dreamdive

Last month some interesting data that emerged from a long-term study was covered in the News. Namely that obesity may be less hazardous to your health as previously thought.

Well, as usual the News leave out some of the more important details.

In an attempt to provide a more thorough and accurate information, I posted an article on the AddHelium Website:

Category: Add Helium Medical Corner by Claudia Roussos MD - Add Helium

This is not just for the "heavy set" divers among us but for the "skinny" ones, as well!

Enjoy,
Claudia

Pawel Szopinski

Nice write up, thanks for sharing.

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tcascione

And so we strike a blow for the BBDC (BIG BELLY DIVE CLUB). I already felt superior to the skinny Gitane puffing eurotrash sitting up at the bow while I addressed my meatball sandwich in the Cabin. Now I have been justified.

bmwgsboy

+1

ChrisBrown

Claudia, we need to get you on a British English Channel dive boat to educate the lads.

I actually just read a tech wreck diving article in a respected English mag that was actually suggesting 2 wreck sites of particular interest because you 'Can get both of them in and still get back to the harbor in time for dinner an a pint'

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osiris

Actually, Chris, would you clarify what behaviour would we be asking Claudia to change in this example?

s115

That article is pretty much common sense if you have finished high school.
All it really says is that being fitter is better in general and for diving.
Is that not obvious?

Who am I kidding, this women drank 10L of coke a day and then died;
NZ woman dies after drinking 10 litres of Coke every day · TheJournal.ie

Clearly basic nutrition isn't common sense. Here in oz though, we learn it in school physical education and such...

dreamdive

I am glad you are so well educated in Oz, especially on a High School level. You obviously don't have the same problem of obesity there as we have here.

Kidding aside, it took 14 years of data to demonstrate that just because you are obese does not mean you are also doomed! At least in the US that has been almost synonymous with obesity. Likewise, we did not have the data to support that just because you look skinny implies that you are healthier than somebody overweight.

The important message I got from this was that even if you carry the extra weight, you can change your health status without having to go through years of dieting first.

The other important message for diving was that fitter divers REGARDLESS of body habitus have less DCS risk. A lot of things like hydration status, hot showers, gradient factor settings etc. have been blamed as a cause for a hit. One thing we do have a lot of evidence on is that poor fitness status increases your chance of a hit. As intuitive as that might be, there is actual, real data to support it (unlike some other conjectures).

There is a lot of common sense out there. However, without the evidence to support it, it remains conjecture. Rummaging through medical/scientific papers can be difficult and boring for some. My goal is to share what is new out there and replace diving conjecture with evidence-based diving.

I am glad you found the article commonsensical.

dreamdive

Chris,

I need to look at what degree and what type of alcohol (if any) has an effect on one's lipid profile. If it improves it, enjoy the pint:). Are you suggesting that British food still has not improved over the years???

Serge

Obesity vs. fitness. Don't mean to open up the old can of worms, but wasn't it just several months ago that someone on here was making very deragatory and insensitive remarks to the contrary? This study flies in the face of those stupid remarks.