condition occurred. As far as treatment is concerned we are all the same.

I also agree with Kaz, We are treating fatness/obesity after it presents itself whilst not looking to the reasons for it. And when we do look at the reasons we always, for PC reasons, fail to blame the lifestyles of those suffering, so drugs or operations become the answer.

[Suff]

Not my point.

For politically correct reasons it has been decided that fat is bad and many carbohydrates are good.

So when the "low fat diet" fails, when the patient has elevated cholesterol or diabetes, it is treated with.... Carbohydrates.

When that fails they thrown statins and all kinds of other drugs at us.

It's a hell of a way to run a railroad, as they saying goes. It is an even worse way to run patient health.

I'm feeling virtuous as I've lost more than a stone in weight in the last 6 weeks. Even with the disasters I've had last week and the wine gums I bought to console myself/give myself some energy to work. Oh and the 4 huge tins of red bull didn't help either. The last 2 are sitting in the fridge looking at me. The rest of the wine gums went in the bin as I was writing the last article.

Bad lifestyle is one thing. Worse information on how to resolve it is another thing entirely.....

[Kaz]

I don't think it matters terribly how the weight loss is achieved, as long as it is not dangerous! The main thing is that it is done, and more importantly, is maintainable!

[Kaz]

So much prescribed medication is to negate the effects of obesity, that I think it is relevant to WM's original question........

[Suff]

Actually it does matter. The human body protects it's fat in preparation for the time it is needed. Most weight loss is in terms of shrinkage of the fat cells, not in the loss of them. The only way the body can actually lose fat cells completely is to burn them. Which it will never do in the presence of carbohydrates unless the person is also physically exercising to absolute exhaustion then fasting for the entire evening.

People who diet on low fat diets face a stark choice. Stay hungry forever or gain weight rapidly with the onset of normal eating.

Medication is used in place of good advice, when bad advice has failed. Then we have the "effects of obesity" measured on the BMI scale. The middle of my green BMI scale is 10.5st. When I tell anyone in my family that they first tell me I'm wrong I've calculated it wrong. Then when I actually show them the calculation they always say exactly the same thing "well it works for me".

I have this discussion with Mrs S regularly, I tell her I need to get back to 12.5st. The weight I was at 26 when we married and I did not have any fat on me anywhere. She _always_ says that this is ridiculous, I should be 14.5st as that would be a good weight for me.

What is my BMI at 14.5st? 29.5 or 0.5 under obese.

So people are being medicated to counteract the effects of obesity? First they need to re-define obese. For me their measurement is so ridiculous that I just ignore everything they say about it. Because every time I challenge them on it they serenely and sublimely tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Paddypix]

Doubts have been cast lately on BMI as an indicator of health and life expectancy. They say that height to waist ratio gives a more accurate result.

[pederito1]

Quite probably true, Paddy. Then if your waist is more than your height, you should be dead.

[Aggers]

People who diet on low fat diets face a stark choice. Stay hungry forever or gain weight rapidly with the onset of normal eating.

I'm on a low fat diet. My good wife aims to limit my fat intake to 40 grams per day, which is
about half the recommended amount for a man, plus plenty of fruit and vegetables.
Alcohol consumption is almost nil.

And I don't suffer from hunger.

[Kaz]

Aggers I agree with you, and your diet obviously keeps you in good shape, having met you

Suff there are so many conflicting theories about diets and weight loss, but I still think the bottom line is we need to lose the excess poundage and keep it off to be at optimum health!

Paddy has a good point - I think the theory is that waist circumference needs to be half one's height or less, to be healthy. It is weight carried around the abdomen that is the killer, as it sits around the vital organs.

[Suff]

I agree with the waist/height thing. I'm about 4 - 5 inches too much. Not good but still way better than some fanciful BMI of 40.

As for losing the weight? I know many people of normal weigh with late onset diabetes and/or cholesterol too high. In most cases they are not impacted by weight but by diet.

All of them believe that fat and dairy products are bad and that most carbohydrate products are a safe alternative.

Every fat person I know who has either of these two conditions takes high levels of carbohydrates along with the fat. The two worst being fizzy drinks and beer.