Dorothy FarrarObesity
Obesity or adiposity refers to a state of overweight in which the BMI is over 30 kg/m2. As a clinical picture, obesity can lead to serious secondary diseases and social problems.
What is obesity?
We speak of obesity when the BMI is in principle over 30 kg/m2. The disease occurs in three stages, the assessment is made on the basis of the BMI.
A distinction is made between the apple and the pear type; In the case of the former, the stomach is particularly affected by the accumulation of fat, in the case of the pear type, it is more the legs and buttocks. Obesity leads to reduced mobility and appearance can also lead to social isolation.
causes
The causes of obesity have not yet been finally clarified and there are always new studies that bring further insights. What is clear, however, is that obesity is the result of an unfavorable diet, in which the body is given more energy than it needs.A lifestyle with little exercise but plenty of rich food are the two factors that allow obesity to develop.
More profound causes can be a genetic predisposition to the condition, but also conditions such as diabetes .
Despite these causes, however, it is possible for every patient to get obesity under control; nobody is condemned to obesity from the outset.
When to the doctor?
A doctor’s visit is recommended before obesity develops. This is a significant burden for organs, joints and tissues and last but not least for the psychological well-being of the person affected. If obesity has developed, a family doctor should first be consulted, who will determine the BMI. A comprehensive physical examination of the patient can also be performed on this occasion, which will reveal the physical damage that obesity has already left behind.
For this reason, too, it makes sense to consult a doctor as early as possible, because if detected early, many of these health problems are still reversible. If the reason for the development of obesity is not known at all, the doctor should ask about the patient’s eating habits during the initial examination and then find out whether there are underlying physical diseases that have impaired the metabolism.
In most cases, obesity is caused naturally by poor nutrition, but sometimes there is actually an undiscovered disease that changes the way the metabolism works. If the lipid metabolism is affected, it is possible that with a normal or only slightly unhealthy diet, a large number of new fat cells will develop. Thyroid disorders are known to be able to trigger obesity. It is also true for these diseases that they are easily treatable the earlier the doctor can diagnose them.
symptoms and course
Obesity usually develops over many months and years. At first, the affected person only develops a slight overweight, but does not change their eating habits and the weight gain continues. Sometimes a change in what is actually a healthy lifestyle can be observed, or there is a lasting change in life and the person concerned begins to eat more and more out of frustration and comfort.
For many children of obese families, obesity begins at a very young age, due to a combination of genetic disposition and unhealthy parental diets. Obesity then either reaches a constant level around which it fluctuates, or it continues to progress, which is of course a very dangerous course.
Diagnose
Obesity is diagnosed by calculating BMI. This value can be used to determine what degree of three obesity has already reached – because this shows what the goal of treatment is. Doctors often do more research after this initial diagnosis and take the opportunity to rule out an underlying condition that could lead to obesity. To do this, blood is taken and hormone levels that regulate digestion are measured.
Fasting blood sugar is also very important in diagnosing obesity , as it can provide indications of diabetes. If there are no physical findings, the patient is often given psychological care, for example to track down an eating disorder and to find out how obesity could have developed from a psychosocial perspective – and what needs to be done to treat it.
complications
Obesity often has serious complications. If the person concerned does not manage to reduce the excessive body weight, he risks a variety of health problems. Not only that the joints wear out prematurely due to the high load; the resulting pain causes the sufferer to move less. In turn, too little exercise leads to further weight gain, creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.
In addition, obesity favors the development of high blood pressure , high cholesterol levels and cardiovascular problems. The risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke is about 60 percent higher for obese people than for people of normal weight. This is because when there is too much body mass, the heart has to work harder to supply blood to all of the organs.
Furthermore, the risk of developing diabetes is significantly higher in obese than in people who are not overweight. According to statistics, life-threatening diseases such as cancer also affect overweight people more frequently than people of normal weight, with the survival rate in the event of a cancer diagnosis being less favorable for obese people. This is because cancer cells can grow and multiply faster when there is an excess supply of glucose. Finally, the development of depression due to obesity is also a complication that often occurs as the current ideal of beauty favors lean, toned bodies.
treatment and therapy
In the case of obesity, there are specific treatment goals for the three stages. They consist of reducing body weight by a certain percentage and consuming less energy in kcal than is needed. In this way, the patient can effectively lose weight and complements these efforts with a minimum requirement of exercise, measured in recommended hours per week.The specific treatment consists of a combination of nutritional advice and psychological care, since obesity almost always has a psychological component. If, on the other hand, obesity is due to an underlying physical disease, such as diabetes, then the entire treatment must be tailored to the underlying disease. Many doctors recommend getting in touch with other people affected in self-help groups so that ways can be found together to get obesity under control
prevention
The best way to prevent obesity is to eat a healthy diet that doesn’t give the body more energy than it uses in a day. Although the basal metabolic rate is always somewhat changing due to genetic reasons, it can be calculated in order to be able to orientate yourself on it. In addition, people who are already slightly overweight should start with a sports program tailored to them and their abilities in order to accelerate weight loss and build muscle mass.
Anyone who doesn’t get a lot of exercise in everyday life will need this gentle exercise program in order to use up more energy than is already the case in everyday life. Anyone who is also bad at dealing with negative feelings should look for a way to process them that does not consist of comfort food, because that is one of the greatest sources of danger.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.