Disabling Obesity

Obesity is currently regarded as one of the major health challenges of the developed world.  Excess body weight is an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, musculoskeletal disorders and even psychiatric problems and is estimated to cause nearly 3 million deaths per year worldwide. Obesity is not necessarily associated with comorbidities: there are indeed metabolically healthy obese individuals.  Thus, we need to consider individuals presenting simple with obesity separately from those at risk of developing or who have already developed complex clinical states potentially leading to disability. Comorbidities can tip the balance of independence in patients who already have functional limitations mainly due to the excess of mass itself or who develop conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, where an abnormal metabolism of adipose tissue prevails. Morbid obesity with comorbidities leading to disability represents a real social and economic burden for National Health Systems worldwide.  The presence of multiple and associated comorbidities often represents an obstacle to being admitted to hospitals for the treatment of metabolic diseases. On the other hand, clinical units with optimal standards for the treatment of pathological conditions in normal-weight patients are often structurally and technologically inadequate for the care of patients with extreme obesity. The aim of this book is to focus on the pathophysiological and rehabilitative aspects of disabling obesity, highlighting multidisciplinary rehabilitation interventions as key to counteracting the disabling aspects of complicated obesity.

This book examines the pathophysiological and rehabilitative aspects of disabling obesity. It highlights multidisciplinary rehabilitation interventions as key to counteracting the disabling aspects of complicated obesity.

An Up-To-Date Vision on the Aetiology and on the Epidemiology of Obesity and Morbid Obesity.- Physiological Bases of Physical Limitations During Exercise.- Biomechanics of Basic Activities.- The Obesity-Related Disability.- Critical Aspects in Nursing.- Effectiveness of Multidisciplinary Inpatient and Outpatient Rehabilitation on Functional Outcomes in Obese Patients with Orthopaedic Comorbidities.- Cardiac Rehabilitation.- Work Capacity, Sleep Apnoea and Respiratory Rehabilitation.- Psychological Aspects and Rehabilitation Protocols Psychiatric Aspects.- Principles and Protocols in Nutritional Rehabilitation.- Bariatric Surgery: Current Techniques and Results.- Disability in the Post-Obese Bariatric Patient: Old and New Problems.- Aesthetic Rehabilitation after Bariatric Surgery.- New Technologies for Improving the Psychological Treatment.- Chronic Care Models for Obesity Management.