5 Risks Of Being Overweight

Author: Marko Balašević Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

How does obesity increase the risk of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular accidents?

High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of stroke. Excess weight or physical inactivity leads to high blood pressure, so keeping it within normal limits reduces the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents. The American Heart Association recommends that adults perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of strenuous exercise per week. This means that with just 30 minutes of walking a day, 5 days a week, you can seriously improve your health.

People who are obese are more likely to have sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. Patients with sleep apnea have a higher risk of high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias and stroke.

One in five overweight people suffers from the so-called. "Metabolic syndrome". It is characterized by high blood pressure, insulin resistance and other conditions that increase the risk of more serious diseases.

Diabetes is another risk factor for stroke or myocardial infarction that affects an increasing proportion of the population. Obesity is the number one risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Obesity increases the body's insulin resistance because adipose tissue prevents the body from using it normally.

Obesity puts children at risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmias and others. The American Heart Association recommends a healthy diet and more physical activity for children - at least 60 minutes a day. With the increase in the number of overweight children, the incidence of strokes among younger people is increasing. The risk of stroke in obese children increases with age.

As a high-risk population, overweight people, in the presence of other risk factors, are often prescribed low-dose acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to prevent myocardial infarction or stroke. But this prevention comes at a price. Acetylsalicylic acid tablets to prevent heart attack and stroke, although with a special coating that is thought to protect the stomach, can seriously damage the gastrointestinal tract. 60% of these patients have multiple lesions of the gastric mucosa, which often lead to anemia due to persistent, albeit small, blood loss. 11% of people who regularly take low-dose acetylsalicylic acid develop a stomach or duodenal ulcer and its complications such as bleeding and perforation. These conditions can be fatal.

5 Risks Of Being Overweight

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