OBESITY What are the effects of obesity and how can we over come it?

OBESITY  Obesity is an abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual's ideal body weight. Obesity is associated with increased risk of illness, disability and death.  Being over weight is different than being obese, body weight is the actual weight of your body and the degree of which your body is drawn to earth by gravity.

EFFECTS OF OBESITY  Coronary Heart Disease  High Blood Pressure  Stroke  Type 2 Diabetes  Abnormal Blood Fats

EFFECTS OF OBESITY  Cancer  Osteoarthritis  Sleep Apnea  Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome  Gallstones

CORONARY HEART DISEASE  CHD is a condition when a waxy like substance called plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries bring oxygen rich blood to the heart. Plaque can block or narrow your coronary arteries and this can reduce the blood flow to your heart muscle.  This can cause angina (chest pain or discomfort) or a heart attack (when oxygen rich blood can not get to the heart and therefore it can not get the oxygen it needs).

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE  Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood.  If high blood pressure is occurring for a long period of time it can damage the body in many ways.

STROKE  This is a build up of plaque in the arteries, eventually an area filled with plaque can rupture causing a blood clot to form.  If this blood clot is too close to your brain it can stop the blood flow and oxygen to your brain and this causes a stroke.  Your risk of stroke increases as your BMI(body mass index) increases.

TYPE 2 DIABETES  Diabetes is a disease when your blood glucose level(blood sugar) in your body is too high.  Normally your body breaks down food into glucose and then carries it to the cells in the body. Your cells use a hormone called insulin to break down glucose into energy.  In type 2 diabetes the body does not use insulin properly, at first the body reacts by making more insulin but overtime the body can not produce this much insulin to control the blood sugar level.

ABNORMAL BLOOD FATS  High levels of triglycerides (type of fat or lipid found in your blood).  High levels of LDL (bad cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein) and low levels of HDL (good cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein).  Cholesterol is another type of fat or lipid found in your blood.  LDL carries cholesterol away from the liver into the blood and can therefore clog arteries, and HDL carries cholesterol back to the liver to get broken down.

CANCER & OSTEOARTHRITIS  Being obese can lead to higher risk of colon, breast, endometrial and gallbladder cancers.  Osteoarthritis is a common joint problem in the knees, hips and lower back. This happens when the joint tissue wears away, more weight creates more pressure on these joints and it wears away faster.

SLEEP APNEA & OHS  Sleep apnea is when you have one or more pauses in breathing while you sleep, being obese means you have more fat build up in your neck and this can cause trouble in breathing.  Obesity hypoventilation syndrome(OHS) is a breathing disorder that affects some obese people. OHS is poor breathing that results in too much carbon dioxide and too little oxygen in the blood. OHS can cause other serious health problems and may even cause death.

GALLSTONES  Gallstones are hard like material that form in the gallbladder. They are mostly made up of cholesterol, they can cause stomach or back pain.  Obese people are at a higher risk for gallstones. They are also at a risk at having an enlarged gallbladder which will not work to what it should be.