Obesity Illnesses Diseases

Question: Insulted that people consider these diseases? I was just think about diseases and disorders and I was wondering if people with serious illnesses ever get ticked off by what is considered an illness disease or disorder these days? I mean obesity, bulimia, anorexia, alcoholism, depression, ocd mostly self caused. Is it an insult to people who have no control over theyr'e health to call stuff like this sicknesses? I was just bored and curious as to what people think.

Answer: Yes, I have experience with alcoholism. I started drinking all by myself, with no help from anyone, it became a problem, and then I quit drinking in excess by myself. Calling alcoholism a disease is taking people's responsibility for themselves out of their hands and reducing those people to helpless victims with no power. They'll forever be enslaved by AA with no hope of a cure for their "disease". What a load!

Question: does Medicare cover smoking-related illnesses/disease? Does medicare cover non-classified diseases like obesity or smoking? or only illnesses caused by them?

Answer: Although there are ICD-9 (diagnosis) codes for the various levels of obesity, it is not classified as an illness but rather a condition. There is no ICD-9 for smokers, only ICD-9s for diseases in which smoking appears to have an etiological role. Medicare does not cover weight control for obesity nor cessation classes and/or materials for quitting smoking. They do cover the diseases that can result from them, i.e. diabetes mellitus, heart disease, emphysema, lung cancer, etc. What factor obesity and/or smoking had in the development of the disease is not a factor in reimbursement to the health care provider. Medicare does not want to set a precedent of using life style choices as a means to deny coverage for life saving treatments.

Question: What negative impacts do obesity have on our health? Just give like a list on different illnesses or diseases people can get from being obese

Answer: Research has shown that as weight increases to reach the levels referred to as "overweight" and "obesity,"* the risks for the following conditions also increases:1 Coronary heart disease Type 2 diabetes Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) Hypertension (high blood pressure) Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides) Stroke Liver and Gallbladder disease Sleep apnea and respiratory problems Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint) Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility). ow obesity affects your health depends on many things, including your age, gender, where you carry your body fat, and how physically active you are. For example, if you are an older woman who gets regular physical activity, you may be at less risk for other weight-related health problems than a younger man who is not physically active. Risk for diseases If you are obese, you are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke, and sleep apnea, among other conditions. If you lose weight, your risk for these conditions is reduced. Where you carry body fat is important. If fat builds up mostly around your stomach (sometimes called apple-shaped), you are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease than people who are lean or people with fat around the hips (sometimes called pear-shaped). The health problems associated with obesity are numerous. Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem. It's a health hazard. Someone who is 40% overweight is twice as likely to die prematurely as is an average-weight person. This is because obesity has been linked to several serious medical conditions, including: Heart disease and stroke. High blood pressure. Diabetes. Cancer. Gallbladder disease and gallstones. Osteoarthritis. Gout. Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for a short time during sleep) and asthma. Doctors generally agree that the more obese a person is the more likely he or she is to have health problems. People who are 20% or more overweight can gain significant health benefits from losing weight. Many obesity experts believe that people who are less than 20% above their healthy weight should still try to lose weight if they have any of the following risk factors. Family history of certain chronic diseases. People with close relatives who have had heart disease or diabetes are more likely to develop these problems if they are obese. Pre-existing medical conditions. High blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, or high blood sugar levels are all warning signs of some obesity-associated diseases. "Apple" shape. People whose weight is concentrated around their stomachs may be at greater risk of developing heart disease, diabetes or cancer than people of the same weight who are "pear-shaped" (they carry their weight in their hips and buttocks).

Question: Should obesity now be made socially unacceptable like smoking? I believe we should make obesity as socially unacceptable as smoking, partly because of the sheer pressure the condition is going to have on our health service. Obesity is likely to lead to a wide variety of related diseases, chief among which are heart disease, cancer, diabetes and arthritic problems... All of which is self inflicted as a result of being overweight. A very tiny percentage of overweight people can blame hormonal imbalances for their condition but for the vast majority of overweight people this is not a valid excuse. You could argue that being near a fat person isn't going to have a direct effect on your health, like being near cigarette smoke. But the effect of widespread obesity on our health service will be very damaging, since the availability of that service will be severely reduced in the future for those of us whose illnesses are not self inflicted in this way. If we made obesity socially unacceptable today, we might be a healthier nation in future..

Answer: I don't think that we should be as tolerant of obese people as we have been in the past. I think that's partly why we have this epedemic. Fat people need to control their appetite. Say no to a twinkie now and then. They also need to get up off their butts and walk. People are getting lazy. We should not tolerate that any longer.

Question: Need writer/publisher for my story: how to overcome illness: Sjogren's Disease, Chronic Fatigue, Obesity, etc. I have learned how to combat illness that apparently was stressed-induced due to divorce, death in family, loss of job, etc. and the outcome was physicially and emotionally debilitating. The results were Pneunomia, gall bladder disease, Sjogren's Disease, Hoshimotos Thyroiditis leading to Hypothyroidism, Chronic Fatigue, weight gain to 250 lbs, etc. I need someone who can obtained the relative facts and write the story of how I overcame these illnesses (now weight 135 and productive) in order to help others who may be dealing with devastation in their lives or dealing with similar illnesses. Many thanks to alternative medicine!!

Answer: I have Cronic Fatigue Syndrom, Fibromyalgia, Orthostatic Hypertention, Depression and I saw a Dr. Peter Rowe at John Hopkins and was cured within 2 1/2 months, with 3 medications.

Question: Is obesity really this big of a problem in the UK? by Robert MacPherson Fri Aug 25, 8:03 AM ET LONDON (AFP) - Britain is facing an obesity crisis, with fresh government data warning that a nearly one in three adults in England will be dangerously overweight by 2010. In a report titled "Forecasting Obesity to 2010", the Department of Health anticipated that 12 million adults will be obese -- or too heavy for their height and sex -- within four years. One in five children, or one million youngsters, will be obese, too, in an epidemic of flab that could see thousands more people suffering from related illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The excess weight will also put an extra burden on the free-care-for-all National Health Service (NHS), which already spends one billion pounds (1.48 billion euros, 1.88 billion dollars) a year on obesity-related care. "In the old days, the big health challenges were infectious diseases like typhoid and tuberculosis," said Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt ... Why do the British attack other countries for being fatties when apparently they have the same problem? Seen any fat French?

Answer: I can't let the irony of one statement in this pass unnoticed: "The EXCESS WEIGHT will also put an EXTRA BURDEN on the free-care-for-all NHS, which already spends one billion POUNDS a year on obesity-related care." Anyway, all of Europe is getting fatter. See link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22obesity+in+europe%22 I think the USA is ahead on obesity rates, but not by much. Anyway, I don't care, because I'm American, I keep in shape, work out, eat right, and have a really hot body. Eat your hearts out, fatties (on both sides of the pond)! Love, Jack.

Question: Why is it that every affliction in this country is being turned into a disease? You know what I'm talking about. If you drink too much, you're an alcoholic, so it's not your fault. If you're overweight, obesity is a disease, so that's not your fault, either. If a kid can't focus, he's got ADD. Come on, most kids can't focus on anything for too long. If you're an adult and you can't focus, then I'd say it's a problem. I heard this story on the news about chronic fatigue illness. So it sounds to me that laziness is now being pitched as a disease. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Now I know that some people have obese parents and they can argue that it's hereditary. But that doesn't excuse the majority of overweight people. Most people are overweight from overeating. Many people drown their problems with alcohol instead of fixing them, and I sympathize with your problems, but there are real diseases out there. Just because someone is flawed, it doesn't mean they're bad people, but it also doesn't mean that they have a disease. Do you agree?

Answer: It started with alcoholism. Drunks weren't treated well in hospitals and rarely paid their bills. A man named E.M. Jellinek, a pioneer in the new field of Alcohol Studies, was pushing the disease model; he was joined by Marty Mann, a former P.R. person, reported to be first woman to get sober in AA. Together, they helped convince America that alcoholism was a disease. Mann went on to help found the Yale School of Alcohol Studies, and then National Council on Alcoholism (now the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence or NCADD). The AMA actually had to vote on whether or not alcoholism was a disease. In order for insurance companies to foot the bills of of the alcoholics they treated, it became a disease. However, Jellinek turned out to be a fraud: http://www.roizen.com/ron/rr11.htm http://www.peele.net/lib/jellinek.html The man that helped form national policy on alcoholism faked his credentials. Once alcoholism became a disease, it became profitable, from there, everything became a disease. It's now a multi-billion dollar industry. It's all about the money. And it removes all responsibility of making poor choices when we can say, "I HAVE A DISEASE!"

Question: Isn't it excessively politically correct to call obesity a 'mental illness' or a 'disease'? http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=eedee991-afe6-4be8-9c9d-bdd135ceee38 And I am overweight, by the way, but find this silly.

Answer: Yes that's ridiculous. Everything is a mental disease now - gambling, overspending, being unfaithful ... Why can't people just take responsibility for their actions?

Question: Psychology assignments? You are a consulant being hired by a large investment firm to set up an on-site wellness program. Many of the health concerns of the employees are related concerns of te employees are related to high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, obesity, and other illnesses that might be stress-related.They have asked you yo help them create fitness and wellness programs designed to decrease the negative stress response of their employees and help them become more fit.Most of the employees work 10-hours days and only take 30 minutes or so out for lunch or a break. Q3. How can you implement a stress-management program for yourself? Tell me three components of your personal design. What is getting in the way of you putting yout program into action? Are you willing to implement your program for yourself? Why or Why not?

Answer: Have company put in a basketball court and a walking track. Give employees pedometers to help reach daily, weekly and monthly walking goals. Allow them 3 15min breaks that can only be used for exercise and award points for time spent exercising so employees can earn points to "spend" for a paid day off or movie tickets, etc. Weigh employees and take their b/p every Wednesday of the week and have draw their blood for CMP and FLP every 6 months. Set a group goal for amount of pounds to be lost or points to be dropped on average for the blood pressures.

Question: Do you think it is a good idea for patients to pay for preventable incidents when getting treated by NHS? Do you think it is a good idea for patients to pay for preventable incidents when getting treated by NHS? such as lung cancer as a result of smoking, heart disease caused by obesity, or drink-driving accidents? This would mean that the people who are not at risk of preventable illnesses/problems would not have to pay for other people's mistakes.. which they are currently doing. In response to the first answer, they also spend a hell of a lot of money on the NHS, and a hell of a lot of that goes into treating preventable incidents.. So maybe the Government gets slightly less money...it means we all pay less tax and means that people will start being alot healthier.

Answer: IN A WAY YES !As EVERY RULE HAS EXCEPTION HERE IN THIS CASE ALSO THERE MAY NOT BE ANY BENEFIT TO SOME BUT MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DO GET BENEFIT AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN GETTING EDUCATED MAY BE BY THIS WAY IF NOT FOR YOUR SELF THAN FOR FUTURE GENERATION ! life IS A GAME OF CHANCE AND CHOICE SO YOU SHOULD TAKE A CHANCE ! always YouRsmE

Question: Why do all women fail to realise that claiming being obese means they have a healthy body image is delusional? http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070807/NATION/108070050/1002 U.S. women losing girth control Obesity has become more socially acceptable these days, according to their analysis of recent health and socioeconomic statistics. Coupled with feminine tastes for super-sized meals and other factors, the trend toward more gal girth has become more pronounced — and is here to stay, the researchers predict. Currently, more than a third of women over 20 are obese. But self-image is changing, too. In 1994, the average women weighed 147 but wished she weighed 132. By 2002, the researchers found, she tipped the scales at 153 but longed to be 135. MEDICALLY SPEAKING, MOST AGREE THAT THIS TREND IS A DANGEROUS ONE BECAUSE OF IT'S CONNECTION WITH DIABETES, CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES. Do all women just really want to waste taxpayer money to pay for all their illnesses or are they really delusional enough to think that being a fattie is good because it means you have a healthy body image?

Answer: I shouldn't care really, but... draecoirum, "All adults: 133.6 million (66 percent) Women: 65 million (61.6 percent) Men: 68.3 million (70.5 percent)" This claims to show the numbers of overweight people by sex. It does so by considering those people who have a BMI over 25. For reasons that SHOULD be obvious, this a very crappy way to compare. Men are naturally much bigger and heavier, so using the exact same scale to determine overweight/obesity levels is ridiculous. BMI is flawed anyway, but they should at least use a different scale for women, e.g. 22.5+ To illustrate the point: A woman of average height, say 5ft 4" (1.6256m) who weighs 145lbs (65.77kg) is not considered overweight by this scale (BMI 24.89). Even to the most generous eyes, she would be clearly overweight. It's just common sense. A 5ft 9" man should weigh between 145-165lbs, whereas a woman should weigh between 130-150lbs (assuming they're not rugby players or whatever). Someone else might set these weights at a different level, but I'm sure we can agree that assuming a 5ft 9" 190lb female is no more overweight than a 190lb male would be stupid. The fact is, women ARE much more likely to be overweight or obese. It's very telling that even using an extremely unfair measurement, men only come out as slightly more overweight. Had draecoirum bothered to scroll down in her link she'd have noticed another interesting statistic (I'm sure she did, she just chose to ignore it): "All adults: 63.6 million (31.4 percent) Women: 35 million (33.2 percent) Men: 28.6 million (29.5 percent)" This statistic refers to people who are not just overweight, they are obese. Instead of 25+, the BMI level was set at 30+. So even using a massively unfair (to men) measurement, we can see that women are more likely to be obese than men. I find it fascinating that draecoirum earned nine thumbs up and ZERO thumbs down for her amazingly shoddy answer. It just confirms what every intelligent observer of this section already knows: statistics that are favorable/convenient are accepted with open arms. But, show an unfavorable statistic and everyone immediately becomes an expert in pointing out flaws or bias. Laugh my f*cking a*s off. wendy, as the link draecoirum provided explains: "BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. The mathematical formula is “weight (kg)/height (m²).” " After which, parameters must be set for what is (subjectively) considered "underweight" or "overweight." I have a health book that considers 18.5-22.5 to be the healthy weight for women, and 20 to 25 the healthy weight for men. That is an example of the parameters being adjusted to take account of sexual dimorphism. Unfortunately, the "male" parameters (20 to 25 or 18.5 to 25) are usually used as the default range by other books/studies/newspapers that is supposed to apply to all adults. draecoirum's article uses NHANES data. Its use of BMI: "[f]or adults 20 years old and older, BMI is interpreted using standard weight status categories that are the same for all ages and for both men and women. For children and teens, on the other hand, the interpretation of BMI is both age- and sex-specific. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/adult_BMI/about_adult_BMI.htm And again: "BMI is a measure that adjusts bodyweight for height. It is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Overweight for children and adolescents is defined as BMI at or above the sex-and age-specific 95th percentile BMI cut points from the 2000 CDC Growth Charts. Healthy weight for adults is defined as a BMI of 18.5 to less than 25; overweight, as greater than or equal to a BMI of 25; and obesity, as greater than or equal to a BMI of 30." http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/nchsdefs/bmi.htm So it is only in the case of children that a percentile (0.95) is used. This shown in the NHANES report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus04trend.pdf#069 I hope that works, if not, it was supposed to take you to p179 of 427. It shows the footnotes to "Table 70: Overweight children and adolescents..." You'll notice that the "NOTES" footnote clearly shows that the data for children IS age-specific and sex-specific. This doesn't apply to adult BMI data on the previous pages. I would have preferred to simply link solely to the actual report but it doesn't neatly explain it all, so including the above definitions, though cumbersome, was necessary. The shorter version is this (I know you'd be less likely to accept this in itself): see the BMI calculator tools provided and note the difference between the one for "Child and Teen" http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/Calculator.aspx (it asks for sex) and the one for adults (it doesn't ask for sex) http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/adult_BMI/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.htm This is why the data regarding overweight/obesity levels by sex is so fundamentally flawed. If I was "mistaken" about anything it was to say, as a fact, that more women are overweight (especially obese) when I know I can't prove it. Looking at the data, I'm convinced that this is true but saying "this is true because it just seems to be" is hardly admissable. Of course, it could be provable but one would need access to the raw data and it would also require agreed upon parameters for what constitutes a healthy weight for each sex. But this is moot.

Question: What can we do to reduce fast food consumption? I have stopped eating fast food this year and began to eat healthy. I am scared for the rest of the people in our country because we are the leading nation in obesity. A lot of medical costs can be rooted to heart disease or another illness that is caused by unhealthy food choices. To make our society more healthy what can we do?

Answer: the only thing that can be done is to increase education on nutrition and health in schools and in the work place. if the parents have unhealthy eating habits statistically so do the children. in general there is nothing that can be done in regards to protecting society from obesity. everybody knows that cigarettes are a known carcinogen yet people start smoking daily that did not previously, you can not fight free will. human beings are self-destructive by nature if not fast food it will be something else

Question: I'm 19 yrs. old, but I'm afraid that I won't have my parents around much longer- what do you think? My mom is 60 and my dad is 62. They had me (and my brother) at an old age. They both have been very heavy smokers since their teens and they are both slightly overweight. They both have been in the sun too much, but my dad has been/still is in the sun WAY too much. (Nowadays, he spends 4-5 hrs. a day in the hot California sun.) I'm not exactly sure what sort of illnesses/diseases run in the family, but I don't think obesity or anything did, but I think diabetes and cancer have. I am scared because they are getting old, and I (and my 17 yr. old brother) are still very young. Not only are they getting old, but they have a lot of things against them (the heavy smoking, sun damage, etc.). I'm already seeing signs of old age- my mom is losing her hearing, my dad's not remembering things, etc. How much longer can I expect them to live? Is there sort of an online test that I can take to see? What do I do?

Answer: You can expect them to live another 20-25 years. Even many smokers are living into their 80's and 90's. Sitting in the sun does not kill you, unless you develop skin cancer. I think you are worrying too much over things you cannot control. You can't change their lifestyle or their health. You can only stop worrying and get on with your life.

Question: Obesity in America? Before i start, i am not judging, just curious: I have just had Lunch, 3pm London, UK, and read a paper that stated that in America Obesity is termed a disease, is this true? The definition of a disease is: "a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment. " How can eating too much, by choice be classed as a disease? I mean, i am overweight, not obese, and am on a diet. I know if i eat too much one day, i am heavier the next, fact, but i choose what to eat. The US and the UK, are two of the most lazy, over prosperous countries in the world, prone to excesses in all aspects of life as we have so much money, thats why we are obese, if a new disease broke out in Africa called obesity then i will change my view, but it has not, thoughts please? I accept overweight and obesity is self inflicted and i am doing something about it, i train 3 hours 3 times a week, heavy as well as i am a runner and weighttrainer, i have about 10 kgs to go, but i have accepted that it is down to me, why can't other people? Why is it being termed a 'disease' instead of what it really is, laziness? If i want to lose weight, i have to do the work and use restraint. Before i choose i must add i still think it is something avoidable, if obesity was a disease then other countries where there wasn't so much abundance would also have the problem, fat gene or not, i am prone to smoking as my mother smoked when i was pregnant, my father and mother smoked, my sisters, etc, friends so i spend 20 years as a smoker and then chose to give up. I know that if a person had the fat gene in a poor country, the lack of food would mean they wouldn't get fat, so, there might be a gene, but it means you are prone, not guaranteed.

Answer: I think obesity could be viewed as a disease of the mind, because even though as a nation(s), we are aware of the correct foods to eat and how to look after ourselves to remain in a reasonably fit condition, generally speaking we succumb to the powers of advertising and our own personal addictions to the foods that are not necessarily the best for us and shun those which are healthiest. Only an unhealthy diseased mind would do this - knowing the result - and in turn, the physical body is negatively affected with the outcome being a state of all round poor health, excess weight and the consequences of carrying that excess weight. This of course is talking in the extreme, but to some level or another the majority of us are 'guilty' of this irrational behaviour.

Question: what is another word for epidemic? one that refers to an even larger number of people suffering from a disease/illness. So say the obesity epidemic effected the majority or even everyone in the world what would it be called? the obesity.....?

Answer: Outbreak, plague, pandemic, epizootic. widespread,, extensive, pervasive, endemic. e

Question: As the NHS has been hemorrhaging money for many years now is it time to introduce change.? For lifestyle induced accidents and illnesses requiring long term medication and / or care. We theoretically live in an enlightened society where we know what is good and bad for our health and well being. However some seem to lurch from addiction and crisis without a concern for the consequences which deplete resources, depriving those of essential services who need them. The NHS is already overstretched and I for one dont want to see it killed off. Make people pay insurance for their decadent lifestyle. I am talking smoking and alcohol related diseases, STD's, obesity, dangerous sports injuries, What do you think?

Answer: I agree with you !! The trouble is that when the NHS was formed it was treating less people; now the population has expanded; but sadly the available resources haven't. I for one think; we would have a better health service if irresponsible people were made to pay.for health care; & also not letting imigrants have free health care.