Sunday, December 7, 2008

What is Morbid Obesity and Why is it Such a Risk to Your Health?

The definition of morbid obesity states that an individual's weight is about 50 to 100% more than that of his or her ideal weight. The people whose weight is 100 pounds more than the correct weight are also called the morbidly obese people. Where the BMI value which is more than 30 for an adult is considered as obese, they are considered morbidly obese when it is more than 40. Morbid obesity is related to various other health problems and can lead to death. A survey states that about 9 million American people are suffering from morbid obesity.

Possible Causes

There are two types of reasons of morbid obesity. The genetic factor is often held responsible, this is also known as heredity which means that this disease has always been there in the family of an individual. But the family heredity cannot be solely responsible for a disease like this.

This is a very common thing that the members of the same family are used to with similar kind of life style and food habits. In fact the food habit and activity level has a great role to play in morbid obesity. The other cause of morbid obesity is the environmental factor.

When we talk about environment it can be the environment at school, at office, and home. The kind of food available in an individual's environment, the quantity of food taken by him in a day and the exercise habits of that person add up to give rise morbid obesity.

Then the psychological factors are also there which can cause morbid obesity. Severe depression, anxiety, trauma etc are included in these psychological factors.

Health Risks

Morbid obesity is labeled as the second most prominent reason of the death of people in United States. This is closely associated with the risk of other 30 diseases. First of all the morbidly obese people can loose their mobility and ability to accomplish the regular activities.

Apart from this they are often at the risk of coronary heart diseases which can lead to stroke. The blood pressure can become excessively high. The internal organs like liver get damaged with excess fat deposition. Osteoarthritis and grout are two problems related to the bones and joints which are caused by morbid obesity.

Then the gall bladder problems and diabetes is closely related to this. Respiratory trouble and sleep apnea can arise from this particular type of obesity. Women can suffer from gynecological disorder. Finally the patients can lead towards cancer.

The only treatment for morbid obesity is often surgery which is risky enough. So it is always advised to get conscious about the health before it leads to morbid obesity.

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