Obesity = Lack of Technology = DEATH

Per Health Imaging & IT Magazine, January 2008 (p.48) The morbidly obese population may be missing out on essential diagnostic imaging simply because the equipment cannot support their weight, according to a study presented by Raul N. Uppot, MD, of Harvard Medical School at RSNA (Radiology Society of North America) 2007 in November. A standard table cannot support a heart attack patient weighing 350 pounds, eliminating the possibility of angiography, and many large patients are too big to undergo CT (computed tomography) for diagnosis. Unfortunately, obese patients usually need more imaging studies than their leaner counterparts- obesity is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease but the patients are too big to take advantage of cath lab technology. Researchers found that obese patients weighing an average of 505 pounds had an average delay of 18 days before their condition was correctly diagnosed and treated.

Well, Duh. So this has never occured to the manufacturers of this equipment or the hospitals that buy it? Marcia

I worked many years for ambulance company as a EMT I mean I was below 300 lbs but to most even being 295 was heavy and to be honest it is hard to lift a person over 250 lbs .. I use to pick up pts that were well over 350 lbs and the words my co workers use to say to each other I WAS ASHAMED WHAT MY CO WORKERS SAID when they had a heavy pts I was not much smaller .. seems obesity is a exceptiable prejudice .. sad we have not come this far about obesity.. Lisa