The Impact of Obesity on Our Entire Body – The New Disease of the 21st Century

Recently, experts, doctors, and the general public are acknowledging that obesity is a chronic disease faced by the entire Western world. It appears to be rapidly spreading, leading to severe complications and affecting every organ in our bodies. After countless advanced studies, we understand: it is not just a matter of aesthetics and body image, but a real disease that needs to be treated like any other. We bring you everything important to know about the impact of obesity on our bodies – and what can be done against it.

How Does Obesity Affect Our Body's Organs?

The World Health Organization has long declared obesity a disease and not a behavioral shortcoming. Hence, it should be treated like any other disease. Obesity has significant implications on all our body organs, from the heart naturally, through the blood, to internal organs that may suffer irreversible damage. Thousands die each year from this disease, now called "the disease of the 21st century," most from related diseases and damages caused by obesity: heart disease, heart failure, diabetes, stroke, and more.

The effects on all body organs are far-reaching and place our body at risk – literally. For example, excess carbohydrates and sugars not utilized for energy create high levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood, beyond the desirable level, resulting in excess fats in the blood. This problem is one of the common medical conditions accompanying obesity, negatively affecting our body.

Excess fat may even accumulate in liver cells, leading to fatty liver disease, which could worsen into an inflammatory process leading to liver cirrhosis and the need for a transplant. We must remember that these are not extreme cases, but possible and common complications resulting from obesity.

Obesity places a heavy burden on the joints, especially the pelvic girdle, hips, and knees, encouraging cartilage wear and tear, damage to bone, muscle, and the ligaments connecting muscles to bone, leading to a chronic disease known as osteoarthritis. Additionally, adipose tissue is an active biological tissue that secretes hormones and inflammation-promoting agents.

The Hidden Fat

Fat also accumulates around all our internal organs, being the most dangerous fat, though hidden from view. Around the heart muscle, there is a thin layer of fat that helps the heart function properly. As the fat layer around the heart increases, the heart struggles to contract efficiently, resulting in heart failure. Besides impairing the proper function of internal organs due to fat buildup, adipose tissue releases inflammation-promoting substances, accelerating the development of arteriosclerosis throughout the body, including the heart, which could eventually lead to a heart attack.

Similar to the heart, the lungs are also affected. The accumulation of adipose tissue burdens the normal lung capacity and can lead to shortness of breath. For this reason, overweight individuals have difficulty breathing quickly after physical activity. The phenomenon of "sleep apnea" also forms due to excess fat accumulation in the neck area, narrowing the airways, especially at night, and causing significant breathing difficulties, sometimes even stopping breathing! This sleep apnea poses a considerable risk factor for increased blood pressure, heart diseases, and vascular diseases.

Long-term Damage and Diabetes

Obesity impairs insulin secretion from the pancreas in various ways, including fat deposition in the pancreas that damages beta cells—the cells that secrete insulin—and prevents its release in response to glucose increase, inflammatory processes formed in the pancreas, and increased insulin resistance in various tissues (mainly liver, muscle, and adipose tissue). All these processes together lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, one of the significant causes of gallstones is obesity and excess weight. Overweight individuals suffer more from gallbladder diseases, including gallstones and gallbladder inflammation.

Obesity disease causes an increase in the kidney's blood filtration rate and even leads to an increased risk of kidney failure.
Besides all these, many types of cancers can arise as additional complications from obesity.

Treating Obesity

After realizing how extensively obesity affects every organ in our body and can cause significant, long-lasting diseases and damage, we understand the need for a multi-disciplinary support system, where the doctor has a central role.

The best proposal for tackling obesity is to approach a dedicated clinic for treatment. As it is a complex chronic disease, treatment requires a comprehensive treatment system, containing a multi-faceted approach to achieve significant achievements over time. Therefore, the patient will need teamwork that combines medical treatment, nutritional counseling, a psychologist or mental coach, a fitness trainer, complementary medicine, and more. Especially when treating with several medications together, there is a need for a supervising doctor, balance, and all the additional factors to accompany the patient in their new life full of changes.

It is a profound and significant perceptual change process in the patient's life, and therefore professional accompaniment along the way, especially at its onset, significantly increases the chances of success, stabilization, and adoption of the new approach to life in all its aspects.

Prof. Julio Weinstein, Director of the Diabetes Unit at Wolfson Medical Center and Senior Diabetes Physician at DMC Center for Diabetes Treatment