Morbid Obesity Problems
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Morbidly Obese People are Missing Genes

A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA, according to research published February 3 2010, in Nature

 

Obese Americans now outweigh the merely overweight.

Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are "extremely" obese.

 

 

 

 Morbid Obesity Problems

 

 

  List of Morbid Obesity Problems

 

Morbid obesity problems are manifold. One of the major concerns of morbid obesity is its strong association with heart disease. Morbid obesity affects the heart in a number of problematic ways, it can lead to:

 

Human Heart
  • Congestive Heart Failure: The heart simply becomes weak due to excessive use and the heart muscle fails to pump blood around the body.

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  • Atherosclerotic Heart Disease: This is when the arteries of the heart develop fatty plaques of different shapes and sizes.

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  • Atrial Fibrillation: This is more prevalent in morbidly obese individuals occurring when the atrial chambers causes an irregular beating of the heart.

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  • Malignant Arrhythmias: These are very serious irregular disturbances of the heart that can sometimes lead to sudden death.

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  • Cardiovascular Disorders: High blood pressure can cause heart attacks, heart failure and kidney failure, while increased prevalence of diabetes can further complicate the problems.

 

 

 

  Other Morbid Obesity Problems

 

But morbid obesity doesn’t just affect the heart. The excess weight carried by a morbidly obese individual general causes problems in all the areas of the respiratory system. These prblems include:

 

  • Vascular disease: The most severe been strokes which can result in brain damage. This is often caused by blockages (occlusions) of cerebral or carotid arteries. Other vascular diseases include edema of the lower parts of the body and deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremities (dangerous blood clots that can be dislodged and become trapped in other more dangerous parts of the body).

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  • Respiratory Disease: The heaviness of a morbidly obese individual can disturb their capacity to breathe properly. This can cause poor lung absorption of oxygen and cause a problem with their capacity to get rid of carbon dioxide resulting in hypoventilation. Other respiratory abnormalities include asthma, upper airway obstruction and pulmonary emboli (clots trapped in the lungs).

 

 

The Complications Continues

 

But the whole body is affected by the excess weight of the morbidly obese. Every organ system, every tissue type is stressed and pressured within a morbidly obese invidual. Other complications due to extreme obesity includes:

 

  • Gastro-Intestinal Disease

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  • Renal Failure

     

  • Gout

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  • Arthritis and Orthopaedic Problems

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  • Hormonal Disorders

 

Morbidly obese people rarely live full productive lives. The problems associated with disease are just too much and the odds too great to surmount.