Obesity – a disease of the XNUMXst century. How to fight it effectively?

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity affects as many as 800 million people. Since 1975, the number of obese people has tripled. The prognosis for the future is not optimistic as there will be more and more sick people. This applies to both adults and children. Are there effective methods to fight obesity? What to do to reduce the scale of this phenomenon?

What is obesity?

Obesity is a chronic disease associated not only with a significant increase in body weight, but also with the inflammatory process of adipose tissue resulting in pathological growth of the adipose bed. Environmental, genetic, hormonal and psychological factors contribute to its development. This disease entity most often develops over the years, and its health consequences affect most human organs, including the locomotor system, digestive, immune and nervous systems. The disease is considered to be when the body fat content of women is more than 30%, while in men it is more than 25%.

According to the World Obesity Federation, by 2025 there will be approximately 2,7 billion obese people in the world. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of childhood obesity significantly increases the likelihood of adult obesity. It is referred to as a disease of the XNUMXst century not without reason.

What are the causes of obesity?

There are many reasons for the development of obesity in adults and children. Diagnosing the specific factor that contributes to the disease is key to effective treatment. Currently, the factors causing obesity have been divided into several groups.

Environmental factors:

1. eating too heavy meals,
2. lack of physical activity,
3. too much sugar, salt and unhealthy fats in your daily diet
4. overeating at night,
5. irregular eating,
6. chronic stress.

Genetic factors:

1. duplication of incorrect eating habits of parents, grandparents, etc.,
2. Prader-Willi syndrome,
3. mutation in a gene called FTO.

Hormonal factors:

1. Hypothyroidism,
2. Cushing’s disease
3. disorders in the secretion of ghrelin (hunger hormone), insulin, cortisol, DHEA, estrogen, progesterone, growth hormone and leptin.

Psychological factors:

1. poor self-esteem,
2. addiction to eating meals,
3. depression,
4. insomnia,
5. replacing emotions and interpersonal bonds with caloric food,
6. compulsive eating syndrome.

What is the risk of obesity?

The consequences of obesity are a huge threat to human health and even life. It is estimated that it can cause the development of over 50 other disease entities. Scientific research also shows that obese people are much more likely to develop COVID-19 than people with a normal BMI index.

You may experience a variety of physical and mental problems. The most common are:

1. insulin resistance,
2. cancers, including large intestine, kidneys, anus, prostate and liver,
3. pre-diabetes and even type 2 diabetes,
4. hypertension,
5. hormonal and lipid disorders,
6. sleep apnea syndrome,
7. increased risk during operations,
8. gastroesophageal reflux,
9. varicose veins of the lower extremities,
10. degenerative diseases,
11. cholecystolithiasis,
12. thrombosis,
13. depression,
14. medicines,
15. social isolation,
16. poor self-esteem.

It is worth remembering that the reduction of body weight by about 5-10 percent. reduces the risk of the most common complications.

Obesity treatment methods

It may seem a truism that prevention is better than cure. However, in the case of obesity, there is no better prevention. Daily physical activity, a healthy lifestyle and an easily digestible menu eaten at regular times are a way to avoid the problem of excessive kilograms. Nevertheless, in the advanced stages of obesity, pharmacological or surgical treatment may be necessary.

Polish private medical units offer their clients many obesity treatments. On the website clinics.pl, the patient will find modern facilities, as well as webinars that increase knowledge about the problem of obesity, its risks and common methods of its treatment.

The most popular methods of treating obesity that are highly effective are:

1. gastric balloon – classic, applied with the endoscopic method. It is filled with fluid, which reduces the volume of the stomach and thus reduces the amount of food consumed,
2. ELIPSE gastric balloon – does not require surgery and is intended to be swallowed. The patient also does not need anesthesia,
3. laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy – reducing the volume of the stomach. It is intended for people with a high degree of obesity, 
4. surgery – including geriatric bypass, gastric plication and insertion of an adjustable gastric band.

Bariatric procedures are available in many facilities in Poland. Many of them allow you to use treatments under 0% installments.

It is worth remembering that the surgical treatment of obesity is not so-called shortcut. Each patient who decides to undergo surgery is under the constant care of a team of specialists, including nutritionists, bariatricians and, if the situation requires it, also psychologists. It is also necessary to be aware that the procedure itself does not guarantee success. An obese person must take into account a change in their current lifestyle, including mainly increasing physical activity and changing unhealthy eating habits.