Just go to the Lap-Band website and watch the intro. What starts as a sad and elegant musical score becomes quietly triumphant as people testify that the lapbad can solve everything from joint pain to type II diabetes. Moments before I had been goading myself to keep an open mind as I researched the topic, but soon I was silently cheering for the potentially happy lives this product might give these poor sad people. That's marketing.
To begin my research I went through the traditional channels. According to various medical websites, the lap band is an inflatable silicon band that fits around the top portion of the stomach. It is said to be a minimally invasive surgery that can be reversed in a relatively easy manner to accomodate unforseen circumstances such as a pregnancy. Liquid can be injected into the band to make it feel tighter so that the patient can better abstain from food. It is supposed to help people who have struggled with obesity for at least five years and who have failed in other attempts at weight loss. It brags of a low mortality rate and less loss of hair due to vitamin deficiency.
Where things really got weird was when I went onto newer media outlets. A casing of twitter showed feed after feed of post-op patients who seemed miserable. Don't get me wrong- no one lusts for food more than I do....but I don't tweet every time I smell something delicious. (Maybe that's because I'm too busy eating it) Take "Soon 2 B Skinny," who posted numerous times about her inability to quit caffeine as the surgery required. I feel you, sister. Then she tweets about her sadness at not being able to eat cake at a birthday party she's attending. Three hours later she posts that her husband is making spaghetti marinara and that makes her miserable. Hmmm. I scroll back a little and find that the day's first tweet is about lying to her son about why she couldn't go to his field trip because she's having surgery. Is lying about surgery normal?
Facebook is even worse. A group dedicated to people living with the Lap-Band shows a thread of people sharing advice that would better be discussed with their doctors. In the thread "To get a fill or not to get a fill?", a woman in Kansas feels she is eating more than she should if the band were tight enough. Upon the urging of a dozen other group members, none of whom claim to be md's, she decides to pump more liquid into the band to get a more restricted feeling. There is a big difference between a support group and a medical opinion, and one can only hope she knows the difference.
Three days of clear liquid eating, followed by six weeks of drinking only protein shake on the hour would be enough for me to remove the band myself after about ten minutes. A list of complications that includes band leakage, nausea, ulceration, and death is available on official websites but was not being widely discussed in any social medium I encountered. Perhaps the fact that it is reversible means the risks are no longer that risky?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
ABCs of getting skinny
The alphabet diet gets around being monotonous and boring by being the most obsessive-compulsive regimen I have ever seen. According to blogger and nutritional counselor L. Vaughnan Spencer, people need to harmonize their diets and numerological capabilities they must eat only foods that begin with the first letter of their name... I'm Emily so I'm not terribly excited about eggs, edamame, eel, sheep's EYES, and ethiopian food. I'm not joking, eel and eyes are recommendations from the blog.
Compared to L. Vaughnan Spencer, the alphabet diet from Associated Content seems sane(r) and better balanced. The plan says that every day you eat only foods that start with the letter du jour. On the day for "x" fasting is encouraged. For example, on day 1 a sample meal plan would include an apple turnover, avocado salad, amaretto, antipasto, and armadillo salsa picante. (can you make this stuff up?)
It doesn't seem terribly healthful...especially on day "F" when everything starts with the words "fried." However, this diet may be effective in that people consciously avoid mindless grazing on the foods of forbidden letters.
Wez Swain wrote "The Alphabet Diaries" to chronicle his struggles of going through the diet for charity's sake. He takes the opportunity to try new foods and discover the failures of such concoctions as "cucumber, celery, and carrot soup with a squirt of curry." He acknowledges days where many vitamins and minerals are lost to this silly pursuit and laments the days at the end of the alphabet where near starvation kicks in.
The last week of near starvation probably does cause noticeable weight loss, thus propagating the diet. As far as I can deduce, the only logical benefit of such a scheme is to make the eater conscious of their food choices and to avoid mindless eating. There are easier ways to accomplish this goal...
Compared to L. Vaughnan Spencer, the alphabet diet from Associated Content seems sane(r) and better balanced. The plan says that every day you eat only foods that start with the letter du jour. On the day for "x" fasting is encouraged. For example, on day 1 a sample meal plan would include an apple turnover, avocado salad, amaretto, antipasto, and armadillo salsa picante. (can you make this stuff up?)
It doesn't seem terribly healthful...especially on day "F" when everything starts with the words "fried." However, this diet may be effective in that people consciously avoid mindless grazing on the foods of forbidden letters.
Wez Swain wrote "The Alphabet Diaries" to chronicle his struggles of going through the diet for charity's sake. He takes the opportunity to try new foods and discover the failures of such concoctions as "cucumber, celery, and carrot soup with a squirt of curry." He acknowledges days where many vitamins and minerals are lost to this silly pursuit and laments the days at the end of the alphabet where near starvation kicks in.
The last week of near starvation probably does cause noticeable weight loss, thus propagating the diet. As far as I can deduce, the only logical benefit of such a scheme is to make the eater conscious of their food choices and to avoid mindless eating. There are easier ways to accomplish this goal...
Monday, March 15, 2010
A New Era of Privacy
On January 5th the United States dropped its name from the list of thirteen countries who restrict entry of HIV-positive visitors. According to the Global Database on HIV-related Travel Restrictions,the United States had previously been in the company of such countries as China, Russia, Sudan, UAE, and Korea. The website was created in Germany based on questionnaires the German government sent out to 130 embassies within its borders. It provides a comprehensive data base of the level of restriction each country imposes on a visitor whose status is positive.
The ban on HIV-positive travel was introduced in 1987 when the Center for Disease Control listed HIV as a disease of public health significance. Diseases of this category forbid immigrants and visitors from entering the country.
The new legislation was enabled by former president George W. Bush's signing of the United States Global Leadership Initiative Against HIV/AIDS, which removed HIV from the list of mandated diseases that barred entry to the USA. Mandatory testing will no longer be part of the immigration process. According to a CNN.com interview with Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Immigration Equality organization, "The end of the HIV travel and immigration ban is the beginning of a new life for countless families and thousands who had been separated because of this policy."
HIV was not removed from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance, which continues to create a more complicated procedure for obtaining a visa. Persons carrying antiretroviral drugs must have a doctor's certificate in English describing the purpose of the drugs. Though seldom enforced, this rule actually pertains to anyone carrying prescription meds into the country.
In the words of amFAR, the foundation for AIDS research, “We’re thrilled that the ban has been lifted based on science, reason, and human rights.” With such proposals out there as stamping peoples passports with their status, the fight to destigmatize HIV may be far from over.
The ban on HIV-positive travel was introduced in 1987 when the Center for Disease Control listed HIV as a disease of public health significance. Diseases of this category forbid immigrants and visitors from entering the country.
The new legislation was enabled by former president George W. Bush's signing of the United States Global Leadership Initiative Against HIV/AIDS, which removed HIV from the list of mandated diseases that barred entry to the USA. Mandatory testing will no longer be part of the immigration process. According to a CNN.com interview with Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Immigration Equality organization, "The end of the HIV travel and immigration ban is the beginning of a new life for countless families and thousands who had been separated because of this policy."
HIV was not removed from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance, which continues to create a more complicated procedure for obtaining a visa. Persons carrying antiretroviral drugs must have a doctor's certificate in English describing the purpose of the drugs. Though seldom enforced, this rule actually pertains to anyone carrying prescription meds into the country.
In the words of amFAR, the foundation for AIDS research, “We’re thrilled that the ban has been lifted based on science, reason, and human rights.” With such proposals out there as stamping peoples passports with their status, the fight to destigmatize HIV may be far from over.
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