Catching Obesity?

[Dphins4me]

The research suggests that a highly infectious virus might be behind some cases of obesity. There is constant talk of an epidemic of overweight in the developed world. Overindulgence, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyles are usually blamed. Occasionally, the words genetics or glands are mentioned, but rarely is the obesity epidemic thought of as a disease like, flu or winter vomiting virus, a disease you can “catch”, in other words. But, this research detracts from those genuine causes of overweight and might even do more harm than good, giving those with a less than healthy appetite another excuse to over indulge and avoid raising their heart rate above the average.

  Catching Obesity



I guess this means no one is to blame for being obese?   This study was probably funded by McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Hardees ect....

[MaineDolFan]

Damn it, why couldn't this study come out when I was a kid.

"No, Dad.  I can't mow the lawn.  No, I'm not lazy.  I have a virus."

Reason 1,456,654 why the world is ending:  People refuse to be accountable for their actions.  Please see the woman who sued McDonald's, and won, because she spilled coffee on herself and the coffee cup didn't say "this hot coffee might be hot, it's not just a clever name."

[Sunstroke]

Yeah, Obesity is a virus, but one that can only be caught while sitting still with a fork in your hand.

[Defense54]

Just another "excuse" they are giving todays generation just like autisim.  I have no doubt Autismism exists and I do not mean to down play it at all. But I swear everytime i see a kid out at 3:00 am breaking into a car and doing somthing else the parents give a mild case of autism as an excuse. 

Excuses and then lawsuits becuase of the excuses we give them. And you wonder why this country is in the shitter.........

[Dave Gray]

You guys are making a pretty big leap.


"The research suggests that a highly infectious virus might be behind some cases of obesity."

Leads to...

"I guess this means no one is to blame for being obese?"


No, it means that it's probably factual, but extremely rare.

[fyo]

(no link to the source?)

This is old news. I think I first read about this 5+ years ago. IIRC it was a British study and it showed, among other things, that a significant (maybe 20%?) of all obese had that specific virus, whereas it was rare among the rest of the population.

Correlation does not equal causation is an important point. It *could* be that some percentage (say 20%) of obese people wreck their immune system sufficiently that their body cannot fight off this viral infection (which hasn't been proven to actually CAUSE anything).

[Dave Gray]

^^

Yep.

Or it could be a combination.  The virus causes some of it, and then lethargy does the rest.

[Phishfan]

Just another "excuse" they are giving todays generation just autisim.  I have no doubt Autismism exists and I do not mean to down play it at all. But I swear everytime i see a kid out at 3:00 am breaking into a car and doing somthing else the parents give a mild case of autism as an excuse. 

Excuses and then lawsuits becuase of the excuses we give them. And you wonder why this country is in the shitter.........

Did you confuse Autism with ADD?

[Defense54]

Did you confuse Autism with ADD?

On No.....Attention deficit disorder as well. parents love excuses now adays to make up for the fact that they just SUCK as parents. look like we are about to give them another one.  Forget all the Pop tarts and Cokes they just bought Jr. as he sits in front of the XBox........its a Virus I tell ya!   

[YoFuggedaboutit]

On No.....Attention deficit disorder as well. parents love excuses now adays to make up for the fact that they just SUCK as parents. look like we are about to give them another one.  Forget all the Pop tarts and Cokes they just bought Jr. as he sits in front of the XBox........its a Virus I tell ya!   

1968 vs 2008

Scenario:  Jeffrey will not sit still in class and disrupts other students. 

1968:  Jeffrey is taken to the principal's office.  His parents are called and he is given a good paddling by the principal.  He is then allowed to return to class where he sits still and does not disrupt other students again. 

2008:  Jeffrey is met with by the school psychologist.  He is diagnosed as having A.D.D. and given large doses of ritalin to control his disorder.  The school now gets extra taxpayer's money from the state because Jeffrey now has a learning disability. 

[Defense54]

1968 vs 2008

Scenario:  Jeffrey will not sit still in class and disrupts other students. 

1968:  Jeffrey is taken to the Principal's office.  His parents are called and he is given a good paddling by the principal.  He is then allowed to return to class where he sits still and does not disrupt other students again. 

2008:  Jeffrey is met with by the school psychologist.  He is diagnosed as having A.D.D. and given large doses of ritalin to control his disorder.  The school now gets extra taxpayer's money from the state because Jeffrey now has a learning disability. 

^^^ That above scenario is so true it scary. I see it everyday.   

[Denver_Bronco]

1968 vs 2008

Scenario:  Jeffrey will not sit still in class and disrupts other students. 

1968:  Jeffrey is taken to the principal's office.  His parents are called and he is given a good paddling by the principal.  He is then allowed to return to class where he sits still and does not disrupt other students again. 

2008:  Jeffrey is met with by the school psychologist.  He is diagnosed as having A.D.D. and given large doses of ritalin to control his disorder.  The school now gets extra taxpayer's money from the state because Jeffrey now has a learning disability. 

Thank you! I've been ranting about this for awhile with people I work with who have kids they claim to have ADD....

[NADS]

Damn it, why couldn't this study come out when I was a kid.

"No, Dad.  I can't mow the lawn.  No, I'm not lazy.  I have a virus."

Reason 1,456,654 why the world is ending:  People refuse to be accountable for their actions.  Please see the woman who sued McDonald's, and won, because she spilled coffee on herself and the coffee cup didn't say "this hot coffee might be hot, it's not just a clever name."

I thought the same thing until we looked at this in Business Law.  McDonald's gets tons of suits because the coffee is too hot but they do nothing to fix it because other customers want it that hot.  They continue to ignore the issue.  The reference I think you're talking about happened in ABQ, NM.  Initially, the woman was set to get the equivalent of McDonald's one cup worth of sales at each McDonald's but they settled out of court or it went to higher court or something.  We never did get the full story.  STELLA!

[Dave Gray]

Yeah, I agree with NADS on the McDonalds thing.  At first it sounds ridiculous, but when you hear the facts of the case, you find that there are legal issues being broken by the restaurant, despite their knowledge of the problem.  Coffee spills on people by accident.  I've done it.  You've done it.  There is a reasonable expectation that the coffee should not be near boiling, and scald off your skin.

[Sunstroke]

I'm calling in sick this morning for work with a chronic case of fatass...