Hormonal
Obesity is fundamentally a state of chronic low-grade systemic inflammation driven by adipose tissue dysfunction, where an expansion of visceral fat leads to a shift from anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages to pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages, resulting in elevated levels of cytokines like TNF-alpha, IL-6, and resistin.
Recognize that obesity involves a biological inflammatory state, not just excess calories. This understanding shifts the focus from simple willpower to managing inflammation through medical and lifestyle interventions. While the paper highlights the problem, it notes that caloric restriction and regular exercise are effective interventions to reduce this inflammation and metabolic dysfunction.
Obesity is a state of excess body fat associated with changes in neutrophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte count... Obesity is a chronic low-grade systemic inflammation or 'metabolic inflammation,' is involved in the pathogenesis of many disease processes... In obese individuals, inflammation of the adipose tissue is linked to a shift in frequency from M2 macrophages (anti-inflammatory) to M1 macrophages (pro-inflammatory)... Obese individuals generally present with higher levels of hormones such as leptin, visfatin, and resistin.
Why this rating
The paper is a review citing multiple primary studies and large-scale epidemiological data, establishing a strong consensus on the inflammatory nature of obesity, though it does not present new primary experimental data itself.
Source
Obesity: A Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation and Its Markers
Deepesh Khanna et al. · Cureus · 2022
DOI 10.7759/cureus.22711
More from this paper
- Brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity is negatively associated with BMI and body fat percentage; higher BAT activity is linked to lower BMI and body fat, suggesting it plays a protective role against obesity by burning calories.Good
- Dietary caloric restriction and regular exercise are effective interventions to reduce inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in obesity, although dietary weight loss alone may be less effective as a long-term anti-inflammatory intervention compared to exercise.Good
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