Question:
Clinical Report on Co-morbidities from Harvard

For folks trying to gather information on comorbidities, this is an excellent resource, written by a bunch of docs from Harvard. Here is the abstract. <br><br> Obesity and Its Comorbid Conditions <br><br> Obese patients are at an increased risk for developing many medical problems, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, hyperuricemia and gout, and osteoarthritis. Certain cancers are also associated with obesity, including colorectal and prostate cancer in men and endometrial, breast, and gallbladder cancer in women [1-6]. Excess body weight is also associated with substantial increases in mortality from all causes, in particular, cardiovascular disease. More than 5% of the national health expenditure in the United States is directed at medical costs associated with obesity [7]. In addition, certain psychologic problems, including binge-eating disorder and depression, are more common among obese persons than they are in the general population [8,9]. Finally, obese individuals may suffer from social stigmatization and discrimination, and severely obese people may experience greater risk of impaired psychosocial and physical functioning, causing a negative impact on their quality of life [10]. <br><br> The full text of the article is available at Medscape (you may need to register). The URL is http://womenshealth.medscape.com/19870.rhtml.    — Kim H. (posted on April 8, 2000)

April 9, 2000
Here is another reference of co-morbidities related to morbid obesity. I thought someone might like to refer to this list to try to get approval for the surgery. ---Obesity is an independent risk factor or an aggravating agent for more than 30 medical conditions including: Arthritis 1. Osteoarthritis of knee and hip 2. Rheumatoid arthritis 3. Birth Defects Cancers 4. Breast Cancer in Women 5. Breast Cancer in Men 6. Cancers of the Esophagus and Gastric Cardia 7. Colorectal Cancer 8. Endometrial Cancer 9. Renal Cell Cancer OTHER 10. Cardiovascular Disease 11. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome 12. Chronic Venous Insufficiency 13. Daytime Sleepiness 14. Deep Vein Thrombosis 15. End Stage Renal Disease 16. Gallbladder Disease 17. Gout 18. Heat Disorders 19. Hypertension 20. Impaired Immune Response 21. Impaired Respiratory Function 22. Infections Following Wounds 23. Infertility 24. Liver Disease 25. Low Back Pain 26. Obstetric and Gynecological Complications 27. Pain 28. Sever Acute Biliary and Alcoholic Pancreatitis 29. Sleep Apnea 30. Stroke 31. Surgical Complications 32. Traumatic Injuries to Teeth 33. Type 2 Diabetes (NIDDM) 34. Urinary Stress Incontinence http://www.obesity.org/obmedconditions.htm
   — Lynn K.