The American Medical Association has always been an influential player in the medical field, but as of June 19, it took its efforts to a new level. Concern over soaring obesity rates in the United States has skyrocketed as more and more Americans have become overweight. Numerous efforts to address this widespread issue have been largely unsuccessful, so the AMA decided to increase awareness of the problem through a new, unconventional strategy. They intend to call obesity a “disease” with “multiple pathophysiological aspects” to be treated[1]. Although this measure was widely supported by members of the American Medical Association, it is certainly controversial with significant resistance to its implementation both inside and outside of the organization.
2010 State Obesity Rates: American Institute for Cancer Research
Obesity is a vague term by nature. It is currently defined by body mass index (BMI), which has numerous limitations. A person who has a BMI of above 30% or higher is considered obese, but there are people above this threshold who are considered perfectly healthy. Additionally, there are a plethora of causes for weight gain that span from simply eating too many calories to being a side effect of prescription medication. The medical community has spent a great deal of time trying to train its patients to be mindful of what causes weight gain and ways to combat it, but these efforts have largely failed.
The decision to start calling obesity a “disease” is less of a scientific change than it is a descriptive one. Weight gain is a side effect of numerous root causes as opposed to a pathogen or injury of some kind. The American Medical Association has not historically been a source for the creation of new medical terminology, but it has been an organization that works to advance the skills of medical professionals and focus their efforts on important health issues. The purpose behind declaring obesity as a “disease” is to raise awareness of the problem within the medical community and convince doctors to make treating it a top priority.
What does this mean for the pharmaceutical industry? It means that we can expect obesity to be a higher priority for physicians, who will undoubtedly suggest a wide array of plans for patients to lose weight. A number of weight loss drugs exist and are currently on the market, and this could be an early indicator of higher priority for those products. However, it will be interesting to see how the medical community reacts to rising obesity rates down the road and how they will address the issue as obesity rates rise. So far their efforts have been relatively unsuccessful, and this decision by the American Medical Association could mark the beginning of a renewed effort to treat obesity through new, innovative methods.
[1] Scott Hensley. AMA says It’s Time to Call Obesity a Disease. National Public Radio.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/06/19/193440570/ama-says-its-time-to-call-obesity-a-disease. Published June 19, 2013. Accessed July 1, 2013.
