Paper Example on Obesity and Inflammation

Introduction

Obesity is the accumulation of excessive fat at an abnormal rate in the human body that may result in interference with normal human health. Excessive accumulation of macronutrients in the adipose tissues makes them release inflammatory mediators that reduce the generation of adiponectin, resulting in pro-inflammatory condition and oxidative stress. On the other hand, inflammation is an orderly series of events aimed at maintaining tissue and organ homeostasis. Timely release of mediator elements assists in the quick restoration of tissues to their original condition. Inflammation, therefore, is a protection mechanism by membranes to respond to injuries by both the destruction of the agents that cause damage and the already destroyed tissues (Brennan & Popovich, 2018). This paper investigates the link and relationship that exists between obesity and inflammation in the human body.

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Collected secondary data (literature review)

Recent research by many health practitioners, nutritionists, and medical researchers have indicated and established that obesity is closely associated with low-grade inflammation. The primary cause of obesity is the imbalance between calories intake and calories expulsion by the body. Lumeng & Saltiel, (2011) in a research paper on the links between inflammation, obesity and metabolic diseases concluded that the relationship is a derivation from the fact that proinflammatory cytokines are usually overexpressed in cases of obesity.

Adipocytes, endothelium, immune cells and stromal preadipocytes all combine to form adipose tissues. Adipose tissues usually respond rapidly in a continuous process to excesses in nutrition content via adipocyte hypertrophy. In some cases, this process also happens through hyperplasia. When obesity sets in, progressive enlargement of the adipocyte causes a reduced blood supply to the adipocytes a condition which leads to hypoxia. The resulting hypoxia is an agent of etiology of necrosis. Etiology of necrosis causes a macrophage infiltration into the adipose tissues causing excessive production of proinflammatory factors. This instance causes inflammation of adipose tissue. When this tissue becomes inflamed, it initiates a systemic inflammation that causes obesity-related comorbidities.

Another research conducted by Guzik, Mangalat & Korbut, (2006) found out that adipocytes and other cells within fat tissues can release many vasoactive factors that cause cardiovascular morbidity in individuals with obesity. These substances that are derived for adipocytes have severe effects on the immune system of human beings causing modifications on tissues inflammation.

Methods used to obtain information

In this research, several methods were used to obtain information and data to establish the connection between obesity and inflammation. The data required in this research are both primary and secondary data.

Proposed primary data collection methods

This research used several methods to obtain primary data that gave further insight into the link between obesity and inflammation. First, medical practitioners, nutritionists, and medical researchers were contacted to take surveys. The reason for the choice of these methods is that these groups of people have vast experience in the field of research related to the topic at hand. Secondly, they handle obese individuals in their daily operations. The surveys conducted gave further guidance on the direction to take in this research. The surveys found a presentation to the respondents in electronic form and two weeks was offered to have fully completed the surveys.

Secondly, face to face interviews was conducted with nutritionists and their obese patients. These interviews were targeting to establish how nutritionists handle obesity and the remedies they recommend to obese individuals. The obesity affected persons, on the other hand, gave their account of change and progress about the nutrition advice that nutritionists provided. Family members of the obese individuals were also interviewed to provide more insight into their observation of their affected relatives on account of whether they were improving or not.

Lastly, the research conducted laboratory experiments. This method was to investigate the adipose tissues for obese individuals and those of non-obese individuals and to examine their differences. The purpose of this was to ascertain whether obesity causes inflammation. Previous laboratory researches were consulted in laboratory records for comparisons and clarity of results to avoid any errors in the study. The purpose for this is because the investigation is significant if a solution to obesity and inflammation is to be found, hence the need to be thorough and accurate.

Demographic information plan

The focus area of this research was Wellington, in Australia. Wellington has a population that consists 72.8% European, 7.6% Maori, 4.7% Pacific people, 14.9% Asian, 2.4% people from middle east, Latin America and Africa, 1.7% New Zealanders and 0.1% other ethnicities. These groups of people in Wellington have different health issues, and obesity is at the core of those problems. The health department in Wellington have in the recent past reported that they had received many cases of obesity that after further research resulted in inflammation and low immunity levels on the patients.

Wellington is in Victoria Australia, and its local government is the Shire of Wellington. The reason why this geographical location found favor for this research is that Wellington is a city-state whose population is not significant. Therefore, crossing over this area is easy and quick, and it is possible to interact and obtain information from most of the residents here. Again, the health facilities in Wellington are advanced and provide a good environment for medical and nutritional research (Russell & MacDonald, 2018).

Conclusion

After conducting this research, it became evident that obesity is related to inflammation at a higher degree. People with obesity were found to have inflamed tissues. The mechanism to destroy the factors that cause tissue inflammation was found to increase with an increase in intake of excessive nutrients into the bloodstream. The consumption of foods rich in fats is the main contributing factor of obesity cases. These fats lead to high accumulation of calories in the body, and if the individual is not active actively involved in exercising, they are not able to burn calories effectively leading to obesity.

This research, therefore, recommends that people should engage in regular and consistent exercise, which helps to burn calories in the body. Secondly, people should reduce the uptake of fat-rich foods. The consumption of fast and junk foods should also be elimination from diets. Following these precautions will help to reduce obesity cases and in turn ensure that we are not experiencing inflammation cases. Affected people should follow the guidelines provided by their doctors as well as nutritionists. With these, we are sure to have a healthy society with a high and robust immune system.

References

Brennan, F. H., & Popovich, P. G. (2018). Emerging targets for reprograming the immune response to promote repair and recovery of function after spinal cord injury. Current opinion in neurology, 31(3), 334-344. Retrieved from https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/wco/2018/00000031/00000003/art00018

Guzik, T. J., Mangalat, D., & Korbut, R. (2006). Adipocytokines novel link between inflammation. J. Physiol. Pharmacol, 4, 505-528. Retrieved from citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.470.7827&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Lumeng, C. N., & Saltiel, A. R. (2011). Inflammatory links between obesity and metabolic disease. The Journal of clinical investigation, 121(6), 2111-2117. Retrieved from https://www.jci.org/articles/view/57132

Russell, L., & MacDonald, C. (2018). A qualitative study to explore the impact of simulating extreme obesity on health care professionals' attitudes and perceptions. Ostomy Wound Management, 64(1), 18-24. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lesley_Gray2/publication/322348563_A_Qualitative_Study_to_Explore_the_Impact_of_Simulating_Extreme_Obesity_on_Health_Care_Professionals'_Attitudes_and_Perceptions/links/5a58ff3245851545026fcead/A-Qualitative-Study-to-Explore-the-Impact-of-Simulating-Extreme-Obesity-on-Health-Care-Professionals-Attitudes-and-Perceptions.pdf