Overview – Overweight and Obesity
Do you know that excess weight or obesity can put pressure on the vital organs of your body? Obesity strains your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and joints. The risk factors of obesity include chronic health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, osteoarthritis and some cancers.
However, the good news is that not everyone with obesity has these conditions. Furthermore, maintaining a healthy body weight can help you manage these health conditions and lead a healthy life.
Read this article to understand the risks of obesity in detail.
The 10 risk factors of obesity
1. Type 2 diabetes:
Excessive abdominal fat in people with obesity leads to the production of excess fatty acids. This makes the body less sensitive to insulin, which results in high blood glucose levels or type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a major risk factor for obesity and leads to health conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage and eye problems.
2. High blood pressure:
Excess fat tissue increases the need for oxygen and nutrients in your body. Your heart needs to work harder to pump more blood through your body. This increase in blood circulation puts more pressure on the walls of the arteries. The added pressure leads to hypertension, which can damage your arteries and heart. High blood pressure increases the risk of kidney disease, heart disease and stroke.
3. High cholesterol:
Obesity causes a rise in LDL or bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It also affects how your body manages cholesterol. Triglycerides from fatty acids give rise to high cholesterol. High cholesterol and triglyceride levels narrow the arteries, block the blood flow and increase the chances of a heart attack.
4. Heart disease:
Heart disease refers to conditions that adversely affect your heart. Heart disease is a severe risk factor resulting from obesity. With time, the fat deposits accumulate in your arteries and narrow them. Narrowed arteries cause a blockage in blood flow to your heart and increase the risk of a heart attack. High blood pressure, high blood glucose and high cholesterol increase the risk of heart disease.
5. Stroke:
When the blood supply to your brain gets cut off due to a blocked artery in the brain, it leads to a stroke. High blood pressure, a risk factor for obesity, is the primary cause of a stroke. A stroke can cause paralysis, difficulty eating, swallowing, mobility, depression and changes in behaviour.
6. Kidney disease:
High blood pressure and diabetes are the primary causes of kidney disease. These health conditions are also risk factors for obesity. In the case of kidney disease, your kidneys get damaged and thus fail to filter your blood. Obesity increases the chances of kidney disease and speeds up its progress.
7. Gallbladder disease:
Gallbladder diseases, such as gallbladder stones or cholecystitis (i.e., inflammation of the gallbladder) are some other risk factors for obesity. Gallstones are caused by excess cholesterol in your bile. Bile is a fluid stored in the gallbladder. It helps remove waste from the liver.
8. Sleep apnea:
Sleep apnea is a condition where you may stop breathing for a short time during sleep. This occurs due to excess fat stored around your neck, which obstructs your airway and causes it to shrink. Having a small airway may lead to difficulty breathing at night. It also causes loud snoring. Sleep apnea is closely linked to heart disease.
9. Osteoarthritis:
Osteoarthritis is also a risk factor for obesity. It causes pain and swelling in the joints and affects your movement. Lack of mobility causes weight gain. Being overweight puts pressure on your knees, joints and cartilage, which increases your risk of osteoarthritis.
10. Cancer
Obesity increases your chances of developing cancers like those of the breast, uterus, kidneys, pancreas, oesophagus and colon. These occur due to inflammation caused by visceral fat or fat surrounding the vital organs.
Summing up
Being overweight increases the risk factors for obesity. Losing as little as five kilos from your body weight can help reduce your abdominal fat. This, in turn, will ease your blood pressure, control your blood glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, stop sleep apnea and reduce the pressure on your joints. A regular exercise regimen, such as walking or cycling, and a balanced diet will help you achieve your healthy weight goals.
For more informative articles on chronic health conditions, visit the Medkart website today!
FAQs related to overweight and obesity?
1. Can obesity be treated?
Obesity is a chronic condition that develops over time. You will need consistent medical treatment and strict dietary and lifestyle changes to lose weight. However, these treatments have limited benefits. If you discontinue them, you may experience weight regain.
2. Can obesity affect fertility?
In women, obesity causes hormonal imbalances that affect their menstrual cycles, hamper their ovulation and cause infertility. Obesity also causes PCOS, in which the ovaries do not produce enough hormones, due to which the egg does not mature. This may lead to infertility.
3. Do children have obesity if their parents have obesity problems?
Children have a high chance of having obesity if their parents have it. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and following a proper diet right from the beginning may help prevent excess weight gain in children.
