My Weight
The Risks of Being Overweight

Chapter Two

Checking My Body Weight- On the Scale - The First Test

The nurse then asked me if I could get on the scale. I did.

She moved the fifty pound marker to the one hundred fifty pound position, the one pound marker to the sixty three pound position and it balanced.

She wrote in her chart that I weighed 163 pounds.

She then checked my height which was 5' 7.5". She wrote that down into her chart. She had to calculate my BMI my body mass index. The BMI is determined through a formula taking into consideration the height and the weight.

She was determining my risk for many diseases, especially the risk of many weight related diseases.

Determining My Risk for Weight Related Diseases

By measuring my weight she was determining my risk factor for:

Heart disease which is an abnormal condition of the heart, or the blood vessels supplying the heart that impair the cardiac function.

Stroke - which is a sudden blockage or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain that results in a loss of consciousness, partial loss of movement, or loss of speech High blood pressure abnormally high arterial blood pressure.

Diabetes - a medical disorder that causes the body to produce an excessive amount of urine, especially diabetes mellitus which is a disorder in which there is no control of blood sugar, through inadequate insulin production (Type 1) or decreased cellular sensitivity to insulin (Type 2), causing kidney, eye, and nerve damage.

Cancer- a malignant tumor or growth caused when cells multiply uncontrollably, destroying healthy tissue

Gall bladder diseases such as gall stones

Osteoarthritis - a form of arthritis characterized by gradual loss of cartilage of the joints, usually affecting people after middle age.

Gout - a metabolic disorder mainly affecting men in which excess uric acid is produced and deposited in the joints, causing painful swelling, especially in the toes and feet

Breathing problems - making painful the elementary and basic process of taking air into the lungs and pushing it out again

Sleep apnea- a temporary cessation of breathing that happens to some people while they are sleeping.

The enormous risks of being overweight In light of the long list of weight related health risks, it is understandable why the nurse checked my height and weight to determine my BMI first.

Had I been overweight it would have been an indicator that I would need to be further evaluated to see if I have any of the aforementioned diseases.

Continue here for the next chapter. The next test checking my blood pressure