Extreme or Morbid Obesity

Types

There are two types of obesity: Android obesity and Gynecoid obesity. Android obesity or male-pattern is typically seen in obese males when the waist is bigger around than the hips (apple-shaped). In gynecoid obesity, the hips are larger (pear-shaped).

Signs

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool used to find out if a person is overweight and obese. It is a combination of height and weight. A person is considered overweight if he has a BMI between 25 and 29.9. Having a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese, but if it is 40 and more then it is called extreme or morbid obesity.

Complications

Extreme obesity leads to serious health problems like diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, depression, anxiety, hypertension, stroke, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), low back pain, increased risk of cancers (breast, uterus, esophagus, liver, kidney, prostate), coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure.

Causes

Obesity occurs when unused calories are stored in your body as fat. Many people have hectic schedules, and they tend to buy food from fast food restaurants for convenience, even though such food is often high in fat and calories and is served in extra-large portions.

In addition, excessive TV watching leads to overeating. Advertising combined with inactivity can make a person crave high-fat snack foods and drink alcoholic beverages, which contribute to gaining weight.

Also, fat children tend to become fat adults. Having obese family members will affect your eating and lifestyle habits.

Prevention

A balanced diet with regular exercise can help prevent obesity. It requires discipline and hard work. Stay active and eat healthy food like vegetables, fruits, fish and lean meats.

Treatments

There are a few ways to help severely obese people, but it needs the person's willingness to change with the support of his family, friends and doctors.

Increased exercise combined with a weight-reduction diet will help an extremely obese person to lose weight. Low-fat, very low-calorie and high-fiber food is the recommended diet. Talk to your doctor about the exercises that are safe for you to do.

Another way is using weight loss drugs. Ask your doctor which medication is right for you.

The last option is bariatric surgery. This is used for severely obese people who have failed to attain substantial weight loss with nonsurgical ways. According to obesity.org, there are three basic procedures :

1. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is restrictive. This procedure uses an adjustable gastric band that creates a small pouch at the entry to the stomach with a small stoma, allowing food to pass to the rest of the gastrointestinal tract. It is least invasive and most commonly used procedure outside the United States.

2. Biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) and BPD with duodenal switch (BPD/DS) are malabsorptive. These procedures such as BPD reroute the digestive system so that food bypasses a substantial portion of the small intestine. It is most invasive and used less frequently in the United States.

3. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a combination of Restrictive and malabsorptive. This procedure creates a small gastric pouch and reroutes the small intestine. It is most commonly used procedure in the United States.

When considering this option, talk to your health care provider to see if this seems best for you.

Resources:

* Identification and Treatment of Extreme Obesity

* Body Mass Index Table

* The Obesity Society