Health : Weight Matters: How obesity affects sexual function and mental well-being

 

By Dr Chirag Bhandari

More than 13% of adults globally are obese, which is a serious public health issue. Over 135 million individuals in India alone are obese, a number that has more than doubled in the last ten years. Recent studies have brought attention to the effect of obesity on sexual function in women as well, despite the well-known link between obesity and sexual dysfunction in males. Additionally, mental health issues brought on by obesity can worsen sexual dysfunction, creating a vicious loop that can impair a person’s general quality of life.

How Obesity leads to Sexual Dysfunction?

Numerous medical disorders that can affect sexual function can be brought on by obesity. Erectile dysfunction, a disease that affects a man’s ability to get or keep an erection, is linked to obesity in men. Low testosterone levels in obese men are also more prevalent and can exacerbate erectile dysfunction. Similar to males, obesity in women is associated with a decline in orgasmic function, arousal, and sexual desire. Insulin resistance and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are two hormonal imbalances that can be brought on by being overweight and impact one’s ability to have sex. Period irregularities, decreased fertility, and decreased sexual pleasure can result from these conditions.

Sexual dysfunction associated with obesity is significantly influenced by hormonal shifts. More testosterone is turned into estrogen as a person gains weight, which causes hormonal imbalances. According to studies, people who experience sexual dysfunction as a result of obesity report poorer levels of sexual satisfaction, self-esteem, and general quality of life than people who do not experience sexual dysfunction.

Obese people are 25% more likely than people who keep a healthy weight to suffer sexual dysfunction, according to a meta-analysis of 19 studies. A different 2017 research discovered that obese men had a three times higher risk of erectile dysfunction than men who were of a healthy weight. In comparison to men without erectile dysfunction, men with obesity-related erectile dysfunction also scored considerably lower on tests of self-esteem and quality of life. Sexual dysfunction must be addressed by medical professionals as part of a complete treatment strategy for obesity and related mental health problems.

Effect on Mental Health

The state of one’s mental health can be significantly impacted by obesity. Obese people may feel self-conscious and anxious about their appearance, which can affect their reproductive function. Obesity-related sexual dysfunction can aggravate these problems and result in depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.

A vicious loop in which mental health problems worsen sexual dysfunction and sexual dysfunction worsens mental health problems can result from the detrimental effects of sexual problems on mental health. Obese people who have sexual issues may also have relationship issues, which can stress them out and make their mental health problems worse.

Healthcare professionals can assist in enhancing a person’s general health and quality of life by addressing sexual dysfunction along with obesity and mental health problems. Individuals can achieve improved health outcomes, which improve their quality of life, by implementing comprehensive treatment plans that target the physical, psychological, and emotional aspects of obesity.

(The author is a Founder of Institute of Sexual Health (IASH). The article is for informational purposes only. Please consult medical experts and health professionals before starting any therapy, medication and/or remedy. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)

Courtesy: https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/weight-matters-how-obesity-affects-sexual-function-and-mental-well-being

Health : Nutrition and Metabolic Adaptations in Physiological and Complicated Pregnancy: Focus on Obesity and Gestational Diabetes

Pregnancy offers a window of opportunity to program the future health of both mothers and offspring. During gestation, women experience a series of physical and metabolic modifications and adaptations, which aim to protect the fetus development and are closely related to both pre-gestational nutritional status and gestational weight gain. Moreover, pre-gestational obesity represents a challenge of treatment, and nowadays there are new evidence as regard its management, especially the adequate weight gain. Recent evidence has highlighted the determinant role of nutritional status and maternal diet on both pregnancy outcomes and long-term risk of chronic diseases, through a transgenerational flow, conceptualized by the Development Origin of Health and Diseases (Dohad) theory. In this review we will analyse the physiological and endocrine adaptation in pregnancy, and the metabolic complications, thus the focal points for nutritional and therapeutic strategies that we must early implement, virtually before conception, to safeguard the health of both mother and progeny. We will summarize the current nutritional recommendations and the use of nutraceuticals in pregnancy, with a focus on the management of pregnancy complicated by obesity and hyperglycemia, assessing the most recent evidence about the effects of ante-natal nutrition on the long-term, on either maternal health or metabolic risk of the offspring.

INRODUCTION

Pregnancy is a period of physical, hormonal and humoral changes, aimed to ensure the development and the necessary supply of nutrients to the fetus, and to prepare the maternal organism to delivery and breastfeeding. However, in the woman’s life, this biological phenomenon is considered as a window on the future health of both mother and offspring (1).

It is clear that maternal metabolic alterations, such as obesity and diabetes, have negative consequences on the offspring, for either embryonic teratogenic effect or outcomes at birth, such as mortality or pre-term birth. Moreover, there is an increasing interest in understanding the effects on long-term susceptibility of chronic-degenerative diseases.

In the 1980s, Dr. D. Barker and collaborators from the University of Southampton (UK), recovering the historical birth data in Hertfordshire (UK), introduced the pioneering concept that the origin of disease in adulthood could be strongly associated with exposure to an adverse uterine environment during pregnancy, a low birth weight and a related increase in the risk of offspring morbidity and cardiovascular mortality (2,3). This phenomenon, better known as “Barker hypothesis”, identifies a development plasticity; therefore, adverse conditions such as maternal malnutrition in early organogenesis can permanently change the structure of organs and systems, as stated by “fetal programming”.

According to a “thrifty genotype”, Barker’s hypothesis reflects a discrepancy between a uterine restriction environment and a postnatal abundance condition in the pathogenesis of obesity (4). The fetus responds to a “poor” environment with irreversible changes in its development trajectory and growth restriction (5); afterwards, in childhood or later, the organism loses the ability to adapt itself to a richer environment, and creates the basis for the development of diseases in adulthood (6).

More than 20 years earlier, N. Freikel had already proposed the key role of the uterine environment in influencing development, and hypothesized that in utero over-nutrition was decisive in the long-term.

Discussing within the context of diabetes in pregnancy, he introduced the concept of fuel-mediated teratogenesis, i.e. alterations during cell differentiation, and fetal organogenesis induced by excessive exposure to nutrients of the fetal-placental unit, which have immediate, but mostly long-term consequences on metabolic and anthropometric functions (7).

In recent years, this topic extended to the theory of “developmental origins of health and disease” (DOHaD). This definition underlines the role of both pre- and post-natal environments in shaping developmental trajectories on long-term health (8).

To date, consistent data confirm the pivotal role of maternal nutritional status and diet for the fetal epi-genotype and the resulting phenotype (9–12). Obviously, early exposure (which confers an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases in adult life) unavoidably cause persistent changes in metabolism and neuro-endocrine functions, which leads to this susceptibility in adulthood.

Intriguingly, the relationship between nutrient intake and future health is not limited to the maternal diet during gestation, but it should be framed within a transgenerational heritage that marks the future risk of progeny. A fetus does not depend only on the mother’s diet during pregnancy, as it would be a dangerous strategy for its survival. Rather, it thrives on stored nutrients and on turnover of proteins and fats in maternal tissues, which are obviously related to maternal body composition and reflect her nutrition throughout life. A woman owns all her oocytes since she was born, therefore even before conception the quality of the female gametes will reflect the nutritional status of her mother. The critical 1000 days of development, which will determine the health for the rest of life, reflect 100 years of “nutritional flow” (13).

Specific maternal conditions during the pre- and peri-conceptional period (mostly obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy) are associated with Large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants, obesity, and impaired glucose metabolism in children and subsequently with increased cardiometabolic risk in adults. Nutritional status during pregnancy cannot disregard the assessment of pre-pregnancy nutritional status.

This review will address the fascinating process that, starting from the functionality and anatomy of the placental-fetal unit, let to ensure the full-term delivery of a healthy newborn. Moreover, we will review the nutritional recommendations and the use of nutraceuticals in pregnancy, with a focus on the management of pregnancy complicated by obesity and hyperglycemia. Finally, we will focus on the most recent evidence about the effects of ante-natal nutrition on the long-term, on either maternal health or metabolic risk of the offspring.

Courtesy :For detail read

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2020.611929/full

Health : Sex and obesity

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Smt Renu Sharma

Obesity comes with its share of influences over health, among those are its effects on sexual function, body confidence, libido, and fertility.

So how does obesity actually affect our sex lives? It’s largely due to our metabolic health, hormonal balance and our perceptions of self.

Sexuality and Libido

Hormones

Men and women both produce the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen. The balance of these hormones is different between men and women, but it’s critical that these balances be maintained for good health.

In younger men, testosterone is produced at high levels in the testes, some also produced in the adrenal glands. As a man gets older, these levels gradually decrease. Women also produce testosterone in the adrenal glands as well as some from the ovaries, but in much lower levels than men. Testosterone has many roles in the human body but is most well-known for its role in erectile function, sperm production, and sexual libido in men as well as sexual libido in women.

Oestrogen is produced predominantly in the woman’s ovaries. In men and postmenopausal women, most oestrogen is no longer produced in the sexual organs, but is produced in the body fat, through an enzyme called aromatase (although at much lower amounts than what is produced in pre-menopausal ovaries in women). Oestrogen controls women’s menstrual cycle and is involved in fertility and pregnancy, but also has roles in both genders in bone maintenance, brain function and heart health.

Effect Of Obesity

Obesity is perhaps the greatest hindrance to maintaining a healthy hormone balance. The complex mechanisms underlying sex hormone impairment are still unclear but we do know that excess fat cells in men causes an imbalance by increasing circulating oestrogen and decreasing production of testosterone.

Testosterone is also metabolised by fat cells into the female sex hormone estradiol lowering its effect. This can be found in men of all ages, including teenagers. Inadequate testosterone production is found in 75% of morbidly obese men (BMI >40 kg/m2). In women, obesity can lead to hyperandrogenism (excessive testosterone) due to a reduction in SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) resulting in more free testosterone in addition to the excess oestrogen produced.

Bariatric Surgery On Hormone Imbalance

Bariatric surgery induces significant weight loss which in turn can reverse the effects of hormone imbalance.

In one study of 75 obese men (BMI >30 kg/m2) visiting an obesity clinic between 2007 and 2010, 54 of them had signs and symptoms of androgen deficiency, 27 with low testosterone levels. The higher the BMI, the lower the testosterone levels were. Seventeen of the participants had bariatric surgery and after 12 months, had lost an average of 40kg and demonstrated testosterone levels back within normal range. This was associated with a global improvement in libido and sexual functioning.

Another study on postmenopausal women showed that 12-month of weight loss produced large and statistically significant reductions in estrogen, and free testosterone and increases in SHBG

Sexual Function

Obesity can often cause erectile dysfunction or shortness of breath during intercourse, both of which contribute to poor sexual performance.

In addition to low testosterone, erection problems are largely caused by atherosclerosis (a hardening of the arteries), of which obesity is a major risk factor for. If damaged, the tiny blood vessels supplying the penis can no longer dilate to bring in the strong flow needed for a firm erection. Weight loss can help bring back the elasticity of the blood vessels and allow for plenty of blood flow to the genitals.

With bariatric surgery, weight loss and improved fitness, many patients report an increase in energy as less energy is required to carry around the body fat that they used to. That’s more energy that can be used in the bedroom. In one study, participants reported new positions could also be explored that could not be enjoyed prior to bariatric surgery and longevity improved because shortness of breath was no longer an issue.

Managing Pregnancy After Weight Loss Surgery

There are some differences in managing pregnancy after weight loss surgery, but in general, pregnancy and childbirth are much safer following surgery than they are for obese women who do not have the surgery.

Our advice to all women in the fertile age is to avoid pregnancy in the first year after your bariatric surgery and to take active measures with regards to contraception even if you had considered yourself infertile for the years leading up to that decision.

There is unfortunately nothing like pregnancy to interrupt weight loss and you probably won’t achieve your expected peak weight loss if you conceive in this vital first year.

Also, when you eventually start trying to conceive, you should make sure that you are taking folate containing multivitamins at the time you conceive and throughout your pregnancy.

Conclusion

Improvements have been reported in confidence, sexual desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and overall satisfaction It’s a whole new world after bariatric surgery. If you find that you experience an increase in sexual performance, or sexual quality of life, and you’re not intending on reproducing, remember to use contraceptives, because you might also be more fertile.

Photo & text credit: https://mercybariatrics.com.au/obesity-surgery-2/benefits-of-surgery/sexuality-libido

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Health : How obesity affects on fertility?

Smt Renu Sharma

Today, obesity is a raging pandemic, and yet people fail to understand its health implications. Embark on the understanding express with us and discover how obesity impacts the normal reproductive function in both men and women.

How Does Obesity Impact Female Fertility?

Obesity triggers negative changes in the female body resulting in various health issues, including infertility. It increases the leptin hormone levels above the normal range leading to a complete hormonal imbalance. This, in turn, has a huge impact on the reproductive ability of the female body. Let us look at some of the major side effects of obesity on female fertility:

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loss
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the world

Hormonal changes due to obesity affect the menstrual cycle and raise the risks in the nature of fertility.

• According to various studies, obese women have a lower rate of successful contraception than healthy women.
• Obesity increases the pressure on the body, specifically around the abdominal area, thus resulting in anovulation (ovaries stop producing eggs for fertilization).
• The quality of eggs also decreases.

Don't get disheartened. There is still time, and you can consult the best IVF specialist in India to help you maintain a healthy body and fulfill your dream of starting a family.

How Does Obesity Impact Fertility in Males?

Not only does obesity affect female fertility, but it also affects male fertility. Excess weight results in hormonal imbalance even in men, and that leaves a direct impact on the reproductive function of the body. An obese man is more likely to have a lower testosterone level than a healthy man. Additionally, obesity also results in a lowered sperm count. Here are some side effects of obesity that affect fertility in men:

• Obesity increases the body temperature, specifically around the scrotum, which negatively impacts sperm production.
• The hormonal imbalance due to obesity results in higher levels of estrogen and diminished testosterone.
• The concentration and quality of sperms is affected, directly affecting the fertilization process.

All is not lost yet! Studies have shown that even a modest weight loss can greatly affect sperm quality and count in men. A consultation with the infertility specialist can cure infertility.

Wrapping Up

So, to answer the question-" Is obesity affecting fertility?"- a definite yes. Unhealthy weight gain and obesity can make it difficult to get pregnant, making it essential to stay active and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

However, if you are facing any infertility issues, don't worry; the expert team of fertility specialists at Sunflower Hospital is here to help you out!

Photo & text credit : https://www.sunflowerhospital.in/is-obesity-affect-fertility 

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Health : Obesity a complex issue with many causes

Obesity is a complex issue with many causes. It's caused when extra calories are stored in the body as fat.

If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly found in high fat and high sugar foods, and do not use all of the energy through physical activity, much of the extra energy will be stored in the body as fat.

Calories

The energy value of food is measured in units called calories. The average physically active man needs about 2,500 calories a day to maintain a healthy weight, and the average physically active woman needs about 2,000 calories a day.

This amount of calories may sound high, but it can be easy to reach if you eat certain types of food. For example, eating a large takeaway hamburger, fries and a milkshake can total 1,500 calories – and that's just 1 meal. For more information, read our guide to understanding calories.

As well as this, many people do not meet the recommended physical activity levels for adults, so excess calories consumed end up being stored as fat in the body.

Diet

Diet and lifestyle factors contribute to development of obesity and overweight. Some of the most common ones are:

• eating large amounts of processed or fast food – this is food that's high in fat and sugar
• drinking too much alcohol – alcohol contains a lot of calories
• eating out a lot – food cooked in a restaurant may be higher in fat and sugar
• eating larger portions than you need
• drinking too many sugary drinks – including soft drinks and fruit juice
• comfort eating – some people may comfort eat due to many other factors affecting their life such as low self-esteem or low mood

Changes in society have also made it more difficult to have a healthy diet. High calorie food has become cheaper and more convenient, and is heavily advertised and promoted.

Physical activity

Lack of physical activity is another important factor related to obesity. Many people have jobs that involve sitting at a desk for most of the day. They also rely on their cars, rather than walking or cycling.

For relaxation, many people tend to watch TV, browse the internet or play computer games, and rarely take regular exercise.

If you are not active enough, you do not use the energy provided by the food you eat, and the extra energy you consume is stored by the body as fat.

The Department of Health and Social Care recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week. This does not need to be done all in a single session, but can be broken down into smaller periods. For example, you could exercise for 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week.

If you're living with obesity and trying to lose weight, you may need to do more exercise than this. It may help to start off slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise you do each week.

Genetics

There are some genes associated with obesity and overweight. In some people, genes can affect how their bodies change food into energy and store fat. Genes can also affect people's lifestyle choices.

There are also some rare genetic conditions that can cause obesity, such as Prader-Willi syndrome.

Certain genetic traits inherited from your parents – such as having a large appetite – may make losing weight more difficult, but they do not make it impossible.

In many cases, obesity is more to do with environmental factors, such as not having easy access to healthy food, or unhealthy eating habits learned during childhood.

Medical reasons

In some cases, underlying medical conditions may contribute to weight gain. These include:

• an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) – where your thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones
• Cushing's syndrome – a rare disorder that causes the over-production of steroid hormones

However, if conditions such as these are properly diagnosed and treated, they should pose less of a barrier to weight loss.

Certain medicines, including some steroids, medications for epilepsy and diabetes, and some medications used to treat mental illness – including some antidepressants and medicines for schizophrenia – can contribute to weight gain.

Weight gain can sometimes be a side effect of stopping smoking.

Text Credit: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/causes

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Health : Obesity

Smt Renu Sharma

 Health and
wellness coach
 Nutrition advisor Expertise
 in healthy weightloss
 impact all around the world

Reshape Nation , raising awareness 

Obesity itself has been shown to impair immunity in some studies. Some of these specific findings
include: Decreased cytokine production.

Credit:https://www.obesityaction.org/resources/obesity-and-the-immune-system

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