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Most of the medical bodies of America like, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, the American College of Endocrinology, the American Society of Bariatric Physician consider ‘Obesity’ as a chronic disease because 35% of the Americans are obese. In fact, it is declared as a national epidemic by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Americans prefer cars to get around and walk less than people around other industrialized countries. So, 80% of the Americans don’t get enough exercise. Other factors like smoking, stress, poor sleep, and lower rate of breastfeeding are solitary causes of obesity. This way, obesity has become the main concern for Americans.

Unintentional or unexplained Weight loss without exercise or reduced diet is known as ‘Cachexia’, which can be a sign of serious health issue. Slimming is the intentional version of Weight loss. Losing extra fats or weight from your body can lessen health risks such as, reduces hypertension, reduces risk of diabetes, reduce pain and increase movement in case of osteoarthritis of the knee, etc. There is no overnight solution for Weight loss; it requires proper treatment for a long time.

Causes of Over Weight
Over weight can be defined on the basis of BMI i.e. Body Mass Index. Science has set a standard range of weight for specific height of the person. BMI of the person given as weight in kg is divided by square of height in meters of the person. The healthy range of BMI is 18.5 to 24.5. The imbalance between calorie intake and energy spent cause unhealthy BMI results ‘Over weight’. So, the common causes of the overweight are eating habits and physical inactivity. Besides these two factors, there are other main factors causing overweight or obesity such as genetics, medications, psychological factors, social issues, ethnicity, childhood weight, hormones etc.

  • Genetically inherited: Person may develop obesity in case one or both parents are overweight. Hormones in fat regulation are affected by genetics.
  • Eating habits: You’re eating habits are the main cause of weight gain. Excessive intake of fats or sugar i.e. fast food, fried food, and sweets leads overweight.
  • Physical inactivity: Physical activity and weight gain are inversely proportional to each other.
  • Medications: Certain medication leads weight gain in patients. Reason for weight gain differs with the medication used.
  • Psychological factors: Sometimes emotions like sadness, stress, anger, or boredom leads hunger or excessive eating. Emotions influenced eating habits gain unwanted weight.
  • Social Issues: Lack of basic amenities or poverty to buy healthy food can increase the chances of weight gain.
  • Ethnicity: American adults are highest among African American, Caucasians and Hispanics. Adult starts gaining weight in their young adulthood up to their 60s.
  • Childhood weight: Obese children mostly have obesity as adults. Like mildly overweight in its 20s may leads obesity by age of 35.
  • Hormones: In different conditions like pregnancy, menopause women experience hormonal changes and that leads to weight gain.

Diagnosis

With your current lifestyle you need to check yourself for overweight or obesity. Basically, you should calculate your BMI range first. If it is in obese range, you need to undergo some tests as follows:

  • Medical history: History of Weight loss/gain, eating habits, efforts for Weight loss, exercise, stress, family medical history etc.
  • Physical examination: You need to check height, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and abdominal examination.
  • Measurement of waist size: Mostly fats stores around your waist, which increases risk of diabetes and heart diseases.
  • Health problems:  Consult your doctor in case you have some serious health issues like high blood pressure or diabetes.
  • Medical tests: Perform some medical tests like liver function tests, a thyroid test, cholesterol test, a fasting glucose, and heart tests like an electrocardiogram.

Symptoms

You will experience some of the following symptoms if you are overweight.

  • Frequent symptoms: Increased sweating, unusual tiredness, breathing problems, inability to sudden physical activity
  • Serious symptoms: Snoring, Loneliness, low confidence and self-esteem

Treatment for Obesity:

Orlistat is an active ingredient used in many brands to treat obesity. Its primary function is preventing the absorption of fats from the human diet, thereby reducing caloric intake. Orlistat works by inhibiting pancreatic lipase because; it is a reversible inhibitor of lipases and an enzyme that breaks down triglycerides in the intestine.

Orlistat empirical formula is C29H53NO5, and its molecular weight is 495.7. It is a white to off-white crystalline powder. The medicine is composed as capsules with the dosages available are Orlistat 60 mg and Orlistat 120 mg and packed as 10 capsules per blister. The top brands offering Orlistat are Xenical and Alli. Orlistat is an active ingredient in the medicines designed for Weight loss.