Heavy Stuff

[Unkotare]

It is estimated that the total weight of all the people in the world is 632 billion pounds.


Clearly, some folks are 'contributing' more than their fair share...

 

[jamesrustin]

Great stats... There is a big problem of Obesity since people are more into Junk Food. It is obvious that the weight issue is going to rise up.

 

[Unkotare]

And junk food is only part of the problem.

 

[Truthmatters]

but not everyone is in charge of what food is available to them

 

[Dr.House]

Coming soon: Obesity Tax

 

[waltky]

Granny says she gonna put some in candy wrappers fer when Uncle Ferd's g/f's come over...

US regulators approve new weight loss drug
17 July`12 - US regulators approved the second new anti-obesity drug in 13 years, Qsymia, for use with exercise and a good diet in people who are obese or overweight with certain medical problems.

Some analysts have touted Qsymia as the next "blockbuster", akin to the best-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor, with the US market desperate for new treatments for the two-thirds of the population that is overweight or obese. But critics fear it carries side effects that could be dangerous, like speeding up heart rates and causing birth defects, and warranted further study before being approved for widespread use. "Qsymia, used responsibly in combination with a healthy lifestyle that includes a reduced-calorie diet and exercise, provides another treatment option for chronic weight management in Americans," said Janet Woodcock, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

The drug, which was formerly known as Qnexa, is approved for use in people who are obese, meaning they have a body mass index of 30 or higher, or in people who are overweight and have at least one related condition like diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In two randomized, controlled trials of around 3,700 obese and overweight patients followed for one year, the highest doses of the drug were associated with an average weight loss of between 6.7 percent and 8.9 percent over a sugar pill. "All patients received lifestyle modification that consisted of a reduced calorie diet and regular physical activity," the FDA said.

Made by California-based Vivus Pharmaceuticals, Qsymia contains phentermine and topiramate, two drugs that are already on the market for aiding weight loss and preventing seizures. Some doctors already prescribe the combination as an off-label use for helping patients manage their weight. The FDA warned that Qsymia "must not be used during pregnancy because it can cause harm to a fetus," as studies have shown an increased risk of babies being born with cleft palate when women taking the drug became pregnant. It must also not be taken by patients with glaucoma or hyperthyroidism, and may increase heart rate so should be avoided by people with heart disease.

The Food and Drug Administration last month approved Belviq by the US company Arena Pharmaceuticals, making it the first new weight loss aid to hit the market since 1999. An advisory panel to the FDA urged approval of Qsymia in February, after warning against its approval in 2010 due to safety concerns. The FDA said the drug should be taken for an initial period of 12 weeks, and if patients have not lost at least three percent of their body weight by then, the dose may be increased. If the patient does not achieve a loss of five percent of body weight by week 12 on the higher dose, then treatment should be discontinued, the FDA said. Critics have raised concern about the drug's tendency to increase heart rate and the risk of irregular heartbeat. The United States has approved and later banned a series of diet drugs, mainly over excessive risk of heart attack and stroke.

More US regulators approve new weight loss drug - Yahoo! News

 

[William Joyce]

It is estimated that the total weight of all the people in the world is 632 billion pounds.

Half that comes from the county I live in.

 

[dodge33]

It is estimated that the total weight of all the people in the world is 632 billion pounds.

Half that comes from the county I live in.

LOL, I was going to say that

 

[waltky]

Obesity hastens brain decline...

Obesity 'bad for brain' by hastening cognitive decline
20 August 2012 - Carrying excess weight may impact on mental performance experts believe

Being overweight is not just bad for waistlines but for brains too, say researchers who have linked obesity to declining mental performance. Experts are not sure why this might be, but say metabolic changes such as high blood sugar and raised cholesterol are likely to be involved. Obesity has already been tipped as a risk factor for dementia. The work, published in Neurology, tracked the health of more than 6,000 British people over a decade. The participants, who were aged between 35 and 55, took tests on memory and other cognitive skills three times over a 10-year period. People who were both obese and who had unhealthy metabolic changes showed a much faster decline on their cognitive test scores compared to others in the study.

Delving deeper

The experts stress that they only looked at cognitive function, not dementia. The boundary between normal ageing, mild cognitive impairment and dementia is blurred - not all impairment leads to dementia. All of the study participants came from one group of civil service workers, which may mean the findings may not apply more generally to other populations. They said: "More research is needed to look at the effects of genetic factors and also to take into account how long people have been obese and how long they have had these metabolic risk factors and also to look at cognitive test scores spanning adulthood to give us a better understanding of the link between obesity and cognitive function, such as thinking, reasoning and memory."

Shirley Cramer of the Alzheimer's Research UK said: "We do not yet know why obesity and metabolic abnormality are linked to poorer brain performance, but with obesity levels on the rise, it will be important to delve a little deeper into this association. "While the study itself focuses on cognitive decline, previous research suggests that a healthy diet, regular exercise, not smoking and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol in midlife can also help stave off dementia. With dementia figures spiralling towards a million, the findings suggest we should be conscious of our general health throughout life."

BBC News - Obesity 'bad for brain' by hastening cognitive decline

 

[BillyV]

It is estimated that the total weight of all the people in the world is 632 billion pounds.


Clearly, some folks are 'contributing' more than their fair share...

Yes, it sounds like a lot until you consider that there are 7 billion people in the world; that means the average person weighs just over 90 pounds. Sounds pretty low to me; more an indication that there are people who aren't getting enough to eat in the world than that there is some kind of global obesity problem.

 

[waltky]

Obesity raises cancer risk...

Study Shows How Obesity Heightens Cancer Risk
October 17, 2012 - In addition to being a known risk factor for diabetes, morbid obesity causes higher death rates in severely overweight cancer patients, regardless of their diet. Scientists have new evidence that excess fat stimulates and supports tumor growth.

Experts say up to 25 percent of cancer cases occur in morbidly obese individuals. And, for reasons not fully understood, tumors appear to be more aggressive and therapy less effective in patients with excess fat tissue. But researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston may have found the reason at the molecular level.

They say expanding fat tissue cells emit hormones and growth factors, called adipokines, that promote the growth of new blood vessels which nourish and promote tumor growth. “What we hypothesized is that cells from fat tissue become mobilized and travel to the site of the cancer and become a component of the tumor. And then those trophic factors, the adipokines, start being secreted from within the tumor. And because of that, they are more potent because they are in higher concentration inside the tumor,” said Mikhail Kolonin, an associate professor of stem-cell medicine at U.T. Health’s Institute for Molecular Medicine.

In experiments with obese and lean mice with tumors, Kolonin's team fed each group of rodents the same diet. The tumors inside the fat mice grew much faster. In addition, investigators discovered the growths inside the obese mice drew in the circulating fat cells. While many of the cells turned into fat inside the tumor, others promoted formation of the blood vessel network, bringing it oxygen and nutrients. Kolonin says significant weight loss can reduce the presence of these tumor-inducing fat cells.

And he believes performing gastric bypass or bariatric surgery in morbidly obese individuals is a fast and effective way to reduce their risk of cancer. “It is apparent from studies that have been done that treating obesity before cancer onset may be very beneficial because bariatric surgery, for instance, prevents not only the risk of developing diabetes but also developing certain cancers,” Kolonin said. Such cancers, common in the morbidly obese, include colorectal cancer and cancer of the prostate in men and endometrial cancer, a type of uterine tumor, in women. An article by Mikhail Kolonin and colleagues on the links between obesity and cancer is published in the journal Cancer Research.

Study Shows How Obesity Heightens Cancer Risk

 

[SeanBen]

Its all the problem of the junk food and so many who are solely depending on them contribute a lot in increasing the weight..