Obesity and Kidney Diseases

Obesity is an independent risk factor for developing kidney diseases. The excess fat they have is a big problem which put them at higher chance of burdening their internal organs. In people with Kidney diseases, targeted body weight helps to keep kidneys function healthier and manage the illness condition.

Well then, you may still ask how obesity is linked to kidney diseases. Basically, the human body is made of lean weight and fat weight. Lean meat is referred to as lean body mass and fat weight referred as body fat percentage. Women with fat percentage higher than 30% and men with the percentage over 25% are considered obese, while ideal range for women is 22% and men 15%. The extra fat for overweight individuals put an extra pressure on various organs including heart, kidneys, pancreas and others, thus making them at increased risk of various medical conditions among which is kidney failure.

In addition, individuals who have excess fat are more likely to develop high blood pressure and Diabetes; both of the conditions can increase possibilities of developing Chronic kidney failure. Fat tissue, just like muscle, needs a constant blood supply. Each pound of fat contains about one million blood vessels. An extra weight will make the heart work harder to pump blood, which can eventually result in hypertension. High blood pressure can gradually damage the blood vessels within the kidneys that filter blood and result in kidney diseases.

What’s more, if one eats too much food, this will put extra strain on the pancreas to produce insulin. Over time, pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells can be burdened to raise blood glucose and cause Diabetes. Diabetes can damage the filtering units of kidneys and cause kidney disease to the patients.

It is essential that people should target an ideal body weight to prevent the onset of kidney failure and other health-threatening medical conditions. The keys for ideal body weight include eating a balanced diet, exercise regularly and cut off the intake of foods. If any renal symptoms such as proteinuria, hypertension and edema are present, seek for further evaluation and treatment from an expert doctor immediately.