Is my weight harming my heart?
Yes. The answer to this question is a big yes! Your weight and the corresponding obesity associated with it harm your heart at an alarming rate. We already know what obesity is? And what causes it?
We need to understand the repercussions of obesity on our body especially our heart. The experts at Capitol will be discussing this question for you in detail so as to have a clear idea.
We don’t mind the extra calories that we consume from the ice cream treats and carbonated sweetened beverages but our heart sure does.
For instance, Eman Ahmed, Egyptian women; who was once the heaviest women came to Mumbai to get operated on and reduce her weight. She was treated in the Saifee hospital with a team of around 15 doctors led by bariatric expert Muffazal Lakdawala. Amid a lot of controversies, she then left for Abu Dhabi for further treatment.
But she eventually lost her battle with overweight and died because of heart disease and kidney dysfunction. She had not left her home for more than 2 decades because of her overweight.
WHO gave following BMI cut off points to measure your weight range.
| Category | BMI range – kg/m2 |
| Very severely underweight | less than 15 |
| Severely underweight | from 15.0 to 16.0 |
| Underweight | from 16.0 to 18.5 |
| Normal (healthy weight) | from 18.5 to 25 |
| Overweight | from 25 to 30 |
| Obese Class I (Moderately obese) | from 30 to 35 |
| Obese Class II (Severely obese) | from 35 to 40 |
| Obese Class III (Very severely obese) | over 40 |
Overweight can lead to many diseases
- Diabetes
In layman’s terms, diabetes is when the sugar level in the blood increases from a certain predefined limit. Overweight causes the cells to change, which may make them resistant to insulin. Insulin is the peptide hormone which carries sugar from the blood to the cells of body. If the cells don’t take sugar, blood sugar level will increase in the blood.
- Osteoarthritis
It is a type of arthritis. It happens when tissues at the ends of the bones gradually damages and wears down. Overweight is a major risk factor for this. Pain in joints, swelling of joints and stiffness are few of the symptoms.
- Cardiovascular disease (heart diseases)
The diseases related to heart come under the cardiovascular diseases. The risk of heart diseases increases a lot due to overweight.
- Hypertension
Hypertension is when the flowing of blood through our arteries is elevated. It is very common in India, with around 10 million cases per year.
- Difficulty in breathing, hypertension in children who are obese.
Obese children have a lot of problems. Few of them include difficulty in breathing and also suffering from hypertension due to the overweight.
All these will be discussed in the subsequent blogs. Read more.
