Surgery + drugs for obesity

[Loosehead]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6169333.stm
Do you agree with the experts? What is the answer to this ever increasing problem?

[gina32]

no i dont agree, samea si dont agree that nicotinel and the like should be available on the nhs these things are self inflicted why should we have to pay for the cure when people who really need help cant get it

[mushroom25]

how come this is allowed, but certain life-saving treatments (eg universal availability of Herceptin) are not?

[libertie]

I firmly believe that exercise or should I say lack of it is one of the main causes of obesity in our children today! It is widely believed that we actually eat less today than we did 30 years ago but that more and more children are spending their leisure time lying on their beds listening to music / watching tv or playing with playstations etc! Encouraged I may add by well meaning parents who prefer to keep their children where they can see them! As for offering them drugs or surgery it doesn't really help solve the root cause and the fact is that in years to come the NHS is going to be swamped with a generation of obese adults suffering from diabetes, heart problems etc etc!

[Panic Button]

Stomach stapling only affects the amount they eat not what they stick in their mouth. They could continue to pour Coke down unless they are educated to nutrition

[jump79]

The answer is boot camps with compulsory cooking classes so that they all learn the basics about healthy eating and nutrition and also become a lot more fit and realize the hard work behind weight loss so that they'll never over-eat again. When they are released from these camps, they'll be health conscious and able to cook for themselves and never fall into the vicious cycle of obesity again.

[sandbach99]

I don't agree with the experts as they seem to have a one track answer, diet and exercise, there are diseases that increase weight and no amount of dieting or exercise will lose this weight. Cushings disease is one, although this is likely to be diagnosed eventually. Low thyroid level is another, Britain diagnoses this far later than a lot of other countries ie your level has to be lower than other countries before you are prescribed thyroxin. Very few are given a full medical including blood teste before being told to diet.

How many overweight children are asthmatics on steroid inhalers, steroids are known to cause problem with weight, there is an increase in childhood asthma, as some child asthmatics do not put on weight maybe the amount of inhaler used should be looked into.

Cancer cases are increasing due to better diagnosis
We are repeatedly told that cigarette smoke contains chemicals that cause cancer, what about the chemicals added to our food?, the chemical artifical sweetener added to sugar reduced or free products causes illness in a lot of people, I know this from first hand experience.

As a member of the local NHS ran weight managemet group we asked the medical profession many questions. unless these questions related to exercise or change of diet no replies were forthcoming ie one question was all fruit contains Fructose [natural fruit sugar], all diabetics are encouraged to eat fruit why doesn't this sugar have an effect on blood sugar levels like refined cane or beet sugar?, what is in the refining method that causes such a problem ?,

I developed cancer when a size 10 weighing 7 stone normal weight on the BMI scale.
Wrong diet and lack of exercise are not the only reason for obesity the medical professions should take their blinkers off first before operating on young children.

[Loosehead]

Even with medical conditions that cause weight gain sandbach99, the laws of physics stil apply, energy is not created by these conditions the person is still eating more than they need, surely! I know more than most how easy it is to put on weight if you are undisciplined and I still maintain that 99.99% of obesity is due to over consumption. Certain conditions, Prada willy, for example make the person hungry all the time and I can see how they make it almost impossible for the person to maintain weight, that is rare though!

[flip-flop]

I have a really radical idea to solve this problem - now bear with me on this one, becuase it is a bit left field, but you never know, it might just work Jim.















Eat less and exercise more.

[Loosehead]

flip flop, you're a genius!