Article 23: Multiple Fatal Diseases Caused by Obesity

Obesity can easily lead to a variety of other diseases. Obese people have higher blood cholesterol levels, which increases the concentration of bile. In addition, the pressure from abdominal fat can obstruct bile excretion, making them more prone to gallstones.

Meanwhile, obese individuals often have fat accumulation in their liver, which can easily lead to fatty liver and cirrhosis. Obese people are also prone to various skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis vulgaris, keratosis pilaris, seborrheic dermatitis, acanthosis nigricans, striae atrophicis, varicose veins of the lower extremities, and thrombophlebitis.

In addition, severely obese individuals often experience mental abnormalities, ranging from mild symptoms such as distress and anxiety to severe symptoms such as sensory and motor impairments, muscle spasms and twitches, instability in standing and walking, and even suicide.

Obesity not only affects physical appearance and causes inconvenience in daily life, but more importantly, it easily leads to various complications, accelerates aging, and increases the risk of death. The international medical community is alarmed, declaring that obesity is a silent killer, slowly causing functional disorders such as glucose metabolism disorders, lipid metabolism disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and fatty liver disease, ultimately leading to death.

The high level of danger that obesity has been identified in basic research and clinical medicine should raise public awareness.

(1) The biggest enemy of longevity: According to statistics, the incidence of cerebral embolism and heart failure in obese people is twice as high as that in people of normal weight, the incidence of coronary heart disease is twice as high as that in people of normal weight, the incidence of hypertension is 2 to 6 times higher than that in people of normal weight, the incidence of diabetes is about 4 times higher than that in normal people, the incidence of gallstones is 4 to 6 times higher than that in normal people, and more seriously, the lifespan of obese people will be significantly shortened.

According to reports, a 45-year-old man who is 10% overweight will have a lifespan that is 4 years shorter than that of a person of normal weight. Japanese statistics show that the standard mortality rate is 100%, while the mortality rate for obese people is 127.9%.

(2) Affects labor capacity and is prone to injury: Obese people are often afraid of heat, sweat a lot, are easily fatigued, have lower limb edema, varicose veins, and dermatitis in skin folds. Severely obese people move slowly and have difficulty walking. They feel palpitations and shortness of breath when they move slightly, which affects their normal life and can even lead to loss of labor capacity in severe cases.

(3) Increased risk of coronary heart disease and hypertension: Obese individuals have increased adipose tissue, leading to increased oxygen consumption and greater workload on the heart, resulting in myocardial hypertrophy, especially increasing the burden on the left ventricle, which can easily induce hypertension over time. Lipid deposition in the arterial walls causes narrowing and hardening of the lumen, making them prone to coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, stroke, and sudden death.

(4) Increased susceptibility to endocrine and metabolic diseases: Metabolic and endocrine abnormalities associated with obesity can often lead to a variety of diseases. Abnormal glucose metabolism can cause diabetes, abnormal lipid metabolism can cause hyperlipidemia, and abnormal nucleic acid metabolism can cause hyperuricemia, etc. Obese women may experience menstrual irregularities due to ovarian dysfunction.

(5) Adverse effects on lung function: The function of the lungs is to supply oxygen to the whole body and expel carbon dioxide. Obese people need more oxygen due to their increased weight, but their lungs cannot increase their function accordingly. At the same time, the accumulation of abdominal fat in obese people restricts the respiratory movement of the lungs, which can cause hypoxia and difficulty breathing, eventually leading to cardiopulmonary failure.

(6) It can easily cause liver and gallbladder diseases: Due to the hyperinsulinemia of obese people, their endogenous triglyceride synthesis is increased, which will cause the accumulation of triglycerides synthesized in the liver and thus form fatty liver.

Compared to people of normal weight, obese individuals have higher cholesterol levels in their bile acids, exceeding the solubility in bile. Therefore, obese individuals are more prone to developing cholesterol gallstones. Reports indicate that 50% to 80% of women with gallstones are obese.

During surgery, approximately 30% of severely obese individuals also have gallstones. Gallstones are more common in obese women, women over 40 years of age, and obese women have an incidence rate approximately six times higher than women of normal weight.

(7) It will increase the difficulty of surgery and the risk of postoperative infection: Obese people are more likely to be at risk during anesthesia, and the wound is more likely to open after surgery. They are also more likely to have complications such as hypostatic pneumonia than non-obese people.

(8) It can cause joint diseases: Increased weight can cause many joints (such as the spine, shoulder, elbow, hip and foot joints) to wear or tear, resulting in pain.

(9) Complications of hernia: Obese individuals may develop many types of hernias, among which hiatal hernia, in which the upper part of the stomach is displaced into the thoracic cavity, is the most common.

(10) Endangering offspring: Obese pregnant women are more likely to experience difficulties in childbirth or prolong labor, which can affect the health of the fetus. Furthermore, severely obese women have a higher mortality rate for both the mother and the fetus, in addition to difficulty conceiving; and because of the excessive amount of fat muscle tissue, surgery is more difficult.

Obesity is often referred to as "getting fat," which is a gross overstatement. In fact, getting fat is a disease, not a blessing. Medical experts warn that obesity is a root cause of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and other chronic diseases. Obesity has become the second leading cause of death after smoking.

There are currently 250 million obese people worldwide, with approximately 70 million in my country, accounting for 14.6% of the total adult population. Clinical studies show that 53% of obese individuals suffer from at least one of the following conditions: hypertension, diabetes, or hyperlipidemia.

According to surveys, the percentage of obese female students has increased from 3.38% ten years ago to 7.18% now, while the percentage of obese male students has increased from 2.75% to 8.65%. Secondly, cardiovascular disease deaths caused by obesity now account for 63% of all deaths in urban areas.

Obesity primarily endangers respiration. When a person gains weight, the lungs must deliver more oxygen to meet the body's needs; however, the lungs do not increase in size as weight increases. Furthermore, excess fat in the lower abdomen also restricts lung function.

Secondly, it endangers blood pressure. High blood pressure is more likely to occur in obese people. If it is not corrected in time, it may lead to stroke and varying degrees of damage to organs such as the kidneys and heart.

Secondly, it endangers the heart. The heavier a person's body, the greater the burden on the heart. Therefore, obese people have a higher chance of developing heart disease than the average person. When fat is deposited in the myocardium or under the pericardium, it can form fatty heart, causing cardiac dysfunction.

It can also endanger blood vessels. Excessive fat accumulation on the arterial walls can shrink blood vessels or even cause them to rupture, leading to stroke or sudden heart attack.

In addition, obesity can also endanger liver function. The liver is one of the most important organs in the human body. Long-term alcohol abuse, diabetes, obesity and other conditions can cause fatty liver, which in turn can lead to liver cell necrosis and cirrhosis.

Other complications can also harm the pancreas. Diabetes is almost exclusively a condition affecting obese individuals. Studies indicate that 70% to 85% of people experience improvement in their condition after losing weight. Obese individuals' bones are unable to support their weight, often leading to joint swelling and inflammation.

Obese pregnant women can endanger their offspring, as they are more likely to experience difficulties during childbirth or prolong labor, thus affecting the health of the fetus.