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Fortunately, losing weight can reduce your risk of developing some of these problems.
Both conditions appear to stem (at least in part) from alterations in brain chemistry
and function in response to stress.
Psychological factors are also plausible. In our culture, thin equals beautiful, and
being overweight can lower self-esteem, a known trigger for depression.
Odd eating patterns and eating disorders, as well as the physical discomfort of being
obese, are known to foster depression.
The study also found that depressed people have a 58% higher risk of becoming obese. Here
are some reasons why depression may lead to obesity:
Elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol (common in people with depression)
may alter substances in fat cells that make fat accumulation, especially in the belly,
more likely, according to one theory.
People who feel depressed often feel too blue to eat properly and exercise regularly,
making them more prone to gain weight.
Some medications used to treat depression cause weight gain.
Although the adverse effects of overweight on blood pressure and cholesterol levels could
account for 45% of the increased heart disease risk, even modest amounts of excess weight
can increase the odds of heart disease independent of those well-known risks, the authors
concluded.
Compared with people of normal weight, overweight people face a 22% higher risk of stroke.
For those who are obese, the increased risk rises to 64%, according to a 2010 report in the
journalStroke, which pooled results from 25 studies involving more than two million people.
A high blood sugar level, the hallmark of diabetes, is one of the features of metabolic
syndrome. If untreated or poorly controlled, diabetes can lead to a number of grave health
problems, including kidney failure, blindness, and foot or leg amputations. Diabetes is
currently the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.
Do you have metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that occur together, also increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
One of the key features is abdominal obesity. If you have that problem, youre more likely to have the other characteristics.
You have metabolic syndrome if you have three or more of these five traits:
Big waist. A waist circumference more than 35 inches in women or 40 inches in men.
High triglycerides. A fasting blood triglyceride level of 150 milligrams/deciliter (mg/dL) or higher.
Low HDL. An HDL (good) cholesterol of less than 40 mg/dL in men or less than 50 mg/dL in women.
High blood pressure. A systolic blood pressure (the top number of a reading) of 130 mm Hg or higher, or diastolic
(the lower number) of 85 mm Hg or higher.
High blood sugar. A fasting blood sugar level of 100 mg/dL or higher.
(Note: You are considered to have one of the above traits if you receive treatment for it, even if your numbers are normal
with this treatment.)
Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Among people ages 50 and older, overweight and obesity may account for 14% of all
cancer deaths in men and 20% of all cancer deaths in women.
In both men and women, higher BMIs were associated with a higher risk of dying
from cancer of the esophagus, colon and rectum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, or
kidney.
In men, excess weight also increased the risk of dying from stomach or prostate
cancer.
In women, deaths from cancer of the breast, uterus, cervix, or ovary were elevated in
women with higher BMIs.
A 2008 review article in The Lancet reached similar conclusions. Part of the problem may lie in
the fact that people who are very overweight are less likely to have cancer screening tests
such as Pap smears and mammograms.
A report in The International Journal of Obesity showed that the larger the woman, the more likely she
was to delay getting a pelvic exam, largely because of negative experiences with doctors and
their office staff. In men, screening tests such as prostate exams may be physically difficult if
people are very overweight, particularly if they tend to store fat in their hips, buttocks, or
thighs.
People with high blood pressure who lost a modest 10 pounds over six months reduced their systolic blood
pressure by 2.8 mm Hg and their diastolic blood pressure by 2.5 mm Hg. These reductions in blood pressure were
equivalent to the reductions brought about by treatment with some blood pressure medications.
Weight loss is so effective that many people with high blood pressure can stop taking blood pressure medicine
after they lose weight, for as long as they are able to keep it off.
In a study of people who were at risk for type 2 diabetes, those who lost just 7% of their weight and exercised
about 30 minutes a day cut their risk of diabetes by nearly 60%.