Obesity Essay, Research Paper

America has become a society obsessed with visual aspect, particularly weight. We are conditioned

at a immature age to believe the lone manner to be normal is to be thin. This norm is projected to 1000000s of

Americans each twenty-four hours through telecasting, magazines, hoardings and every other signifier of media and

advertisement. How are people to cognize credence and felicity with themselves and others when

our civilization propagates what the perfect organic structure should be.

It is the hunt for the elusive, perfect organic structure that has created a 33 billion dollars a twelvemonth

weight loss industry. Yet few cut down their organic structure fat and even fewer maintain their weight loss beyond

two to three old ages. This leads to yo-yo dieting and increased low self-pride of people invariably

fighting to go what they see as a normal member of society.

A job that lies within this job, is the inveterate corpulent individual. Fleshiness is when one & # 8217 ; s organic structure

wieght is 25-30 % above normal. While fleshy is 20-30 lbs over normal. Most people,

including wellness attention suppliers see the job with fleshiness as eating excessively much and exerting excessively

small. But in truth, for many corpulent people the job lies with familial sensitivity, metabolic

jobs, orgy feeding or sometimes all. These factors make dieting virtually impossible because

these jobs are non 1s that can be solved by merely cutting Calories. Particularly the job of

orgy feeding.

Compulsive & # 8220 ; orgy & # 8221 ; eating in the obese is non caused by merely desiring to eat. The privation to eat is

caused by looking for a sense of security. A sense of security wanted because there are hapless or no

get bying accomplishments for emphasis or depression and low self-pride. Therefore, when a compulsive overeater

or orgy feeder diet, the diet is doomed to neglect because the weight returns when the individual sketchs

normal feeding. Therefore making an even greater depression.

Now many corpulent people have medical research to turn to as to why the weight they lost normally

comes back. Recent research has strongly backed the set-point theory, which says that when an

single loses weight, the organic structure & # 8217 ; s metabolic rate adjusts in order to return to the baseline weight.

Research with animate beings has revealed a protein called leptin. Leptin circulates in the blood and

signals the set point mechanism in the encephalon, which tells how much fat is present in the organic structure. The

protein is believed to be produced by an fleshiness cistron called ob. When leptin is injected into gnawers,

it lessened appetite and increased Calories being burned. However, leptin is still really much in early

experimental phases, because even though it may estimate how much fat you have it does non at this

point state how much you want.

Another recent discovery was the find of unocortin. Unocortin appears to stamp down

appetite when the organic structure is under terrible emphasis. It is a cousin of the encephalon chemical that generates the

organic structure & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; fight or flight & # 8221 ; response. Unocortin was discovered at the Salk Institute, when a research worker

was analyzing a neuropeptide which activates organic structure stress reactors. He noticed receptors in parts of

the encephalon where the chemical did non be. However, it may be a long clip before unocortin is

really a consumer drug. At this clip, the lone manner unocortin works is to be straight injected into the

encephalon. A company called Neurocin Biosciences, is already researching the encephalon receptor unocortin

locks onto to work.

For now, the 5-hydroxytryptamine re-uptake inhibitor drugs are the lone diet drugs being used in the U.S.

These drugs work by impacting eating behaviour. Eating behaviour is the consequence of a mixture of

neurotransmitters. The nexus between 5-hydroxytryptamine and eating upsets was discovered in the early

1980 & # 8217 ; s. The 5-hydroxytryptamine inhibitors include Lovan, Redux and phen-fen ( Phentermine and Fenfluramine ) .

Phen-fen is the drug combination presently recieving so much attending. Phentermine is similar to

an pep pill and it works to increase metabolic rate. Fenfluramine ( trade name name Pondimin ) in-

folds

the 5-hydroxytryptamine degree, which decreases appetency. However, neither drug works entirely. They

merely have optimal consequence together.

Phen-fen is how I became interested in the research of new fleshiness drugs. I foremost learned of

phen-fen in June. The article I read in the Knoxville paper about people who had taken the medical specialty,

showed it to be what I and many others had been waiting for. I eventually believed my existent opportunity to

lose weight had arrived. So with existent expectancy, I made the two and half hr thrust to Monticello,

Kentucky. My first month on the medical specialty was great, I lost 14 lbs and wholly lost any

desire to eat. The irresistible impulse I usually felt late at dark to nosh was gone. My job with

phen-fen began the 2nd month, when I started sing depression. One of the possible

side effects mentioned was depression in people who had suffered clinical depression or were prone

to depression. I knew this when I started the medical specialty, but I thought anything was deserving put on the lining

if it meant losing weight. By the 3rd month, the depression was worse and I had to do a

determination. Be it truly deserving losing weight if it meant losing my mental stableness?

I decided it was non deserving it to me. When I made the determination, I could non believe the pick I

made. My whole life has been spent wishing I had a different organic structure. I thought that losing weight

was someway traveling to work out every job I had. But when I realized I did non desire to be

depressed once more, I realized that thin people have jobs to and my jobs would be no

affair what the size ticket in my apparels read.

After I quit taking the medical specialty, the impulse to eat whether I was hungry or non did return. But I

hold continued to contend the impulses and so far have merely gained a twosome of lbs back from what I

lost. Possibly the thing I most of the medical specialty, was the energy and the feeling of motive.

Other side effects of phen-fen are dry oral cavity, giddiness, short-run memory loss, and in some

the serious job of pneumonic high blood pressure. The New England Journal of Medicine presented

an column on the benefits and hazard of phen-fen and other drugs in this category. The doctors who

wrote the article, wrote that sing the wellness hazards of fleshiness for some, that the possible hazard

for pneumonic high blood pressure did non outweigh the benefits of the drugs if used suitably.

Overall, I am glad I took the hazard to seek phen-fen. There was ever the posibility that the med-

icine might hold worked for me. But I am besides glad that I have an apprehension of the organic structure & # 8217 ; s

metabolic nature and was able to acknowledge my symptoms for depression. For many others, the deficiency

of apprehension of what is traveling on in their organic structure is why many who have tried phen-fen have non

been successful with their experience. Therefore, it is the physician & # 8217 ; s duty to wholly

inform clients of all possible side effects and to exhaustively explicate to them what is traveling on in their

organic structure while they are taking the medicine. It is besides anyone & # 8217 ; s duty who is serious about

taking any medicine of this kind, to happen out for themselves what is traveling on and what could

happen.

In this paper I have outlined assorted physical causes of fleshiness and possible interventions for the

physical factors. But medicine, exercising, healthy diet, none of these things will efficaciously do

lasting weight loss until a individual is ready to be happy with their organic structure and their overall ego.

You can non successfully lose weight if you think your life is all of a sudden traveling to acquire better after the

weight is gone. You have to desire to make it because you love yourself and you want a healthier

organic structure. I think this is the most of import thing I have eventually learned about life and about myself. I hope

that in the hereafter there will be a clip when people are non judged by their visual aspect, hence

those that think a different organic structure will do them happy, will eventually be able to be believe their

worth is based on who they are and non what they look like.

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