AMA: Obesity is a disease

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  • Lazygal53
    Lazygal53 Posts: 294 Member
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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. :D 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 ...
  • Franacious
    Franacious Posts: 54 Member
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    AMEN!
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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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.
  • KatrinaWilke
    KatrinaWilke Posts: 372 Member
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    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!
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    No personal responsibility any more. :(
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
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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.
  • PomegranatePriestess
    PomegranatePriestess Posts: 2,455 Member
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    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?
  • ihammen
    ihammen Posts: 55 Member
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    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.
  • HappyElizabeth
    HappyElizabeth Posts: 231 Member
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    First-World problems are so complicated.
  • dittmarml
    dittmarml Posts: 351 Member
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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.
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
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    So does this mean that my health insurance will start paying for my supplements as preventative medicine?!:bigsmile:
  • PomegranatePriestess
    PomegranatePriestess Posts: 2,455 Member
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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??
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    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."

    QFT
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    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.
    Quote from a friend working at Merck.

    and from Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2013/06/19/amas-obesity-as-disease-vote-should-boost-diet-drugs/
  • salgalbp
    salgalbp Posts: 218 Member
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    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! ^^^^
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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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??

    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.
  • KatrinaWilke
    KatrinaWilke Posts: 372 Member
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    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.
  • Ericav05
    Ericav05 Posts: 17 Member
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    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.
  • KatrinaWilke
    KatrinaWilke Posts: 372 Member
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    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...).
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    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.
    Quote from a friend working at Merck.

    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.

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