As you may know, I have an irrational fear of getting fat. Fat fat, as in obese (though I don't really want to be just regular fat either-gah!). Here is an article about a 900 pound man (that would be nearly 6 of me all bundled together). This man had not left his house since 2003 (four years for those of you bad at math). A nurse became worried about his health, and so in order to get him to a hospital firefighters had to come and had to rip a hole in the side of the house, build a platform for a forklift, forklift him out, and transport him by flatbed truck. That's right folks. Flatbed truck. Like the kind used to move cars, or better yet, large farm/construction equipment. Humiliating, eh?
As a sidebar, this guy does have Prader-Willi syndrome, the genetic disorder that causes what I thought of until today as "legitimate" obesity. I am revising my opinion about that. This disorder causes people to constantly feel really hungry, which can lead to "overeating and life-threatening obesity" (from above linked article). To me, that sounds just like how regular people get fat. They keep eating and eating and eating (and eating and eating and so on), never apparently feel "full." And most of these people don't have Prader Willi. Why can't those with the disorder to what compulsive overeaters must do, and just STOP. They have OA, gastric bypass, you name it. I believe there are more effective treatments for obesity than for alcoholism and other addictions. I don't care if you're still hungry, if you're enormously FAT, you're costing me money in your unreasonable medical expenses, all for something that you brought upon yourself. So put down those cheetos, that ginormous Pepsi, and the bucket of ice cream. Take a walk, join a gym, hell, just walk to the fridge and throw out all your crappy food. It's a start.
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2 comments:
I know this is a late comment on an old story but I wanted you to have more facts about Prader-willi syndrome. The reason people with pws keep eating is that their brain does not tell them to stop. It is your hypothalmus gland that sends signal to your brain to say that you are full. a person with pws does not have a functioning hypothalmus, they are essentially "brain-damaged" and therefore ALWAYS feel hungry. The message does not compute.
They also have a high pain tolerance. If you or I were to eat and eat and eat at one sitting eventually we would feel ill, our stomach would hurt, and we would likely throw up. People with pws do not typically vomit , ever, and do not register the discomfort. There have been many cases of stomach rupture and other fatal intestinal problems due to one instance of over-eating. This is also why gastric bypass, etc is not recommended as a treatment. No drugs currently on the market do anything at all to curb the hunger problems of PWS. Believe me, if there were an easy fix we would be using it!!!!(my son has PWS) The drive for eating is not something that can be overcome by someone with PWS. They do best in a situation where all access food is strictly controlled, even locked up. Clearly this was not the case for the man in Michigan. Also, people with PWS can have various degrees of mental retardation/low IQs complicating the situation. Would you ask a person with Down's Syndrome why don't they stop acting silly all of the time? It is the same of asking a person with PWS to not seek food. I know many children with PWS who are NOT obese, but this is due to a strict and supportive environment. When these things are not inplace, a person with this syndrome is doomed to fail. for more info go to www.pwsusa.org
Editor's response to half-pint:
Thanks for your comment. I do understand the serious implications of PWS, and for those with low IQ or other mental retardation, little can be done. However, for an adult of regular intelligence, the solution seems to me to learn portion control. A person could fill one plate with an appropriate number of calories, in a balanced meal, do this 3 times daily, and simply not eat the rest of the time. If they know they have this problem, adjustments must be made. Don't give in. Use your rational thinking, not your hypothalmus (because you know it's broken).
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