	Article Directory		Article Submission Service		Article Marketing Blog		Publishers		Member Log In

Article Directory :: Health & Fitness Articles

Overweight Can Lead To High Blood Pressure

By Zinn Jeremiah

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 21Jan2008
Word count: 427
Viewed: 497 time(s)

Get Free Content For Your Site

Carrying excess body weight presents any number of risks to one's health. Though it's a debatable point, the greatest risk from being overweight may be the increased likelihood of developing high blood pressure. High blood pressure has earned the nickname "the silent killer" because though it's often asymptomatic, its effects can have a devastating impact on the body.

A number of medical studies have established a correlation between people who are overweight and elevated blood pressure levels. As with anything else, there is variety in terms of how the effects are presented: specifically, the more overweight a person is, the more likely they are to have elevated blood pressure. Additionally, a person who is severely overweight or obese is likely to have higher blood pressure levels than a person who is modestly overweight. Variation or not however, the findings are mostly certain and the bottom line is being overweight increases high blood pressure risk.

Breaking it down into actual percentages, men who are obese have high blood pressure roughly forty-two percent of the time. Women who are obese have high blood pressure roughly forty percent on the time. While on their face these percentages may not seem outrageous, consider that men and women who aren't obese have high blood pressure only fifteen percent of the time roughly. Carrying too much body weight can then potentially triple the risk of high blood pressure.

Though the reality that being overweight can lead to high blood pressure is the most important point to consider, how overweight leads to high blood pressure is information worth knowing. Essentially what happens is people who are overweight tend to have higher blood sugar levels than normal, and their pancreas function produces extra insulin to cope with breaking down sugar in their bloodstream. The increased insulin production adversely affects several bodily functions: increased insulin can lead to blood vessels become thickened and rigid; increased insulin can lead to adrenaline surges, which places extra burden on heart functioning; and increased insulin can lead to extra levels of salt and water absorption by the kidneys.

The typical response to overweight is that it's a problem of appearance: losing weight means having a better body image. While body appearance can be meaningful to people, the risk of overweight is far more than just an issue of how one's reflection appears in a mirror. Overweight and obesity are legitimate threats to an individual's health and life, both from the risk of increased blood pressure as well as from other medical conditions.

Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance author. Find help for weight loss by visiting weight loss help or weight loss program.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here