It’s What’s Up Front That Counts
January 6, 2010
Last night, or more correctly, last afternoon (it gets dark so early this time of year), I took my first outing in the car since surgery. We were down a few items in the larder, so we went to the local grocery store. My wife drove, since I can’t effectively respond quickly in case of emergency.
I thought it would be a chance to escape cabin fever and get a little ambulatory exercise. So I came along for the ride. We wrote a list, so we would get what we actually needed, and avoid impulsive shopping.
While walking with my cane down one of the aisles, a truly enormous young man turned round the corner ahead of me. This guy was gigantic–rolls of flesh encircled his body, where once there was a waist and his frame fairly quivered with every footfall. Seeing that I was on a cane, he very politely stood aside to allow me to pass–a good thing, too, because there was no way we were passing each other in that aisle, at the same time.
I nodded in thanks and continued on my way. But I got to thinking about what lay in this man’s future, if he doesn’t take stock of himself and get control of his body weight. Odds are good that his blood lipids are way out of whack, with sky-high cholesterol and perhaps high triglycerides, too.
He’s a cinch to have heart disease, with atherosclerotic plaque in his coronary arteries, perhaps his carotids and vertebral arteries, too. This would make him a set-up for heart attacks, strokes, even PAD (peripheral artery disease). He may well have high blood pressure, a seperate cause of heart disease and strokes.
In addition, he almost certainly has insulin resistance, if not full-blown diabetes mellitus Type II, with all the potential complications of that disease. A number of cancers, too, are associated with obesity, as well as a depressed immune system (which may well be WHY cancer has an increased likelihood in the obese).
There are other physiological consequences, too. Morbid obesity makes it much harder to breathe, easier to aspirate, easier to get pneumonia and more likely to get a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) with possible pulmonary embolism (which can also kill you). It also makes it more likely that you’ll develop sleep apnea, a condition that can lead to an increased risk of stroke.
Then, there are the mechanical, orthopaedic consequences. An increase in gross weight increases the load on the weightbearing joints. For every pound above the norm, you increase the joint reaction force on your hips and knees by a factor of at least 3-4 times. If climbing stairs, it’s up to seven times bodyweight; running, up to ten times.
Then, there’s the effect on your spine. Although this particular man was heavy all over, he had the typical “apple” pattern of central fat deposition, where the bulk of the adipose tissue is in the belly. This is what we in the trade call “omental fat,” present within the abdomen, on the omentum and interlarding the coils of the intestines.
Mechanically, this increased mass, hanging in front of the spine, has to be balanced, so you can walk around. The body does this by increasing the deep curvature of the small of the back (ie., the lumbar spine). Your shoulders are pulled back and your pelvis is tilted backward, to increase that curve (lordosis). This all happens automatically.
This exact same mechanism is invoked in the woman with gigantic breasts, too, though her back pain is more likely to be in the mid, or upper back. In both cases, it’s what’s up front that counts–the extra anterior weight is counter balanced by bending the spine backwards, which causes shearing and compression on the lumbar discs, worsens spinal arthritis, causes cramps in the paravertebral muscles and can cause, or aggravate, herniated discs, with severe back and/or leg pain.
So significant is this cantilevering effect from excessive anterior body mass, that in certain clinical circumstances, surgery is used to radically remove excess abdominal fat (paniculectomy), or a reduction mammoplasty is done, to reduce the mass of breast tissue (which, though I know, as a physician, is sometimes clinically necessary, is a procedure, as an artist, that I consider an aesthetic disfigurement of the female form, akin to drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa).
You must forgive me. Ever since I lost all my own excess flab, I’ve been impossible. Nothing worse than a convert, as they say. But you must admit that getting rid of that excess poundage is the single best and simplest way to “cure” a myriad of ills.
And this is the perfect time to do it. The Holidays are over. So are all those temptations. Time to get serious. So, what to do?
The short answer is simple: a lean protein diet, with fresh, low glycemic index vegetables and fruits, increased fiber, lots of water. And a couple of softgels of my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA, twice a day.
http://www.favoriteformulas.com
This highly concentrated, enteric coated, ultra pure, pharmaceutical grade fish oil will provide the essential long chain fatty acids, to balance the overabundance of omega-6 fatty acids, so common in the Western diet, these days.
Then, you need to kick up your metabolism to a higher level, so you burn adipose tissue, instead of deposit it. The single best way to do that, bar none, is…(drum roll…) EXERCISE. Big surprise, right?
Walking can be done by anyone. And if you’re that one in a million who can’t walk on dry land, walk in a pool. As soon as you can, step up into a real exercise program, like my new and improved PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
Exercise will boost your metabolism, build muscle, burn fat tissue, and, in the case of this program, relieve knee pain, long term.
To further boost your metabolism, add my Heart Charging Formula, to supercharge your cellular mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses that provide the cells the energy for everything they do.
http://www.favoriteformulas.com/CoQ10formula
So don’t wait any longer. Just DO these simple things and just watch your health improve! Til next time, my friend, be well.
Yours for optimal health and wellness,
DR. BILL
“The Wellness Warrior” TM
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
Copyright, 2010 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
All rights reserved
Tags: arthritis, back pain, exercise, gigantic breasts, knee pain, knee pain exercise, lordosis, lumbar spine, morbid obesity