Thursday, July 28, 2011

Mild Obesity much more Risky in South Asians...

This is one of the primary reasons I relocated to Bellingham. This article confirms in Canada what the research in India and China have been saying for several years.

McMaster University research for increased susceptibility in South Asians with mild obesity

Unfortunately, the epidemic of Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome seems to be ignored by the politicians and public health officials in British Columbia. Other provinces recognize the role of surgery in effective treatment, and the need for large scale, coordinated efforts to combat this. Maybe it is latent racism against immigrants, because the medical leaders in Vancouver are certainly fighting the good fight to make the facts known in the halls of power.

What needs to happen is for the community to speak out - and be heard "loud and clear"...


"Many Canadians of South Asian descent -- as well as those of Aboriginal, African and Chinese descent -- are experiencing historic levels of risk for heart disease and stroke. It is only through research like this that we can learn how better to treat and prevent these diseases, so lives are not cut short," said Mary Lewis, vice-president, research, advocacy and health promotion of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. "The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario is proud to support such important work."
Dr. Arya Sharma, director of the Canadian Obesity Network and a co-author of the study said: "This study helps explain why South Asians experience weight-related health problems at lower BMI levels than Caucasians. For the clinician, this also means that individuals of South Asian heritage need to be screened for the presence of heart disease and diabetes at lower BMIs."



Indeed - screening and research are important - but deploying known effective tools should not be delayed. Lives are being lost unneccesarily - every day. Why doesn't BC allow 5,000 operations per year, instead of 50?

We are killing ourselves with inactivity and obesity related diseases

Importance of muscle mass in insulin resistance

GET TO THE GYM, OR DIG A DITCH!!!! Anything to build muscle...


Declining US life expectancy from middle aged inactivity and obesity

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Gastric Bypass food preference changes?

Study from UK for fat intake

Lots of people talk about how food tastes a bit different. I thought my cheese habit was high fat, but maybe it's still better than it used to be!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

When will Obesity become a conservative hot button?

Conservatives should care about obesity for their own valid reasons

When they run the country "like a business" we had better make sure our employees (and wards) are cheap to keep, and very productive! It's not cost of health care that's a problem, it's lack of value.

We will get more "Bang for the Buck" from Evidence based medicine - and obesity care has the very best evidence! (thanks to Dr Dixon, as well as Dr Rubino, Cohen, Schauer, Morton, Shikora, Pories, Sugerman, Buchwald... too many to list on one screen!)

Looking forward to visiting ANYONE in DC willing to take leadership on access to care. Many thanks to Rep Edolphus Towns for giving us a great start on the Obamacare side. You sir, are a leader!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Dentists and Diabetes detection

Here is a nice article, with several older related articles on the sidebar.

Look back to older posts for the millions of undiagnosed diabetics in the literature.

Periodontal disease, and point of care Hemoglobin A1c testing

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Incontinence treatments - not all benign

Careful of the implants...

I have seen too many women getting consultation for bariatric surgery who had unsuccessful bladder slings, when the intraabdominal pressure of obesity was a more likely cause.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Exercise, baby! No, really...

To fight obesity, even babies should exercise

I really like this... free range toddlers sounds a bit dangerous, but most of us were pretty wild and roamed free as kids. I definitely spent much more time in front of the TV with each year.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Caregiver shortages

This is only one factor leading to problems. Productivity and limited hours and aging population will have effects, too.

Health Reform leading to increasing shortages of Providers