Do you think you are overweight or obese? There is also a chance you may be actually suffering from morbid obesity.
A condition in which you have excess weight or body mass index (BMI) higher than 35 is termed Morbid Obesity. Body and mass index is a value derived from the mass and height of a person.
This is a guide on Morbid Obesity learn about the classifications, symptoms, and treatment of Morbid Obesity below.
Before that let’s discuss BMI.
BMI
BMI is an easy and inexpensive screening method for weight category- underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obesity.
The standard weight status categories that doctors associates with adults are as follows:
BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5-24.9 Normal or Healthy weight
25.0-29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese
According to the above chart, if the BMI of a person is above 25.5 then the health care professional will consider them as overweight or Obese.
What is Obesity?
The excessive amount of body fat in the human is termed as obesity.
It is a medical problem that increases your risk of other health problems, like heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancer.
In this article, we will discuss morbid obesity.
Morbid Obesity
Morbid obesity is a condition when you have excess weight, or a BMI (body mass index) higher than 35. Although BMI is not the perfect measurement to measure the fatness of a person it gives you, a general idea of ideal weight ranges according to heights.
Some doctors or health care professionals also consider a person morbidly obese if their BMI is under 35 but they are more than 100 pounds overweight.
When you are morbidly obese, it means that you are at a higher risk of many health problems, that could affect your heart, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure.
These conditions directly affect the quality of your life.
How is Morbid Obesity Different from Obesity?
An obese person has a great chance of developing health problems like diabetes, heart diseases, arthritis, high blood pressure, etc.
In other words, when you reach Morbid Obesity, your chances of developing the above-mentioned disease increase significantly which can cause disabilities and even death.
Morbid Obesity Classification
This is the ranking of obesity, the medical condition, in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent, that it has adverse effects on your health.
Your doctor will, however, further evaluate BMI in terms of waist-hip ratio, and total cardiovascular risk factors.
The most common definition was established by World Health Organization (WHO) in 1997 and published in 2000, provides the value stated above.
Particular bodies have made some medications. They break down class III obesity into further categories though the exact values are still disputed.
- BMI > 35 is severely obese
- if, BMI of > 40 is morbid obesity
- BMI of > 50 super obese
Asian populations develop negative health consequences at lower BMI as compared to western populations; therefore, they have redefined obesity.
The Japanese have defined obesity as any BMI greater than 25 while China uses a BMI of greater than 28.
These classifications are easy to use and convenient for statistical purposes. However, it ignores variations between individual amounts of lean body mass, muscle mass.
Other obesity measure includes waist circumference and wait-hip ratio but these are rather uncommon.
Who is At the Risk of Developing Morbid Obesity?
Certain factors can put you at risk of developing obesity, however, anyone can become obese.
Some of these risk factors are as follows:
Genetic Factors: People with a family history of obesity or morbid obesity are more likely to get affected by this disease as some studies suggest.
Personal Habits: The food we eat and the amount of physical activity affect whether or not, we could become overweight or obese.
Mental Factors: Stress and anxiety often lead to eating more, which causes obesity. This often results in the excessive production of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes your body to store more fat and weight gain.
Sleep Patterns: Lack of sleep can often result in weight gain, according to some studies.
Medical Conditions: Certain medical conditions such as Cushing’s syndrome or Prader-Willi syndrome can cause obesity in a person.
Medications: Medications like antidepressants and beta-blockers can cause weight gain.
Being a female: Women who are unable to shed weight gain during pregnancy and are prone to weight gain during menopause.
Symptoms:
If you have a BMI of 35 or higher, it is one of the major symptoms of morbid obesity.
However, certain health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are also symptoms of it.
Other symptoms include excess fat build-up around the body alongside gasping and wheezing.
Moreover, you may also feel difficulty walking and trouble breathing.
Diagnosis of Morbid Obesity
Your doctor or healthcare professional will perform a physical examination first and will take your medical history along with your weight loss efforts.
They will also ask you for your eating and exercise habits and your history of weight.
They will perform the following tests:
Calculating BMI
Your doctor will first calculate your BMI that is your body weight divided by your height. You can also calculate your BMI using a calculator.
The BMI ranges and their corresponding categories are given in the above table.
BMI as a diagnostic tool has limitations.
For instance, an athlete has a high weight because of higher body mass. They could fall in the range of obesity or morbid obesity.
However, if they have a small of body fat, they do not fall under this range.
Because of this reason, your doctor will perform other tests as well.
Body Fat Percentage
In this test, your doctor will measure the thickness of your skin folding from the arm, abdomen, or thigh with a caliper.
Another way is to use bioelectrical impedance, which is done by using a special type of scale.
It can be more accurately measured using special equipment to calculate water or air displacement.
Blood work
Your doctor may want to check if the cause of obesity is the use of certain medications.
The blood work will also check for health-related concerns that many people with obesity can have.
Treatment
If you are suffering from morbid obesity, fortunately, there are certain treatments to help you lose weight.
Some of these options are
- Diet and exercise
- Medication
- Surgery
Diet and Exercise
Losing weight is not an easy job. It is not simple to lose weight from diet and exercise and no single plan or program works for everyone.
You should discuss the weight loss and exercise plan with your doctor and dietician. Medical professionals can help you set reasonable starting points and goals that are achievable.
Furthermore, a doctor can help you avoid problems from over-exercising.
Due to limited physical activity, you might face problems in the beginning. Therefore, carefully follow the instructions of your doctor and health care professional to avoid harsh or high-intensity exercises.
You can visit our clinic to get proper treatment and diet plans such as intermittent fasting.
Weight Loss Medications
Changes in diet or eating habits and increasing your physical activity is a more reliable source of losing weight as compared to medications.
After you stop taking medications, you are most likely to gain weight unless you make significant changes to your diet and exercise.
There are various, over the counter medications (OTC) and other supplements that claim to aid in losing weight. However, doctors and other health care professionals do not recommend using these because these claims are not supported by research.
Surgery
If you are unable to lose weight with a diet and exercise regime your doctor may recommend you for surgery.
Your doctor will discuss the risks and results associated with the surgery, which should be factored into the decision to undergo the procedure.
Typically, doctors use two options of surgery. These are:
- Gastric banding: your doctor will place a ring around your stomach, which limits the amount of food that can enter.
- Gastric Bypass: In this procedure, the portions of your stomach are bypassed, giving you a feeling of fullness as a result.
Furthermore, you may choose to have a skin removal surgery such as fractional laser treatment if you are successful at losing a significant amount of weight after surgery or body contouring.
Prevention from Morbid Obesity
With your healthy diet and exercise routine, you can prevent obesity.
A healthy diet with moderately intense exercise is ideal for maintaining your weight.
You should eat:
- Fresh and non-processed food
- Green, leafy vegetables
- A lesser amount of sugar
- Reduce calorie intake
- Smaller and frequent meal
You should also consider regularly doing some of the following exercises for 30 minutes at least.
- Walking
- Running
- Jogging
- Riding a bike
- Swimming, rowing
- Yoga or other fitness classes
Complications
You increase your risk of developing other diseases if you are morbidly obese. These related conditions can be debilitating or even deadly.
These include:
- Heart diseases,
- Abnormal blood lipid counts
- Reproductive or fertility issues
- Sleep apnea
- Type 2 diabetes
- Osteoarthritis
- Certain cancers
Conclusion
A person with morbid obesity if not treated can develop a number of health-related issues.
These issues can cause heart-related problems, diabetes, cancer, etc. these conditions can be limiting and fatal for any person. You should take a healthy diet that contains portions of lean meat, whole wheat, vegetables.
A physical activity of at least 30 minutes a day, which could include walking, jogging, running, swimming, yoga, or any other favorite exercise, should be a part of your daily routine.
Avoid oily and sugary food. However, if your family has a history of obesity, then you should take special care of your health and diet to decrease the chance of getting obese.
After the treatment, morbid obesity significantly decreases, thereby, decreasing your chances of developing related medical conditions. Furthermore, diet and exercise are the most effective and long-term solutions to reversing morbid obesity.
