Urgent Question re: Metabolism

K

kimroberts

Cathlete
Help!! I had a big weight gain (30 lbs) in a short period of time last fall. I'm still not a huge person, but I was concerned so I went to my obgyn who sent me to an endocrinioligist. He has done a bunch of hormone, thyroid, cortizone tests and they are all normal.

So today he sent me for a resting metabolic rate test. So I'm thinking, oooh, this is sooooo cool. Fits in with what I do for a living.

The guy doing the test has a PhD in exercise physiology from Vanderbilt so he talks way over my head. He is not a medical doctor. I'm inside this bubble that looks like an astronaut helmet and I'm watching the screen while I breathe because I can interpret a little of the info. Then he suddenly turns the screen away from me. And a few minutes later, he rips the bubble off my head and says he's never seen an "RQ" that low. He says that usually a 6-8 means that a person is in ketosis but I registered a 4. Normal for this particular guy is a 28.

So, this is more than I understand. I can't find any websites that deal with this. What is "RQ"? and why would a "4" send him into such a tither?

The good news is that my RMR (I knew what that one meant) is 1720, which is higher than I had estimated with skinfold tests.

Somebody who knows more than me, please explain, or point me to a website.

Thanks.
 
I can't answer your question, but I am sure curious about your results, too! So, once he was done with the test, did he just give you your numbers and send you home? Or can something be done to get your numbers in line with what he thinks they should be?

Veronica
 
This guy was a PhD, not an MD, so he wasn't about to give me any advice. He had trouble at the beginning getting the computer to "calibrate." I just don't know what "RQ" stands for. I've got it posted a coupled of other places to. If anybody knows what it stands for, let me know.

Thanks.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-05-01 AT 02:06PM (Est)[/font][p]is it possible for you to call him and ask him to explain what that is seperate from offering medical advise?

also if anyone is suspicious that the equiptment wasnt doing its job... he should definately want to do it again

the scientific method requires "replication of results" he should be able to get the same results more than once before making conclusions

Is he using this information for his own work or was he doing this for you?

another question you need to think about before getting too worried:
is he measuring something valuable..
 
I don't know if it's valuable or not, because I don't know what it is??????? Dumb blonde syndrome, I guess. He did seem quite puzzled. Anybody, what does "RQ" mean in relation to metabolism?
 
I don't know if this will help you or not, but I remember an article in Vogue--May issue I'm pretty sure--about some new test on metabolism. Your description reminded me of it.
 
Hi there!

I'm not sure I can straighten out what this chap was saying, but I can tell you a little about RQ - as another person mentioned, the traditional RQ in metabolic testing is the respiratory quotient which is a ratio of the volume of CO2 produced to the volume of O2 consumed per unit of time. It can be calculated for a whole bunch of different things and can be affected by a multitude of things. It's complicated to explain, but let me give you a few examples. When you burn glucose, you produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as you consume oxygen to do that, so the RQ of carbohydrate metabolism is 1. For fat, you consume more oxygen than CO2 is produced, therefore the RQ is <1, usually around 0.7. When you do metabolic monitoring, you can approximate what types of calories are being utilized. However, there are other factors that affect the RQ, for instance, if you would hyperventilate and therefore increase you consumption of oxygen, and blow off more carbon dioxide, the RQ will greatly increase - this has nothing to do with your basal metabolic rate at the time. Therefore RQ isn't a real specific metabolic test.

The number values your friend was using was completely unknown to me - when we use metabolic carts in the hospital, those numbers would be astronomically high - perhaps he was using a different numerical base or something.

Sorry I can't be of more help - you're gonna have to see what their particular lab values mean. Typically a low number would mean that you are metabolizing more fat than carbohydrate, when people get in a lot of carbohydrate, their RQ will often go up because they have to produce more carbon dioxide to metabolize it.

None of this probably makes any sense, but hope it helps in some dim way. :-hmmm Keep us posted!

Cheers!
Colia
 
Well, the fellow just called and told me that he used the same apparatus to do a treadmill test with after I left and everything worked just fine. So, tomorrow morning I get to go back to the hospital at the crack of dawn and start over.

You know, in some absurd kind of way, this is fun. I think sometimes the Lord sends me health problems so I can learn and spread that information on to others. Kinda like the Prayer of Jabez, I'm having my territory enlarged!?!??!?!

Oh well, that just means another 12-hour fast, hard to do when you eat every three hours!!!
 
i hope you get an answer that helps not confuses you further..

i wonder what you do next if the information is not ideal?
 
From here, the PhD guy faxes all the info to my endocrinologist. He is experienced at working with athletes. So maybe he can shed some light on the subject. But I'll probably have to wait to speak to him because I'll be on my yearly cruise next week. I'll just stay fat and sassy for another week!!!
 
Well, I went back and got in the astronaut bubble again this morning, with assurances from Sam that the computer was working properly. The great news is that there's nothing wrong. After a 12-hour fast, my body is relying on stored bodyfat for energy, just as it should.

But the bad news is, my resting metabolic rate was much lower since the computer has been repaired. Only slightly over 1500 calories. Sam thought it would be higher because of my exercise level. But he said all women have a sudden drop in metabolism around age 40, I just had mine a little early.

Oh, well, off to the grocery store for more raw broccoli, strawberries and skinless chicken breasts.
 
I am glad all is well!

strawberries, brocolli and skinless chicken is good stuff...dont worry, its not so bad... i hope you like seafood too....
 
Can you believe that I don't eat baked/broiled/grilled seafood (other than canned tuna) nor do I eat eggs? I do love breaded and fried fish--but not fancy fish. My favorite is the square species like you get at McDonald's on those Filet-o-fish sandwiches.
 
I just read your thread and had to give you a great big Amen to your reasoning behind your health problems. One must hold on to your seat when praying the Lord will expand your territories.

May God Bless you through this!
 
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