Morbid Obesity is a DISEASE. It has been recognized as a disease since 1985(!!!!) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This is going to be a long rant… I mean, post.

The longer I thought about doctors who make a patient lose weight before weightloss surgery as “proof” of their commitment to a healthier lifestyle, the angrier I got. I am FURIOUS. I am INCENSED. These surgeons are making their livings “treating” obesity, and THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT OBESITY TO CALL IT A DISEASE. THEY DON’T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT OBESITY TO REALIZE THAT IN 1991, THE NIH CONCLUDED IN ITS CONSENSUS CONFERENCE THAT DIETS, EXERCISE PROGRAMS, APPETITE SUPPRESSANTS AND BEHAVIOR MODIFCATIONS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE THERAPIES. YES, I am YELLING.

Because if they DID, they would NEVER tell a patient who desperately needed their help that they must lose weight FIRST – to PROVE they are serious about getting better!!!!

And to have this kind of attitude propagated on a weightloss SUPPORT board as acceptable under ANY kind of circumstances is absolutely reprehensible, and a symptom of just how well the prejudice against fat people is accepted. Not only is it tolerated, it is expected as our “just” punishment for being fat. Because after all, we are merely gluttons. The formula is so simple: too many calories in = too much fat. So diet and exercise. Too bad for you that you’re not one of the “normal” people who can regularly consume more calories than they need without getting fat – you are NOT a “normal” person, so you must just go hungry and exercise your butt off.

Guess what? The formula is NOT that simple. NO ONE really knows the complete explanation of why some people become MO and some people don’t. But not understanding “why” is NO excuse for discriminating against the MO, or continuing to blame the patient for their disease.

If a person could not swim, would it be acceptable for the lifeguard to say, “I could save you, but FIRST you must swim 20 feet to PROVE that you really want to be saved.”? Or better yet, “You can’t swim, so you should never have come into the Water in the first place. Why should I bother saving you? This is your fault.”

Except in the extreme cases of denying organ transplants to smokers and alcoholics, I have NEVER heard of denying treatment until the patient starts to get better on their own as an acceptable medical response. (I’m not saying I agree with the transplant thing, just that I have heard that a smoker who doesn’t quit wouldn’t be considered for a lung transplant, and an alcoholic that doesn’t quit wouldn’t be considered for a liver transplant. I don’t even know if that’s true – I’ve just heard it.)

Diabetics are not denied medication until they can prove they can get their blood sugar under control with a commitment to eliminating sugars from their diet and exercise.

Smokers are not denied the nicotine patch until they can prove that they can quit smoking for four weeks first.

A double-amputee is not denied their prosthetics to enable them to walk until they walk two blocks without the prosthetics, to PROVE that they really want to walk again FIRST. The prosthetics, after all, are just TOOLS – not “cures” for amputeeism.

People with high cholesterol are not denied medication until they are able to lower their cholesterol first, through diet and exercise.

If a depressed person goes to the doctor for treatment, and they meet the protocol, the doctor would NEVER say “Snap out of it first. Then I’ll give you the medication you need to maintain a non-depressed state.”

Anorexics are never told "JUST eat!!" Their condition is taken very seriously, and requires medical and psychological intervention.

I ask you all, then, WHY IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO REQUIRE A MO PERSON TO LOSE WEIGHT BEFORE TREATMENT?!?!?!? YES, we have to make lifestyle changes – but just like the amputee, we can’t do it without a TOOL. We have a DISEASE.

I feel that I have done the emotional work. I have completed a professional counseling program specifically for compulsive overeaters. I’ve been hypnotized. I’ve done every diet known to man, and some that I made up myself. How DARE ANYONE tell me that I am NOT serious about losing weight?!?!

I cried on the way into work this morning thinking about this. I am crying now. I will NOT accept punishment for this disease. I will NOT accept blame for this disease. I WILL accept the responsibility of doing something about it, however. But I cannot do it alone – because I am NOT “normal”, and I will ALWAYS need some sort of treatment to HELP me, until they find a cure. And I cannot stand by and let anyone forget that we are NOT here because of some moral failing, some character flaw, some personal weakness. We are here because we have a DISEASE. We need treatment, not judgment. If we were not serious about getting better, we would not be here.

NO ONE deserves to feel badly about themselves because they have a disease. NO ONE should be made to jump through hoops to prove they want to recover from their disease. MO is NOT A CHARACTER FLAW. This is NOT my opinion – this is medical FACT. It is up to US to know and understand this, and to eradicate the long-held beliefs that we have allowed to shame us for all of our lives. We must NEVER EVER allow anyone to get away with propagating beliefs that MO is anything but a disease that requires medical treatment.

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http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:OTJxKzuvN8QJ:www.shapeup.org/profcenter/diabesity/PoriesPres.ppt+is+morbid+obesity+a+disease%3F&hl=en

"The truth is that Morbid obesity is a disease, not a moral failing."

“Obesity is a chronic, lifelong, genetically-related, life-threatening disease with highly significant medical, psychological, social, physical, and economic co-morbidities.”

Statement on morbid obesity and its treatment. Obesity Surgery 1997 7:40-41

“In 1991, the National Institutes of Health concluded in its Consensus Conference that diets, exercise programs, appetite suppressants and behavior modifications are not effective therapies.”

Report of the Consensus Conference on Surgery of Morbid Obesity, National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC 1991

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http://www.rsapc1.com/morbid_obesity_surgery/

"Morbid obesity is the most common form of malnutrition in the United States and in the world today. It is considered after smoking to be the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States. It is a chronic disease which is very complex and has multiple etiologies."

"We lose over 300,000 patients a year to morbid obesity and morbid obesity related medical problems."

"There are social, psychosocial and economic consequences of morbid obesity that can be devastating. Unfortunately, the prejudice against the obese is very common in our society."

"Conservative management of morbid obesity that includes diet, behavioral modifications, exercise programs and the like have been found to be ineffective over the long term. A person who is morbidly obese who attempts conservative management, as mentioned above, either alone or in any combination, is not expected to be successful more than 5% of the time. Over 95% of patients who are morbidly obese and meet the criteria for morbid obesity will regain their weight and often overshoot their previous weight. Surgery for morbid obesity is the only method that has resulted in long-term maintenance of weight loss and the reduction of the comorbid diseases that are associated with morbid obesity. In particular, hypertension, dibetes mellitus, risks for coronary disease, osteoarthritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease and many others.

Morbid obesity is a chronic disease which is defined as a disruption of bodily function that develops slowly and persists for an extended period of time and often for life. It is multifactorial and includes genetic predisposition, environmental factors, social economic factors, cultural influences, hormonal influences and digestive abnormalities. In 1985 morbid obesity was recognized as a disease with associated comorbid diseases by the National Institute of Health. In 1991, surgical weight loss stated to be superior to nonsurgical weight loss methods and that only surgical intervention produced acceptable long-term results. In 1993 the National Institute of Health recognized the vertical banded gastroplasty and the gastric bypass procedure to be effective in significant reduction of excess body weight. The National Institute of Health recognizes morbid obesity as being an epidemic that can only be reduced significantly by surgical intervention for both morbid obesity and its associated comorbid problems."

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http://www.landauercosmeticsurgery.co.uk/obesity/

"OBESITY: A MEDICAL CONDITION

People who suffer from obesity are poorly misunderstood by those of the population who are not obese. There is a common attitude that overweight people are stupid and unable to control themselves. People who are obese are often the brunt of cruel jokes and thoughtless humour, even to the point of suffering abusive comments in public places.

We now know that the medical condition of morbid obesity is a complex disorder, and not simply due to over-eating. The vast majority of people living in the Western World eat more calories than they need but it is only a small proportion that relentlessly lay down every excess calorie in their fat stores. Most people have a mechanism, by which their body knows when their stores have been refilled, but there is an unfortunate group of people where this mechanism is defective, and when they eat it can be likened to filling up the bath with the overflow blocked off.

There are of course no fat people in starvation areas of the world, but this is because these are regions with chronic malnutrition and nobody there has access to even adequate calories.

People who are morbidly obese often find it difficult to believe that their problem is a medical disease and not simply due to overeating.

MORBID OBESITY IN FAMILIES

The disorder of morbid obesity often runs in families. The chance of having morbid obesity is clearly increased if other people in your family have the condition. Studies of identical twins who were separated at birth and brought up separately show that if one twin becomes obese, then the other one is likely to become obese as well."

I have never been ashamed of my size. Okay, that's a lie, I haven't been ashamed of my size for many, many, many years. I haven't let it stop me from doing anything, not skiing, not belly dancing, not wearing a tankini bathing suit, not changing in the women's locker room. Of course, lately my weight and size have stopped me from breathing, but that is a different thread entirely.

I have been very lucky to live in a place like Seattle, where people are accepted pretty much for who they are and not what they look like. Gay or strait? No problem. Pierced and tattooed? no problem. From a foreign country? no problem. Fat? very little problem, unless you are as large as my husband was, and then it was mostly an accomidation issue. There is a level of acceptance there for who you are, unless you are cruel or rude or racist, well you get my point. We are pathalogically polite.

And then I moved to SE Idaho. For the first time in my adult life, I am looked down upon. I've been treated as if I have personally offended people simply by breathing the same air they do. I am treated sometimes with downright hostility. I mostly look like everyone else here, except for being fatter than most. No tattoos (yet. I'm going to get one for my birthday in 20 years.), no outragous piercings, and I'm pathallogically polite. Okay, I do love to dye my hair fabulous colors... Yet I am treated with hostility here because I am fat. It took me months to figure that out.

My new temporary home is a very "churchy" place. There is a lot of "you don't go to my church, so you are not one of the chosen" attitude. I have classmates who won't even acknowled me in the quad because I don't go to their church. (my buddy who is teaches Anthropology has been very helpful in figuring things out here...)

I've been reading several articles on the new Christian Diet phenominum. Many are screaming that "fat people don't go to heaven" and other such drivel. Who are they to say who does and does not get into heaven? What happened to "judge not lest you be judged?"

We make an easy target, heh, we are so damn big it's hard to miss us. I think it is soooo much easier to point the finger at someone else rather than look at our own shortcomings.

Those of us who are MO are seen as weak, and to a extent, wicked. Guttony being one of the seven deadly sins and all.

As long as we are viewed as being morally weak I fear that we will contintue to get little or no respect. The few bulimics that I know are "normal" size, and anorexics are certianly thin... Because they are thin and "normal" they are seen as being deserving of respect, sympathy, dignity and treatment.

Vinesqueen, I think you've made one thing absolutely clear: No one on this board will want to go to SE Idaho! I'm sorry you have to live among such small-minded people.

The "Christian Diet" phenomenon is news to me. Fat people won't go to heaven? What's up with that? The bigger the body, the smaller the soul? Gluttony may be one of the seven deadly sins, but what about the others? Anger, avarice, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, and sloth. . . heaven must be sparsely populated indeed if anyone guilty of one of the SDS is barred from the gates.

Good grief. I hope you don't have to stay there long, V.

Thanks Zoe, I only have two more years here then I head out to parts unknown after I finish my degree. Luckily I get to go home for Summers...

If you google "christian weight loss" you gett approximately 18,800 different entries, while "bible based weight loss" only nets your 31 google pages... Yeah, this is a big phenomina.

I believe the folks who are screaming that fat people don't go to heaven are the same types of people who either think that only people who go to heaven believe exactly the same way they do, or they are simply marketing weenies who use reliegeon to play on people's fears and insecurities.

And gutton is only my second favorite of the SDS... (While skin is the largest sex organ, the brain is the most important...) I do try to work on the other 5, but I have trouble with striking a balance with pride. Resumes built on humility don't get you the job you want...

Not sure where you're getting your info., but the soul is what will go to heaven. Not the physical body. So our physical size, appearance, hair color, eye color, sex, nationality has nothing to do with it.

Oh, Newhope, I understand that. Character is who you are in the dark. My point was that I think what travisty that this new faith based diet fad is. It plays to people's worst fears. As an arguement for not letting fat people in heaven, they often point to verses that site the body as a temple, and let no man defile that temple. Since we are fat, we've obviously defiled the temple...

How dare they suggest that the MO are less worthy than someone with a high metabolic rate or who barfs everything they eat??? How dare they judge, how dare they condem! They dare because they view us as less than worthy in this life; we are the new pariahs, the new lepers. It isn't illegal to discriminate against us (except for one state, I believe) and we make a convienient target.

Also, I think they dare because diet hawkers make tons of money off the misery and failed hopes of people like us.

Defile the temple?

Geez Louise, I expanded it.

This is a great thread with so much truth to it. Thank You !

Discrimination is wrong. We all know it. It is wrong when we use a person's color to discriminate. It is wrong when we use physical impairments to discriminate.

With fat people, and with smokers and a few other groups, the RATIONALE is that it is okay, it's for their own, or greater, good.

Some groups condemn MO people because they are committing a sin. But most claim to have our best interests at heart. Sorry, I can't buy it. Prejudice is prejudice and cannot be rationalized away. I recognize prejuce even within my self. That doesn't make it any more palatable, I can tell you.

Under the guise of "for their own good" we criticize, ridicule, and judge. We hurt feelings, we crush hopes and dreams, and we shatter hearts. And, we pass this on to our children.

Somewhere a child sits in a playground. The game roars and charges around him. The other children laugh and play and run. Their cheeks are ruddy with the exertion, their hair is tousled by the wind. But the child sitting, once more, on the sidelines has ruddy cheeks as well. Made red by embarrassment and hurt, dampened by tears. He is miserable. "Don't pick Fatty, he'll make you lose."

If he were crippled, or retarded, or had leukemia, someone might come to his aid. But he's not. He's fat. It's his fault that he is the way he is. Let him suffer. Do him good. Maybe he'll think about that before he has that next plate of french fries. Maybe someone should realize that in that little boy's morose mind, that plate of fries is his last and only friend.

I'd rather be that tot's father, than have produced the cruel moppets who have reduced him to tears, who have ridiculed him once again.

I'd talk to him. I'd tell him to get ready. This is only the beginning. That he must dig deep within himself and find strength of spirit and courage and character. The discrimination will continue. He'll notice it first in clothes. They'll say "Big Mac" on them in large red letters. Like he needs to be labeled as well as his trousers.

Later he'll realize that all the girls are extremely busy on weekends. They sure do perm their hair a lot. And go to relatives. But they're always too busy to go to the movies, or the mixer, or the prom.

No matter how hard he works at his job he'll get passed over for each promotion.

Each week will bring a new plan, a new diet, full of success on Monday, doomed to failure by Wednesday. He'll be walking along, floating on air, euphoric over the five pounds he has just lost, when some well meaning joker who calls himself friend will say "Hey, Chubby, why don't you go on a diet? Here, have one of my Krispy Kremes". Can't you hear that balloon of positive thinking deflating.

Then, one day, near rock bottom, he'll decide he needs help. Real help. He's lost thousands of pounds over the years. They all returned, and like all vacationers, they brought more stuff with them. He'll go to a WLS surgeon. And this man, so wise and so thin, will REQUIRE him to lose some weight to prove he's serious. Yep. And he'll do it. Inside, he'll be that boy on the playground all over again. Inside he'll know that nothing's changed. It's still okay to kick the fat kid around. Only adults do it better, more refined. No one will tell him that he is ill, that he has a disease.

I've got diabetes. They asked me to take nutrition courses, and a course in controlling my diabetes. But they started treating me for it immediately! Nobody said "Hey, as soon as you can get your a1C down in the sixes I'll prescribe glucophage for you"

The different will always know when they are being looked upon by the gaze of discrimination. If you can't feel it, you've not been paying attention. We expect it now. It's our due. We're weak. We're unable to control our desires. We are just not as strong as thin people. But they know how to make us thin. Just follow the diet, count the calories. But it isn't the food, it's the addiction.

Some folks can take a drink and say "enough". Some can't stop.

If they'd just prove they could sober up for a few weeks we'd let them get some treatment.

Dormantly yours.

Defile the temple? Geez Louise, I expanded it.

Amen, brother! Extra worship room -- hallelujah!

Loved your other post, Ryan; Jack's too. Hey, Donali, look what you started!

MO is the common thread that binds us. We've all felt the pain, the frustration, and anger. We all cling to the hope that someday we will be "normal", and have self control, albeit assisted.

After reading these posts, I can't help but think that the "journeys" that we each relate, have brought us to the path of greater understanding and tolerance of others different from ourselves. Sounds like a lesson for the masses!

Loving all your thoughts here. I am back to my "dormant" state, no longer frothing at the mouth, the point where I forget about my weight struggle because I'm too busy living my life to spare it much thought.

Okay, that wasn't an intentional lie - the weight struggle is always there in my thoughts somewhere, however deeply buried by "real" life, but I AM no longer foaming at the mouth... lol

I stick by what I wrote, though. Jack, your comments are well taken that ALL patients, regardless of their challenges, need to be an active participant in their own care. I do wonder, though, if you had been unable to demonstrate understanding regarding your diabetes management, what they would have done. Surely NOT withhold treatment. Probably arrange to have a homecare nurse drop by twice a day to give you your insulin shot.

Peace to everyone, and congratulations for taking responsibility for your health and life, and doing everything you can to make it better.

(((hugs)))

I'd like to go to SE Idaho and rip a big fat lady fart in the middle of the town square. How do I get there?

I guess I got lucky in my later years because fat discrimination never bothered me, it just fueled my fire, and you all know how I love a good brawl! Once a car full of teen boys drove next to me, and one started making fat cracks at me. I just started flirting really hard with him, thanking him for the compliment. I yelled, "you wouldn't be looking baby if you didn't want some of Big Mamma yourself, but your tiny pecker would get lost in all this, come here, come here, smoochy smoochy." Every insult he made just made me tell him he'd be hitting on the cute red-head in the other car if he wasn't so turned on by me. He was horrified and turned red while his friends all busted up, doing "high-five" signals to me out the window and laughing at the guy. I doubt he ever made fun of a fat lady again.

I really like the first post.

When I was told I had to loose 40 pounds before I came for my WLS, it was like all my excitement and anticipation fell to the floore.

HOW could I loose 40 pounds in a month and a half?

I was real mad. I was sad. I was sure it couldnt be done.

They told me it was to shrink the liver to make the procedure safe, and the doctor will not do it if its not safe.

I was a nervous wreck all month.

Before I was sure I had secured that amount of weight loss, I thought for sure they would get inside me and then pull out and tell me "too bad, your liver is too fatty" and then charge me all htese fee's for the anastesia (spell?) and OH MY... I was almost sick with worry and dread.

Well, I did it.. ... I had to... I been waiting for this for too long...(one of the worse months of my life!)

Thank goodness for the magic of LOW CARB diets and the desperation of making my self puke every time I cheated!

Nykee, good for you! Now you better not be puking with that fancy new band! Nice to see you here.

No way..

I never felt as desperate in my life as I did the month before banding.