What is obesity?
Obesity (Latin) is obesity, i.e. a pathological eating disorder resulting in excess weight. Obesity occurs when there is a positive energy balance, i.e. when energy intake exceeds energy consumption – in short, ‘too many calories and too little exercise’.
More words with the root ‘adipo’
- Plastic surgeons also use the adjective and refer to obese people as obese.
- Adiposalgia refers to pain in the fatty tissue. This often occurs with lipoedema. In addition to lipoedema, obesity must also be differentiated from lipomatosis.
- Adiposus means rich in fat, fatty and is contained, for example, in the word‘corus adiposus buccae‘. This so-called Bichat’s fat body, also known as a fat plug, makes up part of the cheek fat and can be reduced or even removed as part of a cheek correction if it is too pronounced. Panniculus adiposus is the medical term for a fat belly (also known as a beer belly).
- Adipocytes are called fat cells.
Body mass index (=BMI) in relation to obesity
The BMI is calculated as follows:
The body mass index clearly describes the extent of body weight:
- Underweight under 18.5
- Normal weight: 18.5-24.9
- Overweight: from 25
- 25.0-29.9 Overweight = preadiposity
- 30.0-34.9 Obesity grade I
- 35.0-39.9 Obesity grade II
- from 40 Obesity grade III or obesity permagna
Forms of obesity
Essentially, the following forms of obesity can be distinguished:
- The generalized form is obesity of the entire body.
- In the localized form , only certain regions are affected, which are often also gender-specific. These include the saddlebags of women and the beer belly of men.
- Obesity permagna is the extreme form of obesity. The body mass index is over 40, i.e. a person 175 cm tall weighs at least 122.5 kg.
- A. dolorosa or lipedema
- Adipositas cordis is the term for fatty degeneration of the heart.
What risks and consequences can obesity have?
- Elevated blood lipid levels (hyperlipoproteinemia) and elevated cholesterol levels, which additionally promote the following cardiovascular diseases.
- Cardiovascular diseases:
- High blood pressure = hypertension
- Vascular diseases = arteriosclerosis
- CHD = coronary heart disease; is an arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries that leads to a heart attack.
- Stroke = apoplexy
- Heart failure = cardiac insufficiency
- Coagulation disorder in the sense of an increase in coagulation
- Thromboses, especially of the legs
- Embolisms
- Diabetes mellitus type II = non-congenital diabetes in adults
- The probability of developing cancer is significantly increased with obesity – in particular:
- Pancreatic cancer
- Colon cancer (colon carcinoma)
- Rectal cancer
- Breast cancer (breast carcinoma)
- Prostate cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Esophageal cancer (esophageal carcinoma)
- Kidney cancer
- Uterine cancer
- and much more.
- Arthrosis (joint wear and tear), particularly of the large joints on the legs, occurs early on in A. due to overuse of the joints:
- Osteoarthritis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis)
- Osteoarthritis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis)
- Spinal pain syndromes
- X-B adjustment in the knee joint (genu valgum) resulting in incorrect loading and thus worsening of the knee joint arthrosis.
- Respiratory disorders
- Deteriorated respiratory function (dyspnea)
- Sleep apnea syndrome
- Asthma
- Possibly in women due to increased production of androgens(male sex hormones):
- Absence of menstruation (amenorrhea)
- Hair loss
- Acne
- Infertility
- Gallstone disease = cholecystolithiasis
- Fatty liver
- Heartburn (reflux disease), hiatal hernia
- Abdominal wall hernias
- Gout (hyperuricemia)
- Herniated discs, particularly due to incorrect loading in the lumbar spine.
- Increased complication rates during anesthesia, surgery and pregnancy
- Softening of the skin and fungal infections in the folds of the body, especially in cases of extreme obesity with poor personal hygiene.
- Stretch marks (striae) on the skin
- Increased sweating
- Secondary depression and the resulting reactive frustration eating
- Social isolation
- Inferiority complexes
- Discrimination
- Obesity in turn leads to a secondary lack of exercise, resulting in a further excess of energy.
- Reduced resilience and fitness
- Overall significant reduction in life expectancy
- Overall severe reduction in quality of life with obesity
Facts and statistics
Here are some interesting facts and figures on obesity:
- 50% of German men and 35% of women are overweight (BMI = 25.0-29.9).
- In Germany, 18% of men and 20% of women are obese.
- In Europe, the incidence of obesity has increased by 10%-40% in the years 1998-2008.
- Obesity is more common in men than in women.
- In most countries, 50% of the population is overweight or obese.
- In Europe, obesity and its associated diseases account for an estimated 7% of healthcare costs. This is comparable to the cost of all cancers.
- Sudden cardiac death occurs about 15 times more frequently in severely obese people than in people of normal weight.
- Gout occurs approx. 7 times more frequently with an overweight of 50%.
- Slight fatty degeneration of liver cells is found in 95% of overweight people. 35% have a fatty liver.
- Short-term, aggressive fast diets only have a long-term success rate of 0-40%.
Treatment
Treatment must be approached from several angles. On the one hand, it is important to treat the rare disease-related causes (e.g. Cushing’s syndrome, hypothyroidism, …) and the existing secondary diseases, and on the other hand to reduce weight.
Even weight reductions of 10% can often significantly reduce the risk of the diseases described above. Therapy and monitoring must be carried out for a lifetime, as relapses into obesity are frequent.
The following points must be taken into account:
- The aim is to achieve a negative energy balance:
- Reduction of calorie intake by means of a diet: reduced amount of food and low-calorie diet
- Increasing calorie consumption: exercise therapy, sporting activity
- The management of the psychosocial causes of obesity and the promotion of motivation are particularly important.
Surgical interventions:
- Particularly in the extreme form, corrective operations on the stomach (gastroplasty, gastric banding) have proven successful in curbing appetite and food intake in order to facilitate and accelerate weight reduction. Laparoscopic gastric band ing is the most widely used procedure today.
- After massive weight loss, there are often enormous amounts of excess skin and/or residual fat deposits (e.g. abdominal fat apron), which can be corrected with further skin tightening procedures. Such operations at Yuveo in Düsseldorf include tummy tucks, buttock lifts, thigh lifts and other procedures. If there is a lot of excess skin, a so-called body lift can make sense, which involves a lot of effort in one procedure, but is less expensive overall in terms of the operation and aftercare.
