3 ms·

Knowing nothing about your surroundings, overweight people tend to avoid medical care if they can bare with the symptoms, which make them more subject to longer

Knowing nothing about your surroundings, overweight people tend to avoid medical care if they can bare with the symptoms, which make them more subject to longer colds, infections, headaches etc. It's a well known effect: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4381543/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4381543/

SoftTalker 2y ago
I wonder if the same is/was true for smokers? I can imagine people not wanting to hear "you need to lose weight" every time they visit the doctor. What about "you need to stop smoking" or "you need to stop drinking" or admonishments to stop any other self-destructive behaviors?
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  Yes, there's probably a similar effect, with a key difference being that smoking and drinking can be masked a bit easier if it's not an emergency (e.g. sobering for a day before going in) where there's no lying about one's weight.
nradov 2y ago
That doesn't make any sense. Medical care can't really reduce the length of common cold symptoms. It mostly comes down to the effectiveness of your own immune system. Obesity has a number of negative effects on the immune system.
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  Would you disagree that modern medical care can help improve the effectiveness of your immune system ? Or even that we have the means to reduce the symptoms ? Or protect your immune system from additional threats while it's focusing on a virus for instance ?
  - nradov 2y ago
    Yes, I would disagree with that. Unless someone has a treatable medical condition such as HIV infection, modern medical care can't improve the effectiveness of your immune system. It's mainly down to lifestyle and age. There's no cure for the common cold. Some OTC remedies can slightly reduce symptom severity but they're nearly useless. Zinc supplements might marginally reduce duration of symptoms for some patients. Frequent hard exercise, sunlight exposure, and limiting body fat content are far more effective interventions for immune system function than anything a physician can give you.

SoftTalker 2y ago

I wonder if the same is/was true for smokers? I can imagine people not wanting to hear "you need to lose weight" every time they visit the doctor. What about "you need to stop smoking" or "you need to stop drinking" or admonishments to stop any other self-destructive behaviors?

makeitdouble 2y ago
Yes, there's probably a similar effect, with a key difference being that smoking and drinking can be masked a bit easier if it's not an emergency (e.g. sobering for a day before going in) where there's no lying about one's weight.

nradov 2y ago

That doesn't make any sense. Medical care can't really reduce the length of common cold symptoms. It mostly comes down to the effectiveness of your own immune system. Obesity has a number of negative effects on the immune system.

makeitdouble 2y ago
Would you disagree that modern medical care can help improve the effectiveness of your immune system ? Or even that we have the means to reduce the symptoms ? Or protect your immune system from additional threats while it's focusing on a virus for instance ?
- nradov 2y ago
  Yes, I would disagree with that. Unless someone has a treatable medical condition such as HIV infection, modern medical care can't improve the effectiveness of your immune system. It's mainly down to lifestyle and age. There's no cure for the common cold. Some OTC remedies can slightly reduce symptom severity but they're nearly useless. Zinc supplements might marginally reduce duration of symptoms for some patients. Frequent hard exercise, sunlight exposure, and limiting body fat content are far more effective interventions for immune system function than anything a physician can give you.