Medical schools have only just added obesity to their curricula

Trying to lose pounds, some lose a lot more
Questions being raised about diet supplements
May 19, 2007
Megan Ogilvie
Health Reporter


Jane Clements lies on a hospital bed, eyes locked on the ceiling,
limbs curled inward like stiff wire. A feeding tube drips sustenance
into her stomach. Another hose, fed through a hole in her neck, pushes
oxygen into her lungs.

The 42-year-old Peterborough woman has been in hospital ever since her
heart stopped eight years ago as she drank a cup of tea at work. After
five minutes without oxygen to her brain, she slipped into a
vegetative state.

A bleak life stretches before her: Doctors don't know when and if
she'll recover. And all she tried do, like hundreds of thousands of
other Canadians, was lose some weight.

In the years since her collapse, Jane hasn't seen her 15-year-old
daughter, Rebecca, grow into a leggy arts student or her 11-year-old
son, Jordan, become a sports enthusiast.

"Lots of things missed for the kids," says her husband, Warren, who
believes a weight-loss diet led to the cardiac arrest. "A lot of
things being missed. Graduation for Becks. Her first boyfriend. Jordan
playing hockey. She loved hockey."

It's not clear why Jane's heart stopped and it doesn't seem like the
question will ever be answered. But her case does point to a flaw in
the medical system, which often treats the symptoms of sickness and
ignores the underlying cause.

Right now, many doctors treat the illnesses associated with obesity,
preferring to prescribe pills to lower blood pressure or manage
cholesterol rather than working to prevent their patients from gaining
excess body fat. Jane tried to lose weight and failed even though she
had consulted a doctor.

One of the problems is that obesity has long been considered a
cosmetic issue, a self-inflicted condition brought on by
overindulgence and perpetuated by a lack of willpower. That's why no
one has taken it seriously up till now and why doctors are ill-
equipped to treat it.

Warren eventually sued the diet company, Herbal Magic Systems
International of London, Ont., for $15 million in damages. The case
never went to trial and the company settled out of court - without
admission of guilt - for $3.1 million in September.

In documents filed with the court case, medical experts hired by the
Clements family allege the Herbal Magic weight-loss program caused
Jane's potassium levels to plummet, a condition called hypokalemia,
which in turn triggered the cardiac arrest.

Herbal Magic's medical experts argued Jane's cardiac arrest was caused
by her obesity, her smoking habit and her regular use of birth control
pills, all of which are known risk factors for heart attack. "Mrs.
Clements' condition was not caused in any way by her brief
participation in the program," said Tom McNeely, Herbal Magic
president and chief executive officer.

Herbal Magic is currently Canada's largest chain of weight-loss
centres with more than 350 outlets. The first opened in London, Ont.,
in 1996 and the company serves about 40,000 customers per year. It has
promoted a "lifestyle-based diet combined with herbal supplements and
grocery store bought food," for the past decade with few complaints.

McNeely told the Toronto Star none of Herbal Magic's current
principals, owners or managers would have agreed to the settlement.
The company has been sold twice since the lawsuit was filed in 1999.
"If this case was still open I would not settle it," he said. "It's an
absolute tragedy for the family, but it's our contention that we in no
way contributed to that."

Weight loss is a desperate battle for many of the 20 million
overweight and obese Canadians. The struggle to drop pounds often
pushes people toward the $40 billion weight-loss industry, where they
can get lost in the maze of programs and products that promise to melt
away the extra fat.

But overweight people are at high risk of dying from type 2 diabetes,
heart disease and stroke. Obesity is now the No. 2 cause of
preventable death in Canada, with roughly 25,000 people dying from
weight-related illnesses every year, compared with 48,000 from
smoking.

While treating obesity is starting to gain traction in the medical
community, experts say there is still a long way to go. Medical
schools have only just added obesity to their curricula - and only a
few hours in a four-year program are devoted to the subject - and the
Ontario Health Insurance Plan's schedule of benefits, which physicians
use to bill their time, has no specific code for obesity, though
doctors can bill for counselling.

In the meantime, the commercial weight-loss industry fills the void.

Diva