Dr. Dodge: Passion for Health

The Holiday Season usually offers many kinds of tempting, high-calorie goodies that beg to be sampled. Holiday meals can be veritable feasts, and unlimited sampling may go on for days or weeks. A frequent by-product of holiday feasting is some unwanted weight gain. While this may be modest, it tends to accumulate over the years, and the end result can be obesity. 

Holiday feasting is only one of many contributing causes to obesity, but any weight gain that is cumulative is a concern. Obesity has become a major health problem in the United States. How big a problem? Two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese, but this only hints at the magnitude of the health dilemma involved. Let’s look at this predicament in a bit more detail. 

Obesity has become the leading cause of heart attacks during the prime of life in the USA. Equally distressing, obesity is a major contributing factor to the type 2 diabetes epidemic that is escalating in our country. According to a Johns Hopkins University report, obese people are up to seven times more likely than normal weight people to develop type 2 diabetes. 

Type 2 diabetes is not something to be shrugged off. It is much more than a blood sugar problem. Dreaded complications of diabetes such as strokes, heart disease, kidney failure, amputations, and blindness are long-term threats. Obesity combined with diabetes makes these dangers worse. Weight loss, on the other hand, can reduce overall risks and may even correct type 2 diabetes.  

Aside from linkages to diabetes and heart disease, obesity also contributes to hypertension and high blood fat levels. It is associated with less known (but no less serious) diseases like Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), and it’s the most significant risk factor for sleep apnea. All are problems that afflict millions of people. 

Degenerative Joint Disease is an age-related problem in which obesity is a secondary cause. Next to age, obesity is the most powerful risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knees and hips, due to the excess mechanical stress exerted on these joints. In a report on another topic, the American Urological Association says that obesity is the leading cause of impotence in men. Men with a 42-inch (as compared to a 32-inch) waistline are nearly twice as likely to become impotent.

This brief overview of various health problems linked to obesity makes it clear that obesity is not a minor inconvenience. It is a serious health issue. Many overweight people have a great sense of humor to help them cope with health-related difficulties, and that is a wonderful saving grace. Unfortunately, this does not save them from experiencing those adverse health consequences.

 As noted earlier, the Holiday Season is a health-hazardous season - a season filled with sweet temptations of all kinds. Yet, paradoxically, this is the best time to decide to become a skilled health navigator. Don’t wait until the New Year. That’s too late to be very effective. 

Learning how to navigate the holidays healthfully enables one to do it for life! Now is the time to decide to navigate this holiday season well. Next week we will look at a few tips on how to do this successfully.