Obesity

Dear readers,

Throughout my entire clinical placement, I encountered that OBESITY is one of "THE" most common health problems in Brunei. It's really sad that a lot of people are not taking their health seriously. Its not that I'm bitching about it all the time but really, I think it is time for me - as a healthcare provider to elaborate furthermore on this.

What's even sadder is that some of "YOU" - Bruneians out there  are not even considering the possibility of  having a incurable disease such as Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension. Yes, it's true, people who are Obese have a  high risk of getting Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension. (Please google for more information regarding these two illness)

But for today, I wanna elaborate more on Obesity. 

What is Obesity?

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse affect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy. Body mass index (BMI), which compares weight and height, is used to define a person as overweight (pre-obese)when their BMI is between 25 kg/m² and 30 kg/m² and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m².

Obesity is associated with many diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, though a limited number of cases are due solely to genetics, medical reasons, or psychiatric illness.

The primary treatment for obesity is dieting and physical exercise. If this fails, anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. In severe cases, surgery is performed or an intragastric balloon is placed to reduce stomach volume and or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.

Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence in adults and children, and authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century.Obesity is stigmatized in the modern Western world, though it has been perceived as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history, and still is in many parts of Africa.

CAUSES:

At an individual level, a combination of excessive caloric intake, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility is thought to explain most cases of obesity, with a limited number of cases due solely to genetics, medical reasons, or psychiatric illness. In contrast at a societal level increasing rates of obesity are felt to be due to an easily accessible and palatable diet,increased reliance on cars, and mechanized manufacturing.

A 2006 review identified ten other possible contributors to the recent increase of obesity: 

(1) insufficient sleep, (2) endocrine disruptors (environmental pollutants that interfere with lipid metabolism), (3) decreased variability in ambient temperature, (4) decreased rates of smoking, because smoking suppresses appetite, (5) increased use of medications that can cause weight gain (e.g., atypical antipsychotics), (6) proportional increases in ethnic and age groups that tend to be heavier, (7) pregnancy at a later age (which may cause susceptibility to obesity in children), (8) epigenetic risk factors passed on generationally, (9) natural selection for higher BMI, and (10) assortative mating leading to increased concentration of obesity risk factors (this would not necessarily increase the number of obese people, but would increase the average population weight). There is substantial but not conclusive evidence for these mechanisms, and the authors specify that they are probably less influential than the ones discussed in the previous paragraph (but still important).

Management:

The main treatment for obesity consists of dieting and physical exercise. Diet programs may produce weight loss over the short term, but keeping this weight off can be a problem and often requires making exercise and a lower calorie diet a permanent part of a person's lifestyle. Success rates of long-term weight loss maintenance are low and range from 2–20%.^.In a more structured setting, however, 67% of people who lost greater than 10% of their body mass maintained or continued to lose weight one year later. An average maintained weight loss of more than 3 kg (6.6 lb) or 3% of total body mass could be sustained for five years. There are significant benefits to weight loss. In a prospective study, intentional weight loss of any amount was associated with a 20% reduction in all-cause mortality.

The most effective, but also most risky treatment for obesity is bariatric surgery. Due to its cost and risk of complications, researchers are fervently searching for new obesity treatments.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING OBESITY, PLEASE CLICK HERE

With Love: Amirul010