Weighing the risks

Summer is a time when hot weather has us shedding clothes and exercising outdoors and our weight becomes more obvious. Combine this observation with recent news articles in media sources from popular press to medical journals commenting on the upsurge in the epidemic of obesity and it’s time to reflect on the consequences of our weight.

“People who were overweight but not obese have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight,” declared the New York Times in April. “And being very thin causes a slight increase in the risk of death.” The Times quickly ran a correction explaining that the study it had reported on didn’t say that thinness caused a greater risk of dying nor found a significant difference in death rates between overweight and normal weight people. The only significant difference was between the obese (greater than 180 pounds for people 5’5” tall) and those who were very underweight (110 pounds or less for people 5’5” tall). There were not higher death rates in the overweight. “Why?” Perhaps because in recent years overweight people are less likely to smoke and more likely to take cholesterol or blood pressure-lowering drugs, which may protect the heart from the damage caused by excess pounds. The same is true of obese people, but the drugs’ protection may not enough to offset the damage done by their weight.

The net result of these phenomena may be a population that is ironically more obese, diabetic, arthritic, disabled and dedicated but with overall lower cardiovascular disease risk, the experts concluded. A comparable study found that high cholesterol and high blood pressure were less common — the drugs to lower both were more common — among overweight and obese people than in the past. However, the overweight and obese were less likely to have diabetes than before.

What to do? Lose or avoid gaining excess weight! Researchers are still debating how to best estimate deaths caused by too much weight, but they agree that being overweight raises the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, arthritis and sleep disturbances. What’s more, being overweight often leads to obesity if you’re underweight. It might be worth a checkup to see if some illness may be causing you to lose weight.

Remember that this column does not substitute for talking with your personal physician about any medical questions you have regarding drugs, medical procedures and diseases. Please e-mail me with your suggestions, questions and comments on healthy living at [email protected].