Česky
As a recent article in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology shows, severe obesity can not only cost you several years of your life, but can also bring you a number of long-term health problems. Obesity is cited as a major risk factor for developing obesity at a young age, with patients at particular risk of heart attacks and type II diabetes. And although the effects of obesity on health and life in general are well known, it seems that people often ignore them.
In the study, doctors used a computer model to assess the effects of body weight on life expectancy. When they compared obese patients between the ages of 20-39 with those of normal weight, the results were quite alarming - severe obesity led to a reduction in life expectancy of 8.4 years for men and 6.1 years for women. Men also spent 18.8 years more in poor health and women spent as much as 19.1 years more. Obesity between the ages of 40-50 led to a 3.7 year reduction in life expectancy for men and 5.3 years for women. In the 60-70 age group, the reduction in life expectancy was "only" one year.
The reasons are clear - the more a patient weighs and the younger they are, the more severe the effects on their health. As already mentioned, these include cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes, and diabetes mellitus. In particular, the aim of the study is to alert obese patients to the fact that it is not just obesity that they are dealing with, but that they may ultimately lose a leg or even go blind as a result of diabetes, for example.
Source: BBC News Health
