story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20031219/od_nm/obesity_dc

Hospitals Burdened by Obese Patients

Fri Dec 19, 8:16 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. hospitals are buying expensive new equipment such as reinforced toilets and oversized beds to treat the growing number of severely obese patients, according to a survey released on Thursday.

Novation, a group-purchasing organization for hospitals and other health-care institutions, found that hospitals are seeing more severely obese patients, people who are overweight by at least 100 pounds.

The group quoted 80 percent of hospitals as saying they had treated more severely obese patients in the last year than ever before, with 17 percent saying they had remodeled to accommodate the largest patients.

"We are finding that hospitals across the country are buying more large-size beds, larger blood pressure cuffs, wider, reinforced wheelchairs and larger versions of other basic supplies to adjust to patient needs," Jody Hatcher, senior vice president of Novation, said in a statement.

More than 30 percent of U.S. adults are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites). This translates to 59 million people.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more. BMI is a measure of weight versus height, and serious health implications such as heart disease kick in at BMIs of 30 and above. This can mean being as few as 30 pounds above desired weight. But as obesity becomes more common in the United States, so does extreme obesity.

Web sites such as http://fatcities.com offer furniture to accommodate people weighing 500 pounds and more, while http://funeraldepot.com has a line of oversized caskets.

Wausau Hospital in Wausau, Wisconsin, told Novation it spent $200,000 this year to remodel rooms, order special equipment and train staff to deal with extremely obese patients.

"We've had to buy special, longer surgical gloves and even needles and syringes," said Kent Demien, director of materials management at Wausau. "Standard equipment becomes obsolete on many of our larger patients."

Demien said many patients or hospital visitors are too heavy for a wall-mounted toilet, which can handle up to 300 pounds. The hospital plans to replace them with pedestal commodes that can support 2,000 pounds.

The Novation survey polled administrators from 69 U.S. hospitals representing small, rural hospitals and large urban centers.

Oh boy another a fat people thread...

can we ge a ugly girl thread to?

I'll say it:

Fat people suck!!!!

Wobbly assed,aisle clogging, tent dress wearing, gut hanging over their belt, I hope they die significantly earlier, FAT PEOPLE!!!

Put down the buffalo wings!!!!!
DON"T EVER supersize anything- ever again!!!!
Cheese in NOT a vegetable.
Remember walking farther then 50 ft at a time???? Good!! Try it again.

Longer surgical gloves --conceivably because you have to reach deeper into obese patients-- and longer needles. Think about that for a moment.

You never see old fat people, and there's a damn good reason why.

Insert:  Drug abusers, homosexuals, liberals, etc.

I think you've got issues there, Hits.

I’m a big guy (6’4” – 275).  My “feel good/look good” weight is around 230.  Any lower than that and feel like a fucking scarecrow.  I’ve had a weight problem all my life but it’s mostly lifestyle related.  I know I can weigh less (and have) and I’m sure as hell not going to blame everything else in the world for my problem.  As I was growing up I got a lot of shit about being overweight (I’m 46 now).

Now as I look around I feel positively skinny compared to a LOT of people I see.  Christ, I see young teenagers that are nearly my size, shorter and almost all fat disguised by “urban attire”.

They keep bumping up the clothes sizes to disguise this.  As a young person I needed to get some things from the “Big and Tall” place.  Now I can very comfortably fit into a lot of stuff off the rack marked XL.  Before I’d need at least a XLT or 2XL to come close.  Hell, a lot of the time 2XL stuff is BAGGY on me.

I also notice that I’m a LOT lighter and faster on my feet than most people around me.  I can move quicker and slide in and out of tighter places than most people I encounter.  A necessity when dealing with the lumbering elephants clogging the aisles at Wal-Mart.

I wonder if there is some sort of upper limit on this?  How far can medical science keep compensating for “nature”.  How soon until a typical American looks like Jabba the Hutt?

Now try to tell yourself the problem is one of 'fat acceptance', because 'big is beautiful'.
Doesn't work anymore, does it?

I did my residency at that hospital and now work in a clinic across the street. It is there that I came to the conclusion that obesity was AT LEAST as bad as smoking. Personally, I think it is worse. My read.
And it is bad up here. The obesity problem in the US notwithstanding, it is extreme in WI. Winters are long, lots of great high fat food like cheese, sausage, awesome steaks, etc.

So the "Food Pyramid" was a lie? No shi'ite? Eat all the fvcking carbs you want! Why, there's no fat in them!


The low-fat myth has put this country into an obesity epidemic. SUGAR Diabetes is at a historical all time high. (YES, I said SUGAR diabetes!) Remember when they used to call it by it's REAL name? They had to drop the word SUGAR from diabetes so that it would fit into their high carb diet plan. This has been foisted upon the American public by the left-wing feel good bunch that thinks it's unethical to eat animals. Get the book [b]Protien Power[/b] by Michael Eades, MD, or get on Atkins but do something now. I guarantee Dr Eades will piss you off good when you read his opinions on how the leftists and liberals have put this "Food Pyramid" bullshirt on our country.

My mother is a nursing assisstant at a local hospital and has been one for 26 years. Constantly she talks about these obese people and how they are nothing but stressful. They are lazy and make mountains out of molehills. No wonder when she comes hom efrom work she says her back hurts. Fat people suck.

I was at Super Wally-World today and I seen two different "Large" people in the motorized shopping carts. I am certain their health problems were only from the fact that they were very very obese. I think it is sad at times. PLEASE, For your LIFE....BACK AWAY FROM THE FUCKING TABLE! IT IS POSSIBLE!

There was a guy that came into the Gas-Station I worked at in High School that died when he was in his thirties. He was regular sized when he was young but was over 600 lbs when he died. Thats the ones I feel bad for, Something was messed up in his body to cause that. The realy sad part is it's like smoking, people will kill themselves no matter what health care professionals tell them.

COZ

Compared to how people looked even thirty, forty years ago, I'd say we as a culture are already there. People in America (and Europe)are a lot heavier on average nowadays than they were back then. Nobody prepares wholesome meals from scratch anymore, and nobody exercises enough, either through recreation or work, to work off the food eaten.  Too much intake, not enough get-up-and-go.

Eventually we become a weak civilization of people who are literally too lazy and too fat and too weak-willed to get up off our asses to do anything for ourselves, and we pay people either in business or govt. to do everything for us.

Oops- I think we're already there, too....[shock]

Take those stats with a grain of salt. I am 6' 215 and considered obese. According to the doctor tables I should be 170!

But I am into lifting weights so my weight is muscle, but based off of my weight alone they claim I am obese too.

Weight charts are bullshit. Look in the mirror. Are you fat?

Quick lardass quiz:

Can you see you feet???

Can you see your penis????

Do you eat [b]while[/b] you're taking a dump???
( judging by the people i see - I assume this is a common practice)

You guys havent seen anything.  When you deal with a 450lb pregnant woman we will talk.  I wonder who in the hell got her pregnant.  Its always some 6-5 150lb guy.  I guess thats the only way he will fit.

We routinely send women to the loading dock to get weighed.  Our scales only goto 350.  The surgical beds to 500.  There is a hercules bed that will handle over 700.  One time we sent this lady to the Detroit Zoo to get a CT. The diameter of a regular scanner is only so big.  She had to wait in line behind the hippo and walrus.

The weight charts are based on data gathered in the 50s on WHITE people for insurance.  They are immensely not realistic.

I hope she got a clue.

The thing to consider is the actual amout of calories required to maintain that kind of body weight. I dont care how SLOW your metabolism is.  A certain amount is required to keep cells alive.  Now most of these people are considered disabled. Guess who picks up the tab for their care.

My 3rd year of medschool: Ob/Gyn.
450lb woman getting a D&C for menometrorraghia. Bullshit as her obesity was the cause of her problem. Anyway, the hospital bought a special bed for her and the most heavy duty "stirrups" that were available. Bed held up but the weight of her legs bent those stirrups like they were melting. Two med students held up her legs, one on each. My job was to reach over her enormous gut to spread her labia apart--it wasn't easy. Should've realized then....

I think the last one I looked at years ago said I should be no more 205 or some other dumbass number like that.

One time when I was 20 or so I dropped down to 193 (at 6'4").  I looked so ridiculous (and was so fragile) that I KNEW that it was total bullshit.

I think the problem is the weight coupled with the total lack of activity for a lot of people.  You end up with people that ride around on those scooters, not because they have true mobility problems but because it’s just too damn inconvenient to WALK.

Combine THAT attitude with the “well, the world should accommodate ME” mentality that society programs into everyone today and you have the current crisis.

You don’t dare tell someone, even in a respectful and professional way, that they are a lardass and need to change their lifestyle.  They’ll sue your ass for defamation and then expect the Government to pay them for their “disability”.

No different from hundreds of things that are classed as an “illness” rather than putting the responsibility where it lies… on the person themselves.

I love it when morbidly obese patients tell you "but I don't even eat!".  I'd like to tell them 'I guess this fat just mysteriously appeared and incorporated itself into your body'.  Every time I hear that phrase I think of the ever elusive perpetual motion machine.
 

Hey, FUCK YOU ALL!!! I work in a Bakery, and those sweet tub-o-lards keep me in a paycheck!
Whenever I see a Samoan woman cross the street, I know she's comin' to daddy!
My Uncle who is a surgeon would starve if it weren't for all the fat people with clogged
arteries needing Angio-plasties(sp?)
We CAN find success in FAT if look deep enough!
[;)]

You know what I get out of these fat people threads?

[b]How many of you really want to discuss a serious health problem in America and how many of you think you are perfect, superior, and your shit doesn't stink.[/b]

The only good thought I have is those of you that fit in the latter group will most likely die alone in a rest home in your own perfect shit for no one loves an asshole.

Tj

You shouldn't have killed your thread bud, it was a good one with a good plan.

Tj

fat huh? sucks don't it? [;d]

Seriously, I agree with you to a point, lots of people just looking to feel good about
themselves.  However, lardasses that refuse to take the twinkie out of their mouths are a good part of the reason our healthcare costs are skyrocketing.

Obesity is the EASIEST health risk to control, and yet so many people refuse to do it.  BBW and all that bullshit.  for christ's sake put down the bigmac & get off your butt!  I propose a higher health insurance premium for tubbos.

My dog loves me[;)]

The worst ones to see are the kids. 10 year olds weighing over 200lbs. Parents are to blame. Use food to control and placate the kids and then wonder why they are obese. It's child abuse. Really is.

we were at benihana the other night, saw a kid whose head was the size of a basketball!

Afraid not, 20lbs over by doctors orders, it's a long story and it's a chore to keep it there. I don't eat alot and was always a skinny fuck. Right now I'm 8 lbs over that so it's time to pick up the exercise and reduce intake. I go through this shit ever winter and never seem to learn when to adjust.  

Check up was today, heart of an 18 year old, not bad for an old fart. Blood pressure 110 over 60.  Hey, let's pick on people with high blood pressure. Damn salt eaters.LOL

I don't condemn people with eating dissorders or obeasity for I see it as a illness or an addiction which is an illness and addictions I know a bit about for I've had many.  

I especially love the drunk that condemns the fat man.  Hilarious stuff.

Tj

I'm 5'11, 140 pounds...

Fortunately this is not a problem for me. My problem is that no matter how much I eat I can't gain weight.

obese/fat = health riks ;;;; SMARTEN UP OR DIE PEMATURELY, like I give a F

[puke] [puke] [puke]

I dont think any of those here think our shit dont stink.  But there are excesses that are out of control. I bet about 70-80% of out health problems are directly related to our diet and health habits.  Do you really need to eat fast food for lunch everyday?  Look at how many calories are in a 20 oz of pop.  A couple of those and you might as well eaten a snickers bar.

OH the fat ladies!  Jarhead, I know the pain, official labia spreader. I had to check this woman 450+ in labor.  My fingers and arms are not that long.  Yup 2 med student effort.  One on each leg pulling them apart as far they will go. I am gowned head to toe.  I needed a board tied to my ass so I wouldnt fall in.  These guys were straining!  One hurt his arm and was taking meds ths next day.  Thank God my shift ended and I could leave.  But I stuck around to watch. My classmate ended up cutting her. She was so big the OR bed couldnt handle the weight.  They had to leave her on the regular bed.  It was like surgery long distance style.  You had to reach over and stretch. It was amazing.  We attached curlex to her belly with towel clips and the med students had to lean back.  The dudes looked like they were waterskiing.  I will NEVER forget that sight!  

Now, fat does produce extra estrogen.  Alot of heavy women will have menorrhagia because of that.  I end up treating a lot of heavy women for hyperplasia.  So I think there is a link.  However, I have also seen skinny women have high grade endometrial cancer.

Normal behaviour there Doc?

What's wrong??? You a fat ass or sumpthin'????

I don't give a fuck about fat slobs. I live in the fattest city in the country. Fuck all you nasty fat azzes!!!!
Too fucking stupid to realize how badly they're fucking themselves - and all of us at the same time...
Or am I supposed to be understanding about it??? It's not their fault-- they might have a medical problem......ad nauseum.....wtfe....
fat people ar nasty.
get of your ass and learn how to eat a decent diet.

I don't know. There's something about a doctor posting the above, that makes my skin crawl. I bet if I showed your post to every medical professional I know, not one of them would laugh, or even smile.

His was a reply to my post. We are both MDs and I had a good laugh over it. Most of the guys I was in medschool with had a pretty good laugh over my experience also. You've gotta laugh about some of it or it would get old real damn fast.

Yeah, there are plenty of stuffed shirt, corncob up their ass medical professionals. Nobody much likes them though. Hell, they don't like themselves. Wives probably don't think much of 'em either.

I agree.  You have different perspective as a med student or resident.  You show them what I wrote and they will tell you their own stories. I work with these people all the time. Its shop talk. Doesnt mean we dont care.  There are a million and one stories and more.  If you dont make fun of it you will not be able to do for any length of time.  You have see the absurdness in the situations.  If you have never told a story about work or others you have seen, good for you.  

As much as I hate subsidizing anyone’s vice, you have to ask yourself, when does it end? Are you going to insist on higher health insurance premiums for those who ride motorcycles? How about those who river raft? Gun owners? I mean, those individuals don’t have to ride motorcycles or endanger their lives on the river or shooting, do they? Why should I subsidize their stupid recklessness? They can stop anytime they like. It’s as easy as putting down that Big Mac, right?

Yup, and NOBODY seems to want to get out & exercise in the winter cold either...  Many hate winter sports, skiing, etc...

Minnesota has tons of FAT CHICKS, and I [b]DON'T MEAN PHAT WITH A "P.H."!!![/b]

I agree.  The ones that don't develop a sense of black humor are the ones that stress and burn out quickly.

I'm right there with ya, friend.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. Shouldn't the title of this thread read: Hospitals Weighed Down By Obese Patients?

DrJarHead, My dear friend....you have just described hell as eloquently as I have ever heard.  Tell me, was the muzac version of "Dust In The Wind" playing in the background?


-HS

You know what the problem is?  Cheap, plentiful food.  Never before in the course of human history has food ever been so plentiful and so cheap.  We fill up on the cheapest grains and then think we have to eat enough protein to satiate a hungry person.  Then when we get hungry, we do it all over again.

Try this.  Cut out the triple helpings of carbohydrates.  Eat 1/2 of what you normally do and fill up on water and ice.  Just water and ice.  No sugar, no tea, no nothing.  Water and ice.  Stop eating at 1700 hours.  Nothing but water after 1700.  Eat a real breakfast.  Two eggs, bacon or sausage and 1/2 cup of oatmeal.  Throw in a fresh fruit.  Just one.

Trust me, you will lose weight unless you are bedridden.

Actually, I do pay extra for my bike.  Granted I choose to, but I do pay extra.
Also, I know people that have ridden motorcycles their whole lives and never had a hospital-trip accident.  Same goes for lots of other "extreme" activities.  I've never met or heard of a tubbo that doesn't require two or three times the trips to the dr. every year.

Tell ya what, I could VERY easily be obese if I let myself go.  It's in my genes.  And you know what I LOVE to eat.  Besides sex, there's nothing I like better than to eat, especially junk food.
But since I am aware of this, I work out a LOT...and I am not fat.  I probably contribute to the idiotic obesity labels because I am 5'10", 205 lbs but that's from lifting.  
Given that I do NOT consider myself more strong-willed than the average person, I see no reason whatsoever why other people who tend towards obesity can't do what I do and not be fat.  The only conclusion I can come to is that the ones who don't have a medical problem that makes them fat are simply lazy.
You may not LIKE that conclusion, but there it is.

One of my favorite songs.
I just remember thinking, "dude, you're already 55K in debt, not much choice now!"

Mattja ----- you said it all.  Very wise.

I have been skinny all of my life.  Well into my 50's now.  Leave people the hell alone.  

Most people are NOT aware that the rising health care costs come from two areas:  Illegal immigrants and AIDS.  You won't hear that on ABC, NBC, CBS etc.  

There should be NO payout for injuries or illness related to the activity/condition.  
Get fat: the medical bills fall on you.  Smoke: the medical bills fall on you.