Complications of Overweight/Obesity

Hypertension
- related to substances produced by adipose tissue and the increase in the hormone insulin
Diabetes
- obesity is the leading cause of diabetes; risk of diabetes increased over 53 fold with severe obesity
- Type II Diabetes not Type I
Hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance
Elevated cholesterol
- every 10 lbs of excess fat produces 10mg of cholesterol per day
Fatty liver
- Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis caused by excessive fat deposition in the liver
- Due to excess fat intake
- Results in silent inflammation, usually detected by liver function tests
- If untreated, can develop cirrhosis or liver failure
Cancer
- in females, 3 fold increase in the incidence of breast, uterine, cervical and ovarian cancer
- in men, there is an increased incidence of colon and prostate cancer
Degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis)
- increased weight causes more wear and tear of the joints
- adipose tissue produces cytokines that “destroy” the normal cartilage in joints
Gallstones
- due to increase in cholesterol
- cholecystitis
CVD (Heart attacks, angina pectoris, CHF) and strokes
- increased incidence of strokes and heart attacks
- due to elevated blood pressure, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol
Sleep disorders
- feel tired all the time and have problems obtaining a restful sleep
- could be sleep apnea: becomes more difficult to breathe as their weight increases
- heart rhythms can become irregular leading to heart attack
- could lead to depression and anxiety due to lack of sleep
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
Pregnancy complications

(Posted by: Vivian)