The Five Causes of Obesity

Do you know the five main causes of obesity?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could identify a single cause and treatment for the prevalent condition of obesity? Unfortunately, obesity is a complex, multi-factorial disease that has a variety of causes, making it difficult to find a single solution to this common problem. Basically, the causes of obesity can be divided into several different groups:

1) Genetic Causes of Obesity

While this doesn't account for the majority of cases of obesity, genetic factors probably play a role in the development of this condition. Obesity tends to be more prevalent in certain families, although even a genetic predisposition can be overcome to some extent by healthy eating habits and a consistent exercise plan. Studies have shown that children who are adopted tend to develop weight problems similar to their biological parents, suggesting genetics does play some role in the cause of obesity.

2) Lifestyle Factors as Causes of Obesity

This is by far the most common cause of obesity. It's been shown that persons suffering from obesity eat a diet higher in fat and calories, as well as rich in refined sugars and simple carbohydrates. When an unhealthy diet is combined with minimal exercise, the result is weight gain with a higher risk of developing obesity. Disturbingly enough, less than 25% of the American population currently exercises on a regular basis and the number of people who actively exercises continues to decline. Thus, the number of obesity sufferers continues to increase at a significant rate.

3) Psychological Causes of Obesity

As the number of persons suffering from eating disorders continues to increase in this country, we can see the role that psychological factors play in the development of obesity. There's no doubt that certain people tend to overeat when faced with stressful life circumstances in an effort to escape from their pain. People also overeat in response to boredom, depression, and anxiety. The resulting weight gain and obesity resulting from emotional overeating can further exacerbate depression and anxiety, contributing to a vicious cycle of psychological turmoil and obesity.

4) Medical Causes of Obesity

In some cases, underlying medical conditions can contribute to the development of obesity. These include diseases that affect certain glands such as hypothyroidism Cushing's disease, and diabetes. In addition, the use of certain medications such as steroids, anti-psychotics, antidepressants, seizure medications, and particular diabetes medications can promote weight gain.

5) Environmental Causes of Obesity

Sometimes the environment a person grows up in can play a strong role in the development of obesity. When a person grows up in a household that emphasizes the intake of unhealthy, fatty foods and deemphasizes the practice of exercise, his or her risk of obesity may remain elevated into adulthood due to this learned obesity promoting behaviors. Sometimes reeducation and a structured program to change ingrained bad habits can have a positive effect in these cases.
Which of these causes of obesity is most important? Although it might be easy to try to blame obesity on other factors, the most common cause is likely lifestyle. The development of a healthy lifestyle along with good eating habits can do much to overcome a tendency towards obesity.

Colon Health

A healthy digestive tract will have 2 to 3 bowel movements per day. Most people are not aware of this fact. The time it takes for food to be expelled from the body after it is eaten is called transit time. The shorter the transit time, the less food will putrefy before being expelled from the body. A healthy body will have a transit time of 24 to 48 hours. The average transit time for the Western population is 60 to 100 hours. Because of this slow transit time, the walls of the colon become encrusted with un-eliminated waste. The average person can carry up to 10 pounds of old waste in his/her colon.

If you aren’t having 2 to 3 bowel movements everyday, you should consider yourself constipated. Constipation is when bowel movements are infrequent or difficult. Constipation is a condition warning you that your colon is not working properly.

What is Cancer?

Defining Cancer

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.

Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start - for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in basal cells of the skin is called basal cell carcinoma.

Cancer types can be grouped into broader categories.
The main categories of cancer include:

Carcinoma - cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs.

Sarcoma - cancer that begins in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue.

Leukemia - cancer that starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow and causes large numbers of abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the blood.

Lymphoma and myeloma - cancers that begin in the cells of the immune system.

Central nervous system cancers - cancers that begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord.

Origins of Cancer

All cancers begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life. To understand cancer, it's helpful to know what happens when normal cells become cancer cells.

The body is made up of many types of cells. These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.

However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.

(Image from Understanding Cancer Series: Cancer.)

Not all tumors are cancerous; tumors can be benign or malignant.

Benign tumors aren't cancerous. They can often be removed, and, in most cases, they do not come back. Cells in benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.
Malignant tumors are cancerous. Cells in these tumors can invade nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis.

Some cancers do not form tumors. For example, leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood.

Cancer Statistics

A new report from the nation's leading cancer organizations shows cancer death rates decreased on average 2.1 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, nearly twice the annual decrease of 1.1 percent per year from 1993 through 2002. (Read more about the Annual Report.)

Estimated new cases and deaths from cancer in the United States in 2008:

New cases: 1,437,180 (does not include nonmelanoma skin cancers)
Deaths: 565,650

The risk of developing many types of cancer can be reduced by practicing healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and not smoking. Also, the sooner a cancer is found and treatment begins, the better the chances are that the treatment will be successful.

What is Diabetics?

Diabetes is a disease wherein the body fails to manufacture or properly use insulin. Insulin itself is a hormone the body uses to convert starches, sugar, and other food products into energy for the body to put to use and function properly. The four major types of diabetes are Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, Gestational diabetes, and Pre-diabetes.

World-wide, diabetes affects huge numbers of people. In the United States alone, over 6% of the population (roughly 18 million people) are diabetic. While the exact causes of diabetes remain a mystery, researchers have discovered certain symptoms. These symptoms, as reflected by the American Diabetes Association, include: "frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, irritability, and blurry vision."

For people with Type 1 diabetes, insulin must be taken every day. A diabetic will generally administer the insulin shot using a syringe or have someone else administer the shot for him. This type of diabetes is more common in caucasians and in people who live in colder climates.

Type 2 diabetes can often be controlled by monitoring the food one eats and by partaking in regular physical exercise. Some Type 2 diabetics may also need to take insulin shots or pills to regulate their blood sugar levels. Obesity is a major factor in acquiring Type 2 diabetes. If a person has an unhealthy diet of fatty food and exercises infrequently, he may be walking a path that will lead directly to this disease.

Pregnant women who become diabetic during their pregnancy have what is called Gestational diabetes. This form of the disease affects approximately 4% of all pregnant women in the United States. Women who become diabetics during their pregnancy are likely to have a family history of diabetes. Obesity again may play a factor. Pre-diabetes is simply a term for an individual who has blood glucose levels higher than normal, but not quite at diabetic levels.

Though children of diabetics will not necessarily inherit the disease from their parents, research has shown that these children are more likely to get the disease than children of non-diabetics. Type 1 diabetes is also less common in people who were breastfed as infants.

Diabetes is a serious disease which can lead to heart problems, strokes, loss of limbs due to poor circulation, and death. Research continues to indicate that regular exercise and a healthy diet are two factors which can help people avoid diabetes, as well as allow diabetics to have functional lives. If you find yourself experiencing some of the symptoms of diabetes, you should seek a doctor's advice. Unfortunately, millions of people across the globe have diabetes but it goes undetected because they ignore the symptoms and do not seek medical attention.

What Is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is made in the body by the liver. Cholesterol forms part of every cell in the body and serves many vital functions. Our bodies need cholesterol to:

Maintain healthy cell walls
Make hormones (the body's chemical messengers)
Make vitamin D
Make bile acids, which aid in fat digestion

Sometimes, however, our bodies make more cholesterol than we really need, and this excess cholesterol circulates in the bloodstream. High levels of cholesterol in the blood can clog blood vessels and increase the risk for heart disease and stroke.

Our bodies can make too much cholesterol when we eat too much saturated fat - the kind of fat found in animal-based foods such as meat and dairy products.

In addition to making cholesterol, we also get a small percentage of our body's cholesterol from the foods we eat. Only animal-based foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products contain cholesterol. Plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, and grains do not contain cholesterol.

The Different Types Of Cholesterol

There are different types of cholesterol - and not all cholesterol is harmful.

Low-density lipoprotein (or LDL) cholesterol is a bad type of cholesterol that is most likely to clog blood vessels, increasing your risk for heart disease.

High-density lipoprotein (or HDL) cholesterol is a good type of cholesterol. HDL cholesterol helps clear the LDL cholesterol out of the blood and reduces your risk for heart disease.

Facts About Cholesterol

More than one-half of American adults have blood cholesterol levels that are too high.

Lowering your cholesterol level has a double payback: For every one percent you lower your blood cholesterol level, you reduce your risk for heart disease by two percent.

Even if you already have heart disease, lowering your cholesterol levels will significantly reduce your risk for death and disability.

As blood cholesterol exceeds 220 ml/dl (milligrams per deciliter, which are the units in which blood cholesterol is measured in the United States), risk for heart disease increases at a more rapid rate.

All adults should have their blood cholesterol level measured at least once every five years.

The liver makes most of the cholesterol in our bodies-only a small percentage comes from food. But the more saturated fat we eat, the more cholesterol our bodies make.

Most people can bring down their blood cholesterol levels without medication by changing the way they eat and by becoming more active.

Only animal foods contain cholesterol; plant foods do not contain cholesterol.

A medium egg contains about 213 milligrams of cholesterol, a three-ounce portion of lean red meat or skinless chicken contains about 90 milligrams of cholesterol, and a three-ounce portion of fish contains about 50 milligrams of cholesterol.

What is High Blood Pressure?

When you have your blood pressure taken, your health care provider is measuring the pressure, or tension, that blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels as it travels around the body. In a healthy person, this pressure is just enough for the blood to reach all the cells of the body, but not so much that it strains blood vessel walls.

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

* A typical normal blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg, or "120 over 80."
* The first number represents the pressure when the heart contracts.
* The second number represents the pressure when the heart relaxes.
* Blood pressure greater than 140/90 mm Hg is considered high.

Generally, blood pressure will go up at certain times - for instance, if you smoke a cigarette, win the lottery, or witness a car crash - and will return to normal when the stressful or exciting event has passed.

But when blood pressure is high all the time, the continuous increased force on blood vessel walls can damage blood vessels and organs, including the heart, kidneys, eyes, and brain.

The medical term for high blood pressure is hypertension.

Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure

Blood travels through blood vessels much like water through a garden hose. The blood in the vessels is under pressure just like the water in a hose when the tap is turned on.

With each heartbeat more blood is pumped into the vessels - like turning up the tap - so the pressure rises. This is the systolic blood pressure, the first number in the blood pressure measurement, which is normally around 120.

Between heartbeats, while the heart is resting, the pressure in the arteries is lower. This is the diastolic pressure, second number in the blood pressure measurement, which is normally around 80.

You can increase the pressure in a hose either by turning up the tap or by putting a crimp in the hose (that is, by narrowing the hose). In this same way, the blood pressure in blood vessels will rise if fluid flows more forcefully or if the arteries are narrowed.

Pressure in a hose can be regulated either by controlling the rate at which fluid passes through it or by widening it. Likewise, the pressure in the blood vessels can be controlled, with medications that act on the heart or blood vessels and with certain lifestyle modifications.

Need to Know:

Although high blood pressure can be extremely dangerous, it usually causes no symptoms - so many people don't even realize they have it. High blood pressure can only be detected with accurate and repeated measurements of a person's blood pressure. That's one reason why it's so important to have regular medical checkups.

Even though high blood pressure can be treated safely and effectively, only about one-quarter of people who have high blood pressure take the necessary steps to keep their blood pressure within a normal range.

There are three types of hypertension:

Primary hypertension (essential hypertension). This is high blood pressure for which no cause can be found. Most people with high blood pressure (90 to 95 percent) have this type of hypertension. Doctors suspect that a combination of lifestyle, diet, heredity, age, gender, race/ethnicity, hormone levels, and other factors all contribute to high blood pressure.

Secondary hypertension (non-essential hypertension). This is high blood pressure for which a definite cause can be found. This type of high blood pressure accounts for only 5 to 10 percent of all cases of hypertension. Some of these causes are temporary or controllable - for instance, pregnancy or the use of certain medications - while others are chronic conditions like hormonal diseases, kidney disease, or head injuries.

Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH). Older people are sometimes susceptible to another form of high blood pressure, called isolated systolic hypertension. In people with this condition, blood pressure is higher than normal when the heart beats, but returns to normal in between beats of the heart. The large difference in pressure can place additional strain on artery walls.

Facts about high blood pressure

High blood pressure is a condition in which the pressure, or tension, that blood exerts on the walls of blood vessels goes up and stays high, which can damage the blood vessels, the heart, and other organs.

It is estimated that more than 50 million Americans have high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is one of the most serious health problems in the United States; yet, because high blood pressure has no symptoms, millions of people do not even know they have it.

As many as one in four adults in the United States has high blood pressure.

High blood pressure affects people of all ages, racial and ethnic groups, and walks of life.
Doctors do not know what causes high blood pressure in 90 to 95 percent of people who have it.

High blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for coronary heart disease.

High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for stroke, which is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

High blood pressure is a common cause of heart failure, the leading cause of death in the United States

High blood pressure is a common cause of kidney disease.

What Is A Stroke?

A stroke is a "brain attack" that happens when a part of the brain experiences a problem with blood flow. This disruption in blood flow cuts off the supply of oxygen to the cells in that part of the brain, and these cells begin to die.

Damage to the brain can cause loss of speech, vision, or movement in an arm or a leg, depending on the part of the brain that is affected.

Stroke is the major form of cerebrovascular disease, or CVD, a term that sometimes is used interchangeably with stroke.

There are two main types of stroke:

Stroke caused by a blockage in the artery supplying blood to a particular region of the brain (called cerebral infarction). This is the most common type of stroke.

Stroke caused by bleeding within the brain (called intracerebral hemorrhage).

In addition, some people experience brief warning signals that a major stroke is going to happen in the future. The medical term to describe these symptoms is transient ischemic attack or TIA. Sometimes called "mini-strokes", TIAs are exactly like a stroke, but they last only a few minutes (or sometimes as long as an hour) and leave no disability.

In many cases, a stroke will affect only one side of the body:

A stroke that damages the right side of the brain will affect the left side of the body.

A stroke that damages the left side of the brain will affect the right side of the body.

1. Stroke Caused By Blocked Blood Flow

About 85 percent of all strokes happen because not enough blood gets to the brain. Blood flow stops when an artery carrying blood to the brain becomes blocked. The technical name for this type of brain attack is cerebral infarction. It is also called ischemic stroke. "Ischemic" refers to a condition caused by a decreased supply of oxygenated blood to a body part.

The blockage can be caused either by a blood clot that forms in an artery in the brain, or by a blood clot formed elsewhere in the body that travels through the bloodstream to the brain. If this clot becomes stuck in an artery in the brain, a stroke can result.

Clots are more likely to form in arteries that are damaged by atherosclerosis , also called "hardening of the arteries," due to the buildup of cholesterol and other thick, rough, fatty deposits in the arteries.

The blockage also can be caused by a small piece of tissue, usually a blood clot, that has traveled through the bloodstream from elsewhere in the body.

In ischemic stroke, one of two major arteries is usually involved:

The carotid artery (most commonly involved site)
The basilar artery

The carotid arteries start at the aorta (just above the heart) and lead up through the neck, around the windpipe, and into the brain. The basilar artery is formed at the base of the skull from the arteries that run up along the spine, and branches off in the brain.

2. Stroke Caused By Bleeding In The Brain

The other 15 percent of strokes happen when an artery carrying blood to the brain bursts suddenly. The bursting can happen because of a weak spot in the wall of an artery called an aneurysm . This type of brain attack is called a hemorrhagic stroke.

Two kinds of stroke are caused by bleeding in the brain:

A subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel on the brain bursts and bleeds into the fluid-filled space between the brain and the skull. This type of stroke can happen at any age.

An intracerebral hemorrhage occurs when an artery bursts inside the brain, flooding the surrounding brain tissue with blood. This type of stroke is often associated with high blood pressure.

What Are "Mini-Strokes"?

A "mini-stroke" is exactly like a stroke, but it lasts only a short time and leaves no disability. The term for this event is transient ischemic attack or TIA.

A TIA happens when a blood clot clogs an artery temporarily, cutting off blood flow and, consequently, the supply of oxygen to cells. But the difference between a TIA and a stroke is that, with TIA, the blood clot dissolves on its own and blood flow is restored before permanent damage to the brain can occur.

TIAs are an extremely important warning sign for stroke and should never be ignored.