Gee j-man...why me? Am I the only person on a/p who is willing to discuss this notoriously "hot" a/p topic?
Yes I read a similar
NYTimes article with my coffee Tuesday morning, and kind of dismissed it. The study has the smell of a lot of other studies which start out to prove a point...and by God they slice the data just so, and claim revolutionary findings! Bunch of fat researchers looking to justify having another jelly doughnut each morning!
It seems similar to the study last year that reversed the AMA's recommendation on getting your PSA tested. Now they're saying the risks outweigh the benefits, and men SHOULD NOT be tested for PSA!
So are you no longer going to either monitor your PSA or watch your weight? I think most orienteers reject these studies, and plan to continue to do both.
The flaw in both studies IMO, and in US medicine in general, is that doctors and researchers are too intent on MORTALITY...IOW measuring the QUANTITY of life as tho living to 100+ is the most important thing...even tho you might be senile, immobile, and in constant pain. Notice both studies deal with how long a person can be expected to live. Neither consider the QUALITY of life.
As I've aged, I've been more and more aware of that trade-off. And I have consciously chosen more QUALITY, even if it may mean less QUANTITY. For instance, even tho I'm now over 70, I continue to totter around Chicago daily on my bike, through busy city traffic, rather than drive because I LIKE biking, dislike driving.
The same is true in this obesity issue...even the researchers agree. Notice that toward the end of the NYTimes article the lead researcher concedes:
Still, death is not everything. Even if “being overweight doesn’t increase your risk of dying,” Dr. Klein said, it “does increase your risk of having diabetes” or other conditions....
Frankly, I don't want diabetes...or bad knees, hypertension, urinary problems, heart palpitations, etc that come with a higher BMI, even tho modern medicine can control those problems with various drugs and procedures for years. I'd rather minimize my time in doctors' offices now.
IMO all these single-minded studies and research, intent only on extending peoples' lives...what is it for? The US economy and health-care industry are confronting a huge coming problem with our aging population. By the time folks reach 80 years of age, something like 80% have some form of dementia. My overweight grandmother lived to 100, but the last 15 years were on MedicAid, completely gone, drugged out of her mind, wailing in a nursing home bed. Can't even imagine the cost! Was she one of the subjects that contributed to that study's favorable mortality findings for high BMI folks? Are you looking forward to your parents' later years with joy...or dread?
Two years ago, when I became involved with PG's Lost and Found program, lost 30 pounds which I've pretty much kept off, and brought my BMI down from 25 to 21, I noticed a tangible improvement in my health. I sleep better, pee better, run better. My wife says I look better. And my various blood tests have improved too.
No j-man, on the contrary. I do not want to live forever. I want a low BMI so I can enjoy life NOW; and when it is time to go...I plan to
accept it. In the past 50 years we've come to accept BIRTH planning as a sensible way to live. Rather than foolishly hoping to live forever, I think that in the next 50 years we'll also come to accept DEATH planning as a sensible and compassionate facet of life. For our sake, for our family's sake, and for our country's sake.
And until then I think we all know: folks with lower BMI's have fewer chronic conditions as they age, spend less time in doctors' offices, generally feel better about themselves...and enjoy a higher QUALITY of life.