People who are obese have higher rates of medical problems. Once a person reaches the level of morbid obesity, which by definition is a BMI greater than 40, then the weight causes progressive and extensive damage to the body.
The medical complications of obesity may occur in moderately obese people, but the frequency of these associated problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, premature death, etc., increases dramatically as weight increases. For example, very obese men between the ages of 25 and 35 are at 12 times greater risk of dying prematurely compared to their normal weight counterparts.
Severe obesity causes damage to nearly every organ system. We’ve listed some serious medical conditions for each organ system that are commonly associated with obesity.
→ high blood pressure, heart failure, heart attack, stroke
→ obstructive sleep apnea, asthma, bronchitis, fluid buildup on the lungs, breathing failure
→ gallstones, Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD, recurrent heartburn), recurrent ventral hernias, stress urinary incontinence
→ diabetes, hirsutism (excess hair for women), hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia
→ frequent urinary tract infections, stress urinary incontinence, irregular menses and infertility
→ degeneration of knees and hips, disc herniation, chronic non-surgical low back pain
→ multiple disorders, most related to diabetes and difficulty with hygiene
→ breast, endometrium, colon, prostate, and others
