OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate potential risk factors, including non-communicable diseases, for morbid obesity in women between 20 and 49 years of age. METHODS We performed a case-control study with 110 morbidly obese women and 110 women with adequate weight who were matched by age and with a 1:1 case to control ratio. All women were between 20 to 49 years old and non-menopa...

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups have been associated with the expression of mitochondrial-related diseases and with metabolic alterations, but their role has not yet been investigated in morbid obese Caucasian subjects. Therefore, we investigated the association between mitochondrial haplogroups and morbid obesity in patients from southern Italy. The mtDNA D-loop of morbid obese patients ...

A steady rise in obesity prevalence over the last 20 years has been experienced by whole world. This trend is ominous, because morbid obesity predisposes patients to co-morbid diseases which affect nearly every organ system. These include: type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hypoventilation syndrome, asthma, sleep apnea, stroke, pseudotumor cerebri, arthritis,...

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of death, and morbid obesity carries a significant risk of life-threatening complications such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Bariatric surgery is recognized as the only effective treatment of morbid obesity. The estimated number of bariatric operations performed in the United States in 2008 was more than 13 times the number per...

The prevalence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions; obesity is one of the largest public health concerns and is called the ‘disease of the 21st century’ [1, 2]. Obesity is an international disease that is spreading worldwide, in the Western world as well as in the Third World [3]. The epidemic is rampant in the USA; however, Europe is not far behind, especially in Southern and Eastern E...

ariatric surgery (or surgery for obesity) is now well accepted as an effective means of weight control in selected patients with morbid obesity. Recently, we at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, had the opportunity to operate on a patient weighing 780 lb (355 kg). An operation performed on so heavy an individual raised a number of technical factors and safety considerations we had not pr...

BACKGROUND Human obesity is due to a complex interaction among environmental, behavioral, developmental and genetic factors, including the interaction of leptin (LEP) and leptin receptor (LEPR). Several LEPR mutations and polymorphisms have been described in patients with early onset severe obesity and hyperphagic eating behavior; however, some contradictory findings have also been reported. In...

Obesity is an escalating problem in all age groups and it is observed to be more common in females than males. About 25% of women meet the criteria of obesity and one-third of them are in the reproductive age. Because morbid obesity requiring surgical treatment is observed with increasing frequency, surgeons and gynecologists are undergoing new challenges. It is not only a matter of women's hea...

Obesity is a chronic, progressive and debilitating disease which affects psychological, biological and socials aspects of an individual’s life. As obesity is now globally accepted as an epidemic, increasing number of surgical operations are being performed due to the high rates of failure of the available conventional therapy options. The number of operations performed for the treatment of morb...

Obesity is a chronic, progressive and prevalent disorder. Morbid obesity, in particular, is associated with numerous comorbidities and early mortality. In patients with morbid obesity, pharmacological and behavioral approaches often have limited results. Bariatric surgery is quite effective but is associated with operative failures and a non-negligible incidence of side effects. In the last dec...