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CNN Live Saturday
Health Discussion With Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi
Aired January 03, 2004 - 14:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRCIKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, move over Houston. Motor City now claims the top spot as fat city. Men's Fitness magazine says Detroit is No. 1 among couch potatoes and Houston, which had held the top spot for the last three years -- well, it dropped weight and fell to No. 2.
Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi is in Washington to answer some of our health questions for us.
Well, let's start with the fattest cities, the fittest cities, since we're on this subject.
All right. Detroit is getting the unsavory, you know, honor of being the fattest city. What makes it the fattest city? What's the equation here?
DR. GIGI EL-BAYOUMI, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, first of all, being from Michigan originally, I want to defend the honor of Detroit, and to point out that although Houston was the winner in past years, it's because of an educational program gave over that honor to Detroit. So the message there is that you can make a difference by making some lifestyle changes to reduce your weight.
There are probably several reasons why we as a country are getting fatter. And it has to do with our own personal genetics, availability of food, the portions -- and you can see that by going to any restaurant -- and the less exercise that we're doing.
WHITFIELD: So why is it that geography seems to be you know, an important variable here?
EL-BAYOUMI: Well, having grown up in the Midwest, in which winter begins roughly in October and if you're lucky, ends in May, we tend to be more sedentary in colder climates. When it's cold, we go into that hibernation instinct and probably a lot of us experience that over these holidays, where we're eating more and hanging out more and sleeping more. The days are shorter. So we're less likely to be outside. There is less light exposure. So all of those factors probably collude to give that honor of the fattest city to Detroit.
WHITFIELD: All right. And let's talk about the fittest cities, Honolulu being one.
EL-BAOYOUMI: all right.
WHITIFELD: In fact, No. 1, and it makes perfect sense then, what you're saying about geography. That's an area that's conducive to being outdoors, and working out, et cetera.
EL-BAYOUMI: Absolutely. Think about it: when there's one warm day in the winter, we all go outside to expose ourselves to the light, to make sure that we're taking up the sun, that we're warm. It's fun. We can do some of the outdoor activities, like walking and biking and enjoy ourselves outside. So does it surprise you that Hawaii has one of the fittest cities? It doesn't for me.
WHITFIELD: I know. Not -- me either.
Now, let's talk, shift gears a little and kind of go backwards a little bit and talk a little bit more about this Viagra,, this being an interesting health issue that maybe some encouragement for some women with fertility issues. A very small number of women, if you, you know, listen to the report, were able to really say they were successful in getting pregnant as a result of taking these suppositories.
So are you that convinced that, you know, enough has been proven, that these Viagra suppositories were the answer to getting these women pregnant?
EL-BAYOIMI: You know, I think we have to be really, really careful, especially with something that is as important and as charged an issue as fertility issues, where people literally spend thousands of dollars, not to mention spend a lot of time and heartache being disappointed when they are unable to conceive.
But, having said that, I think that all good studies have to be evidence-based. They have to be randomized, double blinded. And that means that we can't know what medication is being given to what woman so that we can objectively look at the data.
My understanding of the four women that were study in this paper published about, -- almost four years ago now -- is that this was not a double blinded study, meaning, that the doctors knew that they were giving these women the Viagra and were able to observe the outcome. For this study to have legitimacy, we have to see these sail results being reproduced in other labs, and in other institutes and other clinic. And so far, you know, we've not seen this happen.
WHITFIELD: All right.
EL-BAYOUMI: So until and unless we see those kinds of results elsewhere, I think that the word is still out.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, thanks very much for joining us.
EL-BAYOUMI: You're welcome. Happy New Year.
WHITFIELD: Happy New Year.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 3, 2004 - 14:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRCIKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, move over Houston. Motor City now claims the top spot as fat city. Men's Fitness magazine says Detroit is No. 1 among couch potatoes and Houston, which had held the top spot for the last three years -- well, it dropped weight and fell to No. 2.
Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi is in Washington to answer some of our health questions for us.
Well, let's start with the fattest cities, the fittest cities, since we're on this subject.
All right. Detroit is getting the unsavory, you know, honor of being the fattest city. What makes it the fattest city? What's the equation here?
DR. GIGI EL-BAYOUMI, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, first of all, being from Michigan originally, I want to defend the honor of Detroit, and to point out that although Houston was the winner in past years, it's because of an educational program gave over that honor to Detroit. So the message there is that you can make a difference by making some lifestyle changes to reduce your weight.
There are probably several reasons why we as a country are getting fatter. And it has to do with our own personal genetics, availability of food, the portions -- and you can see that by going to any restaurant -- and the less exercise that we're doing.
WHITFIELD: So why is it that geography seems to be you know, an important variable here?
EL-BAYOUMI: Well, having grown up in the Midwest, in which winter begins roughly in October and if you're lucky, ends in May, we tend to be more sedentary in colder climates. When it's cold, we go into that hibernation instinct and probably a lot of us experience that over these holidays, where we're eating more and hanging out more and sleeping more. The days are shorter. So we're less likely to be outside. There is less light exposure. So all of those factors probably collude to give that honor of the fattest city to Detroit.
WHITFIELD: All right. And let's talk about the fittest cities, Honolulu being one.
EL-BAOYOUMI: all right.
WHITIFELD: In fact, No. 1, and it makes perfect sense then, what you're saying about geography. That's an area that's conducive to being outdoors, and working out, et cetera.
EL-BAYOUMI: Absolutely. Think about it: when there's one warm day in the winter, we all go outside to expose ourselves to the light, to make sure that we're taking up the sun, that we're warm. It's fun. We can do some of the outdoor activities, like walking and biking and enjoy ourselves outside. So does it surprise you that Hawaii has one of the fittest cities? It doesn't for me.
WHITFIELD: I know. Not -- me either.
Now, let's talk, shift gears a little and kind of go backwards a little bit and talk a little bit more about this Viagra,, this being an interesting health issue that maybe some encouragement for some women with fertility issues. A very small number of women, if you, you know, listen to the report, were able to really say they were successful in getting pregnant as a result of taking these suppositories.
So are you that convinced that, you know, enough has been proven, that these Viagra suppositories were the answer to getting these women pregnant?
EL-BAYOIMI: You know, I think we have to be really, really careful, especially with something that is as important and as charged an issue as fertility issues, where people literally spend thousands of dollars, not to mention spend a lot of time and heartache being disappointed when they are unable to conceive.
But, having said that, I think that all good studies have to be evidence-based. They have to be randomized, double blinded. And that means that we can't know what medication is being given to what woman so that we can objectively look at the data.
My understanding of the four women that were study in this paper published about, -- almost four years ago now -- is that this was not a double blinded study, meaning, that the doctors knew that they were giving these women the Viagra and were able to observe the outcome. For this study to have legitimacy, we have to see these sail results being reproduced in other labs, and in other institutes and other clinic. And so far, you know, we've not seen this happen.
WHITFIELD: All right.
EL-BAYOUMI: So until and unless we see those kinds of results elsewhere, I think that the word is still out.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, thanks very much for joining us.
EL-BAYOUMI: You're welcome. Happy New Year.
WHITFIELD: Happy New Year.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
