Obesity: Categories and Treatment

What is Obesity?

While there is a technical definition of obesity, it can also be defined as abnormally increased surface area of the body. Being obese or being overweight are two different things. A person may be overweight but may not be obese. For example, the sportsmen may be overweight but may not be called obese. Similarly, the person having large body frame may be overweight but not fat. Such persons have no problem in moving about or doing their job even though they might be overweight because they usually have proportional body strength.

Categories of Obesity

General impression is that obesity is due to accumulation of fats in the body, which is not true. I categorize obesity as follows:

• It may be due to excessive fats in the body.
• Or it may be due to excessive fluids in the body.
• There is yet another condition in which the body expands (due to edema) but it cannot be called obesity in the true sense. Out of three, this condition is the most troublesome.

Risk Factors

Obesity can cause many problems, some of which are:

• Movement becomes uneasy and inconvenient.
• Pain and limitation of motion of weight bearing joints, particularly knee joints.
• Hypertension in one category while hypotension in the other.
• Chances of congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular problems
• Respiratory problems

How to treat obesity

The first question always asked is, "can obesity be cured?". The answer is "Yes", obesity can be effectively controlled and cured through a proper process.

• Whatever be the cause or category of obesity, one thing is obvious that the body system is not functioning normally and correctly. The requirement is to treat and normalize the system not just reduce the weight. If the system starts functioning correctly, the weight would automatically become normal. Proper diet control and some physical exercise (not in case of edema) would of course be required along side medication.
• For homeopathic treatment, obesity should not be treated by the name of the ailment and should not be considered in isolation. Each category of obesity has other symptoms associated with it, which would be different for different individuals. Therefore, the treatment and diet precautions for all the three categories cannot be the same. It must be according to condition of the individual and overall picture of the symptoms. Same set of recommendations for each type is not likely to give desired results.
• One should never attempt to loose weight very rapidly. It is a very gradual process, which should be allowed time. Treating obesity like an acute case or expecting cure with a few doses of medicine is not right. Apart from other reasons, just think of the mechanics involved. When weight increases, the skin expands gradually without losing its normal smoothness but when weight is lost very rapidly, the skin does not go back proportionately. It tends to remain loose and hang down awkwardly.
• Diet has very special importance during treatment of obesity. There are certain food items like rice and potatoes, which must be strictly avoided otherwise the whole purpose of physical exercise and "diet control" would be lost. You should strictly follow the instructions of your doctor.

If you are looking for a miraculous treatment that would slim you fast, you are wasting your time. Go for proper treatment.