Obesity and Diabetes

Diabetes is also increasing problem that is one of the most complicated to treat among human diseases.

Obesity contributes to numerous and varied health conditions. Complications can occur in many organ systems, ranging from cardiovascular to respiratory to orthopedic and even ophthalmologic.

Overweight and obesity are known risk factors for developing heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and other breathing problems, and some cancers (uterine, breast, colorectal, kidney, and gallbladder).

In addition, obesity is associated with psychological disorders and increased surgical risk. Social discrimination against obese persons has a strong negative effect on their quality of life.

Insulin Resistance Syndrome (Syndrome X).

Obesity is one of a constellation of markers for coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes collectively known as Syndrome X, metabolic syndrome, or insulin resistance syndrome. Visceral, or abdominal, fat is believed by many (but not all) researchers to be more strongly associated with Syndrome X than subcutaneous fat.

Abdominal adiposity is an active metabolic tissue and releases fatty acids, which accumulate in the liver and peripheral tissues, reducing the effect of insulin on liver and muscle cells.

The free fatty acids are utilized by the muscles at the expense of glucose, causing elevated levels of glucose in the blood that in turn result in increased insulin output by the pancreas.

Those individuals unable to produce the large amounts of insulin needed to manage the elevated glucose levels in the blood go on to develop type 2 diabetes.

However, even those individuals who do not develop type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for:

• Coronary heart disease
• Hyperinsulinemia (elevated levels of insulin) is associated with the other manifestations of Syndrome X
• Hypertension
• Increased total cholesterol levels with low HDL and high LDL
• Increased triglyceride levels,
• All cardiovascular disease risk factors

Data from the Bogalusa (Louisiana) Heart Study, an ongoing community-based study of CVD risk factors in early life begun in 1972, were examined to ascertain if childhood adiposity was also associated with Syndrome X.

Researchers found that childhood BMI and insulin levels were significant predictors of adult Syndrome X clustering (obesity, hyperinsulinemia, high blood pressure, and adverse levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides).

BMI was the strongest predictor, independent of familial insulin levels, reinforcing the need to control weight in childhood and adolescence.

A separate study by Vanhala et al. found that children who were obese at age seven were four times more likely to have Syndrome X as adults.

• Weight loss can dramatically improve insulin resistance in obese persons, with a resultant decrease in insulin and triglyceride levels, according to Gerald Reaven, the researcher who first described Syndrome X.
• A modest (15-pound) weight loss has been shown to improve Syndrome X manifestations, including hypertension and high cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
• Regular physical activity will also reduce Syndrome X risk factors.

However, while physical activity and weight loss each independently reduce insulin resistance, the benefits of physical activity are reversed when the exercise is stopped while weight loss benefits remain as long as weight is not regained.

Diabetes. Obesity is the single most reliable predictor of type 2 diabetes. As noted above, excess weight, especially abdominal weight, causes insulin resistance, in part from increased fatty acid levels released by adipose tissue. Higher levels of blood fats inhibit glucose utilization by the muscles, increase accumulation of fats in the liver, and stimulate insulin secretion, causing hyperinsulinemia, which plays a significant role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

The link between elevated BMI and an increased risk for type 2 diabetes has been demonstrated in various populations, including those with both traditionally low and high rates of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes was formerly called adult-onset diabetes, a designation no longer applicable as it is now being diagnosed with alarming frequency among young adults, adolescents, and even younger children.

1. A recent study by researchers at Yale University of 167 obese children and adolescents found that 25% of the children and 21% of the adolescents had impaired glucose tolerance, an established risk factor of type 2 diabetes.
2. Pediatric type 2 diabetes has been found to occur most frequently among obese females aged 12 to 14 years. As the prevalence of obesity increases across all ages, races, and ethnicities, so does the risk of diabetes and its complications.
3. According to researchers presenting to the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy in 1999, obesity is responsible for 61% of type 2 diabetes reported in the United States. Wolf and Colditz found that obese individuals have a 27.6-times excess risk of developing type 2 than do normal-weight persons.

Severely obese people, those with BMIs of 40+, are over 53 times at risk for type 2 diabetes.

Even minimal overweight poses a risk; the Nurses’ Health Study reported that women with BMIs in the range of 24-24.9 had a 5-fold greater risk of diabetes when compared with women with BMIs of less than 22.

Data from the Professionals Health Study demonstrated the same relationship between body weight and type 2 diabetes among men. The risk of diabetes among men with a BMI of 35+ was 42 times that of men with a BMI of less than 23.

Among both men and women in the aforementioned studies, changing body weight was a significant predictor of the risk for type 2 diabetes. Those individuals who gained weight in adulthood were more likely than those who maintained a stable weight to develop diabetes. Conversely, persons who lost that extra weight lowered their risk.

In an article published in 2001 in Diabetes Care, Boyle, Honeycutt et al. projected that the number of persons in the United States with diagnosed diabetes will increase 165% between 2000 and 2052, from approximately 11 million persons to 29 million persons. Their estimates, which utilize demographic, population growth, and prevalence rate projections, are based on a linear increase; they point out, however, that prevalence increased 16% between 1980 and 1984 and 33% between 1990 and 1998.

If the rate of increase continues to be nonlinear, their projections are underestimates and the problem will be even more severe.

In 2000, it was reported that Eli Lilly & Co. was building the largest pharmaceutical factory in the history of the industry to be dedicated to the production of a single drug: insulin.

Although, all diabetes result is not the effect of obesity and as well not all diabetics become obese, studies have been proved that the increase in the percentage of diabetes is the result of excessive weight gain.

Obesity and diabetes effect moves in a vicious circle.

The diabetic person would put a last tip in his health once he gains too much weight. At the same, the obese person would cut more ages from his life once he reaches the point of diabetes.

The recent studies promise the results of treatment of obesity and diabetes is just as the hitting two birds with one stone. It is seen that losing weight doesn’t only prevent obesity but it also actually the damaging of obesity cells that produce insulin.

Dealing with obesity and diabetes — is the amount of weight gain the most important thing when it comes to the issue?

After knowing it, you’ll find out that the successful combination of diet and exercise to beat the worst disease combination.

Proaper diet and regular exercise cancel out obesity and diabetes from your body permanently.

To avoid obesity and diabetes prone, individuals should concentrate on serving sizes, required dietary allowances, and avoiding excessive sweet and fatty foods.