Fatness versus fitness: which matters more?

Numerous studies have looked at fitness and obesity as two separate elements because they are apparently separate ideas: one measures how well your lungs and heart work to supply oxygen to your muscles while the other is a proportion of your body height and weight. However, the measures of fitness and fatness are both influenced by how much you weigh.

Likewise, what researchers mean by fatness is really body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Strictly speaking, obesity doesn’t mean you are automatically unfit. There are fat people who run every day, and then there are thin people who couldn’t run a mile for their life. A muscular individual can also be considered obese, because muscle weighs over fat, and be very fit.

But these are exceptions, not the rule. Studies demonstrate that when someone is considered as obese, the probability of them being fit is very low. So in our society, being fat still generally means lower fitness.

Fatness makes it harder to enhance fitness

For people who are obese, concentrating on losing weight is a better place to start than just focusing on fitness. That is as a result of extra weight can make it harder to move, and thus harder to exercise. Obese people typically have a difficult time doing physical activity due to limited mobility, body size and joint pain.

Physiologically, it’s harder for an obese individual to do the same amount of exercise as a healthy weight individual because of the extra weight they carry. Heavier individuals need more oxygen to do the same exercise as a healthy weight person. Some obese individuals report that even walking can seem difficult. Fitness is just harder to achieve if you can’t move effectively.

Fatness reduces the quality of life

The debate around fitness and fatness centres on studies that show that compared to normal weight-fit individuals, unfit individuals had twice the risk of mortality regardless of BMI. But as these studies show, a relatively small proportion of people are fit and obese.

But mortality is not the only issue. Obesity has been shown to predict heart disease, liver disease, diabetes and a whole host of health problems that will need taking daily pills or having daily injections or result in invasive procedures. Even if a higher BMI does not predict earlier death, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter to your health.

Increasing physical activity while not losing weight won't probably improve these patients’ lives. To enhance their health and quality of life, it is important to exercise every day, eat healthy food and most importantly lose some weight.

Endocrine disorder is most common cause of elevated calcium levels

Unusually high calcium levels in the blood can quite often be followed to essential hyperparathyroidism, an undertreated, underreported condition that influences predominantly women and the elderly, according to a new study by researchers.

The condition, which results from overactive parathyroid glands and includes symptoms of bone loss, depression and fatigue that may go undetected for years, is most often seen in women over the age of 50, the researchers discovered.

The four parathyroid glands, which are situated in the neck, next to the thyroid, control the body's calcium levels. When one is dysfunctional, it can cause major imbalances - for example, by releasing calcium from the bones and into the circulatory system. Over time, calcium loss from bones often prompts to osteoporosis and fractures, and excessive calcium levels in the blood can cause kidney stones and worsening kidney function. 

The researchers determined that hyperparathyroidism is the leading cause of high blood-calcium levels and is responsible for nearly 90 percent of all cases. The findings suggest that hyperparathyroidism is the predominant reason for high calcium levels, so if patients discover they have high calcium, they should also have their parathyroid hormone level checked. Hyperparathyroidism, which influences approximately 1 percent of the population, can be identified by measuring parathyroid hormone levels to determine if they are elevated or abnormal. 

The researchers noted that the growing prevalence is likely due to increased calcium testing, annual lab tests to monitor patients with indications and the low rate of surgery to treat the disorder. Previous studies have shown that only 28% of patients with hyperparathyroidism undergo surgery to remove the overactive parathyroid gland - the most reliable way to correct the disorder. Women can suffer over years with hyperparathyroidism and not know they have it, which is especially critical in midlife when bone health is so critical. Appropriate management of the disorder is essential. Surgery should be considered in most of the individuals with primary hyperparathyroidism.  

The scientists noticed that the developing pervasiveness is likely because of expanded calcium testing, yearly lab tests to screen patients with indications and the low rate of medical procedure to treat the confusion. Past research has appeared just 28 percent of patients with hyperparathyroidism experience medical procedure to expel the overactive parathyroid organ - the most solid approach to address the turmoil. Ladies can languish over years with hyperparathyroidism and not realize they have it, which is particularly basic in midlife when bone wellbeing is so critical. Suitable administration of the turmoil is fundamental. Medical procedure ought to be considered in most of the individuals with essential hyperparathyroidism.

The next step, the researcher said that further study of this patient population to examine the long-term impact of the condition on bone health and the effectiveness of different management strategies on outcomes.

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Contact details:
Alina Grace
Program Manager | Obesity Middle East 2019
Email id: obesityendo@mehealthevents.org