By wendyboivin

Wendy Boivin is a graduate student in the department of Pathology at UBC and currently studies cardiovascular disease at the iCAPTURE Centre. Wendy did laboratory work on adipocytes during her undergrad degree and her inspiration for this piece came from the documentary Super Size Me.

AMERICA AND ADIPOCYTES: WHY LIPOSUCTION IS NOT THE ANSWER

Roughly 65% of Americans are overweight, 23% are obese, and not surprisingly these numbers continue to rise.[1] There are three classifications of obesity as published by the World Health Organization (WHO) utilizing the body mass index (BMI) which is computed by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters. [2] Individuals with a BMI greater that 25 are considered overweight or of class I, people with a BMI greater than 30 are obese (class II), and those with a BMI over 40 are morbidly obese, and have an associated increased risk of death. [2] The obesity problem translates into over…

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