Diabetes and the "Obesity Paradox"

By David Spero We hear constant warnings about how fatness leads to diabetes. But a wide range of studies show heavy people live longer and do better with diabetes and heart disease. This is called the "obesity paradox." What does it mean? In an article in The New York Times, science writer Harriet Brown reports on the work of Dr. Mercedes Carnethon at Northwestern University. Dr. Carnethon has found that thinner people with diabetes have twice the death rate as those who are overweight or obese. Carnethon's findings are typical. As Brown writes, "n study after study, overweight and moderately obese patients with certain chronic diseases often live longer and fare better than normal-weight patients with the same ailments. Protective effects of weight have been found in heart failure, people undergoing dialysis, and those with coronary artery disease, stroke, kidney disease, and high blood pressure. Not only that — researcher Katherine Flegal PhD, has shown that overweight Americans have less risk of dying, on average, than normal-weight people. Mildly obese people have about the same risk of death as normal-weight people and a much lower risk of death than underweight people. Studies of people over 70 years of age in Australia, Canada, and the US have each found that overweight (but not obese) people had the lowest risk of dying from any cause. I have to ask. How can they keep calling these findings "paradox?" In how many cases can a theory (like "obesity kills") fai...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs