title: Are there healthy obese?
abstract: It is currently postulated that not all obese individuals have to be considered as pathological subjects. From 10% to 20% of obese people studied do not show the metabolic changes common in obese patients. The term "healthy obese" has been coined to refer to these patients and differentiate them from the larger and more common group of pathological obese subjects. However, the definition of "healthy obese" is not clear. Use of "healthy obese" as a synonym for obese without metabolic complications is risky. Clinical markers such as insulin resistance are used to identify this pathology. It is not clear that healthy obese subjects have lower morbidity and mortality than pathologically obese patients. According to some authors, healthy obese would represent an early stage in evolution towards pathological obesity. There is no agreement as to the need to treat healthy obese subjects.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Hipertensión y Factores de Riesgo, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, España. Electronic address: jlgriera@us.es.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Griera Borrás
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Hipertensión y Factores de Riesgo, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Contreras Gilbert
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015897:Comorbidity; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006304:Health Status; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000453:epidemiology; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011236:Prediabetic State / Q000453:epidemiology; D057832:Watchful Waiting
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D006728:Hormones; D008055:Lipids
keywords: Healthy Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome; Obesidad; Obesidad Patológica; Obesity; Obeso sano; Síndrome Metabólico; Unhealthy Obesity