In 1984, the CDC decided to track obesity in the United States. Since that time, obesity has become epidemic in America and has considerably increased in the whole world. In the 1990’s it was also found that allergies (environmental and food allergies) and immune complex (autoimmune) diseases were increasing and now they have also reached epidemic proportions. Anxiety and depression have surged in adults and children. The whole world seems to be going “CRAZY”. What has changed in our environment that is causing these health problems?
Obesity is the number one killer in the United States and, increasingly, the world. It kills in silence and indirectly, standing as the root cause of a great many of the diseases treated by healthcare providers, including hyperlipidemia, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and malignant tumors, to name only a few. If any other epidemic had caused as many deaths as obesity and its comorbidities, the whole world would be diligently searching for a cure. Yet most healthcare providers still take a surprisingly casual attitude toward obesity. In most cases, it is treated as a more or less benign condition easily dealt with if patients would only put forth some effort. This is to say that obesity is often treated as if it were the patient’s fault, with healthcare providers frequently assuming that a patient’s obesity is the result of poor dietary choices and sedentary lifestyle. The root cause of the obesity epidemic is neither explored nor serious weight loss treatment plans offered.
Many providers are also at loss when faced with environmental allergies (asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, angioedema…), food allergies and autoimmune diseases. Is what is causing the growing obesity epidemic also causing the growing allergy epidemic? Are pesticides and especially endocrine disruptors to blame?
This course seeks to answer these questions and will equip you with the necessary armamentarium to effectively treat your patients with these conditions.