Morbid obesity is the term used when the body weight has increased so much that it causes serious adverse effects on our health. We classify normal weight, over weight and obesity on the basis of BMI.

1. ARE YOU MORBIDLY OBESE?
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2. ARE YOU MORBIDLY OBESE?
Morbid obesity is the term used when the body weight has
increased so much that it causes serious adverse effects on our
health. We classify normal weight, over weight and obesity on the
basis of BMI.
What is BMI ( Body Mass Index)
BMI= Weight(Height in metres)2
For example for a 65 kg man with 170 cm height BMI is 65/1.7 x1.7=
20.8. Whether our weight is normal for our height is determined by
BMI.
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3. ARE YOU MORBIDLY OBESE?
BMI Classification
18.5- <25 Normal
25- <30 Overweight
30- <35 Obese
35- <40 Moderate risk Obesity
>40 High Risk Obesity
Morbid obesity is known as
1. BMI more than 40
2. BMI more than 35 with other serious health problems caused by
obesity
3. Weight more than 45 kg s than the ideal weight for you
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4. ARE YOU MORBIDLY OBESE?
Health hazards of morbid obesity:
• Cardiac problems- All cardiac problems occur prematurely
in these patients with high risk of sudden death. Also
these patients have poor response to medications. And
the risks of life threatening events remain even after
medications.
• Diabetes- Obesity and diabetes go hand in hand. Almost
all morbidly obese patients are diabetics. High amount of
fat in these people make insulin resistance even worse
leading to poor medication response. These patients will
not be able to control diabetes unless they loose weight.
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5. ARE YOU MORBIDLY OBESE?
• Hypertension- All obese people have hypertension also,
due to more atherosclerosis. Increased body mass along
with hypertension causes a lot of load over heart leading
to frequent heart failure symptoms.
• Osteoarthritis- Increased weight directly damages our
joints particularly the knee joint. All morbidly obese
people will develop knee arthritis at an early age.
Increased weight also makes knee replacement surgery
failure quite common in this group.
• Obstructive sleep apnea- A lesser known disease but can
cause serious and life threatening health issues in obese
people. It starts with snoring but progresses to episodes of
not able to breathe while sleeping, causing frequent
awakenings in nights and later on poor respiratory drive.
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6. ARE YOU MORBIDLY OBESE?
• Stroke- All obese people are at high risk of having stroke.
This is because of associated hypertension and other
cardiac problems in these people. Stroke is associated
with sudden onset paralysis of a part of a body due to
obstruction in blood supply to that area following blood
clotting or hemorrhage.
• Cancers – Certain cancers are more common in obese
people like colon and breast cancers
• Liver problems- In obese and even overweight people
excess fat gets deposited in the liver. When large amount
of fat is stored for long time it may lead to hepatitis and
cirrhosis.
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