Obesity and Health Issues

Obesity

The health problems associated with obesity are numerous. Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem. It's a health hazard. Someone who is 40% overweight is twice as likely to die prematurely as is an average-weight person. This is because obesity has been linked to several serious medical conditions, including:

• Infertility.
• Cardiovascular problems.
• Heart disease and stroke.
• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Cancer.
• Gallbladder disease and gallstones.
• Osteoarthritis.
• Gout.
• Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for a short time during sleep), respiratory problem.
• Musculoskeletal problems, such as low back pain and arthritis.

Obesity and Female Infertility - Female hormone abnormalities.

Obesity increases the production of oestrogen; this hormonal imbalance in turn interferes with ovulation, which of course, is the basis of successful conception.

Ovulatory disorders are the leading cause of female infertility, resulting in the disruption of hormones, menstrual cycles, and conception. Approximately 15% of such disorders are linked to weight disorders, mainly being overweight and obese.

High oestrogen levels associated with obesity can also result in pre-cancerous transformations (usually reversible) in the uterus.

According to several studies, women whose obesity could be traced back to their childhood (childhood obesity) had a greater risk of amenorrhea, a condition in which menstrual cycles are absent.

Women who are overweight or obese are less likely to respond to fertility drugs, because excess weight interferes with the proper absorption of a variety of drugs used in infertility treatment.

So consult with our impressions professionals and fix your obesity issues.

Obesity and Male Infertility

Infertility due to male factor accounts for at least 40% of infertility cases. Blockages and problems producing healthy sperm are often the main reasons for male infertility.

So consult with our impressions professionals and solve your overweight issues.

Cardiovascular problems[CVD]

There is good evidence of an association between:
overweight and obesity and:

• CVD incidence in young to middle-aged adults
• coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence in adults.

There is moderate evidence of an association between:
overweight and obesity and:

• heart failure incidence in adults
• ischaemic stroke incidence in adults

obesity (including duration of obesity) and:

• CVD mortality

abdominal obesity and:

• CVD incidence in older men
• CHD incidence in older men and younger women
• stroke incidence.

There is little or weak evidence of an association between:
overweight and obesity and:

• CVD incidence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

obesity and:

• CHD incidence among children and adolescents (particularly among girls) unless the children become obese adults.

Obesity and Heart disease and stroke

Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability. Overweight people are more likely to have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, than people who are not overweight. Very high blood levels of cholesterol can also lead to heart disease and often are linked to being overweight. Being overweight also contributes to angina (chest pain caused by decreased oxygen to the heart) and sudden death from heart disease or stroke without any signs or symptoms.

The good news is that losing a small amount of weight can reduce your chances of developing heart disease or a stroke. Reducing your weight by 10% can decrease your chance of developing heart disease. So, what are you waiting for? consult with our impressions professionals and fix your obesity issues and save your Heart & family!

Obesity and High blood pressure

Many medical studies have shown that obesity presented an increase in the cardiac output and the blood volume, and in the arterial resistance. In fact, obesity induces a high secretion of insulin in trying to decrease the excessive sugar concentration in the blood. This insulin secretion is very high compared to a non-obese subject.

Moreover, the insulin, secreted by the pancreas, is responsible for many modifications in the body:

• It induces a thickening of the vessels which is responsible for an increase in their rigidity, thus increasing the blood pressure.
• It increases the cardiac output, because the secretion of adrenalin is increased.
• It induces the re-absorption of water and salt by the kidney, which increases the blood volume and thus increases the blood pressure.
• Moreover, obesity is responsible for an over-sensitiveness to sodium, which is known to increase the rigidity of the peripheral arteries.

So consult impressions professionals and reduce your High blood pressure risks.

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes

Obesity is one of the principal risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are causally linked. Weight gain leads to insulin resistance through several mechanisms. Insulin resistance places a greater demand on the pancreatic capacity to produce insulin, which also declines with age, leading to the development of clinical diabetes. Physical inactivity, both a cause and consequence of weight gain, also contributes to insulin resistance.

Analyses by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), undertaken for the World Health Report 2002 and associated WHO Global Burden of Disease research, indicate that approximately 58% of diabetes mellitus globally can be attributed to BMI above 21 kg/m2. However in western countries, around 90% of type 2 diabetes cases are attributable to weight gain, as shown in the figure below, and childhood overweight and obesity are now leading to an unusual pattern of premature type 2 diabetes, which is particularly difficult to manage once established.

Cancer

According to the AICR, obesity increases the likelihood of developing the following cancers by 25 to 33 percent:

• Breast (post-menopausal).
• Colon.
• Endometrial.
• Esophageal.
• Kidney.
• Prostate.

Gallbladder disease and gallstones

What Causes Gallstones?
Gallstones are solid clusters of material that form in the gallbladder. They are made mostly of cholesterol. They may occur in one of three typical ways:

• when bile contains too much cholesterol.
• when bile contains an excess of certain proteins in the bile causing cholesterol to form hard crystals.
• when the gallbladder does not contract and empty its bile regularly.

Western eating habits are also thought to encourage gallstone formation. This is because a low intake of dietary fiber and a high intake of highly refined food leads to a reduction in bile acid levels, which are needed to maintain the solubility of cholesterol.

Obesity Increases Risk of Gallstones
As weight increases, the risk for developing gallstones also rises. Health studies indicate that the risk may triple in women with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 32, compared to women with a BMI of 24 to 25. Risk may increase sevenfold in women with a BMI greater than 45 compared to those with a BMI less than 24. Evidence exists that central or abdominal obesity (excess fat around middle) leads to a greater risk of gallstones than does excessive fat on hips, buttocks and thighs.

Researchers have found that people who are obese may produce excessive levels of cholesterol. This can trigger gallstone formation.

Obese patients may also have large gallbladders that do not empty normally or completely. This, too, can trigger gallstone formation.

Yo-Yo Dieting (also known as weight cycling) Increases Risk of Gallstones
Yo-yo dieting / weight cycling may increase the risk of developing gallstones. The more weight a person loses/regains during a cycle, the greater the risk of developing gallstones.

[Yo-Yo Dieting is a repeated loss and gain of body weight due to excessive dieting]

Overweight Is a Risk for Osteoarthritis

Overweight female have nearly 4 times the risk of knee Osteoarthritis, the risk is 5 times greater for overweight male. It is estimated that persons in the highest KG of body weight have up to 10 times the risk of knee Osteoarthritis than those in the lowest KG.

Gout

Gout is a painful form of arthritis that causes joint swelling. It is primarily a disease of the obese. Ninety percent of gout is caused by kidneys not properly pushing the body's uric acid into the urine stream. Serum uric acid levels are increased in people with higher BMI, and can fall when weight is lost.

If you are overweight and suffering from gout, what can you do to help?
1st, lose the weight! This will quickly reduce the load on your kidneys and help ease the gout.
2nd, drink 8+ glasses of water a day! Every diet recommends this as part of their daily regime. Make it a part of your life.
3rd, after cutting out the high purine foods, there are foods which can help ease the uric acid overload. These are:

• Berries: Dark berries are full of antioxidants and lower uric acid levels.
• Salmon: The omega oils help ease inflammation.
• Nuts and Olive Oil: Again, the natural fatty acids help out.

Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for a short time during sleep), respiratory problem.

Obesity can also cause respiratory problems. Breathing will be difficult as the lungs are decreased in size, and the chest wall is very heavy and difficult to lift. Daily activities such as shopping, stair climbing and exercise may be hindered by breathing problems.

While obesity does not cause asthma or bronchitis, it interferes with breathing and may aggravate an attack. Obesity, however, may cause sleep apnea, a serious condition that occurs when people stop breathing during sleep. When soft tissue in the throat collapses around the airway, a complete blockage occurs and the person stops breathing. In the long-term, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances and sudden death. And these kind of abnormal breathing conditions results in the accumulation of toxic levels of carbon dioxide in the blood.

Musculoskeletal problems, such as low back pain and arthritis.

These are common among the obese. Because the entire weight of the upper body falls on the base of the spine, the spine may wear out in obese people, resulting in arthritis of the spine or disc problems. Most of the weight of the body is borne by the hips, knees, ankles and feet, which tend to wear out more quickly in obese people, resulting in arthritis. Obese patients have poorer results with joint replacement surgery and some surgeons refuse to perform such surgery on severely overweight people.