AMA: Obesity is a disease
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Personally I think it's just another way to charge more money to people with health plans, which is now going to be everybody in the USA, therefore promoting more income. Smokers and obese people, I am sure us people that are alcoholics (determined by drinks a week) will be next.
Follow the money. ^_^
Pretty much. If you have X disease, it's easier for insurance to charge higher rates. I don't know if they can still deny coverage, but if they can... this gives them another way to do so.
They already do that without the "diagnosis." Many insurance providers offer increased rates for people with BMI > 30
My opinion is that this is nonsense. Obesity is a SYMPTOM of a problem not a disease in and of itself. Also, I think citing it as a disease is a copout. In most cases, it's preventable and treatable with lifestyle changes. If it's not, then it's an indicator of some other problem that requires medical treatment. I can see how some would make this yet another excuse for their poor condition. Why admit that you ate yourself obese when you can just say, "Oh, I'm diseased! It's not my fault."
This ...0 -
AMEN!0
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TBH: At my starting weight (242 at 5'6") I was considered Obese class 3 I think, Now I'm at class 1 @ 192 -_-..according to a weight tracking app I use. It wouldn't have helped me any to know it's considered a "disease" Now more people will use it as an excuse as to why they can't lose it. I call BS on this decision, it's going to do more harm than good I think.
We aren't born obese, we become obese because of what we put into our mouths (or what our parents feed us/allow us to eat as kids) and lack of exercise. There are a few RARE situations where an legitimate medical conditions causes weight gain and I think that ONLY situation like that should be further assisted by insurance companies. Not people that have a problem controlling their mouths from opening and inhaling food. Yes, my opinion might be harsh, but nobody force feeds us. We do it to ourselves.
ETA: I also have autoimmune hypothyroidism...I don't use that as an excuse either.0 -
On the plus side, now I get to use the big stall in the bathroom even if the wheel chair guy is in there!
Score!
Next stop... parking decal. Then I won't have to walk as far.
This is funny!0 -
No personal responsibility any more.
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Agreed! Obesity can be a sign that something is severely wrong with your body, especially the endocrine system. Hypothyroidism has unexpected, and rapid weight gain/obesity as one of it's symptoms. Classifying obesity as a disease can be a problem because now some doctors will only look to treat the obesity and not look for the true, underlying cause of the obesity.
The statistics of the WHO state that in " affluent " countries the percentage of people who are overweight/obese due to underlying health problems is between 3-3.8 %.....that's not that much.
I myself have no thyroid and take cortisone by shots bi-weekly and pills every other day for Lupus and gained quite a lot of weight. But I am not fooling myself. The weight gain from my underlying health condition was manageable and slow....the other 24-28 kilos I gained rather quickly were from self pity eating when I was diagnosed and subsequently housebound for almost a year. I was overweight from being sick, but became obese from eating too much.0 -
My ONLY issue with this is I suspect this will make it easier for the people seeking SSI because of their morbid obesity to actually get those payments.
Sorry I actually AM a sympathetic person. And actual quite liberal about many things. But I do NOT approve of ANY tax dollars paying someone because they are "too fat to work".
This is already a common practice. Doubtful that this will make it more common as you either are or are not given the necessary paperwork by your physician. They were able to give that before. This doesn't change that. Being obese is not automatically making people physically disabled... there are people out there with cancer and everything else who are not on disability. I'm working with one as we speak.
Also, I know people who are on disability for various health reasons. It's barely enough money to get by. I wouldn't want to be on it even if I fit the criteria; it would not come close to supporting my lifestyle. I don't think it's something people are excited to get on, know what I mean?0 -
nope. You cant pop pills and make obesity go away. Its not a disease.
This. It's too easy to say "it's not my fault, I have a disease". We need to make people more not less responsible for their health.0 -
First-World problems are so complicated.0
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Good I hope that's true now maybe we can start looking at preventative measures and actual solid treatment to treat a disease with such high recidivism and mortality.
THAT is the point - whether considered a "disease" or not, it has horrible effects and is the proximal cause of a lot of other "diseases" like diabetes, heart problems, severe osteoarthritis...this enables it to be diagnosed and "treated". The Affordable Health Care Act also plays in...
Problem is that "disease-izing" the problem takes the focus off of the major cause, which is lousy diet & way too much of it, and not enough exercise.0 -
So does this mean that my health insurance will start paying for my supplements as preventative medicine?!:bigsmile:0
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No personal responsibility any more.
Really? After people sued the cigarette manufacturers, and the drive thru where they got the coffee they dropped on themselves, and the mall they walked into when they slipped in a bit of rain someone tracked in two minutes before them, you think the AMA decision heralds the end of personal responsibility??0 -
Obesity is a SYMPTOM of a problem not a disease in and of itself. ... In most cases, it's preventable and treatable with lifestyle changes. If it's not, then it's an indicator of some other problem that requires medical treatment. I can see how some would make this yet another excuse for their poor condition. Why admit that you ate yourself obese when you can just say, "Oh, I'm diseased! It's not my fault."
QFT0 -
Quote from a friend working at Merck.And the cure is more prescriptions. Now that obesity is officially a disease, even more people will end up on even more medications. Pretty soon there won’t be anything left that can’t be “cured” with a pill.
and from Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2013/06/19/amas-obesity-as-disease-vote-should-boost-diet-drugs/0 -
It's been said before, but here's the Miriam Webste definition of a disease.
"a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms "
From a purely descriptive and analytical perspective it's fairly easy to see how that definition can apply to obesity.
The actual cause of the " disease " is irrelevant.
I LIKE YOU! ^^^^0 -
No personal responsibility any more.
Really? After people sued the cigarette manufacturers, and the drive thru where they got the coffee they dropped on themselves, and the mall they walked into when they slipped in a bit of rain someone tracked in two minutes before them, you think the AMA decision heralds the end of personal responsibility??
for the record, the coffee burn on that woman's lap that people like to talk about and use an example of people not taking personal responsibility... actually scalded her with 3rd degree burns on her thighs and nether-regions that required serious medical intervention, the coffee was hotter than it was supposed to be (the woman was in the hospital for days and required skin grafts), and she only sued because they refused to cover her medical treatment, which is all she asked for originally.0 -
Just a quick question to those that think Obesity shouldn't be classed as a disease as it's a result of the " sufferer's " own actions.
Just to play Devil's Advocate here.
If a person contracts Aids due to a promiscuous lifesyle, unprotected with multiple partners - does that mean HIV / AIDS is no longer a disease?
If a person has Heart Disease caused by a lifetime of eaing unhealthily - does tha mean the Hear Disease is no longer a disease?
If a mother catches Measles looking after her infected child - is the measles no longer a disease?
If a person has Liver Disease caused by too much alocohol - is it not a disease anymore?
If 2 peope gte Lung Cancer 1. a heavy smoker and the other a non-smoker, is 2 suffering from a disease and 1 isn't?
Whether Obesity should be classified as a disease or not is definitely arguable.
But saying something shouldn't be classed as a disease because the sufferer caused it by their own lifestyle choices doesn't really hold any water as a logical argument.
Obesity is to heart disease as a promiscuous lifestyles are to STD/I's... just because the end result is a disease doesn't mean the means is the disease, it's just a root of the problem that could have been dealt with to delay or avoid the disease all together. We don't consider promiscuous lifestyles as a disease, nor do we consider drinking too much, smoking, or any of those behaviors you listed as disease... addictions perhaps, but not diseases. Obesity is just the outward appearance of ones addiction to food and avoidance to movement. So if we are going off your logic, why don't we call promisicuous lifestyles a disease or taking care of your sick child a disease (which one would hope that the mother and child both had recieved the MMR vaccine to avoid the measles in the first place, but that is a different beast all together)... or any of the other behaviors you listed as a disease.... we don't.
I agree. I always thought obesity could lead to diseases....not that obesity itself was a disease.0 -
If obesity is a disease, maybe those "diagnosed" should watch Supersize Me as the prescription.
Seriously, though. I can't believe it's considered a disease... Maybe it's a way to get restaurant chains to make their food healthier/proportions smaller? You know, making note that it's a national problem. But that doesn't change the fact that people are doing this to themselves thanks to their own choices and lack of self control.0 -
It's been said before, but here's the Miriam Webste definition of a disease.
"a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms "
From a purely descriptive and analytical perspective it's fairly easy to see how that definition can apply to obesity.
The actual cause of the " disease " is irrelevant.
I LIKE YOU! ^^^^
But does obesity necessarily impair normal functioning. According to BMI and BF% I was technically obese but had no other signs or symptoms (heart problems, high cholesterol, etc...).0 -
Quote from a friend working at Merck.And the cure is more prescriptions. Now that obesity is officially a disease, even more people will end up on even more medications. Pretty soon there won’t be anything left that can’t be “cured” with a pill.
and from Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2013/06/19/amas-obesity-as-disease-vote-should-boost-diet-drugs/
If someone comes up with a diet drug that works, or helps, with tolerable side effects, it will be a very good thing. There has always been a stigma attached to medicine that helps people feel better. Anesthetics were well known for almost a century before they were widely used, because people considered pain when being cut open to be normal, and distrusted the idea that surgery could be performed without it.
I would love it if everything could be cured with a pill, but, realistically, that is not even close to being the case. Even if personal habits are part of the obesity equation, and they are, medical intervention that helps with the factors that are not subject to personal choice could bring the rates down.0 -
No personal responsibility any more.
Really? After people sued the cigarette manufacturers, and the drive thru where they got the coffee they dropped on themselves, and the mall they walked into when they slipped in a bit of rain someone tracked in two minutes before them, you think the AMA decision heralds the end of personal responsibility??
for the record, the coffee burn on that woman's lap that people like to talk about and use an example of people not taking personal responsibility... actually scalded her with 3rd degree burns on her thighs and nether-regions that required serious medical intervention, the coffee was hotter than it was supposed to be (the woman was in the hospital for days and required skin grafts), and she only sued because they refused to cover her medical treatment, which is all she asked for originally.
Very true. Read the facts: http://www.caoc.org/index.cfm?pg=facts
That's corporate responsibility, not personal. How was she supposed to know the coffee was almost 200 degrees? I've had some pretty hot coffee, but it's never been that hot. There's a difference between this case and the "McDonald's makes me fat!" case.0 -
“The suggestion that obesity is not a disease but rather a consequence of a chosen lifestyle exemplified by overeating and/or inactivity is equivalent to suggesting that lung cancer is not a disease because it was brought about by individual choice to smoke cigarettes,”
The last statment of the article. What do you think?
I don't know how I feel about it being considered a disease. I mean I understand both sides. I guess it's like how even if someone has been sober for 25 years, that person is still considered an alcoholic because if they are not continuously taking measures, that person can easily start again.
I read in some...either science or psychological mag that the longer you are obese the more your body and mind both literally fight you to lose it because it's out of the ordinary for your body. If you are able to succeed at losing the weight your body will not be the same as someone who has either been fit all their life or gained and then lost the weight in a smaller amount of time. Even the food you eat will still react differently to your body. The longer you are obese it becomes more than just a psychological situation and can literally become a fight between mind and body. Even though we've evolved in great measures, we are still hardwired to our primal nature. So even though we are told and know to eat better and be more active, if our bodies are used to being a certain way, it will continue to want to be that way and cause you to crave things before you actually think, "Hey I want [insert w/e bad food you think of]."
To the people that want to argue, I'm just repeating the article that I read.
The only way to lose weight is to eat less than you burn. To be healthy, you have to eat the right things less than you burn. You can be thin/the right BMI/fit and still get the same diseases that obese people can get such as heart disease, diabetes, etc if you're not eating the right things. There are still people who fall over from having a heart attack who have been runners for years. Or get their gallbladders taken out even though they've been thin all their lives. I know, I work at a clinic.
I do think that the biggest con to obesity being considered a disease is that, yes, there will be many people who fall back on that and do nothing about it. But you know what? I think that even if it wasn't a disease they were going to do that anyway.
I think that using sites and apps like MFP is great but I don't think it works for all people. Everyone who wants to be healthy has to find their fit, nothing in this world is one size fits all. I think that by considering obesity a disease that it can give opportunities to people who are not helped by sites/apps like MFP to afford going to facilities that specialize in weightloss that are non bariatric facilities.
I've never been accused of being a positive (or negative for that matter) thinker but I think that if our healthcare system cares enough, that there can be more good from this than bad.
I think this concept is more revolting to people who have never been obese or have but only for a short period of time because for minute they "let themselves go" and I know that there are many obese people are disgusted by it as well BUT I think that it creates more opportunities for people to do something about their health problems. I think it will allow obese people (especially the ones who have been so all their life) to be able to utilitze facilities without being embarrassed because fat people not only get harrassed for being fat but often they are harrassed for trying to get healthy too. I'm hoping that this will cause the majority of the harrassers (even or especially the ones who mean well) to take a step back and allow people who are working through their obesity to do it without making snarky remarks.
Sorry if there are any/many spelling/grammar errors, I was trying to write this quickly on my break.0 -
Just a quick question to those that think Obesity shouldn't be classed as a disease as it's a result of the " sufferer's " own actions.
Just to play Devil's Advocate here.
If a person contracts Aids due to a promiscuous lifesyle, unprotected with multiple partners - does that mean HIV / AIDS is no longer a disease?
If a person has Heart Disease caused by a lifetime of eaing unhealthily - does tha mean the Hear Disease is no longer a disease?
If a mother catches Measles looking after her infected child - is the measles no longer a disease?
If a person has Liver Disease caused by too much alocohol - is it not a disease anymore?
If 2 peope gte Lung Cancer 1. a heavy smoker and the other a non-smoker, is 2 suffering from a disease and 1 isn't?
Whether Obesity should be classified as a disease or not is definitely arguable.
But saying something shouldn't be classed as a disease because the sufferer caused it by their own lifestyle choices doesn't really hold any water as a logical argument.
^^^ that's exactly what I was thinking.
Just because it's caused by lifestyle choices doesn't mean it's not a disease. You can cure scurvy by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and it's caused by eating a really terrible diet. Does that mean scurvy is not a disease? It's been well established for well over 100 years that a bad diet can make you ill, the British navy in the 1850s was adding lime juice to sailor's rations to prevent scurvy on long sailing trips. That's why USA people call us Brits limeys. If someone got scurvy because they adamantly refused to eat any foods that contain vitamin C, and then the doctor tells them "scurvy is a disease" - does it follow that they'll say "I can't help it if i have scurvy" and carry on with their dodgy diet... or would it be more likely that a doctor would say "you are ill, you have a disease, because you refuse to eat vitamin C. If you don't start eating fruit and veg you will die" - wouldn't this make someone take more responsibility for the lifestyle choices that have resulted in them getting ill....?
Granted if doctors are actually saying "you poor obese thing you're ill, you can't help it" that would be a problem --- but does it really logically follow that that would happen as a result of obesity being considered an illness, as opposed to doctors saying "you have a disease that's caused by your lifestyle choices and if you don't start changing your eating and exercise habits you're going to die"
there are potential issues with this, the main one that springs to mind is that you'll probably get doctors diagnosing extremely fit people with low body fat percentages and a high lean body mass for their height with an illness just by looking at a BMI chart. That IMO is a bigger danger, i.e. doctors pedantically diagnosing healthy people with a medical condition they don't have based on poorly thought out criteria, than people using it as an excuse. If anything, being told that your lifestyle choices have caused you to get a disease ought to wake a few people up to the severity of the issue. On the other hand, if the classification of obesity as a disease results in more specific and reliable criteria than a BMI chart then that would improve things for fit people with a high lean body mass for their height.0 -
"What I am trying to say that having a disease does require people to be accountable for why they have the disease in the first place... I also tried to say that it is much easier for men to lose weight than it is for women..."
So wait a minute, I'm bipolar, I was born bipolar. So now I need to be accountable for a chemical imbalance in my brain ... Really????0 -
"What I am trying to say that having a disease does require people to be accountable for why they have the disease in the first place... I also tried to say that it is much easier for men to lose weight than it is for women..."
So wait a minute, I'm bipolar, I was born bipolar. So now I need to be accountable for a chemical imbalance in my brain ... Really????
You can't be accountable for every single disease process0 -
nope. You cant pop pills and make obesity go away. Its not a disease.
This. It's too easy to say "it's not my fault, I have a disease". We need to make people more not less responsible for their health.
There is another perspective. When people go to the doctor and learn they have emphysema (sp?), they stop smoking. When they learn that they have bipolar disorder, they take meds. When they learn that they have arthritis, they change their habits to alleviate the pain.
Who is to say that if people are told that obesity is a disease that will kill them and make them uncomfortable, they won't suddenly find the motivation to get treatment?
Sure, they should know that already, but by calling it a disease, it may have more impact on the individual to get it treated. The point that people are missing is that this was done with the intent to instigate changes that will lead to some positive outcomes. Granted that there are pitfalls, but with every decision, there are pitfalls. However, something has to change if we expect the problem to change, and maybe all that is needed is for society to change the way that it looks at the problem.0 -
I don't think obesity in and of itself is a disease. BUT just like alcoholism it does have its addiction. There are chemical changes when you eat obviously to metabolize what you eat. AND the the old adage does apply for you are what you eat. Now don't get your panties in a knot. We didn't start out wanting to get overweight but the need to anesthetize, cope, pleasure,etc. just kept it going. Those of us who have had lots of weight to lose know that our psychological reasons outweigh our need to eat. So the addiction becomes our illness. No matter what it is very hard to overcome the psychological reasons for eating. It can be a best friend and our worst enemy all in one.0
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damn you fast food restaurants for "MAKING ME!!!!" eat your unhealthy food. Yes I am overweight and I approve this message. On a serious note, I am working with my doctor on trying to drop the excess weight and lower the blood pressure.0
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I don't think obesity in and of itself is a disease. BUT just like alcoholism it does have its addiction. There are chemical changes when you eat obviously to metabolize what you eat. AND the the old adage does apply for you are what you eat. Now don't get your panties in a knot. We didn't start out wanting to get overweight but the need to anesthetize, cope, pleasure,etc. just kept it going. Those of us who have had lots of weight to lose know that our psychological reasons outweigh our need to eat. So the addiction becomes our illness. No matter what it is very hard to overcome the psychological reasons for eating. It can be a best friend and our worst enemy all in one.
Oh... it is a huge pet peeve of mine when people compare overeating to addiction. I respect your opinion, but as a recovering addict AND someone who has been in the range of morbid obesity, these two are not the same. There is a psychological aspect to the compulsion to overeat, however, addiction is a physical change in the brain. Very few chemicals found in food have the same effect. The ones that do have an insignificant effect or are completely illegal.0 -
The financial implications of this boggle my mind.
If obesity in and of itself is a disease, everything that is currently being sold to fight obesity (effective or not,) is going to be covered under health insurance.
So my health insurance is now going to be used to buy my gym membership, my "it works!" wraps, my HCG, my Jenny Craig, my Nutrisystem, my Thighmaster, my Weight Watchers, my raspberry ketones, my green tea extract......the list is long.
How much are we prepared to pay for health insurance? The insurance companies are sure to pass along their increased costs in the form of higher premiums.
Weird, I thought the exact opposite. Some insurance companies will refuse to ensure anyone with a "pre existing" condition. If an obese person gets a new job and applies for insurance, what is preventing that new insurer from saying "Well, since obesity is classified as a disease, and you were obese before you signed up, you have a pre-existing condition. Sorry, we don't cover pre-existing conditions, therefore you're out of luck here."
I see it as more of a hindrance to insurance than a help. Insurance companies can deny people for a myriad of "pre existing" conditions. I know one person whose father had Huntington's Chorea. The guy I knew refused to get tested, because if it came back he had it, his insurance company would have refused to cover any costs associated, should he end up contracting it later in life. It was, in their eyes, a pre-existing condition.0
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