Urinary Incontinence
Obesity is well documented to be associated with a variety of different diseases including heart diseases and respiratory diseases. In addition to these diseases, however, obesity is associated with a higher risk of getting a much wider variety of diseases. Some of these diseases are caused by being obese, or may relate to the same factors that cause one to be obese, such as genetic dispositions. Some of the diseases less commonly known to be related to obesity are stated as follows.
1. Gout
Gout, though more often thought of as an antiquated disease, is far more common in obese people. Gout is the condition of elevated levels of uric acid crystals in the bloodstream which can cause swelling in single joints in the foot or large, swollen deposits or uric acid just under the skin in various places around the body. Though this disease is not usually particularly painful at its onset, it can become extremely problematic if one’s intake of uric acid is not decreased. The association of this disease with obesity has to do with the fact that both obesity and gout are often associated with excessive intake of certain meats and some alcoholic beverages.
2. Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the compression of wrist nerves leading to numbness and muscle weakness in the hands. This is usually associated with genetic predisposition to having the disease, but obese individuals are known to be 2.5 times more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. This is perhaps because
3. Dementia
Dementia is a fairly broad term used to describe a condition where a person tends to have decreased cognitive ability, especially in areas of memory, attention, language, and problem solving. Obesity is associated with higher rates of dementia.
4. Hirsutism
Hirsutism is the condition of having increased terminal hair in places where the body does not usually have terminal hair (the thicker hair usually acquired during puberty). Women in particular who are obese and have a higher resistance to insulin are more likely to have hirsutism.
5. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is a disease that results in obese people because of their obesity. It is a condition where, as a result of being obese, people breathe slowly or more shallow than is normal and, as a result, have increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood and lower levels of oxygen. This leads to swelling in the legs or heart failure, and usually manifests in heavily disrupted sleep or sleepiness during awake time, conditions which are also associated with being obese.
6. Urinary incontinence
Urinary incontinence is the condition of having uncontrollable urine leakages. This is associated with being obese, and it has been shown that obese people with urinary incontinence who lose weight can reduce episodes of incontinence