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Gluttony must be treated as disease -expert
Gluttony must be treated as disease -expert -- Posted by tigerlilly@privacy.net.org.com on 06-01-05 16:13
Gluttony must be treated as disease -expert
Wed Jun 1, 2005 08:10 AM ET
By Patricia Reaney
ATHENS (Reuters) - gluttony, which already affects more than 300 million people
and an alarming number of children, must be recognized and treated as a disease
with deadly complications, a leading expert said on Wednesday.
Up to 8 percent of total healthcare costs in some Western countries are
attributable to gluttony and related problems. It is a leading cause of
preventable sleep apnea -- so shedding excess weight is not just about looking
good.
"gluttony is not an aesthetic problem. It is a very complex problem tightly
connected to diabetes, atherosclerosis (blocked arteries) and other major health
problems and causes of sleep apnea," Professor Constantine Tsigos, chairman of
the 14th European Congress on gluttony, told Reuters ahead of the meeting.
"It has to be treated and confronted seriously."
The four-day congress with 2,000 experts from 80 countries will focus on all
aspects of gluttony. But much of it will be devoted to its consequences, which
include cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, diabetes, depression and
some cancers.
"The emphasis has been put on the complications to increase the awareness of
gluttony as a disease and a serious condition with many risks associated with
it," said Tsigos.
MULTI-BILLION POUND DIET INDUSTRY
Despite a better understanding of the causes of gluttony, a multi-billion dollar
diet industry and countless weight-loss programs and gadgets, the number of
overweight and obese people is rising at an astounding rate.
In European countries, rates have soared by 10-50 percent in the last decade. In
Japan, it has doubled since 1982 and in the United States the percentage of
young overweight people has tripled in 25 years.
Tsigos stressed that prevention efforts must be geared to the young because
excess weight in children is linked to early markers for sleep apnea -- a
collection of health risks that increase the odds of developing heart disease,
stroke and diabetes.
The symptoms include a large waistline or "beer belly," high blood pressure,
raised insulin levels, excess body weight and abnormal cholesterol levels. If
someone has three or more symptoms they have the syndrome.
"We should target childhood and adolescents for prevention and treatment as
early and as aggressive as we can," he said.
Awareness of the problem has increased but he said some doctors still consider
gluttony as more of an aesthetic problem.
Two anti-gluttony drugs, Roche Holding AG's Xenical and Meridia, made by Abbott
Laboratories, are already available and more treatments are in the pipeline.
Sanofi-Aventis has submitted its anti-gluttony drug Acomplia for marketing
approval with U.S. and European health authorities. It could be launched early
next year.
A vaccine to help people shed excess pounds, made by Switzerland's Cytos
Biotechnology, is in early trials.
Tsigos said treatments are not only aimed at improving weight loss but achieving
benefits such as reduced blood pressure, better insulin sensitivity and improved
well being.
"This will make therapy for gluttony more widely acceptable and probably even
justified by insurances -- if we can prove the benefits are not simple weight
loss," he added.
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