The risk of ischemic stroke is 1.8 times greater ( 75% greater ) for women with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 to 28.9 compared to lean women with a BMI of less than 21 according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

The risk of ischemic stroke is 1.9 times greater ( 90% greater ) for women with a body mass index (BMI) of 29 to 31.9 compared to lean women with a BMI of less than 21 according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

The risk of ischemic stroke is 1.7 times greater ( 69% greater ) for women who gained 22 to 44 pounds since the age of 18 compared to women stayed within 11 lbs of their weight at age 18 according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

The risk of ischemic stroke is 2.4 times greater for women with a body mass index (BMI) of 32 or more compared to lean women with a BMI of less than 21 according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

The risk of ischemic stroke is 2.5 times greater for women who gained 44 pounds or more since the age of 18 compared to women stayed within 11 lbs of their weight at age 18 according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

Being heavier or gaining weight does not increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

In fact, the opposite was true. The risk of hemorrhagic stroke was greater in lean women compared to heavier women, although the difference was not statistically significant.

(There was a 20% chance that this was due to random chance, and an 80% chance this was due to difference in weight. To be statistically significant, there has to be less than a 5% chance that the difference is due to random chance.)

Obesity accelerates aging in women by 8.8 years according to a study from researchers from the Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, England. This compares to 7.4 years of accelerated aging for a woman who has smoked a pack of cigarettes per day for 40 years.

Being obese is the equivalent of being 11-years older for men, and 16-years older for women as far as functional health according to study from Cambridge, England.

“Obesity has roughly the same association with chronic health conditions as does twenty years’ aging; this greatly exceeds the associations of smoking or problem drinking,” according to a recent study from UCLA and the well-respected RAND corporation.

Obesity-related heart problems appear to be related to insulin resistance according to a review paper by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Associated Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

The prevalence of hypertension increases as body weight increases as found in a study of 56784 men aged 18-25 years, entering the Swiss army.
The prevalence of obesity by weight category was as follows:

• 12.5% in underweight men with BMI less than 18.5
• 23.9% in normal weight men with a BMI less than 18.5 to 24.9
• 37.6% in overweight men with a BMI of 25 to 29.9
• 49.7% in obese men with a BMI of 30 to 34.9
• 56.7% in obese men with a BMI of 35 to 39.9
• 54.2% in underweight men with a BMI of 40 or greater

The risk of death is 2 to 3 times higher in obese adults 50- to 71-years-old compared to those who are normal weight as noted in a review paper by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Associated Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Obesity increases the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome 1.7-fold (an increase of 66%), while severe obesity increases the risk 1.8-fold (an increased risk of 78%) according to a new study.

In 2002, out of about 2 million cases of cancer in Europe, 70,000 cases of cancer were attributable to being overweight or obese according to calculations by Andrew Renehan, a cancer expert at the University of Manchester who presented his findings on Thursday, Sept 24th, 2009 to a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organization and the European Society for Medical Oncology in Berlin.

By 2008, the number of cases attributable to being overweight or obese were at least 124,000 according to his Renehan’s calculations.

Obesity is responsible for up to 20 percent of cancers in the U.S. noted Andrew Renehan, a cancer expert at the University of Manchester who presented his findings on Thursday, Sept 24th, 2009 to a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organization and the European Society for Medical Oncology in Berlin.

“Being overweight or obese accounts for up to 8 percent of cancers in Europe,” noted Andrew Renehan, a cancer expert at the University of Manchester.

He presented his findings on Thursday, Sept 24th, 2009 to a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organization and the European Society for Medical Oncology in Berlin.

Breathing problems while sleeping and daytime sleepiness were 1.8 times (80%) more common among Japanese truck drivers who were overweight (BMI of 25-29.9) than those of normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9) according to a new study.

Breathing problems while sleeping and daytime sleepiness were 4.4 times more common among Japanese truck drivers who were obese (BMI of 30 or more) than those of normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9) according to a new study.

Breathing problems while sleeping and daytime sleepiness were 2.4 times (140%) more common among Japanese truck drivers who gained roughly more than 30 pounds—an increase in body mass index (BMI) of 5 units or more—according to a new study.

Obesity increases the risk of certain bacterial infections leading to longer recovery times and an increased risk of dying according to research presented at Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, in Washington, DC on Monday, October 27th, 2008 by Matthew Falagas, the director of the Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences, in Athens, Greece as reported on Bloomberg.

Being obese increases the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee 2.8-fold according to a study from Norway which followed 1675 people aged 24-76 years for ten years from 1994 and 2004.

The risk increased as a person’s weight increased.

Being obese increases the risk of osteoarthritis of the hand 2.6-fold according to a study from Norway which followed 1675 people aged 24-76 years for ten years from 1994 and 2004.

Being obese is not associated the risk of osteoarthritis of the hip according to a study from Norway which followed 1675 people aged 24-76 years for ten years from 1994 and 2004.

People who were obese were 1.1 times more likely to develop arthritis of the hip, however, this difference was not statistically significant.

Being overweight, obese or inactive increases the risk of coronary heart disease in women according to a new study from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to a review of 10 studies, obesity increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease later in life by 80 percent.