Outrage

I was very relieved when someone finally listened to me and the diagnosis was - more or less - made official. I first reported symptoms to a doctor when I was 21. That doctor, along with so many others along the way, was very quick to chalk it up to depression. Other diagnoses from well-meaning but lazy doctors: "sicca" (well, duh - sicca is just the medical term for dry eyes and dry mouth), "you need more sleep," allergies/asthma/irritants (this one came from an allergist, so I wouldn't characterize it as "lazy"), you need to lose weight...

"You need to lose weight." According to so many doctors, this is the simple answer to all my problems. I won't deny that it IS a simple answer to some problems and it would probably relieve many symptoms to some degree. The problem is that it's too simple. I heard it over and over for many years - all the while, my thyroid has been shutting down and nobody has noticed that I have no eyebrows? I want to know why no one ever thought to look specifically for a thyroid problem when I'm doing Weight Watchers and other things and I can't lose more than 30 pounds. Ever.

I'm pretty sure the answer is that our doctors are as biased as society in general. They all watch the news reports. They all read the nasty comments written by anonymous readers and they inherently agree, even when their medical training says otherwise. They all know that extra weight is due to eating too much and not exercising enough. Everyone knows a person only needs to exercise and watch their diet and the weight will come off. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. The media feeds us a steady diet of Jared (the Subway guy) and Jennifer Hudson, the Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover (Weight Loss Edition), and plenty more. But what they don't give us is the statistics.

A Google search reveals that every 3rd person in this country is classified as obese. It's an "epidemic." It's in the headlines every day. What are we gonna do about it? Revise school lunches. Okay. Now the kids are having a hard time concentrating at school because they're hungry. Better we should fix their obesity problem at lunch. (Never mind we have no control over supper, breakfast, or after-school snacks, but okay.)

Obesity does not guarantee a person will develop health problems, though. It is not the sole cause of diabetes, and plenty of fat folks will never develop diabetes. Not that the media wants you to realize that. The other side of that coin: the media, and society, do not want you believe that excess weight is caused by medical problems. People are expected to conform to the belief that if you carry around extra weight, it's because you failed at self-control. It's your own fault. Simple as that.

It isn't that simple, though, and our medical community needs to pull themselves out of that mindset. The CDC website gives statistics on obesity and strategies to combat it. All of the strategies are lifestyle-oriented. Lose weight, eat healthy, exercise, get kids moving, take the vending machines out of schools. Not one bit of information about medical conditions that cause weight gain or prevent weight loss. Not one suggestion to see a doctor to rule out any such possibilities. My favorite comedian, Bill Engvall, has a joke on his "Here's Your Sign" CD about going to the state fair. He makes fun of a grotesquely fat women with some skinny dude "just begging for scraps." He admonishes her - if you look like that, don't go to the fair and eat like that. And then sarcastically says "I'll bet she's just got a thyroid problem." I admit it - yeah I laughed at that. Until I actually developed a thyroid problem. And that joke makes me think everyone is judging me. I DO have a thyroid problem. And I'm pretty sure nobody is buying that excuse. I'm just glad I live in the South, where people are less likely to say something to me about it.

By the way, if I had known I had a thyroid problem 10 years ago, I could have prevented most of the weight gain I've had over the last 10 years. If my doctor had just run some tests when I said "hey, I get really cold and night and can't get warm" I might weigh 100 pounds less than I do. I'd still be overweight, but perhaps more acceptably so. I wish I could sue that first doctor for the cost of bariatric surgery in order to correct her poor medical care.

But what about those statistics? It's very easy to find statistics on obesity. 1 in 3 adults is obese. 2 in 3 are overweight. Ad nauseum. Where are the statistics on how many people try and succeed at losing weight? How many people manage to keep it off? Hidden. Buried under the OBESITY/MAYHEM headlines. I was able to find an unattributed statistic that more than 90% of weight loss attempts fail. Everyone wants to believe they're going to be the one that succeeds, and that's important if you're going to try. But why do doctors believe it so much that they fail to do due diligence on the causes of the weight problem? Why would insurance companies rather pay for diabetes medications, amputations, and cardiac care rather than simply paying for a relatively inexpensive surgery that could prevent all that?

Why, indeed. I am outraged. And so should everyone else be. Our entire healthcare system is substandard because of bias.