Obesity - An Overview
Obesity is the price that we have to pay for modernization. It is a social epidemic and needs to be understood particularly by those who are prone to suffer. Treatment modalities include diet, exercise, medication and surgery but prevention is better than cure. Let us understand it before it engulfs us.
When excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be negatively affected the person is said to be suffering from obesity. There are scientific guidelines which classify obesity. This classification helps to choose the various modalities of treatment available. The commonest parameter is body mass index. It is the ratio of weight in kilograms to square of height in meters. Now how do you calculate this? Suppose John’s weight is 80 Kilograms and his height is 1.6 meters. Then multiply 1.6 by 1.6 (this will give square of height in meters), we get 2.56. Now divide 80 by 2.56 (This is the ratio of weight in kilograms to square of height in meters). The answer is 31.25. So John’s BMI (body mass index) is 31.25. There is a difference between being overweight and obese.
It is agreed upon that a combination of excessive calorie consumption and lack of exercise causes obesity but in a minority of cases genetic, medical, or psychiatric illness can be the cause. The easy availability of palatable diet, mechanization in industry and availability of transportation are attributed to rise of its prevalence. A person is said to be overweight when his body mass index is over 25 while he or she is called obese if it is 30 or more.
Obesity invites certain physical and medical debilities like joint pains, particularly in the knees; breathing problems during sleep; diabetes; heart disease; venous thrombosis; liver disease; gall bladder stones; infertility; erectile problems; certain cancers; depression; paralysis; hernia and social stigmatization.
Prevention of obesity is the frontrunner to erode the social epidemic of obesity. Regular timings as well as quantity and quality of food; regular walking or stopping the car in a parking a little away from your office; avoiding the elevators and taking the steps may prove effective. Depression may lead to obesity as one tends to become less active and eat more. Prevent or treat depression. If one is having a body mass index near 25 it is recommended that he or she focuses on weight loss and its techniques. The habit of being weight conscious is to be encouraged.
Diet and exercise is recommended as a treatment to the less obese. While both yield result but they are difficult to practice, slow to get results, temporary in outcome and have variable response. Thus medication is also recommended to patients not desirably responding to diet and exercise. Medicines broadly either reduce absorption of fat from the intestines or act on the brain to reduce appetite. Weight loss is usually modest with medicines but the side effects which vary with drugs include cramps, intestinal discomfort, diarrhea, increase in blood pressure, palpitation, sleeplessness mood changes, drug tolerance and drug abuse.
As a broad guideline surgery is reserved for patients who are obese to the extent that their body mass index is over 40. Now it is known that this treatment, called Bariatric Surgery. is not a bed of roses. It has a wide variety of complications which are too frequent to ignore. These start from as small as wound infection or nausea and vomiting; but may also lead to gall bladder stones; leaks or narrowing from site of intestinal suturing; hernia; breathlessness from lung embolization and even death. A higher suicide rate is reported in some studies amongst patients who have undergone surgery.
Thus treatment modalities include diet, exercise , medication and surgery. Behavioral interventions are also advised so as to control affinity to overeating. Unfortunately none is convenient for the patient. Prevention is better than cure but if the disease has set in all efforts are required to get rid of it.
About the author
Surgeon, has devised a unique method of gall bladder stone surgery through a single small hole http://www.gallbladderstone.com/ . This type of surgery is yet not reported elsewhere in the world. Also has a hobby of Internet Marketing and has a website http://www.earnonnet.net/ which contains a Health Mall and Internet Income opportunities. He researches on Internet opportunities and finds out the businesses which “deliver what they claim. With the background of being a senior faculty in Medical Colleges, has a hobby to teach Internet business to seekers of this art, how to avoid getting trapped in scams and how not to loose a fortune in an attempt to get it.
Tags: bmi body mass index, body mass index, breathing problems, calorie consumption, diet exercise, excess body, exercise causes, frontrunner, gall bladder, gall bladder stones, joint pains, lack of exercise, liver disease, mechanization, palatable diet, prevention is better than cure, prevention of obesity, psychiatric illness, thrombosis, weight in kilograms
Related Posts
- Obesity In Our Children Has Now Reached The Very Young
- Why Are We Seeing So Many Obese Children?
- Caring For the Health - Adopt Lida Products
- Calculating Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
- Complete Information on Abdominal obesity metabolic syndrome with Treatment and Prevention
