# A long-term study shows that fat people are not always at higher risk.



## Russell Williams (May 24, 2012)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47552576/ns/health-heart_health/

in the midst of all of this hysteria about the high cost of medical care for fat people this study suggests that the key issue is not body weight but rather other metabolic factors. This study suggests that a fat person with good metabolic factors is less likely to incur medical expenses that is a thin person with bad metabolic factors.


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## The Orange Mage (May 25, 2012)

And yet they come up juuuust short of making the obvious godddamn conclusion that for those with bad metabolic factors "obesity" is a SIDE EFFECT and/or SYMPTOM of said metabolic factors, not a root cause.


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## Dr. Feelgood (May 25, 2012)

Nor is this a new development. Here are three classic articles from the '80's and '90's, for those who are interested:

Pamuk, et al., "weight Loss and Death in a Cohort of US Adults" in _Annals of Internal Medicine_ 119, pp. 744-48 (online at .annals.org)

Lee, I-Min, and Paffenbarger, RS, "Change and Body Weight and Longevity" in JAMA 268 (15), 2045-2049 (jama.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx)

Lissner et al., "Variability of body Weight and Health Outcomes in the Framingham Population" in _New England Journal of Medicine_324, 1839-1844 (nejm.org)

My conclusions? (1) People will believe what they want to believe.
(2) Doctors are as easy to stampede as anyone else.


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