Saying that obesity should be renamed to reflect that it is an inherited disease, experts suggest using the term “chronic appetite disorder” to encourage people with symptoms to seek treatment.
Scientists have identified hundreds of genes that increase the risk of obesity, reinforcing the claim that obesity should be classified as a disease. Mutations in these genes are thought to cause changes in parts of the brain that regulate appetite, causing some to overeat and gain weight.
Researchers from University College Cork School of Public Health in Ireland suggest that reclassifying obesity to reflect this will pave the way for those most in need of access to treatments such as appetite-suppressing weight loss pills.
THEIR BRAINS CONTINUOUSLY SAY “OPEN”
Dr. Margaret Steele, arguing that obesity is a hereditary disease, said, “Obese people constantly get signals that they are hungry and they always feel physical hunger. They can also respond to these signals by overeating.” said.
Saying that they should get some kind of medical help for this not to happen, Dr. “Instead, those with physiological problems that cannot regulate appetite should be diagnosed with the disease and given an alternative name to obesity,” Steele said. he added.
The debate over whether obesity should be classified as a disease has been going on for decades, with the World Health Organization classifying obesity as “a term used to describe a person with excess body fat” since 1936.
