Obesity is a serious condition that is typically characterized by a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above. BMI is a measurement chart that provides a comparison of height weight in order to determine whether you are obese, overweight or have normal weight. Obesity can have extremely negative repercussions on your overall health, affect your quality of life and is one of the biggest causes of preventable death worldwide. Asthma is a chronic disease that narrows and inflames the airways in the lungs. An asthmatic individual often experiences recurrent wheezing, tightness in the chest, coughing and shortness of breath.
Link between obesity and asthma
Now, new research has confirmed what doctors have long suspected – there are strong links between these two conditions. It has been discovered that higher the BMI, greater your risk of having asthma. In fact, your risk of suffering from asthma will be more than tripled if you also suffer from obesity. But the reasons for this have not yet been identified. Some researchers suggest that obesity causes a low grade system wide inflammation which might be a major factor in causing asthma. But others argue that obesity leads to insulin resistance and is therefore responsible for causing and aggravating asthma.
Control your obesity
Obesity also enhances the risk of a number of health conditions such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis as well as some kinds of cancer. That is why it is essential to control obesity with the help of weight loss treatments that include essential lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet and regular physical activity. These can be incorporated as a part of a holistic fitness program. Some cases of obesity need to be treated with prescription weight loss medications. This will help you keep obesity linked health conditions under control and reduce the severity of their symptoms.
There are a number of factors that contribute to obesity, some of which are controllable, some of which are uncontrollable. For example:
- Exceeding your recommended calorie intake is a certain way to gain weight.
- Lifestyle choices – for example a lack of exercise and a generally sedentary lifestyle will serve to increase your chances of becoming obese. Consuming excessive levels of alcohol will also suffice to increase your over all BMI (body mass index). Furthermore, a generally un-healthy diet, lacking fresh fruit and whole meal breads etc, will work in the same way. Children are perhaps more susceptible and if lifestyle changes are not made from an early age, the problem can be carried through to adulthood. It has in fact become a growing problem.
- Lack of physical exercise – Without adequate exercise, calories are not burned off, so in essence the weight will accumulate. Unfortunately in this day and age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to lead completely active lifestyles with jobs requiring people to sit at desks for the majority of the day. Perhaps subsuming this is a clear rise in ‘fast food’ culture amongst younger generations, and less of an inclination to partake in sports due to a rise in hobbies like computer gaming and internet based communications.
- Medical causes - Although infrequent, there are a number of medical factors that contribute to obesity. Conditions such as Cushing’s syndrome (the over production of steroid hormones), and under active thyroid glands. Particular medicines like anti-depressants, can lead to weight gain.
Is there actually a clear cut cure for weight-loss?
Whether there is in fact a clear cut, 100% effective cure for obesity and weight related conditions is still to be proven. If you are to follow the advice of experts (which you will do well to do), exercise and a healthy, well monitored diet will at least stand you in good stead. Furthermore, the launch of innovative ranges of progressive diet pills like Xenical and Reductil, both of which delivered positive results during trials, have provided a ray of hope.
What is the best course of prevention for obesity?
Arguably, the best ‘cure’ for obesity is prevention, and of course prevention requires healthier lifestyles or in the very least, habitual changes are needed.
It can be quite daunting when trawling through various websites, health guides and advice forums in a desperate bid to obtain some information and advice on shedding those pounds. Often, medical experts can appear patronizing. However it is certainly true that a healthier lifestyle with basic changes is your course of prevention. In addition the avoidance of alcohol abuse and smoking will lessen your risk of becoming obese.