Obesity is a quite dangerous condition that means that a person has a significantly increased body mass. It is important to understand that obesity can cause a lot of complications that can affect your overall health.
Fortunately, modern medicine provides a lot of treatment options for obesity. You can do sports, maintain a healthy diet, and visit leading bariatric doctors to lose weight and improve your well-being. In this article, we have gathered six dangerous health issues that are triggered by obesity.
1. Hypertension
Hypertension is a condition in which blood pressure is constantly increased. Blood pressure of 120/80 mm is deemed normal. But if your blood pressure is much higher and doesn’t decrease, it means that you have hypertension.
Obese and overweight people often have high blood pressure because their bodies are larger and the heart has to pump harder to supply blood to all cells. Even though hypertension can cause no symptoms, its consequences (like stroke or kidney failure) can be extremely severe.
2. Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are significantly increased. It is an extremely dangerous condition since diabetes can contribute to the development of heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. Even though the link between diabetes and obesity is not clear enough, up to 90 percent of people with diabetes are overweight or obese.
3. Heart disease
Heart disease tends to be one of the most common causes of death in the US. The term “heart disease” doesn’t mean a single condition. It is used to determine several health issues like heart attack, heart failure, or sudden cardiac death that affect the heart.
As mentioned above, obese people often have high blood pressure and their hearts work harder. Due to this fact, the heart can simply “wear out”. That’s why obese and overweight people have an increased risk of heart disease.
4. Sleep apnea and other breathing problems
Sleep apnea is a disease that makes a person make pauses in breathing during sleep. If you have sleep apnea, you can experience daytime sleepiness, trouble concentrating, and even heart failure. Obesity often contributes to the development of sleep apnea because it leads to an increased accumulation of fat in the neck. As a result, the size of the airways is usually reduced. Smaller airways cause breathing difficulties and/or snoring. Additionally, breathing may stop altogether for a short time with sleep apnea.
5. Gout
A gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that affects joints. This condition means an increased amount of uric acid in the blood. This excessive uric acid contributes to the formation of crystals that occur in the joints. In most cases, gout affects the joints in the base of the big toe that complicates walking.
Excessive weight often leads to the development of gout. Additionally, the more extra pounds you have, the more likely you are to develop gout. Weight loss can help ease pain and discomfort caused by gout.
6. Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is another form of arthritis that can cause stiffness and severe joint pain. In most cases, it affects the knee, hip, or lower back. Osteoarthritis occurs because of the excessive wear of the cartilage. Excessive body weight places extra pressure on these joints and wears away the cartilage that protects joints faster.
The bottom line
It can be quite difficult to make yourself lose weight and pay sufficient attention to your health. But you should understand that weight loss will not only make you look better, it also helps avoid or improve many health issues. If you can’t cope with this task on your own, you always can seek medical attention and help.
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