Health Hazards of Obesity

Despite what popular culture has us believe, obesity is more of a health problem than an image problem. Obesity is the leading cause of many preventable diseases and deaths. An obese person has a higher risk of contracting certain illnesses due to an increase in blood pressure and cholesterol.

What is Obesity?

Recognized since 1985 as a chronic disease, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death, exceeded only by cigarette smoking. Obesity is the condition that is caused by the excessive weight gain. It occurs due to the deposition of the large amount of fats in the body that puts adverse impact on your health.

When the body weight of a person is 20 per cent or more than his ideal body weight, he is considered obese. The ideal body weight for a person depends on his height, sex, age and body frame. The more obese a person is, the more likely he or she is to develop health problems. Fortunately, even a modest weight loss of 5 kg to 9 kg can bring significant health improvements, such as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

What are the Health Hazards of Obesity?

Research has shown that as weight increases to reach the levels referred to as "overweight" and "obesity," the risk for the following conditions also increases:

• Heart Diseases: Obesity causes heart disease in an individual. Many times obesity is supposed to be the symptom of the heart disease. Due to the obesity lot of fats gets deposited on the heart that disturbs the functioning of the heart leading to the heart failure or stroke. Obesity also puts a lot of pressure on heart that leads to the sudden cardiac arrest in some cases.

• Diabetes: Overweight people are twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to normal weight people. Type 2 diabetes is a major cause of heart disease, stroke, blindness, and early death. Losing weight and becoming more physically active can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. People with family history of diabetes are more likely to develop these problems if they are overweight.

• High Blood Pressure: Many medical studies have shown a relation between obesity and high blood pressure (hypertension). Being obese more than doubles the risk of developing raised blood pressure. Fortunately, even if your blood pressure is high, a modest weight loss can bring it under control. Blood pressure can drop with every kilo lost.

• Cancer: Several types of cancer are associated with obesity. In women, these include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovary, breast, and colon. Overweight men are at greater risk of developing cancer of the colon, rectum, and prostate. For some types of cancer, such as colon or breast, it is not clear whether the increased risk is due to the extra weight or to a high-fat and high-calorie diet, this, of course, being strongly associated with weight problems as a consequence.

• Osteoarthritis: Obesity is found to cause osteoarthritis. Due to the excessive weight, there is more pressure put on the joints of legs which leads to the loss of synovial fluid that lubricate the joints. As a result the person suffers with the osteoarthritis.

• Gallbladder disease and Gallstones: The risk of gallbladder disease and gallstones increases as body weight increases. Note that rapid weight loss can actually increase your chances of developing gallstones. Therefore, you should aim for a gradual weight loss of about 1 pound (about half a kilo) a week.

• Gout: Overweight and obese people may suffer from gout that affects the joints caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood. Uric acid sometimes forms into solid stone or crystal masses that become deposited in the joints. An obese person is 4 times more likely to get gout than a non-obese person. However, with weight loss, the uric acid levels in the blood decreases.

• Liver Disease: Obesity is a greater risk factor for liver inflammation and damage than alcohol intake. Obesity increases the risk of having liver damage seven fold and combining obesity with heavy drinking is like adding fuel to fire

• Sleep Apnea and Breathing Problem: Sleep apnea is a condition where a person stops breathing for a short time during sleep. This is a serious breathing condition that is associated with obesity. Sleep apnea can cause a person to snore heavily. Sleep apnea in obese persons can result in a reduction in testosterone production and a reduction in the amount of growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland.

• Reduced sperm count: Sperm count of the obese men is found to be lower than that of the normal men. This happens as the production process of the sperms is being disturbed by the excessive deposition of the fats around the testes where sperms are produced.

• Problems in pregnancy: Obese women face the problem in getting pregnant as their hormone levels are disturbed due to the presence of the excessive fats in the body. Even after the deposition of the sperms in the ovule the ovulation cycle fails as the excessive weight puts a stress on the channels that supply food to the egg.

Even if you are not overweight now and health problems related to obesity have a tendency to run in your family, it is important that you try to keep your weight steady. Genetics are at work here and if you have family members with weight-related health problems, you are more likely to develop them yourself.