Obesity

Obesity is the excess in body fat that causes negative effects on the person's health and lifestyle. A person is called to be obesed when his/her body mass index (BMI), a measurement unit that proportionates a person's body weight with his/her height, is above 30. Obesity is related with a high risk of various diseases and conditions, particularly, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Having a high BMI indicates so many health risks. Obesity is also linked with increasing the risk of stress and depression.

What Causes Obesity ?

There may be one or more than one reason behind the increase in body fat that results in obesity. Cause of obesity can be related to a person's lifestyle, diet, genetics, environmental change, certain diseases and medications.

Lifestyle : Daily working schedule and activity plays a major role in obesity. Physical activities help you to burn excess body fat. In today's time many people are involved in such works that do not require any physical activity and this leads them to increase in body fat.

Diet : The second major factor of obesity is a person's life. Overeating or eating the food item that contains high fat and sugar may lead to an increase in body mass and this may lead to obesity. Sometimes high carbohydrates and cholesterol level may cause you obesity.

Genetic : Condition of obesity may transmit from generation to generation in a family. A person is more likely to be obese if one or both of if his/her parents are obese.

Diseases : Certain diseases can also lead you to gain weight and cause obesity. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), cushing syndrome, prader-Willi syndrome, hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), osteoarthritis (OA) are the health conditions that may be related to obesity in a person.

Medication : It has been found that in most cases certain drugs that are used in the treatment of certain diseases may lead to obesity. These drugs include; antidepressants, anticonvulsants [medications used to control seizures such as carbamazepine (Tegretol, Tegretol XR , Equetro, Carbatrol) and valproate (Depacon, Depakene)], certain hormones such as oral contraceptives, and most corticosteroids such as prednisone,some diabetes medications, some high blood pressure medications and antihistamines.

How Is Obesity Diagnosed ?

Diagnosis of obesity is based upon measuring the body fat in a person. Doctors may also prescribed other tests to find other causes that may be leading to weightgain.

Measurement Of Body Fat : Tests that measures your body fat to determine the BMI and complexity of the condition include; skinfold thickness test, hydrostatic weighing, DEXA (Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), waist to hip comparison and some screening tests such as CT scans, MRI scans and ultrasounds.

Other Tests: Your doctor may prescribe some other tests to find out if the condition is related to any disease. These tests may include; liver function tests, blood tests (to examine cholesterol and glucose levels), a diabetes screening, heart tests, such as an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) and thyroid tests.

Treatments :

It is better to be physically active and lose your weight at your own but if you are unable to lose your weight then you may get it done with medication. Here are the treatment methods of obesity:

Exercise :Doctors advise to be involved in physically activity whole day but may people are working in such departments which do not let them to be physically active all the time. In this way it is better to exercise daily for minimum 20 to 30 minutes daily for 7 days of weak, this helps you to burn extra body fat and also benefits you in many diseases such that heart disease, blood pressure problems etc.

Healthy Diet :Maintaining a healthy diet can be very helpful to lose your weight. Removing high fat, high sugar, high cholesterol food items from your diet will give your best results. Adapting a healthy diet stops further weight and help in lose your weight as well.

Medications :If you are unable to lose your weight at your own than your doctor may prescribe you some medications which include; naltrexone/bupropion (Contrave), phentermine/topiramate,orlistat (Alli, Xenical), liraglutide (Saxenda). Some of the medication used in the treatment of obesity are taken for a long term.

Surgery :Patients who are unable to lose weight at their own and do not show effective results with medication and those who are above 35 BMI are prescribed a weight loss surgery. There are various types based on amount of weight loss desired.