title: Facing Morbid Obesity: How to Approach It.
abstract: Obesity is a major public health problem, with a prevalence of 10% to 20% in Western Europe. Morbid obesity, characterized by body mass index >40 kg/m(2), showed an increased prevalence in the last 30 years. Obesity is associated with reduced economic and social opportunities, reduced quality of life, and is a determinant of several "intermediate risk factors," leading to an increased mortality and a loss in life expectancy. The rising prevalence of morbid obesity increased the demand for bariatric surgery, also called "metabolic surgery": after these interventions, there is a decrease in metabolic comorbidities, cardiovascular (CV) risk, and total mortality. In this review, we update the evaluation of morbid obese patients from the physical examination to the metabolic, CV and respiratory assessments in order to correctly stratify the CV risk and provide the best treatment. To obtain these achievements, multidisciplinary work has to be carried out with a team involving several experts with different skills.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Anastasia
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Vuono
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scavizzi
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gentili
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy graziana.lupattelli@unipg.it.
authors.forename: Graziana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lupattelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050110:Bariatric Surgery / Q000379:methods; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: dyslipidemia; insulin resistance; morbid obesity; obesity cardiomyopathy