Possible Effects of Being Overweight on Your Health?

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In today’s society where looks matter the most, people think that obesity is an appearance matter. Little do they know that it’s a medical concern and can affect people’s health. If you’re carrying many extra pounds, you have an above average risk of whopping 50 different health problems. These problems go way beyond the usual ones like diabetes and heart diseases. It also results in joint pain, sleep, mood and energy level fluctuation.

We’ve enumerated some points below to give you a glimpse of the possible effects of being overweight on your health. Let’s have a look:

High Blood Pressure: Additional fat tissues require oxygen and nutrients to live in. The blood vessels circulate more blood for the same. This increases the workload on the heart, hence increasing blood pressure.

Diabetes: Obesity can cause resistance to insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. When obesity causes insulin resistance, the blood sugar becomes elevated. Even moderate obesity dramatically increases the risk of diabetes.

Heart Diseases: Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is present 10 times more often in obese people compared to those who are not obese. Coronary artery disease is also more prevalent because fatty deposits build up in arteries that supply the heart. Narrowed arteries and reduced blood flow to the heart can cause chest pain (angina) or a heart attack. Blood clots can also form in narrowed arteries and cause a stroke.

Joint Problems: Obesity can affect the knees and hips because of the stress placed on the joints by extra weight.

Sleep Apnea and Respiratory Problems: Sleep apnea, which causes people to stop breathing for brief periods, interrupts sleep throughout the night and causes sleepiness during the day. It also causes heavy snoring. Respiratory problems associated with obesity occur when added weight of the chest wall squeezes the lungs and causes restricted breathing.

Cancer: In women, being overweight contributes to an increased risk for a variety of cancers including breast, colon, gallbladder, and uterus. Men who are overweight have a higher risk of colon and prostate cancers.

Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome: Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a breathing disorder that affects some obese people. In OHS, poor breathing results in too much carbon dioxide (hypoventilation) and too little oxygen in the blood (hypoxemia). In extreme cases, can also lead to death.

Reproductive Problems: Obesity can cause menstrual issues and infertility in women.

Gallstones: People who are overweight or obese are at increased risk of having gallstones. Also, being overweight may result in an enlarged gallbladder that doesn’t work well.

Now that you have a heads up about the problems associated with overweight, in case you’ve been facing one of them, it’s time you start acting on them. You may have been delaying accepting the facts, but it’s better if you work on them now. Being overweight is just not a cosmetic condition. It also affects the health and people fail to recognize it. Battling it is not impossible. Start today. May the forces be with you!

Read more helpful articles on weight loss here: http://www.health-supplement-facts.com/weight-loss/

Reference: http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/obesity-health-risks

 

Sophia Williams
Sophia Williams is a health writer. She writes on many health issues such as weight loss, joint pain, back pain etc. She is a guest contributor at Health-Supplement-Facts.com