GRAPHIC! However, if never having seen..........as I hadn't, one cannot help but be shocked by it's reality. My wife watches this T-V program. Surrounds Dr. Nowzaradan, Bariatric Surgeon, and his patients. He has an interesting history, born and trained in Iran, practices in Houston. My wife claims watching the show provides a deterrent effect for her; she is about 25 lbs. overweight. I have looked in from time to time, usually being too shocked to want to continue watching. I myself am about 15 lbs over the weight I would like to be. Seems to me, years ago one would never hear of a person weighing 600+ pounds. Many years ago, (I was an adult, so perhaps 50 years ago), an article appeared nationally about Walter Hudson, whom I've outlined below. "Walter Hudson (June 5, 1944 – December 24, 1991) of Hempstead, New York, is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the largest waist.[1] It measured 109 inches (277 cm) in 1987 when he was at his peak weight of 978 pounds (444 kg; 69.9 st). Hudson described his average daily diet as consisting of two boxes of sausages, 1 pound (0.45 kg) of bacon, 12 eggs, a loaf of bread, four hamburgers and four double cheeseburgers, five large portions of fries, three ham steaks or two chickens, four baked potatoes, four sweet potatoes, most of a large cake, and additional snacks. He also drank an average of 7 liters of soda every day. Walter Hudson died of a heart attack on December 24, 1991, at age 47. At the time of his death, he weighed 900 pounds (410 kg; 64 st). Emergency rescuers from the Hempstead Fire Department had to cut a 4-by-6-foot (1.2 by 1.8 m) hole in the bedroom wall to remove his body from the premises." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hudson_(1944–1991) If interest or curiosity be with you by now, here is a list of persons who weighed over 970 lbs. My theory about extreme obesity being relatively a new thing is kind-of borne-out by it, though there are a few very early recorded cases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heaviest_people And, here is how they look:
Awhile back, my images showed up on my post only; no one else saw them. If that's the case here, please advise. Thank you! Frank
Are they glamorizing that much weight? There is another show, This Is Us, that has a very heavy-set lady in it. Funny, but when the show Rosanne was on, I didn't hear anyone complaining about her and John Goodman's weight.
These really, really large people can't buy their own food, as they are not mobile. They have enablers.
I myself being overweight, am shocked and saddened that people can allow themselves to get to this point. I would like to think that if I got to a point in my life that I could not function normally, hold down a job, go out of the house, drive a car, etc., I would seek medical help. I have never watched this show, and never would, but I would hope that if these people are making their conditions public, that the producers of this show are at the very least offering to help them in loosing some of the weight they carry.
We had a patient who we would have to transport to doctor's offices and to the hospital from time to time who weighed in excess of seven hundred pounds. Worse, he was a complainer, so if we were unable to move him smoothly, as you might be able to imagine might be the case, he'd threaten to sue. Keep in mind, also, that when you're dealing with that much weight, the chances are very good that it's not solid (think of jello within a membrane of skin) so if someone was having difficulty holding up their side and he tilted to one side or another, a large part of the weight would suddenly shift over to that side. When possible, we'd send two crews out there or ask the fire department for assistance, but I have had to move him with just the two of us. When he was referred for dialysis, we refused him. Dialysis transfers, like doctor's visits, were non-emergency transports (which we weren't required to do), and if we had to move him to and from three times a week, it was only a matter of time before something would go wrong and we'd be involved in a lawsuit. Plus, despite the extra time and manpower that it would take, Medicaid wasn't going to pay us any extra for it, so we'd lose money even if we were able to avoid a lawsuit. Probably, we'd have taken the chance if he wasn't such a complainer. He needed to be in a nursing home or in some other place where the staff might control the amount of food that he ate, and where he didn't have to be moved so often.
@Ann Leonard They are doing that, undoubtedly subsidizing Dr. Nowzaradan's fees, and certainly paying each patient to appear, what to say, how to look, etc. If YOU were at such a sad state of existence, would YOU reveal your plight so publicly? Last night, a lady weighing 725 lbs. was shown taking a shower! Despite almost being unable to pass through standard doorways, she actually did step into and out of a bathtub, herself! And, walked! She was one of the few who have soon after their surgery for stomach reduction size, died (of heart failure). Nowzaradan was shown conversing with the Medical Examiner, who had notified him of her death. Obviously, some agree to such public exposure truly seeking help: each is given psychiatric treatment before surgery is considered; some are turned down for it. It all appears fairly realistic, but it's making money for the producers. (If I were an advertiser of food product, I would do so elsewhere!). Then, too, some may consent to being shown for the dough. That, we just don't know about. My question regarding if the present "obesity epidemic" has caused a large increase in the numbers of such folks today, remains for discussion. I just don't know. Frank
@Ken Anderson "He needed to be in a nursing home or in some other place where the staff might control the amount of food that he ate, and where he didn't have to be moved so often. I'm wondering whether a licensed nursing home has legal ability to turn away a patient of such unmanageable size? Frank
I think they have to have a special certification to handle patients over 300 pounds, as special equipment is required to care for those patients, and the staff must be specially trained to operate that equipment. It may vary from state-to-state, but that is my understanding here. Some hospitals also have bariatric units that handle those patients. Of course, Emergency Departments have to handle them as well as they can, but dealing with the weight and the danger to both employees and patients is great without proper facilities.
Although I was NEVER that big, at one time I weighed 358 pounds.. Now, that isn't in the 600 plus pounds, but for me, I was huge.. I did something about it with my doctor's guidance and I was monitored every week.. Today I weigh about 210 pounds.. I can see how the weight gain can run away with you.. You don't realise it till you are in a state of disbelief.. You MUST hit rock bottom before anything will convince you to do something.. You didn't gain all that weight overnight so don't expect to lose it overnight.. I have kept the weight off for about 35 or so years..
I can understand that too. The more overweight you get, the harder it is to exercise too and, at some point, you can't even walk. I am also overweight, but 240 is the highest I have gone so far. Being 5'4" though, 240 is significant. Now I have given up hopes of getting back down to 140, but am satisfied to keep it from moving above the low 200s, and have sometimes dropped it into the high 100s.
I don't know if one can get that heavy, by just eating food. I would think that a wacky metabolism has to be in play as well. But I have never had a weight problem and could eat what I wanted to, so what do I know?
Joe, if you ever watched that show you'd understand. Those people eat MASSIVE amounts of high-calorie junk food, and their size makes it impossible to get any activity. I always wonder why their enablers keep feeding them.