Obesity increases the risk of practically all illness and disease...

At Ukmedix News on a regular basis we come up with news stories about the harmful effects of being overweight or obese and most of these stories centre around the fact that obesity can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes as well as a whole list of different cancers. One story that we recently came across surprised us because apparently if you are obese you run a bigger risk of getting ear infections too!
 
A survey that was done in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul looked at almost 300 children between the ages of two and seven to evaluate the obesity and ear infection rate. The researchers noted that children who were obese had a greater chance of suffering from 'otitis media with effusion' which is when liquid forms in the middle ear of the patient and has to be drained with special tubes. This is a form of ear infection that does not cause pain and can go untreated for years.

By using BMI analysis for the children with these ear infections the researchers were able to show that obese children were more at risk. At present they cannot be sure why this is so and further research is needed. The researchers also noted that the obese children had higher cholesterol levels and they thought that possibly it was this that was causing the ear infections.

What is becoming increasingly apparent is that obesity increases the risk of practically all illness and disease because not only does it put a particular strain on certain parts of the body but it weakens the defence mechanisms of the human body to right itself from naturally occurring illnesses and diseases. In order to be completely healthy you need to maintain a normal weight, be fit and take regular exercise.