Salem Press

Magill's Medical Guide covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders. Below is an excerpt from the Guide's essay on obesity.

Causes and Symptoms of Obesity
Causes: May include endocrine disorders, poor diet, lack of exercise, psychic-emotional disorders, genetic factors

Symptoms: Excessive weight possibly leading to such health problems as strain on weightbearing body parts leading to arthritis, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, difficulty breathing, sleepiness from inadequate oxygen delivery to tissues

Duration: Often chronic

Treatments: Diet and lifestyle regulation, medications, surgery

Many health problems are associated with obesity. The majority of people who develop non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are overweight, and manifestations of the disease commonly improve or disappear is the individual succeeds in losing weight. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is more common with obesity, and weight loss may lower the blood pressure enough to lesson or avoid the need for medication. Arteriosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries," is more prevalent in obese persons and causes an increased risk for heart attacks and strokes. Certain forms of cancer are more prevalent with obesity; cancer of the colon, rectum, and prostate in men and cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, ovary, and breast in women. Severe obesity can cause difficulties in breathing, with sleepiness resulting from inadequate oxygen delivery to the tissues and sometimes from interruption of sleep at night. In addition, conditions such as arthritis may be worsened by the additional strain that obesity places on weightbearing parts of the body.