Obesity

Overview

When the fat levels in the body exceeds a certain limit it is termed as obesity. Obesity is not just an aesthetic concern but it is also the mother of some extremely debilitating diseases like Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Diseases, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Osteoarthritis etc. Obesity is a major concern because it relapses. Studies show that more than 95% of the people regain the weight lost within 5 years.

What is Obesity? Obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat, which may impair health. A measure of Obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI), and is used in classifying obesity and overweight in population.  

Body Mass Index Body mass Index or BMI is the best indicator of obesity.                              
BMI= Person’s weight in kilograms  (Height in meters) 2 An adult who has a BMI range of 25-29.9 is considered overweight and a BMI above 30 is considered obese. It is found that the metabolism in these people is significantly reduced. This results in storage of fat, in spite of eating less. World Health Organization (WHO) has termed Obesity as a worldwide epidemic.
Obesity is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. According to the World Health organization (WHO), at least 2.8 million people die because of Obesity.

Symptoms

· Sleep Apnea
· Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
· Treatment for Obesity
· Coronary artery disease
· Depression
· Diabetes
· High Blood Pressure
· High Cholesterol
· Joint Disease
·  Stroke
· Gastroesophageal reflux(GERD)

Causes

· Sedentary life style:  Our Lifestyle plays a very important role in developing obesity. If we are leading a sedentary lifestyle then, the energy consumption is very less. This leads to consequent storage of fat, as it is not getting metabolized. This leads to weight gain, which if not controlled, leads to development of obesity.

· Family history: Genes play a very important role in developing obesity. Many genes are found to be related to obesity. Researchers have found that the ‘brain derived neuro-trophic factor gene’, is particularly related to obesity.

· Emotional Factors: Some people tend to eat more during extreme emotional conditions, like; Depression, Boredom, and Hopelessness etc. leading to uncontrolled weight gain

· Pregnancy: Women tend to weigh 1-2 kg more post pregnancy, and this is compounded with subsequent pregnancies.

· Medical Conditions: Certain medical conditions like; Cushing’s syndrome, Polycystic Ovarian Disease, etc, lead to lowering of metabolism and subsequent weight gain. Some medications like the steroids have also shown to disrupt the body fat proportions.

· Eating Disorders: Binge eating and Bulimia have also shown to raise the body mass index, leading to obesity.

Treatments

Obesity is basically considered a Lifestyle disorder. Therefore the treatment of obesity revolves around Lifestyle Modification. One rule that goes with all obese patients is to “Exercise More and Eat Less”.  The more one counts his calories and restricts his intake, the more one loses weight. But, for extreme cases of obesity where, the rate of metabolism has dropped significantly, there we need medical intervention. There is no single specialist who deals with obesity, but a holistic approach is to be undertaken to fight this killing disease. A team of Endocrinologists, Diabetologists, Physical Therapist, Bariatric Surgeons, and Dieticians help a patient to get back to a near normal life.

Preventing weight gain post treatment One can prevent gaining weight after the treatment is by:

· Indulging in regular physical activity
· Improvising a healthy diet
· Try and avoid your food triggers
·  Keep a record of your calorie intake