Half-Ton Mexican Man Loses 200 Pounds

The Washington Post ^ | 06.26.06 | OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

[Coleus]

Health officials said Manuel Uribe weighed 1,235 pounds when he made a desperate plea for help on national television in January. Unable to leave his bed for five years, the 41-year-old mechanic in the northern industrial city of Monterrey longed to move again.

His plea was answered by doctors and nutritionists who prescribed a high-protein diet, helping him lose about 200 pounds since then. Gilberto Montiel, health secretary for Nuevo Leon state, said medical officials have been monitoring Uribe's weight and confirmed the loss.

"I feel better now, I can stretch and move a bit more," Uribe said Monday, flanked by Dr. Barry Sears, creator of "The Zone" diet, who came to check on his progress. Still, Uribe said he has just enough energy to sit up and move the sheet that covers his body. His goal is to lose another 770 pounds.

Uribe was a chubby kid, weighing more than 250 pounds as an adolescent. Starting in 1992, he said, his weight began ballooning further. Uribe drew worldwide attention when he appeared on the Televisa television network in January.

For the last five years, Uribe has been bedridden. He keeps a television and a computer he uses to update his Web site near his iron bed. "People think that I can eat a whole cow but it's not just overeating, it's also a hormonal problem," Uribe said. "For now, I'll keep doing the diet and if I get stuck I'll consider the surgery."

[Coleus]

Doctor Barry Sears,left, and Manuel Uribe, poses during a press conference in Monterrey, Mexico on June 26, 2006. Manuel Uribe weighed 1,235 pounds when he made a desperate plea for help on national television in January. Uribe, 41, has lost 200 pounds since February following the high-protein diet. But he is not discarding having gastric bypass surgery. "People think that I can eat a whole cow but it's not just overeating, it's also a hormonal problem," Uribe said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Juan Manuel Villasenor)

[coconutt2000]

Check me, but aren't people starving in Mexico? or at least hungry?

[sageb1]

I don't know what to say except I pray the guy makes it. There have been too many of these cases in recent years. Why?!?

[Tomalama]

I just don't understand how this can happen. Bed ridden for 5 years. Who is feeding him?

[ECM]

Complete lack of self control in a world that is non-judgemental to a fault?

[bahblahbah]

Nah, mexicans are getting pretty fat. I can't find it now, but I was browsing through technorati for some info on the mexican election and came up with a story from some mexican newscaster's blog talking about it.

[Aussie Dasher]

Has anyone mentioned this to Michael Moore or Lard Ass Kennedy? *hint*hint*

[GSlob]

Well, even with the complete lack of self-control he wouldn't have gotten to 1200 lbs. Must be something medical as well.

[Washi]

At half-a-ton, 200 pounds of weight loss is two sit-ups and a good bowel-movement.

Keep working at it, buddy.

[ECM]

It's likely his thyroid is, essentially, broken. Or he really likes ice cream.

[pax_et_bonum]

Nah, mexicans are getting pretty fat.

So are the white folks in my area where there's so much Mexican food.

:-)

[Richard-SIA]

I don't understand how anyone can be that fat and not shatter their own skeleton.

I would expect broken hips, shoulders, ribs, etc.

[GSlob]

Well, really liking ice cream wouldn't do it to you. Must be something metabolic with him. He needs a really good surgery, way beyond common liposuction and the gastric/intestinal bypass.

[Marius3188]

Seriously...He lost a MAN in weight. Incredible.

[tdscpa]

"the 41-year-old mechanic in the northern industrial city of Monterrey longed to move again."

Sure. He wants to move to the US, so he can get on welfare and be able to hire several illegals to take care of him and get rich with his excess welfare payments.

[BJClinton]

There have been too many of these cases in recent years. Why?!?

Prosperity. Thankfully the left has a solution to the side effects of prosperity.

[ECM]

That's why I commented on his thyroid--the rest was for comedy value.

[ByDesign]

I would think, with all the attention and care he's getting, they would have diagnosed him with a medical issue causing the weight, and he would be also receiving treatment for it. "It my thyroid" or "It's hormonal" are common rationalizations, and almost always undiagnosed by a doctor.

You CAN eat yourself to this size. I've seen a lot of the shows about people this big on the science channels, and none of them had hormonal or medical conditions that caused the weight - in most cases it was depression, lack of activity, binge eating, and emotional issues. Once you hit the point where you cannot get out of bed, sit up, or anything else, it's a fast road to 1000 pounds or more, most of it fluids and such that build up in the body. Almost all of them, once they're in a controlled environment where they cannot get food, or have it brought to them, and they eat rationally and healthy, and are in a therepuetic environment with encouragement and positive attitudes, they lose weight.

Granted, at 1200 pounds his blood chemistry and body are a complete train wreck, but in a controlled environment and a stable diet, it should come back to normalcy eventually - and the weight will come off.

[GSlob]

"but in a controlled environment and a stable diet, it should come back to normalcy eventually - and the weight will come off." -If he survives till then.

[ByDesign]

"I don't understand how anyone can be that fat and not shatter their own skeleton.

I would expect broken hips, shoulders, ribs, etc."

One would think, but then, they don't move a whole lot.

They have a whole slew of health issues from their bedridden state and size, that are pretty nasty and not much fun to talk about. They're basically rotting in place, and it's not pretty. Plus, hygeine is pretty much impossible at that size, I'll let you do the math.