Obesity: how prejudiced is the NHS , bbc2 9pm

[HalfShellHero]

Im interested in this, I am overweight and have experienced both prejudice and support in certain areas, i hope the programme is well balanced and doesn't paint overweight people or drs in a bad light. Anyone else gonna be watching?

I watched it and found it very interesting, and thought the presenter argued the case for gastric bypass surgery very well. Nobody should be made to feel like second class citizen because of their weight, and their access to the health service should be the same as anyone else's.

I hope the people they showed who had the surgery are doing well - I felt especially sorry for the lady near the end who was in the catch 22 situation of obesity leading to heart problems/can't have obesity surgery because of heart problems. I hope she is doing well now.

I come from the position of having been a very slim person until I had cancer -then a combination of cancer treatment, steroids, hormonal drugs and severe thyroid probs caused by my chemo, have led to me being overweight. It is very hard for me to lose weight. I fall into the category of overweight rather than obese now - but I have health problems relating to the fact that I carry too much weight.

There is huge amount of prejudice surrounding what is a complex issue. People are very unsympathetic to obesity but more sympathetic to other supposedly 'self inflicted' condition (say drug or alcohol related problems) To be clear, I think people with drug/alcohol/ whatever problems are equally as entitled to good treatment from the NHS, judginess shouldn't come into health care.

I'm justill watching this now on i player didn't manage it last night , yes I certainly experienced prejudice on the labour ward a surgeon with a male med student, and just stuck his hand "down there" with no courtesy feeling the engaged head said to him something about the maternal mother carrying extra weight. I complained to head midwife ...nothing And GPsee who passed off persistent colds/infections as well carrying weight will make it worse. I didn't know about the diabetes element . I really
Think it speaks volumes that noone has hardly posted on here judging how most obesity threads on here go. Perhaps not wanting to be confronted with their own prejudices.

I feel so sorry for Philippa

I watched this last night. I used to be obese I lost ten stone on Slimming World.

What wasnt covered by the programme is the fact that the prejudice continues AFTER youve lost the weight. How many successful slimmers are waiting on a list in agony to have their gall bladder removed after developing gallstones due to fast weight loss.

When it happened to me it wasnt well known that fast weight loss could cause it. Its well known now though.

Towards the end of the programme something really niggled me about the way Dr Hilary Jones was sitting there with other GPs smirking at Professor Rachel.

Scrolling down the twitter hashtag i found that he endorses Lighter Life.

He chose to disbelieve her before he even entered the room.

Obesity.............the last acceptable prejudice.

By Professor Rachel Batterham.

www.hippocraticpost.com/nhs/obesity-last-acceptable-prejudice/#.WO5X-zzpU8p.twitter

Ive called it "the safe prejudice" both on MN and in RL.

Kurri My weight wasnt caused by anything like that but i WILL refuse steroids or anything related to it IF i have the misfortune (touches wood) to get ill.

Ive said before if the NHS are going to bang on about obesity they need to put their money where their mouths are. I feel even more strongly about this fact after watching this programme.

There was an MNer who posted on one of the weight threads a while ago that her consultant had a go at her about her weight at the same time as writing out another prescription for steroids. The MNer "lost it" with them. The next time she went in the alternative treatment (£12"000 a year injections) had been approved.

There have been MNers who post on weight threads INSISTENT that steroids wont make a difference if you watch your diet
And another MNer pointed out that her anorexic aunt had gained weight on steroids and that it must have been all those imaginary biscuits shes been eating.

Imagine recovering from cancer , your hair has grown back but you are still carrying the extra weight and end up with people moaning at you about your weight or bullying you in the street.

Ive been bullied and abused in the street because of my weight before. I will NOT go there again for ANY reason.

Yes Helen I agree with much of what you posted . And yes with Dr Hilary Jones! even he stated societal treatment effected the professional behaviour of drs! And health care offered

*Helena even

Oh yes - I agree about Hilary Jones - that niggled me too !

I found after my cancer treatment when I expressed concern over my weight gain, the response was always 'but you had cancer and now you are getting better - what are you complaining about, weight gain is a minor issue'

I have lots of friends who have gained weight after cancer treatment who have had exactly the same response. Then of course when you do gain the weight you start getting treated prejudicially (I had reconstructive surgery refused for over two years until I had reached a suitable weight for surgery) - which while I understand the reasons for needing to lose weight for lengthy surgery, absolutely no one gave me any help or advice on how to do it. It was simply 'go away and get thinner'.
If it were that easy, no one would be over weight !!

I do tend to avoid MN threads on obesity because there are so many judgemental people who have never struggled with their weight who make me feel awful.

That's an interesting article Helena - thanks for posting.
HalfShellHero - I'm sorry you were treated so disrespectfully during your labour, that's shameful

KurriKurri : so glad to hear you beat cancer and sorry you got unhelpful advice after gaining weight. Thanks yeah that was really infuriating, but tbh all the way through pregnancy as plus sized you get prejudiced remarks.

but i WILL refuse steroids or anything related to it IF i have the misfortune (touches wood) to get ill.

Sometimes they're the only thing you can take. Had I refused steroids, knowing they'd make me fat, I'd be blind now with multiple organ problems. NHS won't just prescribe £12k injections if you put up a fight they're third line treatment (assuming you mean biological) after steroids and immunosuppressants fail and you need to have funding requests and meetings with medical evidence to show they're necessary. I've been on all three at once and it still took a year to get the condition under control. Id rather be fat than dying. It's easy to say never if you've not been in that position yourself

Teabag I get where you are coming from. But being treated as a second class citezen when i was overweight, when i was losing weight and got gallstones , (including being treated like a drug addict and begging for morphine, not because i was addicted but because it was the only thing that would stop the excrutiating pain.) the doc must have misjudged the dose because i ended up in hospital on Christmas Day 2002 because my legs kept giving way and i could not stand up.

And having an A and E cubicle door slammed shut with the nurse tutting at me because my screaming in pain was disturbing other patients.

Its hardly surprising it has made me a little bitter when all this was while i was DOING something about my weight.

the idea of steroids scares the shit out of me tbh. I worked damn hard to lose it.

Im sorry both you and Kurri have been through such a crap time with your illnesses though

Both those mentioned were different times in A and E. I was back and forth A LOT then eventually given morphine pills which melted under my tongue. Took ten months from the first attack to the gall bladder removal op.

HalfShell I also cant help noticing that the usual suspects are missing from this thread too.

Kurri i should probably avoid those other threads a bit more too. Constantly being judged when i was bigger really took its toll on my mental health as well as the pressure to be slimmer. Those threads remind me of those times.

I have even had idiots in RL tell me its possible to excercise off loose skin (i have some on my tummy) Which proves a lot of ppl get their info from celebrity rags.

Believe me when your in hospital in the resus area fighting for a breath and they have called the icu Dr's down to see you their no chance to say "no thanks to the steroids". Predniselone has a lot of terrible side effects but it is also amazing.

I've just watched this.

Something I didn't understand was how the patients blood sugar was down to normal levels the day after surgery, without them actually having lost weight - why is this? Was it explained at all?
It could infer that it's an issue other than weight affecting the blood sugar, but not sure what.

societal expectations= expectations of Daily Mail readers.

curtains i didnt know that that kind of surgery could put Type 2 diabetes straight into remission until i watched this.

Helena - I'd heard that the surgery was recommended for those with type 2, but thought it was just a weight loss thing. Sounds like it might be something else too.

I've just been on google, the short answer is that they're not sure . Apparently the surgery itself can making some metabolic changes...

I was really surprised about the diabetes thing aswell almost overnight!

Michael Mosley's book the blood sugar diet was written on the back of research someone had done into why gastric band patients weee going into remission from type 2 diabetics days after surgery even before they'd lost significant weight. Really interesting.

helena I had gallstones after pregnancy, most painful thing ever, tons of morphine required . Had never equated it with dramatic weight loss before but makes sense!