Morbid Obesity Symptoms & How to Spot Them
What is morbid obesity?
There are a lot of “ranges” of obesity that can make it difficult to know if you’re overweight, obese, or morbidly obese. Morbid obesity symptoms are also often difficult to spot. As a result, it’s important to know if you’re morbidly obese and be on alert to the kinds of symptoms and illnesses that may result.
Morbid obesity is usually defined as having a body mass index (BMI) above 39, or being over 100 pounds overweight. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight, and is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in centimeters squared.
Morbid obesity symptoms include breathing disorders, certain types of cancer, heart disease, stroke, type two diabetes, arthritis, gallbladder or liver disease, and reproductive issues. Morbid obesity is a chronic disease, meaning that its symptoms build and often worsen over time.
How do I know if I am exhibiting the symptoms of morbid obesity?
Some morbid obesity symptoms, like arthritis and breathing disorders, can be easier to spot than others, such as cancer. Signs of arthritis include joint pain and stiffness. Breathing problems result when excess abdominal fat puts pressure on the abdominal wall and diaphragm, making it difficult for your lungs to fill up with air and absorb oxygen.
Morbidly obese people are thus more likely to suffer from breathing disorders such as asthma and sleep apnea (a disorder where you stop breathing while you sleep). Symptoms of asthma include difficulty breathing, tightness of the chest, wheezing, and coughing. Signs of sleep apnea include snoring, waking up suddenly choking for air, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Other morbid obesity symptoms are less clear cut. Breast, prostate, and colon cancers are some of the cancers most closely associated with morbid obesity. Symptoms of these cancers can be hard to spot before the disease is relatively advanced, and early diagnosis can often make the difference between life or death.
The early signs of heart disease (chest heaviness, circulatory problems that lead to coldness in your extremities, heart palpitations, dizziness, sweating, rapid heart rate) are also hard to spot and easy to confuse with less serious illnesses.
Some symptoms of liver disease include nausea, fatigue, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin), but many individuals with liver disease experience no symptoms at all.
Finally, type two diabetes, which is one of the diseases most closely correlated with (and likely caused by) morbid obesity often manifests in excessive hunger, constant thirst, frequent urination, and fatigue, as well as slow wound heeling and blurred vision.
What should I do if I suspect I may be morbidly obese?
Given that morbid obesity symptoms vary and can be difficult to spot, if you are very overweight, it is important to have regular medical checkups to make sure you catch any of these illnesses early on. And, of course, the best thing you can do to keep morbid obesity symptoms at bay is to develop a healthy eating and exercise plan with help from your doctor.