Obesity and Money.

As was reported in recent medical literature, obesity has become an epidemic in the USA.  Since 1960, the number of obese Americans has trippled and six times more Americans are now extremely obese than 50 years ago.  Not only does this obesity epidemic cause adverse consequences to obese Americans' health, it also makes everyone else pay.  To comprehend financial cost of this obesity tsunami, you can peruse ten following numbers:

1. 105% - According to a Brookings Institution study, this is the increased amount that obese Americans pay for prescription drugs compared with slender Americans.
2. $190 billion - This is annual added medical cost that results from obesity-related healthcare cost.
3. $3.4 billion - This amount stems from increased cost of gasoline that cars are burning to carry chubbier Americans.
4. $164 billion - This is the money that U.S. employers are losing in annual productivity due to obesity-related issues.
5. $6.4 billion - Employee absenteeism that is related to obesity costs this much every year.
6. $1 billion - This amount comes from extra 350 million gallons of fuel that U.S. airlines pay to fly obese passengers.
7. $14.3 billion - According to the Brookings Institution, this is how much childhood obesity costs the USA every year.
8. $62 billion - This is what Medicare and Medicaid are spending every year to pay for obesity-related health problems.
9. $66 billion - According to Columbia University researchers, this is projected annual medical cost relating to obesity in the U.S. by 2030 if current trend does not change.
10. $580 billion - This is projected annual loss of economic productivity by 2030 if current trend of obesity continues.

Developing countries where obesity becomes a trend should take note.




United States President William Howard Taft was often ridiculed for being obese

Dust in the Wind

Obesity and Drug Therapy

Obesity is prevalent.  It is known for 2500 years to be associated with many illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, high cholesterol, and heart attacks.  Weight loss of 10 to 15 percent signicantly reduces these ailments.  Drug therapy, along with diet and exercises, helps obese patients lose weight. 

 
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance obesity was misperceived as the symbol of wealth and therefore was common among the elite.


Among available drugs that are claimed to help reduce weight, FDA approves only 7 drugs that are proven to be effective and safe .  Four of these drugs are diabetic medications.   They are Metformin, Pramlintide, Exenatide, and Liraglutide.  Other two drugs, Phentermine and diethylpropion, help reduce eating by causing early fullness.  Phentermine and diethylpropion are approved for short-term use up to 12 weeks.  These two drugs are also known as "anorexiants" since they cause early satiety.  Their main adverse effects are increase in blood pressure and potential for abuse.  The last one drug, Orlistat, alters fat digestion, thereby reducing absortion of fatty food.

Many previous drugs, which once were claimed to help lose weight, were removed from market when unfavorable adverse effects were reported.  Adverse effects are usually recorded after certain drugs are used for a sufficient time.  Therefore, it is wise to follow up reported adverse effects of currently approved drugs.  Some of these drugs may fall out of favor some time in the future.

It is important to keep in mind that current drug therapy does not cure obesity; weight might be regained when drug therapy is discontinued.

Canon in D Major

Cigarette Smoking, Lung Cancer, and Statistics

It's well-known that cigarette smoking increases risk for lung cancer.  Cigarette smoking is responsible for approximately 90% of all cases of lung cancer.  The risk of a current smoker with a 40 pack-year smoking history is about 20 times that of someone who has never smoked. 

Several other factors increase the risk for lung cancer.  The combination of smoking history and asbestos exposure escalates the risk to as high as 50 to 90 times that of a never-smoker.  The presence of airway obstruction on pulmonary function testing increases the risk to a four- to sixfold.




Sigmund Freud, whose doctor assisted his suicide because of cancer caused by smoking



The most effective method for reducing current smokers' risk is to quit.  After a current smoker quits smoking, the risk for lung cancer falls steadily for about 15 years before the risk levels off.  The risk, however, remains twice that of a never-smoker.  In other words, a 15-year smoking cessation reduces the risk from 20 to 2.