Obesity is a worrisome epidemic, that’s spreading like wildfire in the industrialized world today. The more obese or overweight a person becomes, the more he or she is likely to develop a wide array of associated health problems. According to health experts, mild obesity involves having a body mass index or BMI of 30+, while morbidly obese individuals have a BMI of 40+, and malignantly obese people have a BMI of 50+. Dietitians also contend that those who are forty percent overweight have twice more chances of dying prematurely as compared to the average-weight individual.
Enhanced Risks Of Premature Death
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, estimates that an average of 300,000 plus Americans die each year from obesity-related complications. The CDC also adds that even a moderate weight gain is good enough to increase the risk of death, especially among people aged between 30 to 64 years old. A new study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has concluded that obesity kills roughly 112,000 individuals each year, which is quite lower than the CDC estimate.
Increased Stroke and Heart Disease Risks
The study made by the US CDC has also concluded that obesity increases your chances of developing atherosclerosis, or the narrowing of the arteries. Atherosclerosis leads to the development of arterial blood clots, which are an important harbinger of strokes. This condition is often enhanced by high blood pressure, lack of exercise, smoking and high cholesterol levels. Morbid obesity is often correlated with a high-fat diet, lack of exercise as well as increased high blood pressure. Obesity also increases the chances of developing heart disease. The chances of getting congestive heart failure, heart attack, sudden cardiac death and angina is more heightened by being overweight or worse, obese. The rates of high blood pressure are twice as high in obese adults, as compared to those who have average or moderate weight. Obesity also leads to a decrease in HDL cholesterol, or good cholesterol, and also leads to high triglyceride levels.
Enhanced Risk Of Developing Diabetes Type 2
Obesity also heightens your chances of developing diabetes type 2, where an increase of just 11 to 18 pounds is enough to compound your health, as compared to those who have not gained any weight at all. Health experts contend that around eighty percent of individuals who already have diabetes are either overweight or obese. This phenomena could account for the development of the word “diabesity” which practically denotes the close link between diabetes and obesity.
Increased Chances of Getting Fatty Liver Disease and Other Cancers
The list of the many associated risks of obesity goes on and on. Once you become overweight, and continue to pack more kilos or pounds, it also leads to an increase in the risks of developing different types of cancers, including higher chances of developing colon cancer, gall bladder, kidney, prostate, post-menopausal and endometrial cancer. The CDC also noted that women who gain more than twenty pounds, and are aged from 18 years old to midlife are known to develop higher chances of getting post menopausal cancer, as compared to women who manage to control their weight. Fatty liver disease is also among the many risks of being obese.
Fatty liver disease is common in alcoholics, and is also induced by insulin resistance. This happens once a metabolic disorder takes place in the cells, and the cells become insensitive or non-responsive to the effects of insulin. A number of health studies have repeatedly emphasized that there is a clear correlation between an increased body mass index and the degree or level in liver damage. The studies have agreed that the higher the body mass index, the higher the chances of developing liver disease.
Increased Chances of Developing Chronic Venous Insufficiency
Chronic venous insufficiency is also one of the additional risk factors associated with obesity, although health experts contend that obesity may not be a direct cause of it. Morbid obesity often leads to high blood pressure and the development of musculoskeletal deficiencies. This, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, all contribute to the development of chronic venous insufficiency. Obese individuals also face a greater chance of getting other harmful vascular disorders such as lower limb ischemia, which is often a direct result of hampered or inadequate blood flow to the extremities.
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