Health Risks Of Overweight and Obesity

Diabetes is a leading cause of early death, CHD, stroke, kidney disease, and blindness. Most people who have type 2 diabetes are overweight. Abnormal Blood Fats. If you're overweight or obese, you're at increased risk of having abnormal levels of blood fats.

Coronary Heart Disease

As your body mass index rises, so does your risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is a condition in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart.

Plaque can narrow or block the coronary arteries and reduce blood flow to the heart muscle. This can cause angina (an-JI-nuh ) or a heart attack. (Angina is chest pain or discomfort.)

Obesity also can lead to heart failure. This is a serious condition in which your heart can't pump enough blood to meet your body's needs.

High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage the body in many ways.

Your chances of having high blood pressure are greater if you're overweight or obese.

Stroke

Being overweight or obese can lead to a buildup of plaque in your arteries. Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture, causing a blood clot to form.

If the clot is close to your brain, it can block the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain and cause a stroke. The risk of having a stroke rises as BMI increases.

Type 2 Diabetes

With type 2 diabetes, the illness and symptoms tend to develop gradually (over weeks or months). This is because in type 2 diabetes you still make insulin (unlike in type 1 diabetes). However, you develop diabetes because:

• You do not make enough insulin for your body's needs; or
• The cells in your body do not use insulin properly. This is called insulin resistance. The cells in your body become resistant to normal levels of insulin. This means that you need more insulin than you normally make to keep the blood sugar (glucose) level down; or
• A combination of the above two reasons.

Type 2 diabetes is much more common than type 1 diabetes.

stress incontinence

Stress incontinence occurs when urine leaks because there is a sudden extra pressure within the tummy (abdomen) and on the bladder. This pressure (or stress) is caused by things like coughing, laughing, sneezing or exercising (such as running or jumping). Weakened pelvic floor muscles cannot support the bladder and urine outlet (urethra) as well as they should. The pressure is too much for the bladder outlet to withstand and so urine leaks out. Small amounts of urine may leak but sometimes it can be quite a lot and can cause embarrassment. The diagram below shows how the pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and nearby structures.

Resources

http://patient.info/

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov