One could argue, “Yes,” quite convincingly because the statistics are staggering. (The Author, Bob Aronson, received a heart transplant August 21, 2007 in Jacksonville, Florida)
According to First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” organization that focuses on the issue, “Obesity threatens the healthy future of one third of all American children. Obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years. We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing. For the first time in American history, our children’s life expectancy may be shorter than their parents.’
So what has this got to do with an organ shortage? Simply put by allowing our children to get too heavy we are growing people who may someday need an organ transplant. Adding insult to injury is the fact that if they need a transplant they may not be appropriate organ donors themselves. It’s a double edged sword. On one side the demand for organs may be increased and on the other the number of organs available for transplant may decrease. All because of too many unhealthy eating and living choices, too much mac and cheese, too many Snickers bars and Coke, too many video games and not enough exercise.
“So,” you may ask, “What’s childhood obesity got to do with organ damage?” The question is germane because the most effective way to reduce the organ shortage is to reduce the demand. Here are the facts on childhood obesity according to Erica Lesperance, RD, LD a registered dietitian specially trained in pediatric nutrition and the nutritional treatment of inborn errors of metabolism. http://www.thedietchannel.com/Childhood-Obesity-Why-Childhood-Obesity-Is-So-Dangerous.htm
Childhood obesity is on the rise. Worse, it has become the most prevalent pediatric problem in the United States, affecting as many as 15-30% of grade school children and adolescents. Obese children are very likely to become obese adults who will have a significantly higher risk of developing medical problems. Moreover, they are more likely to have their lives cut short by disease.
As the problem reaches epidemic proportions, we can no longer narrowly focus on the medical problems obese children will have as adults. They are suffering from a multitude of obesity-related problems right now. This issue must be addressed. Let’s take a look at how obesity affects the bodies of our young children.
Heart disease is no longer a health problem reserved for older men and women. Children who are overweight with a BMI above the 95th percentile are at-risk for having high “bad” cholesterol, low “good” cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, and high blood pressure. These are all risk factors for heart disease.
Effect of obesity on your lungs
Obesity affects a child’s lung capacity, increasing the risk for asthma. Asthma in turn makes it difficult to be physically active. In addition, overweight children are more likely to have sleep apnea, or episodes of airway blockage that interrupt breathing during sleep. The risks of undiagnosed sleep apnea in children include learning problems, developmental problems, behavior problems and in some cases, failure to grow, heart problems and high blood pressure.
Endocrine system problems caused by obesity
Although we rarely think about them, the glands of the endocrine system and the hormones they release influence almost every cell, organ, and function of our bodies. The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating mood, growth and development, tissue function and metabolism. Obesity affects the glands of the endocrine system, frequently causing menstrual irregularities in young women. Also affected is the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin, causing insulin resistance. Overweight children who have insulin resistance have an increased incidence of developing type 2 diabetes (see Juvenile Diabetes).
A story in USA Today describes the problem in grim detail. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-01-13-childhood-obesity_N.htm
After all this the question remains, “What do you do about a child who is becoming too heavy?” It all boils down to two issues; eating right and getting sufficient exercise. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta Georgia offers excellent specific advice on how you can have a positive effect on your children. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/children/ This site also goes into greater detail on how added weight can harm our children.
Please comment in the space provided or email your thoughts to me at bob@baronson.org. And – spread the word about the immediate need for more organ donors. On-line registration can be done at http://www.donatelife.net/index.php Whenever you can, help people formally register. There is nothing you can do that is of greater importance. If you convince one person to be a donor you may save or positively affect over 50 lives. Some of those lives may be people you know and love.
You are also invited to join Organ Transplantation Initiative (OTI) http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=152655364765710 a group dedicated to providing help and information to donors, donor families, transplant patients and families, caregivers and all other interested parties. Your participation is important if we are to influence decision makers to support efforts to increase organ donation and support organ regeneration, replacement and research efforts.
Each year thousands of people die because of a lack of organs for transplantation. Current efforts to increase the supply of organs are woefully inadequate. The altruistic method (becoming a donor out of the goodness of ones heart) simply doesn’t work well enough. Fewer than fifty percent of Americans are organ donors. It does not look like the altruistic approach is going to change any time soon so we must explore every possibility.
One way of increasing the supply of organs for transplant is to reduce the demand and that can be done in part by changing lifestyles. Some of the causes of organ failure are preventable. This blog will focus on two contributors to the rising need for organs; obesity and diabetes. Both could be far better controlled than they are currently simply by eating properly and exercising regularly.
Let’s talk obesity, the second leading cause of unnecessary death in America. According to the American Obesity Association (AOA). http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/subs/fastfacts/obesity_what2.shtml Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million obese, and 9 million severely obese Obesity is a disease that affects nearly one-third of the adult American population (approximately 60 million). The number of overweight and obese Americans has continued to increase since 1960, a trend that is not slowing down. Today, 64.5 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as being overweight or obese. Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion.
Fox news quoted a Web MD report http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215604,00.html that says nine out of ten obese people develop type 2 diabetes and while obesity does not cause diabetes, research shows the two are closely related.
Net Wellness (http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/diabetes/faq3.cfm) defines diabetes as the inability of glucose to enter the cells. The result is that the bloodstream has a high amount of glucose and cells are not able to produce energy for the body. When diabetes is not carefully managed by keeping the amount of sugar in the blood at the right level, the resulting high glucose amounts wreak havoc on nearly every organ system in the body. The report goes on to say that as many as 65% of people diagnosed with diabetes will eventually die of a heart attack or a stroke and nearly 1 in 3 diabetics will experience kidney failure. For more information on diabetes visit the National Diabetes Education Program Website at: http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/type1and2/what.htm
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) offers comprehensive information on diabetes prevention and the value of proper nutrition and exercise along with symptoms of disease http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-prevention/how-to-prevent-diabetes.jsp
While I will continue to work to develop other methods of increasing the supply of transplantable organs, all of us should take every measure to prevent diseases that can affect our organs. As in most cases prevention is the best cure for organ failure.
You are also invited to join Organ Transplantation Initiative (OTI) http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=152655364765710 a group dedicated to providing help and information to donors, donor families, transplant patients and families, caregivers and all other interested parties. Your participation is important if we are to influence decision makers to support efforts to increase organ donation and support organ regeneration, replacement and research efforts.
The best way to increase the number of transplantable organs is two-fold; 1) increase the number of organ donors and 2) diminish the need for organs. Only by combining the two will we be able to end the disgraceful upward spiral of people who die while waiting for transplants.
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Eating disorders number among the top organ destroyers of all diseases because Anorexia and Bulimia can destroy virtually all of the organs – making transplants next to impossible. Which organ do you transplant and does it make sense to do so if the patient still suffers from the disease?
Too many people fail to recognize just how dangerous eating disorders can be, and if we are to diminish the need for organs we must address these terrible diseases as early in the process as possible. They are treatable but become less so as the disorders age.
The question is often asked, “Which organs do anorexia and bulimia destroy?” The answer according to wiki answers.com (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_organs_does_anorexia_destroy_in_your_body_and_what_are_the_long_term_affects_of_anorexia) is, “Nearly all of them, because of the lack of nourishment.” Wiki adds that the damage goes well beyond what one might expect, “The effects of anorexia and bulimia that can persist throughout the victim’s lifetime are a higher risk of developing osteoporosis later due to the deprivation of calcium, infertility or difficulty conceiving, anemia, stunted growth (in adolescent victims), psycho-neurological problems, ex. depression and anxiety, and neurological problems, ex. seizures, peripheral neuropathy which is a tingling and numbness in the limbs. Diabetics who had anorexia risk a likely chance of developing retinopathy, an eye condition that often causes blindness. Some such as infertility and neurological complications are often permanent.”
Still another source (http://ezinearticles.com/?Long-Term-Effects-of-Bulimia-Nervosa&id=1014462) says, “The heart gets damaged from the constant electrolyte imbalances caused by continuous purging and becomes weaker the longer the disorder continues. Some people even can die from this complication when a weak heart goes into a “heart block”. This is when the heart suddenly stops beating due to extremely low potassium or other mineral deficiency induced by vomiting and laxatives abuse.
Kidney damage is very common. The kidneys are organs that normally correct mineral abnormalities in the body. But when a person’s mineral balance is constantly disturbed, they get damaged.
The brain suffers also from the moment bulimia starts.
The digestive system also gets affected badly. The stomach experience delays in empting its food content and people suffer from pains in the abdominal area, bloating, acid reflux, stomach ulcers and esophageal problems.
The bones become weak due to the development of low bones density and the bones can break from even minimal strain or pressure.
Skin looses its youthful look even at a relatively young age. Hair loss due to mineral and protein depletion is inevitable in the long term.
The endocrine glands eventually stop working properly and produce fewer hormones than the body needs: this makes a person age quickly and loose muscle tone.”
The list of problems caused by eating disorders is endless but the solutions are not simple. Eating disorders like chemical dependency and depression are not easy to treat and some people don’t respond at all. If we are to address diminishing the demand for organ transplants, though, we must take these diseases much more seriously. For more information on eating disorders click on the above links or the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
Please comment in the space provided or email your thoughts to me at bob@baronson.org. And – please spread the word about the need for more organ donors. There is nothing you can do that is of greater importance. If you convince one person to be a donor you may have saved or affected 50 lives.
Please read and comment on my World Wide Issues blogs on http://blogsbybob.wordpress.com. Also…visit and join my Facebook site, Organ Transplant Patients, Friends and You at http://tinyurl.com/225cfh OR — my Facebook home page http://www.facebook.com/home.php
