Obesity and excess body weight are not only an aesthetic problem, but also a serious burden on the body. Recently they have become epidemic.
in developed countries. Obesity affects people of different genders and ages (children and adolescents, as well as mature and elderly people). For example, as of 2008, more than 1.4 billion people aged 20 years and older were overweight. And since then, these numbers have only increased.
A small amount of fatty tissue, which is deposited under the skin and around internal organs, is necessary for their normal functioning and does not pose a threat. But when you abuse calories, the amount of fat deposits increases, as well as body weight and its volume.
How does obesity appear?
Under the influence of various factors (endocrine system disorders, lack of physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle, dietary errors, etc.), excess nutrients turn into fat deposits. The body uses substances supplied with food in metabolic processes to obtain energy for all its needs. Those substances that are not used for this purpose are stored “in reserve” in the form of adipose tissue. If this happens regularly, the volume of fat deposits increases. This is how extra pounds appear. In addition, adipose tissue has the ability to perfectly accumulate water, which also adds excess weight.
How is a person's body composition analyzed?
Calculating body mass index is not the only and far from the most accurate way to diagnose obesity. There are special devices that can be used to perform bioimpedance measurements
, i.e. analyze body composition. This diagnostic method is based on human anthropometric data and the ability of different types of tissue to conduct electricity differently.
The point is that the device can additionally evaluate tissue, distinguish muscle tissue from fat, determine skeletal muscle mass and fluid mass in the body. Using this analysis, we can say exactly how true the hypothesis is that a person has “heavy bones.” Knowledge of body composition helps doctors assess the risks of developing various diseases.
Causes of obesity
The most common causes of obesity are:
- Excessive and unhealthy diet (abuse of fast food, baked goods and sweets, etc.). Malnutrition means high calorie content of food, its saturation with fats, sugars, salt and low content of fiber, as well as vitamins and minerals.
- Physical inactivity, sedentary work and lifestyle.
- Diseases of the endocrine system (diseases of the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, ovaries).
If you cannot cope with obesity on your own, you understand that you have lost control over your own weight, you should immediately consult a doctor, since the cause may require not only a change in your daily routine and diet, but also treatment by an endocrinologist.
Blood tests often help to correctly determine the cause of obesity, thanks to which you can not waste time on futile attempts to regain your previous weight with the help of strict diets, but immediately begin effective treatment.
Sugar analysis
Diabetes is a very serious disease that affects metabolic processes, leading to obesity. To rule out diabetes, you should do a sugar test before losing weight through a diet. Insulin insensitivity, characteristic of diabetes, leads to the rapid formation of a fat layer in the body.
The sugar test can be taken either as a full-fledged laboratory analysis or as a rapid test using a glucometer. If diabetes is suspected, the doctor will prescribe additional tests, such as a glycated hemoglobin test.
Why is obesity dangerous?
The danger of obesity is that excess weight increases the load on the heart and spine, increases the risk of complications of existing diseases and causes the emergence of new ones. According to WHO, obesity causes more deaths than being underweight.
The most common consequences of obesity for the body:
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels
.
Excess weight contributes to the imbalance of lipids in the blood and the development of atherosclerosis. As a result, obese people have a much higher risk of vascular thrombosis, stroke and heart attack
. In addition, they experience hypertensive crises more often, and heart failure gradually develops. - Diabetes
. With obesity, cell receptors become less sensitive to the level of glucose in the blood, as a result of which the production of insulin by the pancreas suffers and diabetes develops. An increase in blood glucose has a destructive effect on many organs and systems, including the heart, blood vessels and nerves. - Oncological diseases
. According to many recent studies, obesity seriously increases the risk of malignant tumors. The risk of developing tumors of the colon and mammary gland is especially high. - Diseases of the spine, joints, ligaments and muscles
. Excess weight leads to serious stress on the musculoskeletal system, which provokes arthritis and arthrosis, lower back pain, transverse flat feet, herniated discs, radiculitis and osteochondrosis. Under the influence of excess weight, inflammation of the plantar aponeurosis can often cause concern, manifested by burning pain in the foot when walking. - Hormonal disorders
. Adipose tissue itself is capable of secreting hormones, one of which is estrogen. As a result, obesity often causes menstrual irregularities, infertility, impotence, and impaired blood clotting.
Obesity and overweight
Causes of obesity, mechanisms of development of obesity, tests for obesity, methods of correction of obesity.
Obesity is a disease of our time, the scale of the disease is quite large - we can conditionally speak of an “epidemic” of obesity .
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Body mass index allows you to determine the degree of excess weight and the associated risk of developing obesity-related diseases. Determination of body mass index (BMI): . Body weight in kilograms should be divided by height in meters squared, i.e.: BMI = weight (kg) : {height (m)}2
For example, a person’s weight = 85 kg, height = 164 cm. Therefore, the BMI in this case is equal to: BMI = 85: (1.64X1.64) = 31.6.
Causes of obesity
There are many reasons for obesity In many ways, the causes of excess weight are social and civilizational in nature. Social factors include physical inactivity in people living in large cities. Civilizational influences relate to eating disorders. People eat excessively, but are undernourished - unbalanced nutrition . Cooking technologies lead to the fact that the combination of components becomes far from natural food, the amount of vitamins decreases, and the beneficial properties of the products included in the food are lost. As a result of an imbalance of components, the fat content in the body also increases. This can lead to fat intoxication. The body is faced with a high content of fatty acids and is at greater risk of developing diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, cardiac dysfunction, and increased blood pressure. This sharply worsens the quality of life and increases the risk of complications (strokes, heart attacks), which are factors in life expectancy.
Of all the factors influencing life expectancy, body weight is the only proven factor. The lower your body weight, the less excess weight, the longer your life expectancy.
Mechanisms by which obesity develops
- a decrease in the protective effect of a number of hormonal factors with age. Thus, growth hormone (somatotropic hormone, STH) reduces the ability of adipose tissue to accumulate fat. In a young body under 30 years of age, growth hormone is actively produced, preventing the accumulation of fats in adipose tissue. With increasing age, the amount of the hormone sharply decreases and, with the same caloric content of food and the same physical activity, a person begins to gain weight.
- factor of increased caloric content of food, mainly due to carbohydrates and fats of animal origin. The body struggles with excess intake of these substances. Carbohydrates cause disruption of homeostasis and a large amount of insulin . Insulin promotes the conversion of glucose into glycogen and the deposition of fats in adipose tissue. An increase in fat in the body leads to an increase in the production of a hormone with complex regulatory mechanisms - leptin . This hormone affects many target organs and is produced by different cells of the body. But most leptin is produced by adipose tissue. Leptin performs protective functions - it prevents the accumulation of fats in the walls of blood vessels and regulates appetite. So, with high levels of leptin, appetite decreases and a person’s need for food decreases. Some people are not sensitive to leptin, a condition called leptin resistance. At the same time, the amount of leptin is sufficient, but the body tissues do not “listen” to its commands. Atherosclerosis develops quickly and the functioning of the cardiovascular system is disrupted.
- Insulin resistance develops as part of the metabolic syndrome.
Insulin resistance is a mechanism for failure of adaptation. What happens is this: in response to a constant increase in free fatty acids, more insulin is produced. It reacts with insulin-like growth factor receptors, which are important regulatory factors. Eventually, the pancreas can no longer contain the excess carbohydrates entering or produced from fats. The risk of developing diabetes mellitus increases. In women, this causes the development of polycystic ovary syndrome, menstrual irregularities, increased androgens in the body and various complications associated with fertility.
Leptin resistance and insulin resistance are parts of the metabolic syndrome, the expression of which is excess weight, metabolic disorders, menstrual irregularities, and disorders in all organs and systems. Metabolic syndrome (also called syndrome X) has both peripheral and central mechanisms (eating disorders, disorders at the level of the central nervous system, hypothalamus). In 1989, the combination of insulin resistance, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and lipid disorders was even called the “deadly quartet.”
The work of the endocrine glands plays a certain role in the development of obesity:
- Thyroid: Hypothyroidism increases the risk of obesity. To diagnose thyroid pathology, thyroid hormone .
- Hyperprolactinemia associated with dysfunction of the pituitary gland can lead to obesity and overweight in both women and men.
Monitoring factors include cholesterol (C) . If you are overweight, cholesterol are monitored once a month. It is important to carry out a complete diagnosis, since cholesterol levels alone are often not enough. Additional tests include fractions of fat in the body— low-density lipoprotein (or LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) . HDL , circulating in the blood, captures excess fats. This fraction is also called anti-atherogenic, that is, it resists atherosclerosis and other disorders of fat metabolism; the higher the level of HDL , the more favorable the situation in the body. Gradually, HDL passes into the LDL , atherogenic, “harmful”. LDL levels reduces the safety margin of blood vessels, and the development of atherosclerosis begins. Another fraction, very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), is a less significant indicator and also difficult to interpret.
are two more important indicators of fat metabolism and the risk of developing atherosclerosis and its complications - apolipoprotein A1 and apolipoprotein B.
Apolipoprotein B (or Apo-B) plays a role in lipid metabolism and transport. Its high values contribute to the risk of developing atherosclerosis. Average Apo-B levels in women are slightly lower than those in men.
Apolipoprotein A1 , on the contrary, refers to factors that work against atherosclerosis and other disorders. According to recent data, apolipoproteins are more accurate markers than LDL and HDL .
Thus, the problem of excess weight is serious and complex.
Obesity Treatment Methods
When treating excess weight, determining the cause of obesity is of great importance. It is necessary to consult a doctor and conduct a full examination to find out which components (physical inactivity, excess and poor nutrition, as well as factors contributing to the development of complications) are the cause of this condition in this patient. The doctor’s recommendations will include a balanced diet, limiting the intake of carbohydrates and fats of animal origin, taking vitamins and microelements, and sufficient physical activity (with monitoring of the state of the cardiovascular system).
To diagnose and monitor the course of diseases caused by obesity and overweight, the following tests are also performed: determination of glucose (fasting and in a test with glucose - glucose tolerance test ), insulin , C-peptide , fructosamine , glycosylated hemoglobin .
Based on the tests, various indices are determined - for example, the insulin resistance index, for the metabolism of cholesterol, HDL, LDL - the atherogenic index, etc.)
Recommended set of tests for obesity
- Fat metabolism indicators : cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein A1
- Tests related to fat metabolism disorders:
- Insulin resistance : insulin, C-peptide, glucose, leptin
- Hormonal examination: total testosterone, sex steroid binding globulin (SHBG), estradiol, androstenedione, cortisol, additional tests - LH, FSH, prolactin.
- Thyroid examination : TSH, total T4, free T4.
This complex is given in the morning, on an empty stomach (at least 12 hours of fasting).
You can take all these tests in our Laboratory, at home or in the office 7 days a week ! All you need to do for the first step is to go online or call the CIR Laboratories (495) 514-00-11 (multi-channel) .
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obesity, overweight
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How to protect yourself from the consequences of obesity?
To protect yourself from the consequences of obesity, you must monitor your condition. But you cannot rely only on sensations, because for some time, especially in young people, the consequences of obesity can develop without pronounced manifestations, but then they manifest themselves acutely and often irreversibly.
It is convenient to control your health with the help of tests. The most important is a biochemical blood test with a detailed lipid profile
. This test will allow you to monitor your blood glucose levels, liver and pancreas condition. By the concentration of different types of cholesterol derivatives in the blood, you can quickly notice an increased risk of heart and vascular diseases, signs of atherosclerosis and damage to the heart muscle. Monitoring changes in all analysis indicators over time allows you to identify your personal risks and take measures to reduce or eliminate them.
Blood tests for hormones and blood tests for tumor markers may also be useful
. Checking hormone levels often helps to identify not only the consequences of excess weight, but also its possible cause. And tumor markers provide a chance to early detect a serious illness caused by obesity in order to successfully treat it.
The best way to rid yourself of the consequences of obesity is still to lose weight. Moreover, it is better to lose weight correctly and under the supervision of a doctor. During the entire process of losing weight, it is also necessary to conduct blood tests to monitor your condition over time and, if necessary, change your diet or exercise patterns.
Causes and consequences of obesity
A person can “earn” obesity on his own or “inherit it.” A common cause of obesity is regular overeating and low physical activity, i.e. burning insufficient energy when consuming high-calorie foods. Simply put, a person consumes too much and “spends” too little.
Obesity can also be caused by various malfunctions in the body. In particular, genetic and endocrine disorders can lead to obesity. True, this type of obesity is much less common than the first.
Obesity can cause a person not only moral discomfort and reduce his level of self-esteem, but also cause serious health problems, including the development of deadly diseases of the heart and gastrointestinal tract. Obese people are less productive and tire more quickly, and their life expectancy is shortened. Therefore, it is important that a person’s weight does not exceed the recommended norm and does not create additional stress on the body’s life support systems. Regular physical activity and a proper diet plan help you stay in shape. A therapist can help you form it.
