Your new favourite podcast - Unlearn to Learn

Unlearn to Learn is all about challenging what we think we know about obesity. To launch the series, World Obesity host Alexander French is joined by Dr Arya Sharma, Professor Emeritus of Medicine & Past-Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, and the Past-Clinical Co-Chair of the Alberta Health Services Obesity Program.

There are countless myths about living with and managing obesity. For example, a common myth is that obesity is primarily caused by inactivity, a lack of physical exercise and/or unhealthy dietary habits. Almost all preventative and therapeutic programs for obesity focus on curbing an unhealthy diet and physical inactivity and thereby neglect other possible contributors to the disease.

In this episode, Dr Sharma explores common misconceptions with Alexander, from genetics to management programmes, and even how terminology and perceptions around obesity can impact patients.

Episode 2 focuses on the variations of obesity across different ethnic groups – how weight stigma and attitudes towards obesity vary greatly across cultures.

To discuss this and more, Alexander is joined by Dr Fatima Stanford. Dr Stanford is an obesity medicine physician scientist, educator, and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

As well as analysing and examining the myriad cultural differences relating to obesity, Dr Stanford takes Alexander through a history of bias in the media, and how healthcare professionals and practitioners can avoid stigma and influence from harmful stereotypes.

In this episode, we shift the format slightly, to a discussion between a specialist and a patient, to hear how the treatment of obesity impacts on mental wellbeing. We’ll be joined by Professor Carel Le Roux from the University College Dublin, and Wendy Reaser, a patient living with obesity from Saskatchewan, Canada.

Carel is Director of the Metabolic Medicine Group. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London, and then moved to University College Dublin as Chair in Experimental Pathology.

Wendy Reaser is a patient living with obesity, and with Carel she reveals the impact obesity has had on her mental wellbeing, the correlations between BMI and depression, and the impact of treatments for mental health on weight.

It’s a frank and fascinating insight, with patient and doctor offering honest and detailed advice and recommendations on how the medical industry can improve the treatment of obesity.

Unlearn to Learn is back! We rejoin the series with episode 4, focusing on bariatric surgery; why and when it’s necessary, what the procedure involves and what patients can expect following surgery.
To discuss this and more, Alexander is joined by Dr Lilian Kow. Dr Kow is an Associate Professor and the Clinical Director of Gastrointestinal surgery at Flinders University in South Australia.

Bariatric surgery is a complex procedure to treat a complex disease. Dr Kow has visited bariatric clinics all over the world and advised and trained surgeons in the treatment and support of patients who have the surgery.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the health of patients living with obesity. Two national lockdowns in 18 months saw obesity rates increase. Was it due to the impact on people’s mental health?

In this episode, Alexander is joined by Professor Donna Ryan, Professor Emeritus at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to answer this question and more. Professor Ryan explores the challenges of ‘long COVID’ in relation to obesity, explains why vaccines are crucial in providing protection, and provides counsel to some common misconceptions around COVID and obesity. In our 5^th episode of Unlearn to Learn, and as we start to emerge from 2 years of the pandemic, it’s time to unlearn everything you thought you know about COVID-19 and its impact on patients living with obesity.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the health of patients living with obesity. Two national lockdowns in 18 months saw obesity rates increase. Was it due to the impact on people’s mental health?

In this episode, Alexander is joined by Professor Donna Ryan, Professor Emeritus at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to answer this question and more. Professor Ryan explores the challenges of ‘long COVID’ in relation to obesity, explains why vaccines are crucial in providing protection, and provides counsel to some common misconceptions around COVID and obesity.

In our 5^th episode of Unlearn to Learn, and as we start to emerge from 2 years of the pandemic, it’s time to unlearn everything you thought you know about COVID-19 and its impact on patients living with obesity.

In today’s society, we’ve cultivated an ethos of instant gratification. Life is fast-paced. The role that nutrition plays in both preventing and treating obesity is crucial. Nutrition is a critical part of both health and development. Better diet and nutrition have shown to improve health, immune systems, lead to less lethargy, and more consistent energy levels and life longevity.

Whilst the causes of obesity are varied and involve a complex interplay between dietary factors and various internal genetics and external exposures, the role of nutrition is key not only for obesity but for our overall health.

In this episode of Unlearn to Learn, we’ll be talking about nutrition and the dietetic assessment. Through this, we’ll touch upon a bespoke form of treatment labelled ‘personalised nutrition’ and go on to look at the different types of diet out there, as well as the dietitian’s role as part of a multidisciplinary health team.  In this episode, Honorary Consultant Dietitian Mary O’Kane from Leeds Teaching Hospitals joins Alexander to discuss how various psychosocial issues and factors can affect weight, as well as eating behaviours and disorders.

Behavioural modification and lifestyle adjustments are the first step in treating obesity. Whilst these are important in treating obesity, it is difficult to achieve or sustain the process of weight loss, especially long-term through these alone.

Pharmacotherapy has quickly surfaced as an alternative therapeutic approach to intensive lifestyle intervention; essentially bridging the gap between behaviour changes and more intense treatment such as surgery.

In this episode of Unlearn to Learn, we’ll be delving into the world of Pharmacotherapy with Dr Caroline Apovian. Caroline joins Alexander to discuss what FDA approved medicine is currently being used to treat obesity, as well as some of the benefits and risks associated with drug treatment. As always on the podcast, they’ll debunk some common myths surrounding obesity medication before analysing the science behind it and examining the relationship and potential causality between multiple different drugs and the disease itself.

Across 8 episodes of our debut podcast series Unlearn to Learn, we’ve established that obesity is nothing if not a complex disease. Studies have shown that obesity is multifactorial and everything from socio-economic factors to poor mental health can contribute to the increase in cases over the years.

With its pinpoint precision and set of diagnostic tools, modern technology has allowed researchers to explore how genetics play a role in the cause of obesity, advancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of weight gain and regulation tenfold.

In this episode, the final episode of Unlearn to Learn, we’ll be taking a closer look at the relationship between obesity and genetics with Professor Sadaf Farooqi. Sadaf joins Alexander to discuss how genetics and biology can interact with other factors, such as environment, in increasing a patient’s risk of obesity. They also explore the science behind the leptin hormone and its relationship to weight regulation.