The Burnham Institute and Florida Hospital Talk About Fat

The Burnham Institute and Florida Hospital Talk About How Fat Works

An insight into how the body responds to fat and healthy steps that can be taken to prevent an overload of fat in the body

ORLANDO, Fla., June 29, 2009 - In 2007, Americans spent $174 billion dollars on living with diabetes. That is more than the federal government spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in that same year. Obesity is one of the most common diseases of our lifetime and it can lead to diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome. Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona scientist, Philip Wood, DVM, PhD, has been studying diabetes and obesity for more than 30 years and has written a book on the topic. He has taken his scientific research and created a presentation that is easily understandable for the public. Dr. Wood's research focuses on:

• Five characteristics people need to know to evaluate their obesity risk:

• o waist size
• o blood sugar
• o triglycerides
• o HDL-cholesterol
• o blood pressure

• Fighting obesity is not just about getting thin, it is about being healthy
• When the body has too much fat to store it sends it to places like the heart and liver that are not designed to be storage locations for fat
• 95 percent of people in the U.S. who have diabetes have Type 2, which is the one most commonly associated with obesity
• This is the first generation of children that may have a shorter life expectancy than their parents and this is mainly due to obesity and obesity-related diseases

Florida Hospital registered dietitian, Sherri Flynt, MPH, RD, LD, used her expertise to guide families and individuals to achieve optimum health by providing tips on how to make simple everyday changes to improve health.

Diabetic patient, George Barnett believes that it is necessary for research to be done in this area. He knows that being overweight can influence how diabetes affects his body. "Since I started exercising, my sugar is more controlled and I've lost almost 20 pounds," Barnett said. "I would love to live long and not die from complications of diabetes."

By monitoring his weight, Barnett is able to maintain more control over his diabetes and work on becoming less dependent on medication. "I feel great when I exercise and lose weight knowing that my medication is going to be less," said Barnett. "My main goal is to stop taking the medication."

The lecture, How Fat Works was given Wednesday, June 24 at 6 p.m. at Florida Hospital Orlando. The evening featured complimentary chair massages, a hand scanner that measures antioxidants in your body, screenings to determine diabetic risk and a scale that measures body mass index (BMI). There were also booths from Florida Hospital Cardiology, Diabetes Center, Rehab, Creation Health, and Fitness.

About Burnham Institute for Medical Research

Burnham Institute for Medical Research is dedicated to revealing the fundamental molecular causes of disease and devising the innovative therapies of tomorrow. Burnham, with operations in California and Florida, is one of the fastest growing research institutes in the country. The Institute ranks among the top four institutions nationally for NIH grant funding and among the top 25 organizations worldwide for its research impact. Burnham utilizes a unique, collaborative approach to medical research and has established major research programs in cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes, infectious and inflammatory and childhood diseases. The Institute is known for its world-class capabilities in stem cell research and drug discovery technologies. Burnham is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation. For more information, please visit www.burnham.org.

About Florida Hospital

Opened in 1908, Florida Hospital is one of the largest not-for-profit hospitals in the country, admitting more patients than any other hospital in the nation, according to the American Hospital Association.  The more than 2,000-bed system, has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best hospitals in the country for the past nine years.  Florida Hospital has several major centers of excellence including Cardiology, Cancer, Neuroscience, Orthopaedics, and Diabetes.  For more information, please visit www.floridahospital.org.

For more information, contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at 407-303-8217.

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