Almost half of American adults have obesity, a condition that was a fraction of that just 40 years ago and scientists don’t agree on what’s caused the dramatic increase. What everyone does agree on is that it’s a major Health crisis, because obesity can cause type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and more than a dozen cancers.
BY: GUY JABBAR
The American Medical Association, some would say finally recognizes obesity as a disease. “It’s a brain disease,” claims Dr. Fatima Cody-Stanford, an obesity doctor at Mass General Hospital, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
“Obesity is a brain disease: it tells us how much to eat and store!”
The Harvard Medical professor says, “Common beliefs about obesity are all wrong! 96 percent of people who lose a considerable amount of weight.”
“Often those who suffer from obesity regain back their weight, because their brain is programmed to help them,” informs Dr. Stanford, “It [brain] was supposed to bring them back to store what they needed or what the brain thinks it needs.”
“Even eating a very limited amount of food, your brain will defend a certain set-point!”
NOTE: A Set-Point is a range of weight your brain is in charge of maintaining, by controlling how much food you eat and how much of it you store. This evolutionary survival mechanism helps you to retain fat during famine (food shortage).
“The number one cause of obesity is genetics!”
According to Dr. Stanford research, “The number one cause of obesity is genetics. That means… If you are born to parents who are obese, you have a 50 to 85 percent likelihood of having the disease yourself—even with optimal diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management.
In one of her published studies, Dr. Stanford found that most medical schools don’t teach that obesity is a disease. In fact, they don’t even offer courses on it—even though it’s the second leading cause of preventable death in the country after smoking.
Obesity is one of the leading risk factors for premature death. 8% of global deaths were attributed to obesity in 2017. And, with at least 13% of adults in the world are obese. 39% of adults in the world are overweight, those numbers are constantly rising.
The Health Insurance Trade Association states that obesity is a complex disease. The evidence and Clinical guidelines related to obesity treatments are evolving rapidly. Health insurance providers will continue to review all the clinical evidence.
To Conclude: Dr. Stanford’s findings reveal, the number one cause of obesity is genetic. So, if you’re overweight or obese, you should consider consulting a medical professional for treatment before allowing your condition to worsen. To read more about obesity click here.
