Have you ever heard that a 25-year-old person is living with body organs that are 50 years old? It seems strange, but it happens in obesity-obesity causes aging of different body organs. Ongoing research on obesity has found that excessive weight accelerates the ageing process in human cells even more than smoking. Aging of cells in different body organs results in a number of complications that jeopardize health in the short and long run.
Aging of the cells is assessed by measuring the length of telomeres (the ends of chromosomes). As the cells age, their telomeric length is shortened. In a research on obesity and aging, Tim Specter at St. Thomas ‘ Hospital, London measured the length of telomeres in WBC or white blood cells of 1122 women aged from 18 to 76 years. It was found that older persons have shorter telomeres than younger persons; obese people have much shorter telomeres than non-obese people of the same age. What happens actually when the cell divides, each time a small chunk of DNA is lost from telomeres. With repeated cell division, the telomere becomes too short that it can no longer divide. This severely affects the cells in organs, which require continuous division for normal function. When these cells are aged to a critical extent, dysfunction of that organ of the body occurs.
HOW OBESITY CAUSES CELLULAR AGING AND WHAT ARE THE HAZARDS OF AGING?
Obesity particularly accelerates the aging process in body fat by increasing the formation of reactive oxygen species. These reactive oxygen species damage telomeres, leading to their shortening; the p53 tumor suppressor gene is also activated. All these changes in body fats lead to aging. The most dangerous complication of aging of body fat is insulin resistance syndrome. We know very well that insulin resistance syndrome is itself a name for many complications in obese people. Some of the worst complications of insulin resistance syndrome include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and others. All these complications can seriously affect the well-being of a person.
LIVE HEALTHIER AND YOUNGER BY DEFEATING OBESITY
The only way to live a healthier life and defeat aging is to reduce excessive weight. Coming to a normal weight not only improves the physical appearance of the individual but also saves him or her from a number of complications of obesity. Losing weight in morbidly or severely obese people was a difficult task in the past, but it has become very easy with weight loss surgery.
Extensive long-term research indicates that bariatric surgery typically adds between 3 to 10 years to the life expectancy of individuals with severe obesity, primarily by reversing or preventing life-threatening chronic diseases.
Weight loss/ bariatric surgery works in two ways: Reducing the capacity of the stomach, which decreases appetite, and the patient gets satiety on small meals, causing malabsorption in the digestive tract, so that the foods that are taken are lost without giving many calories to the body. Both these principles of bariatric surgery make it ideal for those who are severely obese and have lost the hope of losing weight. It is a very effective way of losing weight in a short time in morbid obesity. The most important thing to keep in mind is that only hospitals dedicated to bariatric surgery should be selected for this specialized procedure. Surgery centers, which claim to be cheaper in the market, are also cheaper in providing safety during surgery and increase the problems in the form of complications during surgery. So dedicated bariatric surgery hospitals are the only right choice for this specialized surgery.