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Diabetes \ Obesity \ Alzheimer’s Disease

When one habitually consumes more than what their body needs, becoming obesity is a clear possibility. This is made worse by limited physical activity; or if he/she has a low basal metabolic rate resulting in too much body fat. One is considered to have crossed the line – from being overweight into being obese –when one’s body weighs at least 25% (for men) and 30% (for women) in excess of the normal body weight for one’s height. This is measured by a body mass index (BMI) which is dividing one’s body weight in kilogrammes with the square of one’s height in metres.

Other symptoms of obesity are shortness of breath, sweatiness, and overheating.

Obesity, which is usually hereditary, could also be caused by factors such as overeating (excess calories are stored up as fat), a sedentary lifestyle, low basal metabolism, hypothyroidism (unusually slow metabolism due to lack of the thyroid hormone), Cushing’s disease (over-production of the hormone cortisol) and polycystic ovarian syndrome (a condition affecting a small percentage of women of child-bearing age). Smoking, lack of sleep, age, pregnancy and emotional factors (eating when unhappy or stressed is one of these) have also been held responsible.

Complications resulting from obesity include diabetes, hypertension, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, osteoarthritis (inflammation of a joint due to the wearing out of the cartilage that lines it), back problems; cancer of the colon, rectum, prostate (in men); or breast, cervix, or uterus (in women); and psychological problems such as low self-esteem.