Do Obese People Live Longer?
Dr. Vincent Marks, emeritus professor of clinical biochemistry at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom does not believe that obesity is as dangerous as the media portray. Is he right?
The mainstream medical community has disavowed and distanced themselves from Dr. Mark's research. His research throws into question the accuracy of the data mainstream physicians use to make claims about how being fat leads to cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
Dr. James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado, said that "Type two diabetes rarely happens in people who aren't obese." This may be true but it is also true that obesity doesn't cause diabetes, and diabetes doesn't make people fat. There is however, a link between the two: Obesity and diabetes both result from consuming a lot of sugar and starch over time.
Dr Marks is not alone in his opinion based on his research. A few authors outside the medical field believe that obesity is just a convenient scapegoat for heart attacks and diabetes. They think that exercise, diet, and genes that make one more susceptible to disease make up a large reason for obesity. Of course, exercise, diet and genetic predisposition are harder to measure and verify than a simple number like weight.
So has Marks fallen off his medical rocking chair or is there other research-based evidence backing his beliefs up? In 2005, a CDC study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that overweight people commonly live a longer life than "normal weight" people. This conclusion has been confirmed by more than a dozen independent studies.
After each of these studies, mainstream medical practitioners go into immediate spin mode to limit the possibility of damage by the news, commonly attacking the legitimacy of the research study being reported.
Statistically, fat people have a better chance of surviving heart attacks because their hearts work harder than normal and are therefore, over time, better conditioned to endure stress.
So , no matter what we read, it is best to maintain an open mind to all possibilities if we are to make real progress. Morality has been laid out in countless texts pretty much in black and white. Unfortunately, many in the sciences would carry on their backs definitive conclusions that often seem black and white, ignoring contrary evidence that accumulates until it overflows its banks and forces a re-examination of commonly-held beliefs.
Marks never says fatter is better. He only wants to stop the media from pronouncing judgment on people who have or who are becoming fatter. Obesity is not good. Dr Marks would have no argument with that assertion. Just temper your beliefs with correct and accurate data - not easy to come by in today's world.
