Obesity – Understanding the Risks

Obesity is a common problem that involves accumulation of undue amount of fat in your body. If you are extremely obese, it means that you are at risk of health complications. You should take proactive measures to steer clear of obesity to avoid these potential health problems.

Here are the risks associated with being obese:

Heart Diseases

Obesity leads to increase in your body mass index (BMI), which in turn makes you more susceptible to coronary heart disease. The condition involves the buildup of plaque – a waxy material- in your coronary arteries that can make the arteries thin or completely block them, and decrease the flow of blood to your heart. The outcome can be chest pain or a heart attack. When the condition becomes serious, it can even cause a heart failure.

Hypertension

Obesity can result in hypertension- a condition whereby the force applied by the blood against the walls of your arteries increases. If your blood pressure increases and remains constantly high, it can cause damages to your body. The more obese you are, the more the chance for hypertension.

Stroke

If you are overweight or obese, you are at risk of stroke because obesity generates plaque in your arteries, and there are chances that a portion of the plaque can break up, growing a blood clot in one of your arteries. And, if the clot is created somewhere near your brain, it has the potential to shut down blood and oxygen supply to your brain. When blood and oxygen supply to the brain stops, the risk of experiencing a stock increase.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a health condition that involves increase in your blood sugar level. Under normal circumstances, the human body converts foods into glucose and then transports them to the cells, which use insulin to convert the glucose into energy. However, when you are suffering from type 2 diabetes, your body cells can malfunction when it comes to using insulin. Obese people are more at risk of type 2 diabetes, which is among the major causes of deaths, kidney diseases, strokes, heart diseases and blindness.

Osteoarthritis

Being obese and overweight can also increase your risk for Osteoarthritis, which is a common condition that involves wear and tear of your joints, including hip joints, knee joints and your lower back. Rise in weight increases the pressure on the tissues that protects your joints, leading to wear and tear of the joints. This condition can cause unbearable pain.

It is important to stay healthy and lose weight. The best way is to have a healthy diet and workout regularly. However, obesity is not merely being overweight, it is classified as a disease and hence medical intervention may be necessary. If you’re overweight or feel you need to lose weight, get in touch with us today and let us suggest you the best tools to stay fit.