political correctness

Tough love for the obese

It's political correctness running amok -- and for once, it's not here in the United States.

It's in the United Kingdom, where docs are now under orders to avoid saying the word "obese" to obese patients.

Yes, a clinical and scientific word with a very specific meaning -- one used with a high degree of accuracy when spoken to a patient -- is now forbidden, because it might make fat people feel bad about that spare tire they're hauling around.

Can you believe this nonsense?

It doesn't end with censorship, either. Docs are also being told they can't place "blame" on the patient. In other words, they have to treat obesity as if it's something that falls from the sky and strikes at random -- not something you do to yourself.

The PC Health Police say it's about being kinder and more respectful to fat people. And while I say that everyone of every size deserves a kind and respectful doctor, everyone of every size also deserves a doc who can speak the truth.

And the truth is, sometimes a little "tough love" is just what the doctor ordered.

If your own doctor won't deliver it, allow me: Obesity is almost always something you do to yourself -- and if you find that offensive, there's an easy way to make sure you never hear uncomfortable words like "obese":

LOSE SOME DARNED WEIGHT!

If you've put the scale someplace where you can't see it... if you wear only pants with elastic waistlines... if you keep telling yourself just a little junk food can't hurt each time you reach for the chips... it's time to look in the mirror and confront the problem head on.

That's the "tough" part. Now here comes the "love," because I'm not here to point out the obvious.

I'm here to give you the power you need to turn it around, and love every minute of it.

The secret is in the delicious low-carb, high-fat diet I've been urging you to follow all along -- the one diet that can bring any oversized waistline under control, whether it's caused by poor diet, medication, disease, a genetic disorder or all of the above.

And right now, it's easier than ever to get started. Read this free report from the Daily Dose archives to learn more.

The scourge of political correctness spreads across the pond

If anything has been made dreadfully obvious in this election year, it's that political correctness is rampant throughout our country. But this PC BS is not a uniquely American ailment. And I have a glaring example to show you that as the PC culture helps America swirl down the drain, we'll at least have some company on the ride.

The madness of PC nonsense has spread overseas and is infecting other cultures, notably Great Britain (I think they should call it "Once Great Britain"). Recently, a school in the English village of Clacton in Essex, just east of London, posted a school newsletter on the Internet. It was a nice little presentation, complete with photos of the children doing school activities in the classroom, and on the playground playing sports. But, in an effort to "protect the identity of the children," their faces were obscured in the pictures by little cartoon smiley faces.

If you ask me, this type of thing is a little nutty and even more paranoid than I thought people could get. And that's not just my opinion. Even the British National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) weighed in on the issue, saying that the school was off the mark with this action.

An official from the British Campaign for Real Education put it succinctly: "It seems like another example where political correctness is overcoming good sense."

Well, using logic like that doesn't work with the paranoid PC crowd. According to the head teacher at the school: "We have no problem with pictures going out in the newsletter or in the local paper as long as parents have given permission but the internet is wider you can't say what is going to happen with any of those pictures."

Huh? So the fact that more people had access to pictures of the kids' photos makes them more dangerous? More suggestive? More salacious? It seems pretty silly to me. I don't mind a little healthy paranoia - especially when it's in the name of protecting children. But it's the illogic of the PC-addled mind that drives me nuts. The obvious solution to this issue of protecting the children's identities was to have a newsletter WITH NO PHOTOGRAPHS. But to put in "photos" of students without faces is completely absurd. But that's political correctness at work.

When PC thought takes over, logic goes out the window. And that's true whatever country you're in.

High cholesterol may extend lives for ALS patients

According to new research in France, elevated lipid levels can actually extend the lives of patients who with ALS, more popularly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

The researchers discovered that ALS patients may live longer when they have a higher ratio of "bad" LDL cholesterol to the so-called "good" HDL cholesterol.

This is consistent with a previous study that showed that when mice with the disease were fed a high-fat diet, they survived longer. This should come as no shock since humans actually NEED cholesterol (even the so-called "bad" form of LDL) to survive.

"These results raise the question of using a fat diet for ALS patients," Meininger said, also questioning if use of cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins should be discontinued for patients being treated for ALS.

To me, this sounds like a recipe for better health for everyone, whether you're suffering from ALS or not.