Morbid obesity is the term used to describe people whose body weight exceeds the normal body weight limit by 100 pounds or more. It can also be measured in terms of the BMI. A BMI of 40 or more indicates morbid obesity or clinically severe obesity. Morbid obesity, as the name suggests, is a dangerous form of obesity that often leads to numerous medical complications. It is distinguished from obesity in that it is normally not controlled through a simple procedure of diet and exercise. Morbid obesity requires medical intervention in the form of therapeutic medicines or surgery.

A person suffering from morbid obesity should seek medical help immediately. In most cases, morbid obesity is the result of ignoring the condition of obesity for many years and leading a lifestyle that not only maintains but also promotes further obesity. The end result is a severely obese person, who becomes susceptible to all obesity related diseases and cannot lose weight through normal means. A person suffering from morbid obesity becomes prone to diabetes and coronary heart trouble and also falls risk to an early death.

How does obesity occur? The reasons are complex. Despite popular opinion, morbid obesity is not purely the result of eating too much. According to recent studies, it has been found that cases of morbid obesity are often rooted in genetic causes. If this holds true in an individual’s case, then dieting and exercise will have limited effects on the problem.

Scientific research in to the causes and cure for morbid obesity continues to be conducted all over the world. But until we gain a firmer grasp on all the implications of the disease, it is something that patients simply have to deal with and work on, oftentimes for their entire lives. Medical science has come up with numerous interventions, including surgery, but these are not cures for obesity – rather they provide relief for the physical strain and consequences that come from being excessively overweight.

Morbid obesity is a significant risk factor for hypertension, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, diabetes, respiratory problems and musculo-skeletal disorders. Generally, the health threats of morbid obesity are: double risk of early death if your weight is more than twice your ideal, 5-7 times greater risk of death from diabetes or heart attack, high risk of “end-stage” (untreatable) obesity, numerous negative social, psychological and economic effects.

The causes of severe clinical obesity remain complex and varied, and typically include factors such as family genetic history, lifestyle and eating habits in childhood and adolescence, medication usage, calorie-intake, mood/depression, degree of physical activity, and cultural, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors. Although there are several clearly identifiable causes and contributory risk factors for morbid obesity, experts have been unable to pinpoint the relative importance of these risk factors in the ongoing obesity epidemic.

Treatment for morbid obesity usually includes a combination of liquid or very-low-calorie diets, weight loss medications and exercise counseling. Patients suffering from significant co-morbid conditions may also qualify for bariatric weight loss surgery such as gastric banding or stomach bypass.

Mildly obese patients can benefit from diet and exercise treatments, sometimes provided in conjunction with weight loss medication. Patients with morbid obesity, especially those with serious co-morbid conditions, may qualify for bariatric surgical treatments such as Lap Band or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Lap-band adjustable gastric banding is the latest entrant (approved by the FDA in 2001) in the sphere of surgical treatment of morbid obesity

It has become increasingly clear that those with morbid obesity may not be able to get their weight under significant control on their own without surgery. If you are morbidly obese you run a significant risk of dying prematurely due to your weight. In fact, those with morbid obesity can be expected to die 13-20 years prematurely unless they can lose most of their excess weight.