More than just adding to your weight, extra pounds raise your chance of developing serious health issues. Obese or overweight people are more prone to suffer from depression, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other conditions. Obesity during pregnancy can affect both you and your unborn child's health in the short and long terms.
Fortunately, shedding some pounds can lower your likelihood of experiencing some of these issues. You may learn more about the connections between obesity and various medical issues in this information sheet. Additionally, it shows how keeping a healthy weight may keep you and your loved ones healthier as you age.
How Am I Able To Tell If I Am Too Heavy?
It might not seem like a huge problem to put on a few pounds during the year. But over time, these extra pounds might pile up. How can you know whether your weight could make it more likely that you'll have health issues? Understanding two figures might help you assess your risk,
1. Your BMI (body mass index) score
2. your waist measurement, in inches
Body Fat Percentage
The BMI can help determine if a person is obese, overweight, or at a healthy weight. It calculates your weight in proportion to your height and assigns you a score that will assist categorize you:
1. BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal.
2. BMI of 25 to 29.9 indicates obesity
3. BMI 30 or above is considered obese.
Size of Waist
Your waist measurement in inches is another crucial figure to know. Even more than having fat in other areas of your body, excess belly fat might raise health concerns. The likelihood of acquiring illnesses linked to obesity may be increased in men and women with waist sizes of more than 40 inches and 35 inches, respectively.
What Sorts of Health Issues Are Associated With Being Overweight or Obese?
Obesity may raise the risk of a variety of health issues, including
1. diabetes type 2
2. elevated blood pressure
3. strokes and heart conditions
4. certain cancer types
5. Slumber apnea
6. Osteoarthritis
7. A fatty liver condition
8. kidney illness
9. Pregnancy issues such high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and an increased chance of cesarean birth (C-section)
Diabetes Type 2
Overly high blood sugar levels are a symptom of type 2 diabetes. Heart disease, renal disease, stroke, amputation, and blindness are all greatly increased by high blood sugar. Diabetes was the sixth most common cause of mortality in the US in 2009.
The most prevalent kind of diabetes is type 2. Genes and family history are important factors in type 2 diabetes. Low levels of physical activity, a poor diet, and increased body weight in the midsection are additional risk factors.
How are type 2 diabetes and obesity related?
Overweight or obese conditions affect more than 87% of diabetic people.
4 Why overweight persons are more likely to get this illness is unclear. It's possible that excess weight alters cells, rendering them resistant to the effects of insulin. Insulin transports blood sugar to the cells, where it is converted to energy. A person with insulin resistance has high blood sugar because the cells are unable to absorb blood sugar. Additionally, the insulin-producing cells must exert additional effort to maintain normal blood sugar levels. This might eventually lead to the death of these cells.
How does losing weight help?
Losing weight can help prevent or postpone the onset of diabetes if you are at risk for type 2 diabetes. Losing weight and increasing your physical activity can help you manage your blood sugar levels if you have type 2 diabetes, which can help you delay or prevent health issues. You might be able to take less diabetic medication if you lose weight and exercise more.
How much weight loss can diabetes be avoided or delayed?
The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a sizable clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health, examined methods for preventing type 2 diabetes in persons who were overweight. According to the DPP, type 2 diabetes may be prevented or delayed by decreasing merely 5 to 7 percent of your body weight and engaging in moderately intensive activity (such as brisk walking) for 150 minutes a week.
Blood pressure is high.
Blood is pumped through your arteries to the rest of your body each time your heart beats. How firmly your blood presses against the artery walls determines your blood pressure. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, frequently causes no symptoms but can still result in major issues including heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.
A blood pressure reading of 120/80 mm Hg, or "120 over 80," is regarded as normal. You are said to have high blood pressure if either the top number, or systolic blood pressure, is regularly 140 or higher, or if the bottom number, or diastolic blood pressure, is 90 or higher.
How are obesity and high blood pressure related?
There are various ways that obesity and excess weight are related to high blood pressure. Because your heart must work harder to pump blood to every cell in your body, having a big body size may cause blood pressure to rise. Additionally, extra fat might harm your kidneys, which assist control blood pressure.
How does losing weight help?
Losing enough weight to have your BMI near to the normal range can significantly decrease high blood pressure. Reduce salt intake, stop smoking, and engage in regular physical activity are further beneficial modifications. If, however, these lifestyle modifications are insufficient to control your blood pressure, your doctor may recommend medication.
Heart Condition
The phrase "heart disease" is used to indicate a number of conditions that might harm your heart. The most frequent form of issue occurs when a blood artery that transports blood to the heart narrows and hardens. The heart could not receive all the blood it requires as a result. How well the heart pumps may be impacted by other issues. If you have heart disease, you might experience angina (chest discomfort), heart attack, heart failure, sudden cardiac death, or an irregular heart rhythm. The biggest cause of death in the US is heart disease.
How are heart disease and obesity related?
Obese or overweight people frequently have health issues that might make them more susceptible to heart disease. High blood pressure, excessive cholesterol, and high blood sugar are some of these health issues. Additionally, carrying extra weight may alter the way your heart beats, making it work harder to pump blood to every cell in your body.
How does losing weight help?
Your risk of having heart disease may be reduced by 5 to 10% weight loss. This might include shedding as little as 10 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds. Blood flow, cholesterol, and blood pressure may all improve with weight loss.
Stroke
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to a portion of your brain is cut off, which results in the death of brain cells. An artery that supplies blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot, resulting in the most prevalent kind of stroke, known as an ischemic stroke. Hemorrhagic stroke, a different kind of stroke, develops when a blood artery in the brain breaks.
How are strokes connected to obesity?
It is well known that being overweight and obese raises blood pressure. Stroke incidence is most commonly caused by high blood pressure. Additionally, being overweight raises your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and other conditions connected to strokes.
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