One BIG Society

David Cameron has been talking lately about Britain turning into one big society, but I wonder if he realises just how near we are to becoming just that.  With government statistics showing an increase in patients being admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of obesity last year of more than ten times that of ten years ago this definitely should give us some "food" for thought. In fact Britain is the 3rd "Fattest" country in the world and is set to grow!

(Over De Flames, Norwich, 3 kilo 13000 calorie burger)

With restaurant owners and fast food operator's now competing as to who can produce the biggest burger, and indeed challenging people to a free meal if they could eat such a monstrosity, who is going to take responsibility?   

But is Obesity purely a result of gluttony? The answer is quite simply NO! There are so many factors involved that may cause somebody to fall into the categories of obesity, both medical and social, too many indeed to list. Indeed recent research shows that Obesity could in fact be genetic and has identified the culprit gene. 

Researchers from King’s College London and the University of Oxford have discovered that KLF14 is linked to a range of metabolic traits including body mass index and obesity, cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels.

“This is the first major study that shows how small changes in one master regulator gene can cause a cascade of other metabolic effects in other genes,” said Professor Tim Spector from the department of Twin Research at Kings.

Researchers examined over 20,000 genes in subcutaneous fat biopsies from 800 UK female twin volunteers, finding an association between KLF14 and the expression levels of multiple distant genes found in fat tissue.
This was confirmed by a further independent sample of 600 biopsies from Icelandic subjects.

 

Earlier research by the University of Cambridge and was funded by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and Academy of Medical Sciences however refutes this opinion

 

But if Obesity is here to stay and not just a lifestyle choice we need to adapt to manage it, indeed the NHS has recently imported scales from the United States which means they can now accurately weigh patients and encourage weight loss.  

Obesity can also be the cause of other disease including some cancers and it is important that these are diagnosed at an early stage, however the diameter of conventional MRI scanners for example is only 60cm/24 inches making it inaccessible to most Obese patients.  There are however some MRI scanners which are ideal for larger patients, being open sided gives a larger aperture enabling patients to be scanned comfortably.

How can we change our lifestyles and opinions and influence our children?  The Goverment is investing millions of pounds in various projects such as the Change 4 Life scheme aimed at encouraging families to eat healthier and exercise more.   

 

We asked the question earlier "Who is going to take responsibility?" the answer should be WE ALL ARE, so when your next sat in the drive through ordering a chicken nugget happy box, just think do you really want your child to be next years statistic? .............

 

Welcome to the Newcastle Clinic Blog.

The purpose of this blog is to open discussion on current health issues both in the private and public sector, to share thoughts, techniques and experiences with other healthcare professionals and like minded  people.                                                                                                                                                                           With the ever changing developments within the NHS and politicians now twisting and turning more than the Cirque du Soleil, should set the scene for interesting times ahead......................