5 Fatal Diseases Caused by Obesity

Ahmad Butt
3 min readAug 17, 2021

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Photo by AllGo — An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

If you think obesity is normal, you must not have been aware of its grave health risks. To your shock, each year more than 4 million people die from obesity or being overweight.

Obesity — a preventable disease — has become a severe health concern. It is causing deadly diseases in people who exceed the average healthy weight as per Body Mass Index. The health risks associated with it reduce the quality of human life.

Well, it’s more frightening that many diseases interlink with each other in obesity. That’s why it endangers health by high-risk diseases. The following are 5 fatal diseases caused by obesity and overweight.

Type 2 Diabetes:

Obesity is one of the critical factors closely linked to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes results in insulin resistance. It increases the chances of higher sugar levels in the human body. Nearly 90% risk of type 2 diabetes is associated with an excessive fat body, especially abdominal fat.

Type 2 diabetes is scary in its cause due to ineffective insulin functioning for the human body. Such factors also lead to developing risks to other diseases.

Higher Blood Pressure:

Due to obesity, the circulation of blood through the vessels puts more pressure. This state is also called hypertension. However, the additional and forceful pressure on the tissues of vessels accelerates the heartbeat to continue the blood flow. Higher blood pressure can seriously disturb body functioning.

So obesity is not a single disease. Instead, its impacts, such as hypertension, can cause other associated diseases.

Stroke:

Some may question the link of a stroke to fatness. But studies show the established relationship between stroke and obesity to each other.

Stroke and heart diseases overlap many health risks — a blockage or poor blood flow — and they probably cause those risks. An obese tend to have different diseases like heart diseases, diabetes and hypertension, which are primary stroke factors. So, there are chances of a fatal disease like a stroke occurring as a result of obesity.

Sleep Apnea:

Sleep apnea is a kind of breath suffocation when you’re sleeping. It may happen for a few seconds or minutes. It eventually results in poor sleep quality. Research reveals that a fat excess around a neck endangers blocking the air passage, which is considered one of the main reasons for sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea can also increase the chances of other health risks for both major and minor diseases such as heart attack, hypertension, etc.

Cancer:

The causes of cancer couple with different diseases, and obesity is among them. Around 13 types of cancer like breast, kidney, uterus, and many certain types have high risks connected to obesity in both men and women.

It doesn’t mean if you’re obese, you will get cancer. But obesity has made a huge risk in many diseases in one way or another. Association of cancer with obesity has more threats for obese than a healthy weight body.

Bottom Line:

Research predicts the estimation of approximately 300 million obese people in 2025. It has become one of the significant health epidemics worldwide while impacting both genders, including children and adults.

Fortunately, obesity is a preventable disease. Serious action to reduce obesity can help to bring down many associated diseases. Obese or overweight people should follow the natural ways to lessen their weight. Exercising and using a less-calories diet to bring their weight back under the universal BMI Table is beneficial as a first step.

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Ahmad Butt

English Literature undergrad, voracious reader, and tea-based freelance writer who loves writing on different niches.