Obesity: A Practical Guide

375 Pages·2016·9.47 MB·English

by  Shamim I. Ahmad

Shamim I. Ahmad
Syed Khalid Imam
Editors
Obesit y
A Practical Guide
123
Obesity

Shamim I. Ahmad (cid:129) Syed Khalid Imam
Editors
Obesity
A Practical Guide
Editors
Shamim I. Ahmad Syed Khalid Imam
School of Science and Technology Al Mouwasat Hospital
Nottingham Trent University Jubail , Saudi Arabia
Nottingham , UK
ISBN 978-3-319-19820-0 ISBN 978-3-319-19821-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-19821-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015954076
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
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The editor (SIA) wishes to dedicate this book to his wife Riasat
Jan for her patience, love and persistent encouragement during
the production of this book and to his children, Alisha Ahmad
and Arsalan Mujtaba Ahmad, who have been giving him so
much pleasure with their innocent interceptions and resulting
recovery from the loss of energy. Also dedication goes to those
obese subjects, who may not be fully aware about the
seriousness of this disease and hence may be suffering from
various complications and bravely fi ghting them. Also to the
caregivers, nurses and medics who painstakingly look after
them throughout their suffering period.
The editor (SKI) wishes to dedicate this book to his parents,
Ahmad Imam and Mah Jabeen, for their constant support,
patronage and guidance in his career; his children, Abdullah,
Maham and Ebadullah, whose voices and gestures were never
boring and from them he has learned a love and enjoyed
fl avour of life; his wife, Uzma, the key family member, who
lifted his heart and encouraged him a lot because of her
spiritual wholeness, inexhaustible hope and strong personality.
Lastly, to all patients who have been suffering from various
kind of illnesses and fi ght against the ailment with great
courage and hope.

Pref ace
Although obesity is an age-old problem, existing probably ever since the
humans came into existence, recent studies show that this problem is on
increase with an alarming rate, especially in the industrialised and affl uent
countries. The r easons put forward for this increase include the life style,
over-eating, consumption of commercially processed food especially with
high-caloric value and high levels of sugar and fat, addiction for fast food,
lack of exercise and sedentary life style. Also genetic makeup has been asso-
ciated with the obesity.
It is estimated that currently in industrialised countries, about 20–40 % of
the population is obese and by 2030, if the trend will continue, this may
increase up to 50 %. Current studies show that in the USA around 1 in 3
persons is obese, and by 2040 it is predicted that obesity in most industri-
alised and oil producing countries may reach to the pandemic level if no
serious control measures are taken.
We do not know when the word o besity was coined but whenever was, it
was defi ned as a condition and a manifestation of consumer society. In 2007,
the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised obesity as a disease,
and the recognition is mainly based on several important developments
including epidemiological data, progress in pathological concept and increase
in health expenditure due to obesity, as well as obesity-associated health
problems.
I n the past, obesity was considered to be a disease of the middle- to
l ate-aged groups of the people, but in the last one or two decades, obesity
among children has been increasing with an alarming rate. Sedentary life
style and consumption of high amount of sugar and fast food may be the two
most important reasons for this increase. Interestingly in a recent research
report, it has been shown that in developing countries such as in Middle East
and North Africa, the gender difference in obesity is prevailing, in that there
are more obese women than men. Several reasons including consumption of
food, laden with sugar, among women is greater there. Also the cultural
values favouring larger body size among women is considered as a sign of
fertility; healthfulness and prosperity are the additional reasons for increased
obesity in women than men.
O besity on its own is not a lethal disease, but it can give rise to a number
of lethal and non-lethal ailments. Coronary heart disease and stroke, dyslip-
idemia contributing to a number of metabolic syndromes, high blood pres-
sure and hypertension, certain cancers and insulin resistance in diabetes are
vii
viii Preface
some of the important examples. These diseases account to highest number of
human death amongst all other causes. Amongst non-lethal conditions are
included osteoarthritis, pancreatitis, diseases of digestive organs, sleep
apnoea, gout, asthma, dementia, increased stress, loss of intelligentsia, effect
on human sexual development, diffi culty in management in pregnancy and
premature birth. Chronic and low-grade infl ammation is also associated with
obesity due to high-level accumulation of adipose tissue. In other words, obe-
sity not only can lead to premature death but the quality of life of the obese
people, for various reasons, may be signifi cantly less pleasurable than their
counterpart with normal body weight. Whereas, at present, little can be done
if obesity is due to genetic makeup such as a reduction in brown adipose tis-
sue, for other reasons effective measures are required to be taken to eradicate
or at least reduce obesity. If not, the prediction is that the disease soon may
reach to the pandemic levels.
I n recent years, media have been playing important roles in highlighting
the importance of damage caused by the obesity including premature death;
nevertheless, little or no signifi cant effects can be seen in the population and
the obesity remains on increase, especially amongst children. Hence it is
important that more education, campaign and research are needed to stop this
increasing curse.
T he editors believe that obesity is one of the most important health prob-
lems of the twenty-fi rst century, yet money spent on obesity research is noto-
riously low in comparison to those diseases where drug companies can make
substantial profi ts. If serious measures not taken, as soon as possible, this
disease not only will become a huge burden over the health services but a
huge number of population will suffer due to the lack of knowledge. The edi-
tors believe that g aining knowledge about obesity is indeed a treatment .
A lthough the CONTENTS in the book do not show the chapters
s ectionalized, it may not be inappropriate for the reader’s guidance to divide
them in sections.
S ection 1 includes the Chaps. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 describing the basic bio-
chemistry including enzymes and hormones assisting in driving the biochem-
ical reaction, functional impairment, the consequences and the
pathophysiology of obesity. Emphasis has been given on hormones playing
key roles in obesity such as white and brown adipose tissues, long-chain
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and leptin. These have been addressed
employing up-to-date research data for the readers to fi ll any gap left in their
knowledge.
Section 2 includes genetic aspects of obesity and the oxidative stress
which play equally important roles in determining the diseases as well other
syndromes (as shown above).
S ection 3 embraces the consequences of obesity which includes fatal dis-
eases leading to premature deaths such as coronary heart disease and diabe-
tes. Among non-fatal syndromes, include sleep apnoea, gastroesophageal
refl ux disease, and gastrointestinal disorder in children which may be taken
relatively easily in the medical fi eld. Other consequences of obesity include
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and chronic kidney disease, which can
become fatal and require more research. Polycystic ovary syndrome develop-
Preface ix
ing due to obesity is another medical condition usually leading to infertility.
Obesity can also lead to certain types of cancer including thyroid cancer
which has been described in detail in this book. A non-fatal but equally
important effect of obesity is suffering from depression. This is another
important consequence of obesity, and guidance has been provided in the
chapter on how to handle this syndrome.
S ection 4 explains the technologies available in the assessment and treat-
ment of obesity including orthopaedic and trauma surgery, obstetrical risk in
obesity and bariatric surgery including its underlying physiological mecha-
nisms. Surgeons specialised in the fi eld have been participating to update the
readers from the current technology and most popular methods employed in
the processes.
S ection 5 covers another set of important subject associated with obesity,
namely, the infant nutrition, their caloric importance and the formulae which
can contribute towards the development of obesity. The section also discuss
the roles of eating disorders, specially consumption of high- calorie food and
sugar enriched drinks, plays in obesity.
Nottingham, UK Shamim I. Ahmad

Jubail, Saudi, Arabia Syed Khalid Imam