DR. BRAADT’S WELLNESS COLUMN The Medicalization of Lifestyle vs. YOU Maintaining Healthy Lifestyle Habits!
The Problem
our bodies in good enough shape to minimize and often prevent disease so that you can have enough energy and mental clarity to go about your daily life with less stress and anxiety. • Simply put, the medicalization of lifestyle does not lead to a healthy body that helps minimize disease or disability so you can chase your dreams, big and small! Consequences of Inaction Being overweight is not simply about appearances. We all know that bodies come in different shapes and sizes. But all the science data concurs that being overweight is associated with degenerative, obesity-related illnesses like osteoarthritis of the knees, hips, and spine. Being overweight is also associated with Type 2 diabetes, which is an epidemic and, as of 2018, affecting over 34 million Americans, adding three million new cases per year, which is more than the current COVID-19 pandemic. Being overweight also contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and neurological (nerve-related) diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s as well as certain cancers. Scary stuff! What’s your reason to get healthier? What’s going to inspire you to put in the discipline to incorporate daily healthy lifestyle habits to get healthier, resulting in losing weight, having more energy, sleeping better, etc. You may lead a long life, but there’s a difference between life expectancy and quality of life! I understand that change is not easy, but not confronting the consequences of inaction will inevitably lead to disease. Please don’t wait! Take baby steps if needed, but do something about your health now! Your family and loved ones will also benefit greatly from you taking care of yourself. My wife and I never want to be a burden to our only daughter. I’ll be 69 and she’ll be 70 this December. We have energy and brain power to stay productive and, of course, create pleasure moments along the way. Our lives are by no means perfect, but overall, they’re pretty darn good. Maintain healthy lifestyle habits: Eat nutrient-dense food, move your body, get quality sleep, avoid negative people, and create pleasure moments along the way to help minimize stress. Nobody can do this for you; I know you can do this!
These stats from last month’s newsletter are worth repeating: After a year of COVID-19, 70% of Americans are now overweight with a body mass index (BMI is the ratio between height and weight) of over 30, and 40% of this overweight group is now obese (BMI over 35). That’s one hundred million, or 1 in 3, obese Americans at risk for major health problems as they age. Yikes! Unfortunately, many Americans have developed a misguided dependence on drugs and surgery to replace their un healthy lifestyle habits . Now, here we go again, another drug is on the market, possibly headed toward being this year’s weight loss miracle drug and becoming next year’s class-action lawsuit. Prior pharmaceutical drug therapy for obesity , according to the Chicago Tribune, July 4, 2021, has “gone down in flames, having to be withdrawn because of failure and side effects.” Think of the 1990s obesity drug Fen-Phen being taken off the market in 1997 due to cardiac problems including heart attacks. What began as a “miracle drug” turned into a nightmare. The latest weight loss “miracle drug” is Wegovy . The warnings include gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, enough to cause upwards of 10% of participants to stop the trial. Also included were thyroid tumors, pancreas inflammation (think pancreatitis), and depression. The study trial spanned over 14 months. This weight loss drug therapy required a weekly self- injection. The expense was $1,300 per month over the 14 months for a total of $18,400! Note: After stopping this drug, participants regained over half of their weight lost . The average weight loss over this 14-month trial period was 34 pounds, and the participants’ average weight loss was approximately 10%, meaning most of these participants began at over 300 pounds. This new drug therapy for obesity appears to be another instance of medicalization of lifestyle vs. you maintaining healthy lifestyle habits . Bear in mind that even the Wegovy program required a healthy diet, regular exercise, and keeping a food diary. The ProblemWith Drug Therapy for Weight Loss:
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The side effects and high cost noted
And I’m always here to help as needed.
–Dr. Paul Braadt
• Thinking you can escape the personal responsibility to actually do what it takes, on a daily basis, to keep this machine called
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