An estimated one in nine adult women struggle with an abnormal and painful fat buildup in the lower body — and no amount of diet or exercise can help.

Lipedema, a relatively common but often overlooked disease, causes fat to accumulate in the lower part of the body, primarily the butt, thighs and calves. 

For many women, like Molly Friar, an event planner in Sacramento, California, it can cause debilitating pain and impaired mobility.

In an effort to raise awareness of this condition, Friar, 53, spoke with Fox News Digital about her long journey to diagnosis — and what she calls her newfound "freedom."

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Friar was just 11 years old when she started to notice that her body was different than everyone else’s, she said during a phone interview.

"The lipedema itself is governed by hormone changes, so that's when things really took off for me," she said. "My legs were different from every other girl in my class, and I started to get a bit of a stomach in my lower abdomen."

It was puzzling for Friar, who was very fit and athletic. 

She played soccer, basketball and softball, and was also a cheerleader — yet no matter how active she was or how carefully she ate, her lower body carried an abnormal amount of fat.

"Somehow my legs and stomach were always disproportionately bigger than everybody else's," she said.

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Adding complexity to the situation, Friar is adopted — so she had no context that might have predicted this genetic condition.

"I don't have pictures of my family to look at, to see a grandmother or an aunt or other women in my life that were affected by it," she said.

Friar felt "completely out of place," she said, as everyone else in her family was "super skinny" and she was not.

Friar was just 12 years old when her parents put her on a Weight Watchers program.

"They felt like that was the best thing they could do to help me," she said. 

Throughout her adolescence and young adulthood, Friar worked out every day, biking to the gym and taking aerobics with all the adults.

"That’s absolutely where I started a battle of shame around my body — something I couldn't control," she said. 

"I would eat less or not eat, and exercise more, and do all the things I could think of to outpace something that I didn't know existed."

She added, "I always felt like there was a person inside of me who was thin and just wanted to get out."

In addition to the body image struggles, Friar’s condition also came with extreme pain.

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Lipedema causes inflammation and extreme bruising — "I would just brush up against something and get a bruise," said Friar.

The activities that were pleasant for other people, like getting a massage during a pedicure, created "excruciating pain" for Friar.

For someone with lipedema, she explained, running a hand over the skin is like touching a rocky beach — "you can feel the nodules like pebbles under the skin."

Other common symptoms include swelling, a feeling of heaviness in the legs and excess fatigue. 

For some patients, the condition can cause difficulty walking, heightened anxiety and depression, joint issues, venous (vein) disease and other complications, according to Cleveland Clinic.

In 2016, when Friar was 45 years old, she lost 50 pounds — but didn’t lose a centimeter in her calves.

She started digging in to figure out what was going on. "I knew something wasn’t right," she said.

In her online research, it wasn’t long before Friar was looking at photos of women with lipedema, with abnormal fat deposits in their lower bodies.

"In that moment, I cried — it was like looking in a mirror," she told Fox News Digital. 

"I felt validated and relieved and ecstatic — I finally had an answer."

But the relief was short-lived, as Friar quickly realized there was no cure for her condition. "It’s something that you have to try to battle for the rest of your life."

There are, however, options to alleviate some symptoms that come with lipedema, as Friar found out when she began seeing her doctor, Jaime S. Schwartz, M.D., in Beverly Hills, California.

A board-certified plastic surgeon and world-renowned lipedema specialist, Schwartz has dedicated much of his career to raising awareness for fat disorders like lipedema.

He launched Total Lipedema Care to help women like Friar.

"Most people will tell you that the lower half of their body just started growing a lot larger than the upper half, usually during puberty," Schwartz told Fox News Digital.

"It doesn't start as pain, but they start seeing physical changes that don’t really make sense."

Lipedema is usually misdiagnosed as morbid obesity, Schwartz noted.

"In the U.S., many doctors tell women, ‘You're fat, you did this to yourself,’" he said.

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But the good news, he said, is that awareness is slowly starting to grow.

"Over the past five years, it's gone from no one knowing about it to a lot of people knowing about it, so it's definitely getting better."

As Schwartz told Friar, he recommends surgery as the best option to relieve lipedema symptoms.

At his practice, Schwartz performs a patented procedure called manual lipedema extraction, which involves a combination of liposuction and the removal of underlying nodules of fat through small incisions.

"When I take the ‘bad tissue’ out, people feel better as soon as the next day," Schwartz said. "That's the only thing that I've seen that works — and I've seen everything that's out there."

Friar ended up having a total of three surgeries — one on the back of her legs, one in the stomach area and one on the front of her legs.

"For me, the surgery was life-changing," Friar said. "I feel it changed the game for me — it extended my life and I gained back probably 75% to 80% of my mobility."

Each surgery required around six weeks of recovery time.

"It isn’t easy, but I would do it 1,000 times over," she said.

One caveat is that some insurance companies have been slow to cover the cost of lipedema surgeries. Friar had to pay out of pocket for the procedures, which can range from $4,000 to $16,000, according to Schwartz's website.

"I was very, very lucky — there are so many women who want the surgery that can't afford it," she said.

In addition to the surgeries, dietary changes have had a big impact on Friar’s quality of life.

"The optimal diet for me is gluten-free and dairy-free, with no added sugars, no processed foods, low salt and very little alcohol," she said.

She also wears medical-grade compression gear at night and lighter-compression leggings during the day.

"It helps alleviate a lot of the inflammation and excess fluid in the body," she said.

Other non-surgical options for relief include exercise and medications or supplements to reduce inflammation.

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As Schwartz told Fox News Digital, Friar’s case was pretty typical of most women’s experiences with lipedema, although he noted her positive mindset.

"A lot of women have had this for so long, and it defeats them emotionally, psychologically and mentally," he said. "But Molly has always had such an amazing outlook and personality."

He added, "Obviously, it's been emotional for her at times, but she never let it defeat her."

Friar said her life now is "like night and day" compared to before.

"Getting a massage for me is now enjoyable," she said through tears. "I can climb to the top of a mountain, and I can walk six miles and not stop."

"It’s like your mobility gets taken away from you, and when you instantly get it back, it's newfound freedom."

Friar’s goal is to increase awareness around this condition, among patients and doctors alike, so other women don’t have to live in shame for years like she did.

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"It’s something we need to be talking about," she said. "It’s such a visual thing, involving our bodies and how we present ourselves to the world, and it’s something we can’t control."

"I'm willing to shout from the rooftops if I can help even one person recognize the symptoms and be able to help themselves."

For many of Schwartz’s patients, he said, the disease has "destroyed their lives."

"They don't go out, they don't socialize, they're afraid to work or wear certain clothes in public," he said.

Some women can't have their grandchildren sit on their lap or can't hold their spouse's hand because it’s too painful, he said. 

"So when they have surgery and they're not in pain, not only do they look different and they're so happy to rediscover their body, but they can even have their dog sit in their lap for the first time," he said.

"It’s a very overwhelming reality for them in a beautiful way," he also said.

It is estimated that around 11% of women are living with lipedema today.

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.

Presented by Honourable Dennis Cornwall, Minister for Finance

View the full post 2024 Budget Statement on NOW Grenada.

Santo Domingo.- Around 15% of the global population, or at least one billion people, live with some form of disability. This statistic includes nearly 240 million children, with a significant portion in Latin America and the Caribbean, where approximately 19.1 million children and adolescents have disabilities. However, 70% of school-age children and adolescents with disabilities in this region do not attend school. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, endorsed by the Dominican Republic, aims to ensure equal rights and freedoms for children with disabilities.

In the Dominican Republic, UNICEF highlights that one in ten children between 2 and 17 years old has a disability. The situation is more acute among the 5-17 age group, with 11.3% having a disability. Carlos Carrera, UNICEF’s country representative, points out that these children and their families face numerous barriers, including negative societal attitudes, lack of supportive policies, and limited educational and economic opportunities.

To address these challenges, significant initiatives have been undertaken in the Dominican Republic. In December 2022, 500 families with disabled children received a social protection bonus, spearheaded by First Lady Raquel Arbaje. This effort aims to ensure equal rights for these children and adolescents. Despite such measures, families like Antonia Peguero’s, who has a son with Down syndrome, still face hardships due to economic realities and high living costs.

Efforts to promote inclusive education are underway, with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF implementing pilot projects to transform education services for inclusive learning. This initiative involves the development of a National Inclusive Education Model to enhance inclusive education services in regular and special schools. UNICEF calls for societal change to overcome prejudices and eliminate barriers, ensuring inclusion for all children and adolescents with disabilities.

View the full post International Day of Persons with Disabilities on NOW Grenada.

Emphasis will be placed on four parishes this week when the Vector Control Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness continues its fogging exercise.

The programme starts in St Michael on Monday, December 4, with fogging at Lower Burney, Cutting Road, Mount Friendship Road and the environs.

On Tuesday, December 5, the team will journey to St Joseph, where Horse Hill, Orange Cottage, Vaughns Road 1, 2 and 3, Easy Hall, Bowling Alley Hill and the environs will be sprayed.

The following day, Wednesday December 6, attention will shift to St Philip where fogging will occur at Hill Drive, Apple Hall, Bottom Bay Road, Terrace Drive, Bottom Drive, Bay Drive, Ocean Drive and the environs.

On Thursday, December 7, the team will spray the St James districts of Jamestown Park, First and Second Street, Cherry Ave., Frangipani Row, Carnation Row, Orchid Row, Oleander Row and environs.

Fogging culminates on Friday, December 8, with a return to St Michael. The areas to be visited are Bank Hall, Dash Gap with Avenues, Quarry Road, Industry Road, Kew Road and the surrounding districts.

Fogging takes place from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., daily.

Householders are asked to assist in the control of the aedes aegypti mosquito and are reminded to open their windows and doors to allow the spray to enter. Persons with respiratory problems are asked to protect themselves from inhaling the spray.

Pedestrians and motorists should proceed with caution when encountering fogging operations on the street and parents are instructed to prohibit children from playing in the fog or running behind the fogging machine.

Members of the public are advised that the completion of scheduled fogging activities may be affected by events beyond the Unit’s control.  In such circumstances, the Unit will return to communities affected as soon as possible.

(PR)

The post Four parishes to be fogged this week appeared first on Barbados Today.

Guyana’s Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony and the Ministry of Health on Saturday hailed the contributions of former Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Americas, Dr Carissa Etienne who passed away suddenly on Friday. “The Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony is saddened ...

“The fans will be strategically placed throughout various areas of the hospital and will significantly improve the overall atmosphere”

View the full post ACB Grenada Bank helps beat heat at General Hospital on NOW Grenada.

Posted: Friday, December 1, 2023. 10:14 am CST.

By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: World Aids Day is recognized globally on December 1.

The day is set aside to bring together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity.

The day is being observed under the theme, “Let communities lead”.

World Aids Day is an opportunity to reflect on the progress made to date, to raise awareness about the challenges that remain to achieve the goals of ending AIDS by 2030 and to mobilize all stakeholders to jointly redouble efforts to ensure the success of the HIV response.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) is hosting a World Aids Day Health fair today in Belmopan.

The fair is being held at the steps of the National Assembly.

The Ministry will be offering free HIV and Syphilis testing, Hepatitis B testing and glucose and blood pressure checks.

The fair commenced at 9am and ends at 3pm.

 

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Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox.

Hello, everyone. Damian here with a rebound for biotech stocks, the potential of Wegovy, and a major change at the FDA.

The need-to-know this morning

• Abbvie said it would acquire ImmunoGen, a maker of cancer drugs, for $10.1 billion. ImmunoGen is being acquired for $31.26 per share, or a 95% premium to its Wednesday closing price. The company markets an antibody-drug conjugate called Elahere used to treat ovarian cancer.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

Santo Domingo.- Yesterday, the United States Embassy made a significant contribution to the Dominican Republic’s efforts to combat African Swine Fever (ASF) by donating laboratory equipment and technical assistance worth US$3 million to the Central Veterinary Laboratory (Lavecen). The donation ceremony at Lavecen was led by Vice Minister Darío Vargas and Acting Minister Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, Ted Bryan.

This donation is part of a larger aid package from the Agricultural Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture, which has provided US$30 million to the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture since ASF was detected in July 2021.

The funds have been utilized for various purposes, including the acquisition of laboratory equipment, PCR test equipment, reagents, and diagnostic support materials. Additionally, they have facilitated the continuous sampling of potentially infected pigs. The support also extends to providing a technical team responsible for offering training and support to local staff, along with training in data collection by American epidemiological experts.

Ted Bryan highlighted the U.S.’s continued support since July 2021, noting that over US$16 million has been compensated to Dominican pig farms that have incurred losses due to the disease. This collaboration underscores the strong partnership between the two countries in addressing agricultural health challenges.