According to the World Health Organization (WHO) obesity over the last 50 years has been on the rise with studies showing that obesity and the clinical risks it causes are worsening. Since 2016, nearly 2 billion adults over the age of 18 worldwide were considered overweight with 650 million of them being morbidly obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 40% or higher with a healthy range BMI measuring around 18% to 25%. In today’s social media culture, obesity acceptance is considered body positivity and has gone mainstream proclaiming fat acceptance. However, the risk factors associated with being overweight/obese are rarely discussed and the many health risks obesity causes are disregarded. Some risk factors include high blood pressure, bone and joint wear and tear, type 2 diabetes along with peripheral nerve damage, fatty livers and other organ failures, heart attacks, strokes, etc. Many obese individuals require the use of oxygen while sleeping due to sleep apnea. Physicians are faced with treating patients suffering with various health complications due to obesity with increasing healthcare costs. The clinical risks and comorbidities are endless and can result in mortality. Recent data found that the medical care costs of obesity are almost $150 billion per year in the U.S.1
Diabetic Neuropathy
Diabetic neuropathy is a serious diabetic condition that causes nerve damage to as many as 50% of people diagnosed with diabetes. This condition is worse when the patient is obese. It affects the small peripheral nerves in your hands, feet, and legs causing numbness, sharp needle-like pain, burning sensations, balance problems as well as a variety of other symptoms, and can be worse at night. The cause of diabetic neuropathy is uncontrolled high blood sugar levels.
The B-islet cells located in the pancreas are important to keep blood glucose levels functioning by producing the hormone insulin. When the B-islet cells are damaged, the pancreas becomes insulin resistant causing lack of blood glucose control. High blood glucose levels causes damage to the peripheral nerves which in turn are unable to send healthy messages to the brain and other parts of the body. Poor diet due to overeating, weight gain, increased BMI, and lack of exercise can affect blood glucose to rise to extreme levels damaging the peripheral nervous system. High blood sugar can also weaken the walls of the small blood vessels that supply oxygen and other nutrients to the body. This can result in poor blood circulation to your extremities causing inflammation and infections leading to wounds that don’t heal and possible amputations.
Overweight or obese individuals are more likely to develop diabetic neuropathy due to high glucose levels and insulin resistance. The condition can be controlled by a low-carb, sugar-free diet promoting weight loss, testing your blood glucose levels daily, managing your glycohemoglobin (HbA1C) levels through blood testing, discontinuing smoking, and increasing physical exercise. There is a treatment using advanced Electric cell-Signaling Technology (EcST) as an adjunctive therapy that can assist in repairing the damaged peripheral nerves. The goal for this to improve is weight loss by eating a low-carb diet, managing your blood glucose levels, and taking good care of your feet, hands, and legs.
Diabesity
Diabesity is a new medical term for a condition that is becoming a worldwide epidemic: Diabetes + Obesity = Diabesity. The diabesity epidemic can be considered the highest health issue in today’s world. Obese patients are approximately 6 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Testing their glycohemoglobin (HbA1C) blood levels can help indicate the amount of glucose attached to their hemoglobin with an abnormal H1C of 6.5% and above indicating type 2 diabetes.
Managing type 2 diabetes in an obese patient can be very challenging. If you are already suffering with type 2 diabetes and obesity, your condition will most likely worsen. When you are obese and diabetic, your cells resist moving glucose into them and throughout your bloodstream. Your liver where the extra glucose is stored is filled with fat. This confuses your pancreas making it work even harder to produce insulin to move glucose though your blood. Because of all the fat, your pancreas overworks to produce insulin. It begins to wear out and ultimately produces less insulin. Now, you are not only obese, but you are also diabetic, a condition that can greatly increase your risk of a heart attack 2 to 4 more times likely along with a variety of other life risk factors.
The economic costs due to diabetes are further increased when a patient is obese, increasing the cost of health care profoundly. Diabetes and obesity are a leading cause of many more debilitating conditions and organ failure. Diabesity has life-threatening consequences that everyone should be pro-active and immediately manage their weight loss before the disease becomes a medical crisis in your body.
Bone and Joint Health
Obesity has an increasing affect on bone and joints causing soft tissue damage and osteoarthritis which wears down the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones and joints primarily in the hips, knees, hands, and spine. Up to 1- 3 Americans who are obese have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. It’s obvious with the more weight you put on your bones and joints, the more stress they sustain. Every 10 pounds of reduced body weight takes approximately 4-8 pounds of pressure off your joints. Cartilage is a firm, slippery tissue that permits nearly frictionless joint motion. In osteoarthritis, the slick surface of the cartilage becomes rough. Eventually, if the cartilage wears down completely, you may be left with bone on bone. This progressive wear and tear disease of the joints causes extreme pain and disability causing greater weight gain, depression, dependency on pain medications, loss of income, and a sedentary lifestyle. Obese individuals are 20 times more likely to have joint replacement surgery; however, pre-and post-surgical orthopedic procedures have greater complications and inferior outcomes resulting in longer hospital stays, increased potential of blood clots, hardware failure, longer rehabilitation, and even mortality.
Advanced Treatments with RST-SANEXAS neoGEN® – Series
In the case of pain associated with diabetic induced peripheral neuropathy, treatment using Electric cell-Signaling Technology (EcST) FDA cleared RST-SANEXAS neoGEN® device relieves pain, increases circulation, and improves neuromuscular re-education. This therapeutic electrical energy wave treatment can help you find relief and restore your HOPE for a pain-free quality life. If you are in acute or chronic (intractable) pain, look no further. Patients who have received this therapy has reported decreased pain, increased circulation, reduced muscle spasms, improved mobility, and reduced usage of prescription drugs.
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References:
1. Catherine Welford Varney, DO. The Economic Costs of Obesity. Medical Economics. Mar 7, 2022. medicaleconomics.com/view/the-economic-costs-of-obesity.