"I asked the surgeon, 'Did you find the Pepsi button?' " Poe said.
Poe's surgery, however, was no laughing matter. On Feb. 3, she underwent deep brain stimulation - a procedure often used to combat tremors and Parkinson's disease - in hopes of winning her lifelong battle with obesity.
Dr. David Kessler, former chief of the Food and Drug Administration, explains that he can’t walk through a part of downtown San Francisco without being overwhelmed by the irresistible craving to stop at a local shop for a chocolate-covered pretzel. Why? According to him, food hijacks his brain.
One thing I have learned on the road to a healthier life is that even though I am one person, two sides of me exist around food.
One side of me is sensible and rational.
The other remains demanding and insatiable.
The side effects of ageing can be depressing and frustrating: Increases in abdominal fat and truncal obesity, loss of muscle, skin that thins and hangs, poor and inconsistent sleep patterns, cognitive and balance co-ordination challenges, mood alterations, decreased energy, sexual performance and libido, weakened bones, reduced cardiac capacity and hormonal dysfunction. No one is immune, and to date, there are no cures.
Thyroid disorders — and there are several — affect about one in three Canadians, according to the Thyroid Foundation of Canada, which also estimates that about 50 per cent of these cases are undiagnosed. The disorders are up to seven times more common in women.
Mortality rates for patients with thyroid cancer have remained stable over the past decade, despite a rise in diagnoses, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. The uptick in cases, which was estimated to reach 4,300 in 2008, is attributed to improvements in diagnostic technology and greater use of ultrasounds, biopsies and magnetic resonance imaging.
Childhood obesity is a thorny issue without simple solutions, but that hasn't daunted health-care experts who work diligently to come up with viable proposals to help kids lose weight and get in shape.
The most recent strategy is the "Seven Steps to Success: A Handout for Parents of Overweight Children and Adolescents," designed by physicians and weight-loss experts to be worked in progressive stages: medical management, education, environmental changes, support groups, two forms of cognitive behavior therapy (clinic or short-term, and long-term) and bariatric surgery.
