The Risks of Excess Weight
1- Psychological disorders and social maladjustment: Today, excess weight is not aesthetically welcomed. This can cause serious neuroses, especially in young people. This can be used to advantage in treatment. However, care must be taken not to cause severe complexes in the patient while doing so.
2- Respiratory distress: Excess weight creates a mechanical burden on breathing. Breathing becomes difficult. If obesity is severe, carbon dioxide in the blood increases. This makes the patient prone to sleepiness. Sleep apnea, meaning nighttime cessation of breathing, is commonly seen in obese people. In cases of loud snoring, breathing can stop for up to 2 minutes. This puts pressure on the heart.
3- Negative effects on the skeleton and muscles: The skeleton and muscles are strained under an additional heavy load for years. As a result, flat feet, and knee and hip arthrosis are more commonly seen in obese people. Under normal conditions, the veins in the lower extremities (arms and legs) can more easily return blood to the heart as a result of muscle contractions. However, in overweight people, muscles surrounded by fat cannot contract sufficiently and therefore cannot affect the veins. As a result, the veins are deprived of the massaging effect of the muscles. Consequently, varicose veins and varicose ulcers form easily. In addition, as a result of fat accumulation in and on the abdominal wall, the abdominal muscles weaken and hernias can easily form.
4- Endocrine and metabolic complications: Diabetes is at the top of this group of disorders. Excess weight is the most important cause of the emergence of Type II diabetes. The more severe and long-lasting the excess weight, the higher the rate of diabetes emergence. 8 out of 10 diabetics (Type II) are overweight. A person who gains 20 kilograms over eight years increases their diabetes risk 12-fold. A person who has lost weight within the same time period, on the other hand, reduces their diabetes risk by 87%.
In overweight people, triglyceride levels and free fatty acids increase, while HDL cholesterol levels decrease. This trio causes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Hypertriglyceridemia causes fatty liver. In obesity, uric acid levels also increase, laying the groundwork for gout.
5- Cardiovascular complications: Hypertension is commonly seen in overweight people. When weight is lost, hypertension drops to normal values. Hypertension, together with high triglycerides and low HDL, causes atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Angina pectoris (a feeling of pressure and tightness resulting from regional insufficient blood supply, often felt in the middle of the chest), myocardial infarction (death of heart muscle tissue in a certain area as a result of insufficient coronary blood circulation to that area), and heart failure are more common in obese people. Positive improvements are seen in these diseases as the patient loses weight. Slowing of the sodium pump's function may be effective in the emergence of hypertension in overweight people. The American Heart Association states that when BMI (Body Mass Index) rises from 25 to 28, the risk of myocardial infarction rises from 50% to 70%.
6- Overeating causes aging: Studies conducted on 100-year-olds have shown that most of them are quite thin, physically and mentally active, and consume few calories. Dietary restriction helps you stay young. Because the fewer calories taken into the body, the less energy conversion occurs. As a result, fewer harmful products are released. Oxygen, used as a combustible substance in the processing of nutrients in the body, is toxic at high doses and causes aging.
7- Gallstones and stone complications are more commonly seen in overweight people.
8- In obesity, complications such as post-surgical wound infection and suture dehiscence are more common. Childbirth is also difficult and risky in obese people.
9- Excess subcutaneous fat tissue increases skin infections. Fungal infections are common on the muscles and feet.
10- Gynecological complications are more common in overweight people.
11- Overweight people are more exposed to home, work, and traffic accidents.
12- When comparing normal-weight and obese people, the risk of cancer is higher in obese people.
Due to the above complications, life expectancy is shortened in overweight people. Excess weight causes the death of 300,000 people every year in America and costs the Federal German Health Insurance 30 billion euros every year. Obesity does not shorten life expectancy in women as much as it does in men. However, knee and hip arthrosis is more common and more severe in obese women. This reduces quality of life. All these complications also show that excess weight and obesity are a disease that requires complete treatment.
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Hüseyin Nazlıkul