It can make you more susceptible, but even in those cases it can be controlled if you try.

Even people who "take care of themselves" can be a drain.

First of all, we have more seniors now than at any point in history. A byproduct of modern medicine, combined with "taking care of yourself", is living much longer than any other point in history. The longer people live, the more they raise the cost of healthcare because at some point, no amount of good, clean living is going to keep your body from breaking down.

Furthermore, we're finding out now that many of the behaviors that even "health nuts" engage in are potentially damaging to your health. Low fat diets, incorrectly implemented, can actually LEAD to heart disease. Drinking water containing the byproducts of chlorination or bromination (all tap water and a good amount of "purified" water that is not distilled) has been shown to cause bladder cancer. Any number of medications that came to market in the last 20 years are now causing diseases and disorders that weren't anticipated at the time they were introduced, due to the lack of long term studies.

It isn't as simple as saying "fat people are a drain on the economy".

My brother had cancer when he was in HS. The treatment destroyed his thyroid. It doesn't work. He gains a lot of weight when he eats shitty and doesn't exercise. He loses weight when he eats right and exercises. I don't know exactly how the science works with the thyroid, but he is able to manage it.

Well, certainly if they stop eating altogether, they're going to waste away and starve to death.

He almost certainly takes a thyroid augmenter, right?

I wonder if Roger Goodell will start suspending people for using "body size slurs", and if David Stern will make someone sell a team for it?

You are absolutely correct, but:

1. Elderly people are not the people who are coming into the new Obamacare system and jacking up insurance rates. For the most part, they are still on medicare.

2. Sometimes bad things happen to people who take care of themselves and sometimes people put in a lot of effort at the wrong things and still get sick. That's all true, but, statistically, people who put in the effort to stay healthy are going to be a healthier population than people who don't put forth any effort.

He takes something. Wouldn't people with thyroid problems take something, too? Like I said, I don't know a ton about it.

Absolutely agree. I see a lot of oversimplification elsewhere in this thread, however...

Isn't that what we do here? :D

goddamnit quit making this thread serious. this thread is supposed to be about fat San Antonio women, victoria's secret (please put images in NSFW tags so I can post in the thread from work) and CHURROS.

Eh, I've struggle with my weight since I was a child. Every medical issue I've had, had nothing to do with my weight. My blood pressure is normal and I'm not diabetic.

Do you like churros?

OK. I'm not being a dick, but what point are you trying to make?

Yeah, most people with hypothyroidism have to. If he has no thyroid at all, it's essentially the most severe form of hypothyroidism - he doesn't have one. Of course, with him at least he has a stable baseline (again, 0) and he doesn't go through "roller coasters" like some do.

The list of complications with hypothyroidism is ridiculously long and goes way beyond just weight issues. The amount of thyroid disease in this country is absolutely startling. I have a feeling that the ultimate cause is likely the same as obesity and our epidemic of cancer - processing, preservation, and preparation of food rather than just straight overconsumption.