The American Medical Association has reclassified obesity as a disease. Meaning it's in the same category as AIDS, Polio, Smallpox, Cholera, Malaria, and the Ebola Virus. So can you catch nasty case of obesity, and does this mean we can't be friends with Gucci Mane anymore? Read more.

The American Medical Association has reclassified obesity as a disease. Meaning it's in the same category as AIDS, Polio, Smallpox, Cholera, Malaria, and the Ebola Virus. So can you catch nasty case of obesity, and does this mean we can't be friends with Gucci Mane anymore?

Sad times indeed. And more proof Africa can't catch a break. They've been praying for an epidemic of obesity and all they got was AIDS.

Via LA Times: In the end, members of the AMA's House of Delegates rejected cautionary advice from their own experts and extended the new status to a condition that affects more than one-third of adults and 17% of children in the United States.

"Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately 1 in 3 Americans," said Dr. Patrice Harris, an AMA board member.

Tuesday's vote is certain to step up pressure on health insurance companies to reimburse physicians for the time-consuming task of discussing obesity's health risks with patients whose body mass index exceeds 30. It should also encourage doctors to direct these patients to weight-loss programs and to monitor their often-fitful progress.

It started with alcoholism, then depression and now obesity. We should start betting on what will be the next disease that's not actually a disease. Like, douchebagery. "Hey man, I'm not a douche bag. I just have a disease." Thanks champ. And thanks AMA for telling fat people they have a disease, instead of telling them the truth: "You're fat because you don't exercise enough, you eat too much, and you have an unhealthy diet. If you don't change your lifestyle, you may die, and there will be no one to blame but yourself. It's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done, but it's the only way." But if your doctor tells you that, you might get angry and look for a new doctor. So, rather than risk losing your health-insurance check, the doctors will tell you that you have a disease. They'll tell you it's not your fault, it's your genetics. They'll say it's curable with a healthy diet, exercise and a lifetime of prescription pills to help you lose the weight. We do all this because we've become a culture that would rather be tricked into losing weight than being told we have a problem. And yes, shit just got real.