Future of obesity prevention and treatment.
The prevalence of obesity has risen sharply during the last 4 decades imposing a serious health burden to modern society. Obesity is known to cause and exacerbate many chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, obstructive sleep apnea and certain cancers, among many others. The rise in obesity prevalence is mainly caused by overconsumption of energy, coupled to a sedentary life in susceptible individuals. Weight homeostasis is paramount for survival and its control is coordinated by neural and endocrine signals emanating from the fat tissue, digestive system and brain. During thousands of years humans were challenged by nutrient deprivation, developing an efficient mechanism to store energy. It explains the difficulty in losing weight, making obesity prevention the main effective health approach to halt the obesity epidemic.
Ness-Abramof
Rosane
R
Endocrine Unit, Meir Hospital, Kfar-Saba, Israel.
Apovian
Caroline M
CM
D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology