The term morbid obesity is used in Medicine to refer to the most severe cases of obesity, those in which the individual weighs 45 kilograms above the recommended by experts, or if their body mass index (BMI) is greater than 40 or 35 and thus have some other serious illness .
Usually the only solution for this type of illness is to undergo weight loss surgery. Morbid obesity leaves the person disabled, drastically reduces life expectancy and leads the patient to a situation of social exclusion .
Causes
Although popular belief indicates, in most cases, morbid obesity does not have its origin in eating disorders, lack of willpower or excessive sedentary lifestyle. There are several scientific studies that have concluded that the most common cause of morbid obesity is found in the patient’s genetic load, even though it is very difficult to lose weight through strict diets and physical exercise.
One of the countless examples that serve to reinforce this theory is the question of adopted children. In this case, whatever the environment, the weight shows a high correlation with the biological parents, regardless of the eating habits of their adoptive parents.
Even though the specific genes for transmitting this type of information from generation to generation are not yet known , everything seems to indicate that hair color and height are already predetermined, the same happens with the capacity of our metabolism to store fat or control appetite.
Consequences of morbid obesity
Morbid obesity , in addition to presenting the weight problem, notably influences the possible emergence of other diseases. So, for example, a person suffering from obesity obesity is up to six times more likely than normal to have high blood pressure problems, four times more likely to suffer from some type of diabetes, twice as likely to suffer from arthritis, as well as being more likely for suffering with some type of cancer. Finally, morbidly obese people have a life expectancy of nine years less than normal.
