Briain Kelly, 9 Jul
understanding of disease
Researchers at the University of Galway say that obesity should be renamed
to help public understanding and diagnosis of the disease.
A study by researchers from University of Galway and UCC found that
conflicting understandings of the word ‘obesity’ jeopardise diagnosis and
treatment.
They are calling for the condition to be renamed in order to help the
public and policymakers to better understand the disease, and drive
advances to treat and prevent it.
Published in Obesity Reviews, their study highlights ongoing confusion
about the term ‘obesity’, which currently can refer to the disease of
obesity or to a BMI range, or a combination of the two.
Professor Francis Finucane, Consultant Endocrinologist and Professor of
Medicine in the University of Galway, and Dr Margaret Steele,postdoctoral
researcher in UCC, explored different or conflicting understandings of the
term ‘obesity’.
The researchers suggest it is time to reconsider whether the term
‘obesity’ conveys the reality of this complex disease that centres on
environmental, genetic, physiological, behavioural and developmental
factors, not on body weight or on BMI.
Professor Francis Finucane described new Irish Medical Council guidance
warning doctors against using Ozempic for obesity as morally problematic.
“Semaglutide is approved as a treatment for obesity, just as it is for
diabetes.”
“There is a deeply stigmatising idea out there that people with obesity
are looking for an easy way out, that these medicines provide a low-effort
alternative to healthy diet and lifestyle.”
“But for people living with the disease of obesity, these drugs don’t make
behavioural change unnecessary, nor do they make it easy – they just make
it possible.”
The researchers point out that this is very different from celebrities
using drugs like semaglutide to become ‘fashionably’ thin.
Dr Margaret Steele said, “Our focus should be on the underlying
pathophysiology and not on body size. For people with the disease of
obesity, treatment is not optional or cosmetic.”
“A different diagnostic term such as ‘adiposity-based chronic disease’
could more clearly convey the nature of this disease, and avoid the
confusion and stigma that may occur if we keep using the term ‘obesity’,
which has become synonymous with body size.”