Obesity what can it cause

If untreated, this drowsiness may raise your risk of motor vehicle accidents. Cancer affects more than half a million lives per year in the United States alone. Obesity is believed to cause up to 90, cancer deaths each year. As body mass index BMI increases, so does your risk of cancer and death from cancer. These cancers include:. For people with severe obesity, the death rate increases for all types of cancer. The death rate is 52 percent higher for men and 62 percent higher for women 9.

Obesity puts a strain on your whole circulatory system, which carries blood through your body through your vessels arteries and veins. This strain increases your risk for stroke and vessel damage in the brain. Obesity can lead to other stroke risk factors.

Stroke risk factors include heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes called metabolic syndrome when someone has three or more of these diseases and obstructive sleep apnea Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease GERD , or heartburn, causes stomach acid or intestinal secretions to damage your esophagus.

Nearly two of every 10 people experience GERD symptoms regularly. Obesity has been associated with higher risk of GERD, inflammation of the esophagus and rarely, esophageal cancer Obesity contributes to bone and joint issues. These issues can increase the risk for accidents and personal injury. Bone and joint issues can include:. Obesity can have a dramatic impact on your body.

The conditions related to obesity can be detrimental to your health. A better measure of excess fat is waist size, which can be used as an additional measure in people who are overweight with a BMI of 25 to Generally, men with a waist size of 94cm or more and women with a waist size of 80cm or more are more likely to develop obesity-related health problems. It's very important to take steps to tackle obesity because, as well as causing obvious physical changes, it can lead to a number of serious and potentially life-threatening conditions.

Obesity can also affect your quality of life and lead to psychological problems, such as depression and low self-esteem. Obesity is generally caused by consuming more calories, particularly those in fatty and sugary foods, than you burn off through physical activity. The excess energy is stored by the body as fat. Obesity is an increasingly common problem because for many people modern living involves eating excessive amounts of cheap high-calorie food and spending a lot of time sitting down at desks, on sofas or in cars.

Find out why sitting too much is bad for your health. There are also some underlying health conditions that can occasionally contribute to weight gain, such as an underactive thyroid gland hypothyroidism , although these types of conditions do not usually cause weight problems if they're effectively controlled with medicines. The best way to treat obesity is to eat a healthy reduced-calorie diet and exercise regularly.

You may also benefit from receiving psychological support from a trained healthcare professional to help change the way you think about food and eating. If lifestyle changes alone do not help you lose weight, a medicine called orlistat may be recommended. If taken correctly, this medicine works by reducing the amount of fat you absorb during digestion. Your GP will know whether orlistat is suitable for you.

In some cases, weight loss surgery may be recommended. Obesity can cause a number of further problems, including difficulties with daily activities and serious health conditions. Health care practitioners routinely collect family health history to help identify people at high risk of obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and some forms of cancer. Family health history reflects the effects of shared genetics and environment among close relatives.

Families cannot change their genes, but they can encourage healthy eating habits and physical activity. Those changes can improve the health of family members—and improve the health history of the next generation. Learn more about obesity and genomics. Some illnesses may lead to obesity or weight gain. Drugs such as steroids and some antidepressants may also cause weight gain.

Research continues on the role of other factors in energy balance and weight gain such as chemical exposures and the role of the microbiome. People who have obesity, compared to those with a healthy weight, are at increased risk for many serious diseases and health conditions, including the following: 5,6,7. Obesity and its associated health problems have a significant economic impact on the US health care system, 11 including direct and indirect costs. Indirect costs relate to sickness and death and include lost productivity.

Productivity measures include employees being absent from work for obesity-related health reasons, decreased productivity while at work, and premature death and disability. In addition, obesity has implications for armed forces recruitment. Available online pdf icon [PDF Defining the genetic architecture of the predisposition to obesity: a challenging but not insurmountable task external icon.

Am J Clin Nutr ; Genetics of obesity: what have we learned? Epub Aug Department of Health and Human Services. Current estimates of the economic cost of obesity in the United States. Obesity Research. What is the economic case for treating obesity?