Diabetes

Exporting Obesity

Robert Cucin MD JD MBA Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity , ,

The New York Times reports that over the past 35 years, Obesity has increased in the U.S. and Brazil by 2.5 times.  It has grown fastest in the countries throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia.  
Obesity has increased in China and Mali by 7.7 and 15.5 times respectively.

The shift to Western-style  processed food and sugary drinks is contributing to a new epidemic of diabetes and heart disease, chronic illnesses that are fed by soaring rates of obesity in places that struggled with hunger and malnutrition just a generation ago.


Obesity's spreadThe U.S. has been too successful at countering the world’s hunger and malnutrition problem with cheap high-calorie food.  Indeed, it might be said that one of the U.S.’s  major exports is obesity.

Classic advice for avoiding hyperglycemia and obesity is to eat healthy foods with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans which are high in fiber.   Include foods in your diet that are low in fat, such as low-fat dairy (milk, yogurt, and cheese), fish, and lean meat and limit foods that are high in calories and sugar, such as sweet desserts, potato chips, and candy.  The latter comprises a signficiant portion of our exports.

Alas, a Western diet brings with it the health problems of the Western world.

McKinsey’s Obesity Prevalence Projections May be LOW!

Robert Cucin MD JD MBA bariatric surgery, Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity , ,

McKinsey Global Institute has projected that by 2030, 50% of the world’s population will be obese and the annual cost of Obesity-related disease expenditures will have risen to $17,000,000,000,000.

An article in the Arab News reported that 70% of the Saudi’s are obese.   With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes galloping along in developed nations, the terrifying fact is that McKinsey’s projections may underestimate the problem!

Let us hope that, by allowing us to directly and safely remove the visceral fat that is the origin of the problem, Endoscopic Visceral Lipectomy (“EVL”) can avoid the progression of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes and reverse it, and give us a weapon to slow the rising prevalence of this disease.  I entreat all reading this post to help make BioSculpture Technology’s DPO a success so we may be able to offer EVL to the 2.1 Billion people about the globe who may benefit from it.  Your investment may be both impactful and profitable.

The Public Speaks: Tackle the Type 2 Diabetes Problem Directly

Robert Cucin MD JD MBA bariatric surgery, Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity , ,

AP (3/8/17) reports that fewer obese people are trying to loose weight than in prior years and researchers wonder if fat acceptance could be one of the reasons. Given enlarging meal portions, mainstream plus size models, re-scaling of clothing sizes, and popular overweight leads in sitcoms, the hypothesis seems not just tenable but proven.  The frequent inability of patients to keep weight off after losing it with diet and exercise, or sometimes even after bariatric surgery undoubtedly contributes to this shift.  It is not at all unlikely that the political correctness to avoid the subject of weight also prevents some of the peer pressure that might conceivably reinforce the dieter’s decision to pass up that extra French fry.

Some studies have implicated some infections that could be partially behind the obesity epidemic.  Researchers have found evidence to suggest  that infection with the common Adenovirus-36 leads the body to create more and fatter stem cells.    This observer concludes the AP report alone suggests that Obesity is at least socially contagious because the increased prevalence of Obesity has already spurred a change in social mores.

Obesity is not the morbidity itself though it does create a cardiovascular load, mechanical stress on the joints, and promote sleep apnea and gastric reflux.  There are some healthy obese patients, mostly younger patients who exercise regularly, who haven’t yet developed metabolic syndrome or who are genetically gifted not to do so.  The Public Enemy #1 is the Type II Diabetes associated with the metabolic syndrome which frequently complicates Obesity.  There are an estimated 29 million Type II Diabetics in the U.S.  Type II Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure needing dialysis, the most frequent indication for non-traumatic amputations, and a leading cause of blindness.

As it is the visceral or “belly fat” within the abdomen which secretes resistin, a cellular hormone which antagonizes the body’s own insulin to cause Type II Diabetes, reducing the size of that noxious cytokine factory which functions as a life-shortening gland with Endoscopic Visceral Lipectomy (EVL) is a direct approach to the problem.  Incidentally, the patient might cinch his or her belt a notch or two right off the operating table and is expected loose a great deal of body weight afterwards.  But the restoration of normal metabolism and amelioration of Type II Diabetes is the immediate goal of the procedure.  Though less attention by patients to their weight is not at all a pleasing finding for physicians, it does suggest the public has already recognized the need to retarget our emphasis!  EVL does so.