Did you know that over 2/3rds of American adults are considered overweight, and over 40% are obese?
According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Obesity is a common, serious, and costly chronic disease of adults and children that continues to increase in the United States. Obesity is putting a strain on American families, affecting overall health, health care costs, productivity, and military readiness.” Obesity costs the US healthcare system nearly $173 billion a year and increases one’s risk of developing diabetes, a host of cardiovascular diseases, and even some cancers. The epidemic of obesity is the main driver of our lowered life expectancy. U.S. life expectancy has declined to 76.4 years, the shortest it’s been in nearly two decades, according to recent data from the CDC, with obesity and obesity-related disorders playing a major role. Many factors can contribute to excess weight gain, including eating patterns, physical activity levels, sleep routines, genetics, psychological conditions, taking certain medications, and social determinants of health.
Obesity is the main factor in the increased prevalence of diabetes, and we know diabetes is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disorders, including heart failure, heart attack, and stroke, and is the number one cause of kidney failure and amputation. We also know that obesity is associated with other disorders such as heart failure, rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation, sleep apnea, and degenerative arthritis of the spine and large joints such as the hips and knees. Body fat is a metabolically active organ, and how it may promote cancer is an active area of research. Fat cells could lead to high levels of hormones that fuel certain cancers and produce substances that lead to chronic inflammation. Fifty-five percent of all cancers diagnosed in women and 24 percent of those diagnosed in men are associated with overweight and obesity. Obesity-related cancers include breast, prostate, esophageal, liver, endometrial, and ovarian. Non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites had higher incidence rates compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native males had higher incidence rates than white males.
There are no quick fixes for the treatment of obesity. Fads and other diets can lead to significant weight loss but only temporarily, as most people gain their weight back and then some. As a chronic disease, obesity needs to be treated as we do other chronic diseases such as hypertension or diabetes with longer-term treatments.
At the National Heart Institute, we have made seeking more effective and safer medical treatments for patients who are overweight and obese and who are afflicted with other conditions such as heart failure, coronary and vascular disease, and cholesterol abnormalities a priority.
We now have data and information from clinical trials of newer treatments for obesity that not only lead to significant weight loss but also have cardiovascular benefits, including reductions in heart attack and stroke in diabetics, lowering of blood pressure, and improving cholesterol levels.
Please contact the National Heart Institute if you or a relative or friend are obese and have a history of cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure or a previous heart attack, stroke, peripheral artery disease, or have been told they have arterial blockages to the heart, brain, or legs. We can do our best to match your personal health condition to an obesity-related clinical trial. There is no charge for treatments provided by the clinical trial; in most cases, patients are paid for their clinical trial visits.
Weight that is higher than what is considered healthy for a given height is described as overweight or obesity. Body Mass Index (BMI) is one screening tool for overweight and obesity, and one can also use imaging technology to measure the unhealthy fat surrounding one’s organs, such as the heart, called visceral fat. No one particular screening method is perfect, and BMI is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. Adult BMI calculators are easy to find online to determine your own BMI.
- If your BMI is 25.0 to <30, it falls within the overweight range.
- If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obesity range.
- A BMI of 35 or higher with other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, or elevated cholesterol 40 is considered severe.
- A BMI of 40 or greater is considered severe or morbid.
As a cardiologist, I am concerned about obesity not from a vanity issue but its association with a host of cardiovascular, metabolic, pulmonary, and musculoskeletal conditions that affect quality and quantity.
Obesity also affects certain segments of our population in greater ways than others.