Adequate, sustained weight loss can cut the risk of fatal heart attacks and strokes in half.
In the ABC of the health consequences of obesity, G it’s for Hololithos.
The leading digestive reason that is humans patient it is a gallbladder attack. Each year, more than a million Americans are diagnosed with gallstones, and about 700,000 have to have their gallbladders surgically removed. The it is a relatively safe procedure, with complication rates tending to it is under 5 percent and a death rate of only about 1 in 1,000. However, one in ten can develop a post-cholecystectomy syndrome with persistent gastrointestinal symptoms long after their gallbladder has been removed.
What are gallstones made of? In 80 to 90 percent of cases, gallstones hectare mostly crystallized cholesterol, which forms like rock candy in our gallbladder when cholesterol gets too concentrated. This was common explain because some small, early studies found that non-vegetarians had a higher incidence of gallstones. However, results from more recent, larger studies are more equivocal. a study suggests that a “vegetarian diet may therefore protect” against gallbladder disease, for example, while another shows higher rates among vegetarians, regardless of weight.
As I discuss in my video The Effects of Obesity on Gallstones, Acid Reflux, and Cardiovascular Diseasethe biggest putative risk factor of cause and effect can it is portliness, increasing risk up to seven times as you can see below and at 1:32 in mine videowith a doubling of risk even on the heavier side of the ‘normal BMI range’.
Ironically, rapid weight loss can too it is a trigger. Half a pound (1.5 kg) per day has been considered the upper limit for medically safe weight loss based on gallstone formation. Ultrasound studies have found that, on top of that, the chance of new gallstones can go from less than 1 in 200 per week to 1 in 40, as shown below and at 1:59.
To help prevent a gallstone attack, we can increase our fiber intake. Not only is dietary fiber intake associated with less gallbladder disease, but so are those placed in high-fiber foods during a weight loss regimen. suffered significantly less gallbladder sludge than those who lose the same weight without taking the extra fiber.
G it is also for gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Eating food rich in fiber also reduces the risk of acid reflux. I previously researched how chronic stool strain can push part of the stomach up into the chest cavity. Well, excess abdominal pressure due to obesity can have the same effect, pushing the acid up the throat and causing heartburn and inflammation. Increased pressure on the abdominal organs associated with obesity can also explain because overweight women suffer from more vaginal prolapse, where organs such as the rectum push out and into the vaginal cavity.
The deadliest letter in the alphabet of the consequences of obesity is Hwhich is for Heart Diseases. Of the four million deaths is attributed of excess body weight each year worldwide, nearly 70 percent is due to cardiovascular disease. Is it just because of poor diet? Mendelian randomization studies recommend that people randomized from conception to being heavier—based on genetics alone—actually have higher rates of heart disease and stroke, regardless of what they eat. The question is: If you lose weight, does your risk decrease?
Enter the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) trial, the first long-term controlled trial compare the results of thousands of bariatric surgery patients on matched control subjects who started at the same weight but followed the non-surgical route. People in the control group maintained their weight, while those in the surgery group maintained a weight loss of about 20% over the next 10 to 20 years. During that time, those in the weight loss group not only developed 80 percent less diabetes, but suffered significantly fewer heart attacks and strokes. Thus, as expected, they significantly reduced total mortality overall. Ten years later, the weight loss group appeared to cut the risk of fatal heart attacks and strokes in half, as shown below and at 4:23 video.
If you missed the previous videos in my ABCs of Obesity series, check out:
I continue the topic of obesity and weight with videos in the related posts below.
For more on the health conditions discussed in this video, see the topic pages on gallstones, GERD, and heart disease.
The GERD related video I mentioned is Nutrition and hiatal hernia.
