12 Health Conditions & Disease Linked To Obesity (Science Backed) -

Obesity can make you lose everything but your dress size. Being overweight or obese means you’re carrying excess body fat that can cause serious health complications.

Some of these health conditions can also make it difficult to lose weight.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

12 diseases & health conditions associated with obesity.
A brief explanation of how each one can make you overweight or obese.

You’re considered obese if your BMI is 30 or higher. However, visibly fit people can also have a higher BMI due to their height and muscle mass. If you find yourself in that situation, consider getting a body composition test for a better analysis.

12 Obesity-Related Diseases & Health Conditions

Obesity may not be a direct cause for some of these diseases; however, it’s undoubtedly one of the important risk factors.

1. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

The liver is in charge of many important things that happen in your body, such as storing excess nutrients and filtering the blood.

If you have obesity or are overweight, you may be increasing your risk of fat accumulating in your liver. This can lead to non-alcohol related liver health problems, also known as NAFLD. Research indicates that approximately up to 40% of people in the USA have this disease.

Researchers have also found that NAFLD is prevalent in 30-90% of people who have obesity. If left untreated, this condition can lead to serious health complications such as liver failure and liver cancer [1].

If you’re overweight or obese, one of the first best things you can do to reduce your risk of NAFLD is to lose weight. You may have heard that the Mediterranean diet is good for heart health, and some evidence indicates that it may also be useful for treating NAFLD.

E.g., a study carried out by St Vincent’s Hospital in Australia found that even without weight loss, the Mediterranean diet can improve NAFLD. They also found that it can improve insulin sensitivity, which is another common risk factor of obesity [2].

2. Type 2 Diabetes

Millions of people in the world have diabetes, and research says that over 23 million people in the US have it. If you have type 2 diabetes, it means that you either don’t have enough insulin or your body cells are not correctly responding to it. When this happens, more glucose stays in your blood rather than being used by your body.

Some signs of this condition include frequent thirst and urination, increased hunger, blurred vision, and wounds that take longer than usual to heal.

Research indicates that people who are overweight and those who have obesity have higher chances of developing type 2 diabetes [3].

Along with professional medical treatment, doctors highly recommend making lifestyle changes to keep it under control. Some such changes include:

Going on a diabetes-friendly diet to lose weight
Increasing physical activity
Efforts to reduce stress

A group of researchers conducted a 10-year follow up study to investigate the correlation between body weight and diabetes in 33,184 participants. They found that weight maintenance significantly reduced the risk of diabetes [4].

3. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

These are diseases that affect your heart or blood vessels such as heart attack and stroke. CVD is one of the biggest causes of death in the USA.

Have you ever noticed soap, hair, and dirt blocking your shower drain at times? Now imagine what would happen if you allow it to sit there without cleaning it? The soap and dust will continue to build up and block your shower drain, making it impossible for the water to leave.

That is precisely what happens in this disease. Fat gradually builds up in your arteries and blocks them from carrying oxygen-rich blood to your vital organs [5].

Some controllable risk factors of CVD are blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and overweight, or obesity.

One study investigated the correlation between obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in 6814 people. They found that high blood pressure and diabetes were more common in obese participants and that they were also at higher risk of coronary artery disease [6].

4. Sleep Apnea

Have you ever noticed that your tongue muscles rest close to your throat when you sleep on your back? Well, for people who have sleep apnea disease, the tongue can fall behind when they’re sleeping and often block their airways.

This will make it difficult to breathe through the nose and may cause them to wake up frequently.

Other symptoms include decreased mental clarity, sexual dysfunction, chronic fatigue, and dry mouth when waking up [7].

Being overweight or obese can contribute to this condition in several ways, such as:

Excess fat deposit altering the shape of upper airway
Reducing lung size

If you’re overweight or obese, making efforts to lose weight can help treat sleep apnea.

A 4-year follow-up study investigated the long-term effect of weight loss on sleep apnea in 264 adults who had this condition as well as type 2 diabetes.

Their results showed that lifestyle changes produced significant weight loss and improvement in sleep apnea. They also noted that the positive changes remained at four years, despite some of them having 50% weight regain [8].

5. Pregnancy risks

Obesity can increase pregnancy-related complications, such as miscarriage and premature birth [9]. The best way to reduce this risk is by making changes to your lifestyle and increasing your physical activity several months in advance. If you’re pregnant, please do not attempt to lose weight without consulting your doctor.

One study investigated the effect of maternal obesity (MO) on unexplained recurrent miscarriages (RM) in 696 women. Their results showed that MO significantly increased the risk of unexplained RMs [10].

The best approach to handle this is to lose weight before becoming pregnant. Please don’t attempt to lose weight via crash diets or pills. A healthy balanced diet and exercise is the way to go.

Please consult your doctor if you’re struggling to lose weight despite making lifestyle changes. You may have an underlying health issue such as thyroid problems or PCOS making it challenging to lose weight. In which case, your doctor will put you on the right treatment and tell you precisely what needs to be done.

If you get pregnant while being overweight or obese, please do not attempt to lose weight without consulting your doctor first.

6. Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is when the soft organ that sits in between your joints gets damaged and slowly fades away.

This condition is more common in older people. However, other risk factors can also include being overweight or obese and joint injury. Depending on the severity of the damage, osteoarthritis can cause joint pain, stiffness, and swelling.

A 2015 meta-analysis study found that obesity was a strong risk factor for Knee Osteoarthritis. They concluded that weight reduction should be considered as part of treatment for this condition [11].

7. Gallstones

This disease occurs when too much cholesterol turns into hard rock like substances in the gallbladder. They can block the pathway that the gallbladder uses to carry out its functions, such as regulating bile.

The blockage caused by gallstones can cause sudden pain and may lead to serious health problems if left untreated.

Those who are overweight or have obesity are more likely to develop this condition. Research states that rapid weight loss from extremely low-calorie diets can also contribute [12].

Professional treatment for gallstones often involves the removal of the gallbladder. Lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy restricted-calorie diet and exercise can help you lose weight and reduce your risk of developing this disease.

In one cross-sectional study, researchers investigated the connection between obesity and gallstone risk. For this, they looked at the medical records of over a half-million patients between 10-16 years old who were enrolled in a particular health program.

Seven hundred sixty-six patients in the records were identified with gallstones. They also found that it was more common in overweight and obese patients and that girls had a higher risk than boys [13].

8. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Do you or another female you know have excess hair on their face and body? Do they find it harder to manage with the usual hair removal methods? This is one of the symptoms of PCOS.

It’s a hormonal disease that affects millions of women worldwide. Other signs and symptoms can include irregular menstruation, infertility, and unexplained weight gain.

PCOS is one of the main culprits behind overweight women who say that they cannot lose weight no matter what they do. PCOS is also very common in women who have obesity. It’s caused by genetics and lifestyle choices [14].

A lot of women don’t get diagnosed because they don’t consider symptoms such as excess hair growth as something that needs medical attention. As a result, many women only get diagnosed when they have difficulties in getting pregnant.

There is currently no cure for PCOS, and treatment is often based on the symptoms you’re experiencing. E.g., If your primary concern is not being able to lose weight, your doctor will provide appropriate treatment and advice for that.

If it’s something like not being able to conceive, then you’ll receive specific treatment to help with that.

PCOS women who are obese find it harder to lose weight than lean women who have it. One study investigated this in 294 women (age 20-45 years) who exercised regularly. They found that obese PCOS patients found it harder to lose weight despite making efforts [15].

9. Metabolic Syndrome

Some health conditions can increase the risk of developing other diseases. E.g., high blood pressure can increase your risk of stroke. Metabolic syndrome is one such condition that can increase your risk of other health issues, and it’s closely linked to obesity.

People who have abdominal obesity are at a higher risk of developing this health condition, along with those who have high blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol [16].

Being overweight or obese and living a sedentary lifestyle is identified to be the primary cause of the metabolic syndrome.

MS can affect your health in a cyclical pattern. E.g., it can cause insulin resistance, which in turn can cause other problems such as endothelial dysfunction, high blood pressure, and weight loss difficulties.

The priority of treatment for metabolic syndrome is often given to eliminating the risk factors such as obesity. This means starting with a healthy diet and exercise to lose weight.

10. Stroke

When someone has a stroke, this means their brain is not receiving sufficient oxygen-rich blood. This can damage or cause the death of brain cells. Stroke is a disease that kills over a hundred thousand people every year. If you think someone is having a stroke, you need to call the emergency line right away and seek immediate help.

Some signs and symptoms of a stroke are [17]:

Blurred vision
Uneven smile
Slurred speech: Easy to detect when the person finds it harder to repeat a short sentence.
Weakness in the arm.

Being overweight or obese can increase your risk of having a stroke. Other risk factors that can also be caused or influenced by obesity include high blood pressure, heart disease, stress, and diabetes.

A recent cross-sectional study conducted on 1,255 first-time stroke patients, found that 64% of them were overweight, and 26% of them were obese. They also found that the majority of them lived a sedentary lifestyle [18].

Make efforts to lose weight if you know you have to and keep your stress level under control.

11. Gout

If you’ve ever seen a small hard bump on the outer joint where the big toe begins? This could be gout, especially if it looks like it’s pushing the toe sidewards. This disease occurs as a result of too much uric acid in the joint and kidneys [19].

It’s a simple thing that usually gets eliminated via your sweat and urine. However, an excess amount of it can turn into small crystals, known as gout.

Gout can cause swelling and pain where you have it, which is usually the big toe for most people. Treatment usually involves medications to reduce the buildup and for the pain. Obesity can increase your risk of developing gout.

This disease usually affects middle-aged or older people, and men are at higher risk than women. Being overweight or obese can also increase your risk of having gout.

For most people, gout pain usually goes away on its own after a few days. However, leaving it untreated for many years can cause permanent damage, especially to your kidneys.

You may be given anti-inflammatory drugs or hormones to reduce gout pain. Your doctor may also recommend making lifestyle changes to lose weight.

In a 2017 systematic review, researchers investigated the benefits and side effects of weight loss in overweight and obese people with gout.

Results showed that the patients in the ten studies lost between 3-34 kg of body weight using various methods.

They found that 75% of those who lost weight had favorable results when dealing with gout. Some people experienced short-term unfavorable effects [20].

12. Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the leading cancer types with a lower survival rate. Although it’s more prevalent in people above the age of 65, the risk is also higher in those who have obesity and other bad lifestyle choices [21].

Age is a crucial risk factor of gastric cancer, and it’s more common in people above the age of 65. Other important risk factors include a specific type of stomach infection, obesity, smoking, and alcohol.

Some studies have shown that obese patients have a higher risk of developing gastric cancer. E.g., in one large cohort study, researchers did a 13-year follow up in 120, 852 participants aged 55-69.

They found that the risk of oesophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma increased with BMI [22].

A 2009 meta-analysis of cohort studies also had the same result. They identified a total of 9492 gastric cancer cases out of over 3 million total studied population. This study found a strong correlation between being overweight or obese and the risk of having gastric cancer [23].

Takeaways

Obesity is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality rate.
You’re considered obese if your BMI is 30 or higher. However, as mentioned in the beginning, visibly fit people can also have such higher BMIs due to other reasons. If you fall into that category, please get a body composition test.
Being overweight or obese can increase your chances of developing the diseases we’ve discussed, such as heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.
Making lifestyle changes such as eating a balanced diet and increasing physical activity can help you lose weight and reduce the risk.
However, we strongly recommend you to discuss it with your doctor first. This especially important for those who have fatty liver disease, diabetes, and pregnant women.
We also strongly advise against extreme low-calorie diets as they can cause more harm than any good. E.g. It can contribute to developing gallstones, as discussed earlier.
If you’ve been struggling to lose weight for a long time, consulting your doctor can help you find out why. This is because some health conditions associated with obesity like thyroid issues and PCOS are often undiagnosed.

1: Definition & Facts of NAFLD & NASH. NIH-

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/nafld-nash/definition-facts

2: Ryan MC et al. The Mediterranean diet improves hepatic steatosis and insulin sensitivity. 2015 Jul-

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23485520/

3: What Is Diabetes?. Diabetes Overview-

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/type-2-diabetes

4: Feldman AL et al. Impact of weight maintenance and loss on diabetes risk. 2017 Feb-

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5294882/

5: Different Heart Diseases. Fact Sheet-

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/media/docs/Fact_Sheet_Know_Diff_Design.508_pdf.pdf

6: Burke GL et al. The impact of obesity on cardiovascular disease risk factors. 2010 Sep-

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2931579/