We bet that everyone of you already know what obesity is. Yes, obesity is an excessive body weight which then of course will limit your move and also will affect your daily activity.So, in most cases, obesity could occur because you’re eating more calories than you burn in daily routine. Whenever the accumulative calories already into your body you don’t have enough physical activity, you will suffer from obesity. Other than that, here are several causes of obesity that could happen to you:
- Eating a poor diet of foods high in fats and calories.
- Not sleeping enough. Because not sleeping enough could lead to hormonal change that will make you feel more hungry.
- This is depending on how your body processed the foods that you just ate into energy and how fat is stored.
- As the time goes by and whenever you’re getting older, the metabolic rate would be slowed down, making it easier to gain some weight.
- Whenever you’re pregnant, without a doubt you will gain some weight and sometimes it will be very difficult to lose soon after you have the labor.
So, after you know all of the causes of the obesity, you might need to know various complications or health risks that you could get whenever you have the obesity and excessive weight gain. Here are the health risks of obesity and excessive body weight.
The diabetes type 2 is one of the most common diseases that will occur whenever people have the obesity. So, the question is why the obesity could lead to diabetes type 2? So, the fat cells that commonly stored around the waist whenever you have the obesity would secrete hormones and other substances that will stimulate the inflammation. This inflammation could make the body less responsive to insulin and thus, it will affect the way the body metabolizes fat and carbohydrate, which is leading to the high blood sugar level and thus, it will higher the risk of having the diabetes type 2.
If you want to avoid yourself from diabetes type 2, eating the healthy diet and get more physically active would be very beneficial because those things would help to control the blood sugar level. Becoming more active physically would also be very beneficial the need of using diabetes medication. It is very important that you need to control your body weight to delay the onset of diabetes type 2.
Cancer is obviously one of the most deadliest diseases that would occur whenever you have the obesity. Although the relation and mechanism between the obesity and cancer is still remains a mystery because cancer is not a single disease, but complications from many diseases, but some studies suggested that whenever people have the obesity, the risk of having the cancer would also high too.
A study that conducted by an expert panel that assembled with the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research concluded that there was an evidence that shows the link between the obesity and cancer. They conclude that people with obesity have the higher risk of having several types of deadly cancer, such as pancreas, colon, esophagus, rectum, breast, endometrium, kidney, and gallbladder cancer.
- Reproduction Problems
There is no doubt that people with obesity have the higher chance of developing the reproductions problem. In this case, the relation between the obesity and reproduction problems among women is more clear than men. In a study conducted by the Nurses’ Healthy Study, about 25 percent of ovulatory infertility in the USA occurs with the women who have the problems with their body weight. In addition to that, obesity will also lead you to the early and late miscarriage, preeclampsia, and complications during the labor.
In the other hand, the direct impact between the obesity and reproduction problems among men is less clear rather than the women. But, some experts say that the chance of you have the low sperm count and sperm motility would be increased whenever you have the problem with obesity. So, the conclusion is whenever you have the obesity, the quality of the sperm would be decreased too.
- Lung or Respiratory Disease
There is a relation between the obesity and lung or respiratory disease So, according to many experts, the excess weight will affect the lung and respiratory via mechanical and metabolic pathways. The excessive fat in the body might will limit the descent of diaphragm, which then will cause the lung expansion.
In the other hand, asthma and obstructive sleep apnea is the most common respiratory diseases that could occur whenever people have the respiratory disease. In the matter of fact, the study has already shown that people with obesity have 50 percent higher of having the respiratory disease like asthma and sleep apnea compared people with normal body weight. Also, some clinical studies have already shown too that the weight loss would be very beneficial to treat the sleep apnea.
- Musculoskeletal Disorder
There is also a connection between the excess weight and musculoskeletal disorder. So, according to many experts, the obesity would create both of the mechanical and metabolic strains on the bones, muscles, and joints. In the matter of fact, the diseases associated with musculoskeletal such as osteoarthritis in knee and hips are positively caused by the excessive body weight. In addition to that, the obese patients account about one-third of all the joint replacement operations. According to many experts too, the obesity would also increase the risk of having the back pain, lower limb pain, and also disability due to the musculoskeletal disorder.
- Sleeping Disorders
Without a doubt, sleeping disorders would occur whenever the people have some kind of trouble with obesity. So, whenever people have the excessive body weight, it will affect your neck area and thus, you will be more likely to suffer from snoring and sleep apnea. So, the question is, why the people with obesity could snore during their sleep? As already mentioned before, people with the excessive weight would have some problems within their neck area. Extra weight in the neck area then could block the airways, which then lead you to snore during your sleep.
- Gallbladder Disease
Whenever you have the excessive weight, there is no doubt that you would suffer from the gallbladder disease and gallstones. So, gallstones are hard pieces of stone-like material which made from the cholesterol that form in the gallbladder. Since the gallstones could be formed by the cholesterol, there is no doubt that people with obesity have the highr risk of developing the gallbladder disease. These gallstones then will cause some discomforts in around your stomach and also can cause the back pain. But, experiencing the rapid weight will also cause you the gallbladder disease, though. The best way to avoid yourself from the gallbladder disease is reducing the body weight slowly but sure.
- Abnormal Blood Fats
Abnormal blood fats is a condition that commonly closely related to the excessive weight or obesity. So, as already mentioned above, whenever you have the obesity, the level of triglycerides and LDL, which is the bad cholesterol, will be higher than before. In the other hand, the level of HDL, which is the good cholesterol, will be lower than before. These phenomena without a doubt would cause the abnormal blood fats, which then could lead you to more serious medical conditions, such as coronary heart disease and of course, cardiovascular death.
- Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome
This is another disease that would occur whenever you have the problem with the body weight. So, people with obesity have the higher risk of developing the obesity hypoventilation syndrome. Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome is the disease that related to the breathing problem that commonly occur in people with obesity. Whenever people have the Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, the poor breathing results in too much carbon dioxide and too low of oxygen level in the blood. Sadly, whenever you left this disease untreated, this disease could lead you to more serious problems and may even cause death.
- High Blood Pressure
Health Risks of Obesity could rise your blood pressure. There is no doubt that the people who have the obesity problem would have the high blood pressure too. So, the blood pressure is the force of blood that pushing against the artery walls whenever the heart pumps blood. Commonly, the high blood pressure disease will not have the symptoms. Although it has no symptoms at all, but these medical conditions might be the clue that you’re developing the high blood pressure:
- Severe headache
- Shortness of breath
- Severe anxiety
Since this disease commonly occurs because of the obesity, you could check your blood pressure to the doctor if you’re still unsure whether you’re having the high blood pressure or not. If you have the blood pressure higher than 120/80 mmHg, you might have the high blood pressure. Seek the medical attention as soon as possible since this disease could lead you to more serious medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease and stroke.
- Coronary Heart Disease
It is obvious whenever you have some problems with obesity, you will have a problem with the coronary heart disease too. So, when the body mass’ index rises, the risk of you having the coronary heart disease will be higher too. Coronary heart disease could occur whenever there are some plaques that build up inside your coronary arteries, which these arteries will supply the blood with a rich amount of oxygen onto your body. As the result, the coronary arteries will be more narrow than before, which of course will reduce the blood flow to the heart muscle, a condition that would cause you a lot of problems, including a heart attack in the future.
There is also no doubt that whenever you have the obesity, you will be more likely to have the stroke too. This is because whenever the body mass index rises, there would be plaques that will be built up in the coronary arteries. These plaques, aside could make the coronary arteries become narrower than before, these plaques could rupture too, which then will lead to the forming of the blood clots. The clots would be very dangerous if these clots formed around the brain because they can block the flow of the blood that contains a rich amount of oxygen, which then without a doubt will lead you to stroke.
In the matter of fact, there is a study that really shown the relationship between the excessive body weight and stroke. So, according to a study, overweight increased the risk of ischemic stroke by 22 percent, while obesity increased the risk of ischemic stroke by 64 percent. So, you better control your body weight if you want to stay away from stroke.
- Cardiovascular Death
This is a very serious condition that also commonly happens at the later stages whenever people have the obesity and excessive body weight. In the matter of fact, there is a study that supports the theory that obesity will lead you to the dangerous disease like cardiovascular death. So, women with obesity and excessive body weight had a 62 percent greater risk of dying early from coronary artery disease and also had a 53 percent greater risk of dying from any types of cardiovascular disease. These high numbers don’t just apply to the women, but in fact, men that have the obesity and excessive body weight also showed the similar percentage with the women. So, right now you need to try to maintain your ideal body weight if you want to stay away from any types of cardiovascular diseases.
This is one of the most common diseases whenever you have the obesity and excessive body weight. Whenever you have the more body weight, the probability of having the gout will be higher too. So, gout is a disease that commonly affects the joints, whenever you have too much uric acid in the blood. These excessive uric acid then could form a crystal that will deposit in the joints. Over the short-term, the sudden weight gain could lead you to the flare-up of gout. So, whenever you have a history of gout, you need to seek the medical advice how is the best way to lose the body weight for you from your doctor.
- Metabolic Syndrome
There is also no doubt that you’re having the obesity, the chance of you getting the metabolic syndrome would be higher too. So, metabolic syndrome is a group of the health risk that increase your risk of having the heart disease and other complication diseases. In case you suffer from these risk factors, you could be considered to have the metabolic syndrome:
- A Large waistline. A large waistline is often called as abdominal obesity, which is characterized by having the extra fat around your waist. Having the extra fat around the waist would be a serious health risk of developing the coronary heart disease.
- Having the triglyceride level larger than normal.
- Having the HDL cholesterol level that lower than normal. HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol in the body.
- Having the blood pressure higher than normal.
- Having the clotting factors that higher than normal.
Although the direct connection between Alzheimer and obesity is still remains a mystery until at the moment, but many studies suggest that people with excessive body weight are more prone to have the Alzheimer disease. So, body weight is potentially a modifiable risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia too. In the matter of fact, according to a study, having the body weight that lower than usual would increase the possibility of having the Alzheimer up to 36 percent, while having the obesity and excessive body weight would increase the possibility of having the Alzheimer up to 42 percent. So, maintaining the body weight would be very essential to protect you from the various serious diseases, including Alzheimer.
There is also a connection between the obesity and having the depression. So, according to many studies, the relationship between the obesity and depression is pretty obvious. Many studies conclude that whenever people have the obesity, the possibility of them having the depression would increase too. Although the mechanism that the obesity could affects the depression is still unknown, but some health experts suggest that this is due to the activation of inflammation, changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, insulin resistance, and social factors.
- Psychosocial Effects
In this era, we must accept that the culture of this modern era will affect the people with obesity too. Nowadays, in our culture, the ideal physical attractiveness is commonly judged by the overlt thin body weight, which of course will make the people with excessive body weight would feel inferior about that. Many people often judge people with obesity have the wrong habits in their life and often to eat the unhealthy foods. Of course, this will affect the mental strength and the confidence around the people with excessive body weight. As the result, they will suffer from a lot of disadvantages, such as have fever or no romantic relationship in their life, being rejected around their society, which then commonly lead to the depression in the people with obesity.
How to Treat Obesity
Well, after you know all of the health risk of obesity, you might wonder what can you do to treat the obesity in case you’re having the excessive body weight. So, the goal of the obesity treatment is to reach your ideal body weight, although you can’t do it instantly and the treatment need a process. So, here are the various treatments that commonly would be very beneficial for people with excessive body weight:
- Cutting Calories. So, this is the most important things that you should do since the calories that you take would play a vital role in your body weight. The recommended amount of calories among the women are about 1,200 to 1,500, while in men are about 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day.
- Making Healthier Choices. In order to reach your ideal body weight, you need to eat a plant-based foods to support your diet. In addition to that, taking fruits, and the source of protein such as bean and soy would be beneficial too. Try to reduce the intake of salt, added sugar, and fats.
- Exercise. Whenever you have the excessive body weight, you are not allowed to use your condition to get lazy all day long. On the contrary, you need to get an exercise on a daily routine in order to reach your ideal body weight. Try to do the moderate exercise for the first time, and then as the time goes by and whenever you get used to, you could increase your exercise intensity.
- Surgery. This is the final options whenever you want to lose the body weight in a short amount of time. So, weight-loss surgery is the surgery that will decrease the absorption of the food and calories. Weight-loss success after surgery is depending on your commitment in long-term lifestyle too. But, you need to remember that although the weight-loss surgery will offer you the quick result, but this kind of treatment has serious risk too.
How to Prevent Obesity
Now, after you already know about how to treat obesity, you might want to know about how to prevent it so that you won’t get the excessive body weight in the future. So, here are the things that you should do whenever you want to stay away from obesity and always maintain your ideal body weight:
- Having a Healthy Eating Plan.You need to make a plan on what kind of food that you want to eat. You also need to watch closely about the intake of the calories that you take per day. Women should take 1,200 to 1,500 calories while men should take 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day. Taking healthy foods such as vegetables, whole-grains, fruits, and fish wold be beneficial to maintain the body weight.
- Reduce the Portion. Whenever you have the meals, it is important that you take a notice on the portion of your meals. It is better if you eat at smaller portion but frequently rather than big portion at once. But, although you eat at smaller portion, that doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to eat over-frequently.
- Always active. This is also very important thing to do if you want to stay away from the excessive body weight. Just make sure that you stay active during the day and always burn the calories everyday. So, you can ask your relatives or your friends to have a workout with you so that you wouldn’t feel bored and exhausted.
- Reduce the Screen Time. Whenever you want to stay away from obesity, you need to reduced your time in front of TV and video games since those things will make you stay inactive throughout the day. In addition to that, whenever you have so much time in front of TV, you will be more likely to eat unhealthy snacks.
So, now you already know all you need to know about the health risks of obesity, alongside with the treatment and prevention of it. Obesity, in most cases, is preventable and really depends on your lifestyle. So, you need to take a notice about your lifestyle from right at the moment. Stay healthy!