Obesity - Symptom, Treatment And Causes

Are you gaining excessive amount of weight during your pregnancy, well you are not alone.  Most of the pregnant women tend to be overweight or obese. You are viewed as overweight, if your pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is approximately between twenty-five and twenty-nine. Your BMI is the relationship between your height and weight. You are considered obese, if your BMI is thirty or more.

However, here are some ways with which you can control the weight gain during pregnancy:

1. Eat a solid, yet less-calorie diet: Utilize a convenient pregnancy food journal to ensure you are getting enough supplements and drinking a lot of water every day. The journal is additionally helpful for keeping track of your mood swings and appetite levels, so you can spot patterns you may need to change. Since you realize that you have to take after a particular eating regimen, the following are very solid for you:
   • Crisp leafy foods
   • Oats and bread made with whole grains
   • Low-fat milk and dairy items
   • Foods rich in folate such as strawberries, spinach and beans
   • Unsaturated "good" fats such as olive oil, canola oil, and shelled nut oil
2. Regular exercise: In case you are a relative newcomer to work out, you can start with pregnancy exercise for beginners. You can practice low-impact exercises; for example, walking, swimming and light heart stimulating exercises. Never begin an exercise without first talking with your medicinal services supplier or doctor. Furthermore, make sure to you adhere to the thirteen principles of safe pregnancy work out. A few women do get in shape during pregnancy in case that they roll out solid eating regimen and make way for life improvements, so make sure to check in with your specialist if this happens.
3. Comprehend your calorie needs: As specified before, not all pregnant women have to put on equivalent measures of weight. Thus, you have to know precisely what number of calories you require. Talk with your specialist to get the correct number.
4. Eat frequent, small meals: This is true when you need to deal with your weight, pregnant or not. Eating successive little dinners is particularly helpful when you are pregnant. Eating a full feast makes you wiped out.
5. Taking prenatal pre-natal vitamins: This is something your specialist will recommend in any case. Yet, in case that you require an extra motivation to take your pre-birth vitamins consistent, then this is it. As you most likely are aware, your body needs additional food and nutrients during pregnancy. In case that you need to deal with your weight and take in the supplements without stacking yourself with calories, take your vitamins.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

As on date obesity is a major problem in India. As per the World Health Organization statistics, India ranks third on the list of most obese nations after US and China. Further, a survey revealed that Delhi has over 35 percent of teens who are obese or overweight, which is an alarming number.

Obesity is a condition wherein you suffer from excessive body weight as a result of either genetic or lifestyle-related factor. This condition, if not taken seriously, can be life-threatening as obesity can put you at risk of developing chronic conditions like diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, and which in certain cases can lead to heart attack. Hence, it is crucial to undergo weight reduction.

Calculate the weight you need to lose
Before you begin to practice effective steps for weight loss, consider the amount of weight you need to shed. You should first measure your current weight and then calculate your body mass index (BMI) to find the amount of deviation from the recommended range. Then consider the difference between your current and ideal weight as your target.

Tips For Losing Weight

1. Eat Right

• Consult a nutritional expert- It all starts with the right diet. Your eating habits contribute significantly to your weight. If you are obese or overweight, then you should consult a health expert and have him prepare an appropriate diet based on your weight and body type.
• Balanced diet- Make sure you have lean meats, fruits and green leafy vegetables as part of your diet. Also, cut down on the amount of food you consume and your intake of sugar, salt and fats gradually. Water is also the best medicine since it is helpful in flushing out toxins from your body. Make it a point to drink around 2 liters of water on daily basis. It will help clean your system and also keep you feeling full and hydrated.
• Regular meal time- Another effective tip is to eat regularly. If you skip meals, then your body starts storing excess fat to act as a reserve. If you eat regular meals in small portions, you not only slow down the fat storing process but also reduce the quantity of food you consume.
• Healthy options- Moreover, switch immediately to the modern-day marvel that is green tea, as it is rich in antioxidants. Green tea is highly effective if you aim to lose weight. If you do not prefer green tea, then aloe vera juice is an even better alternative.

2. Exercise
As an obese person, you need to exercise regularly. If you find it difficult to do exercise, take baby steps and start with easy sitting and lying exercises. Go out into the fresh air such as a garden and perform these exercises early in the morning for just 10 minutes. As you build your stamina, increase the intensity gradually.

3. Manage stress
Shed some of that stress in your life as stress and weight are directly correlated. Lose out on stress, and you will also lose those extra pounds.

4. Don’t neglect sleep
Six to eight hours of sleep is essential for a healthy being. Insufficient sleep results in increased levels of cortisol. Cortisol is associated with weight gain.Hence, it becomes crucial to rest enough.

Make sure you seek advice from your doctor and implement the necessary lifestyle changes to accomplish weight reduction effectively. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

The word obesity in itself isn't a very pleasant sound. Being one of the most common problems in the world, it is become an epidemic in recent years. The best way to deal with it is to control it and to understand the symptoms and causes of obesity, one must know what exactly obesity is. Although there are multiple definitions of obesity, in general, obesity indicates weight that is greater than what is considered healthy. Even though a certain amount of body fat is necessary for storing energy, heat insulation, and shock absorption, an excess amount of body fat leads to obesity.

Causes of Obesity
A person’s weight is determined by a balance between calorie intake and energy expenditure. The body stores the excess calories in the form of body fat. The hormone leptin is responsible for the mechanism of fat regulation. If a person is suffering from leptin deficiency, then he can suffer from obesity. Also, diseases such as hypothyroidism and polycystic ovary syndrome contribute severely to obesity. Furthermore, body weight is determined by several factors such as an individual’s genetics, diet, metabolism, environment, culture, and behavior.

Obesity and Associated Health Risks
Obesity is not merely a cosmetic consideration but is also very harmful to a person’s health. Life expectancy is significantly reduced for people with BMI over 40. Obesity leads to insulin resistance which is a pre-diabetes condition that often leads to Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes.Another major health risk of obesity is high blood pressure. Most obese people suffer from hypertension and increase in blood pressure is found more commonly in women than in men as a result of weight gain. Other health risks of obesity are cholesterol, stroke, heart attack and various forms of cancer such as breast and colon cancer.

How is Obesity Diagnosed?
Your doctor will give you a series of tests to confirm if you are obese. He will analyze your medical history taking into account your weight history, eating and exercise habits, your family’s health history, heart rate, and examination of heart, lungs, and abdomen.

Obesity is generally measured by calculating the body mass index (BMI). Body mass index takes into consideration a person’s height and weight as the two determining factors to calculate an individual’s appropriate weight. Body mass index is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) by their height in meters (m) squared. BMI shows high correlation with body fat content in adults since it exhibits a ratio between weight and height.

A full-grown adult with a BMI ranging from 25-29.9 is considered overweight while an adult with BMI over 30 is considered obese. An individual with BMI ranging from 18.5-24.9 is of normal weight. Waist circumference is measured to know the amount of abdominal or visceral fat stored around your waist. Women with over 35 inches waist circumference and men with over 40 inches waist circumference are prone to high risks of contracting diabetes and heart ailments.

It is a good practice to measure your BMI and Waist circumference once in a year. If they are more than the normal, it is best to consider a physician to get diagnosed with obesity and plan the best treatment option.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Obesity is the new-age lifestyle disease with multiple ramifications. While its effects on the physical aspects are very evident, the damage it does to the brain are more severe, though not obvious. Read on to know some harmful effects of obesity on the emotional well-being.

1. Leads to binge eating: There is a certain pleasure in eating sugary and fatty food, and this is lost with depression. Therefore, to get that emotional satisfaction, people tend to eat more chocolates, cookies, milkshakes, and other weight-accumulating food items, which further add to obesity. Greater the weight gained by a person, lesser the response or happiness from such food products.
2. Increases impulsivity: The area of the brain known as orbitofrontal cortex, which is in charge of controlling impulsivity, shrinks in obese people. This results in people eating more impulsively.
3. Affects immunity: Obesity is a major cause of inflammation, leading to damage in certain parts of the brain. This impairs the immune system, making the affected person more prone to infections and tissue damage. This leads to increased chances of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleeping disorders, eating disorders, etc. The chemical known as C-reactive protein increases as seen on MRIs in obese people, and which is usually seen in patients with chronically increased inflammation.
4. Effects on memory: As the BMI increases, there is a decrease in scores of memory tests. This effect is more obvious in women after menopause. With increased fat accumulation, more hormones are released, which affects the memory. Increased inflammation also affects cognition and memory.
5. Increased risk of dementia: With more belly fat accumulating, there is extra stress on the body to burn the visceral fat. This reduces brain size and causes certain hormones to release, which further affects the body’s ability to remember things. It has been proven that people with smaller brain size are at greater risk for developing dementia.
6. Weight loss stress adding to more stress: When obesity sets in and the BMI goes up, there is an added pressure to lose weight, which further ups the stress levels. During these dieting days, the brain is constantly alert and finds ways to eat more. This also leads to excess eating. Moreover, there are indications that there could be genetic changes during this phase, which may leave a permanent mark in the person’s composition.
7. Depression: When a person is not happy with their reflection in the mirror, the chances of feeling good and happy are very less. In this age, where aesthetics plays a major morale booster, an obese image staring back does not help at all.

So, if you have a risk of obesity, watch out. It is not just how you look, but how you feel is also altered. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Psychologist.

Most men, about 60%, see some development of breast tissue in their lifetime. This growth could be round, symmetrical and occurs bilaterally. This growth of breast tissue in males is medically known as gynecomastia.

Causes:

• The most common cause is an imbalance between the oestrogen and androgens, with excessive oestrogens leading to the growth of breast tissue.
• Excessive use of anabolic steroids
• Obesity
• Unknown reasons

It can affect men of all ages, and if this presents as a serious problem, then surgery is the most definitive form of treatment.

Surgical options: There are two major options available for correcting gynecomastia – liposuction and excisive surgery.

Liposuction:

• Done either under local sedation or under general anaesthesia depending on the extent of the tissue proliferation
• A small incision is made either in the armpit or around the areola
• Excessive fat tissue and breast gland tissue are suctioned out
• The chest contour also is altered at the same time, if desirable
• Post-surgery, the person is made to wear a compression garment for the first few days
• This helps in keeping the tissue in place and also helps reduce swelling
• Healing takes about a couple of weeks’ time, depending on the person’s overall health status and the extent of surgery.

Excisive surgery:

• This is done when the extent of gynecomastia is more severe
• These people would have sagging, stretched skin around the breast area
• More amount of fat and glandular tissue can be removed through excision
• This is more often done under general anaesthesia
• The incision is often done around the areala (dark portion around the nipple) so it is concealed or along the natural creases which are formed due to excessive breast tissue
• Excessive breast tissue is removed and the incisions are closed
• There could be swelling, pain, bruising and higher chances of post-surgical infections
• Recovery will take about ten days to two weeks
• Refraining from exercise is often advised for up to 2 weeks

Benefits:

• Restore a masculine appearance
• Shorter surgery
• Faster recovery
• Minimal or invisible scars
• Almost immediate results that can be dramatic
• Improved confidence and self-image

After the surgery:

• Surgery is definitely a sure way to remove the male breast tissue, it is almost a permanent treatment for this condition.
• It is very important to get a trained, experienced surgeon for the procedure
• It is important to follow post-op instructions including pain management, infection control, and recovery
• If it was caused by use of steroids or obesity, lifestyle modification is essential to prevent recurrence. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Cosmetic/Plastic Surgeon.