10 Years, 10 Milestones in Obesity and Health with Ted Kyle, RPh, MBA

In this episode I bring you my conversation with Ted Kyle, RPh, MBA. Ted founded ConscienHealth in 2009. He is a pharmacist and healthcare innovation professional who works with health and obesity experts for sound policy and innovation to address obesity. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Obesity Action Coalition, advises The Obesity Society on advocacy, and consults with organizations addressing the needs of people living with obesity. His widely-read daily commentary, published at conscienhealth.org/news, reaches an audience of more than 15,000 thought leaders in health and obesity. His peer-reviewed publications focus upon weight bias and policy related to health and obesity. As such, Ted is perfectly positioned to share with us his list of the Top 10 Milestones in Obesity and Health over the past 10 years.

Discussed in this episode, # 10-# 1: 

10. The Rise of ObesityWeek: We discuss what is ObesityWeek and why does this conference matter.

9. The Mediterranean Diet Hits a Speed Bump: In 2018 the original authors of the PREDIMED study audited the study’s data and execution and they found problems. For about 14 percent of the study’s 7,447 subjects, assignment to a treatment group was not random. Taking those problems into account, they still found lower rate of cardiovascular events for people in the Mediterranean diet groups (compared to a lower-fat diet). But the bold claim of cause and effect evaporated. The original conclusions said the diet “reduced the incidence” of cardiovascular events. The new conclusion says “the incidence was lower.” This difference might seem small but it’s the difference between causality and association.

8. Plants Are IN, But Carbs Are OUT: As demonstrated by the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 2020. 

7. Vibrant Support and Advocacy for People with Obesity: The rise of the Obesity Action Coalition.

6. Sugar Is Poison: Dr Robert Lustig's Sugar-is-Toxic video

5. A Whole New Specialty for Obesity Care: American Board of Obesity Medicine came into existence. 

4. Surgery for Diabetes: Understanding that Bariatric Surgery is an endocrine surgery that changes the hormonal communication between the gut, adipose (fat) tissue, and the brain. The logic is inescapable. Type 2 diabetes is a cruel, progressive disease that slowly, but surely destroys a body from the inside out. Strokes, heart disease, amputations, organ failure – they’re all part of a bleak picture. Intensive medical care can slow it down. But metabolic surgery can put it into remission. Three years ago (2016), a remarkable consortium of 45 expert organizations endorsed metabolic surgery for type 2 diabetes. And yet, 97 percent of people who might benefit still don’t receive metabolic surgery. 

3. New Drugs for Obesity Treatment: Liraglutide (Saxenda), Naltrexone & Bupropion (Contrave), Phentermine & Topiramate (Qsymia), and Lorcaserin (Belviq), with more coming.

2. Sleeves Take Over from Bands: Bands peaked in 2007. As of 2018 Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy is the #1 procedure of all bariatric surgeries.

1. Less Explicit Bias: Bias comes from selective blindness to facts. Explicit bias refers to attitudes and beliefs we have about a person or group on a conscious level. Implicit bias refers to thoughts and feelings we hold without conscious awareness regarding a person or group. Some of the more common biases we can hold against a person are based on their weight, sexuality, race, age, skin tone, or disability.

The risks of implicit and explicit bias is that people become sicker because of denial and inaction. Less (NONE!) of both types of biases would be better but less explicit bias is certainly a start. 

Thanks for Listening! 

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Connect with Ted Kyle: ConscienHealth.org, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email: [email protected]

Connect with Reeger Cortell: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email: [email protected]

 

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