Dr. Bennett’s Obesity Lecture

By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

When it comes to your health, would you rather hear the truth or do you want your doctor to pussyfoot around problems that could kill you? If you’re like me, you’d rather hear the truth, even if the truth is unpleasant. Knowing what’s really going on gives you something concrete to work with. You can take action, make plans and become an active participant in your own health. Truth definitely works for me.

But, apparently not everyone feels the same way.

Take the recent case of Dr. Terry Bennett, a respected family physician in Rochester, New Hampshire. A good doctor? You bet. A conscientious doctor? Absolutely. A doctor bubbling over with bedside manner. Well, not so much. It seems that Dr. Bennett insulted a patient by telling her she was obese – and then detailing the probable fate that awaited her if she didn’t shed some pounds. It’s a lecture thousands of doctors give to their overweight patients every single day. But instead of taking his advice to heart, this patient took it to the state medical board.

But wait – it gets worse. It seems that the Board of Medicine, in their infinite wisdom, passed the complaint up to the state Attorney General who is actually attempting to resolve this ridiculous complaint! This, my friends, is just another example of our tax dollars at work.

Scared Healthy

According to Dr. Bennett, he has a standard “obesity lecture” for women that’s a stark laundry list of the toll those extra pounds will take. He flat out tells them that their obesity will lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, GERD and stroke. It’s meant to scare them away from the fast food and chocolate sundaes that contribute to obesity and into a healthy diet and exercise routine.

Of course this wasn’t the first time he mentioned this woman’s weight problem to her. According to his side of things, he had seen this particular patient five or six times and each time the good doctor has mentioned that she needed to lose weight. Did she listen? Of course not. She continued to put on weight and developed diabetes and GERD in the process. So Dr. Bennett kicked his warning up a notch because sometimes you just have to knock people upside the head with a 2 by 4 before they’ll pay attention.

And that’s why he’s in trouble with the state of New Hampshire. Not for being negligent or incompetent, not for being impaired on the job or for practicing medicine without a license. Dr. Bennett is in trouble for telling the truth.

Well, here’s some more truth: Obesity is one of the biggest killers in America – and it’s on the rise. According to a new report by the health advocacy group, Trust for America’s Health, the percentage of obese Americans tops 24 percent. That’s a whopping 36 percent increase since the 1970s. And more than 64 percent of all adults are overweight. The forecast may be even more dismal. Based on the nation’s eating habits, lack of exercise and the fact that 15 million children are already considered overweight or obese, some experts speculate that almost three-quarters of adults in the U.S. will be overweight or obese by 2008.

Size Matters

The clinical definition of obesity is based on your body mass index (BMI). A BMI of 25 to 29 means you are overweight. Anything over 30 means you are obese. The long =-term consequences of both can range from disabling to deadly. In fact, a full 15 different disease are linked to an unhealthy weight: arthritis, breast cancer, heart disease, colorectal cancer, type II diabetes, endometrial cancer, end-stage renal disease, gallbladder disease, hypertension, liver disease, low back pain, renal cell cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, stroke and urinary incontinence.

Now for the good news – and there is some good news. You don’t have to slim down to a size 10 to avoid future health problems. In fact, researchers have found that losing just 10 percent of your weight can forestall hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. It can also significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. You’ll also live longer and enjoy life more. Oh, there’s one more perk – you’ll save, on average, between $2,000 and 5,000 in medical costs.

But if you’re ready to shoot for that 10 percent, don’t rely on fad diet. Most offer only short-term weight loss and some are down-right dangerous, especially if you already suffer from a chronic disease like diabetes. Instead, adopt a low-fat, low-calorie eating plan that focuses on plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. And don’t forget exercise. Increasing your activity level – even moderately – can really help shed excess weight.

One supplement that may be helpful is pyruvate, a compound that occurs naturally in the body when it metabolizes protein and carbohydrates. Researchers have found that taking supplemental pyruvate actually boosts resting metabolism and results in more weight-loss in overweight adults eating a low-fat diet. While some of the studies used 30 grams of pyruvate a day, you should be able to take considerably less and still see results. In one six-week double-blind trial, people taking as little as 6 grams of pyruvate per day, combined with exercise, experienced greater weight loss and loss of body fat compared to those taking a placebo.

Keeping the weight off is also challenging – sometimes even more challenging than taking it off in the first place. And while there aren’t any magic pills that can send your extra pounds packing permanently, one supplement just might help you maintain your new slimmer self.

One Last Thing ...

The Trust for America’s Health wants to see healthier school lunches, subsidized gym memberships for people on Medicare and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. They’re also calling for Medicaid to provide routine obesity screening and for insurance companies to offer discounts for their fit policy holders.

I’m sure none of this is sounding too good for Dr. Bennett’s patient. And it may sound like these suggestions would make the government even more intrusive then they already are. After all, what we stick in our mouths ought to be our own business, right? Well, yes and no. Consider this: While food – both type and amount – is an extremely personal issue, the health care costs of obesity impact all of us. The American Obesity Association recently commissioned a study to determine just how much money we are spending on obesity and obesity-related disease. Let me warn you – you might want to sit down.

It seems that obesity is costing America just over $100 billion. No, it’s not a typo. And obesity related diseases like heart disease and diabetes cost another $331 billion! That’s more than the GDP of 64 different countries!

But, while money may be the issue for policy makers, it wasn’t the focus of Dr. Bennett’s obesity lecture. He was simply trying to save a life. In my book, that’s a very good thing.

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References:

“Costs of Obesity.” American Obesity Association. www.obesity.org

Kalman D, Colker CM, Wilets I, et al. “The effects of pyruvate supplementation on body composition in overweight individuals.” Nutrition. 1999;15:337-340.

Oster G, Thompson D, Edelsberg J, et al. “Lifetime helath and economic benefits of weight loss among obese persons.” American Journal of Public Health.1999;89:1536-1542.

“Woman complains about doctor's advice to lose weight.” Associated Press. 23 August 2005.