Pattern Of Skin Diseases In Obese Patients

Obesity is increasingly recognized as a worldwide major publichealth problem .Waist circumference, skin fold thickness and bodymass index (BMI) are the most useful non-invasive clinicalmeasures to define obesity. Obesity is defined when a body massindex (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or greater while overweight is consideredwhen (BMI) falls between 25- 29.9kg/m2.Egypt is a country where the problem of obesity is of epidemiclevel. Obesity is clearly more prevalent in women and it is morecommon in the elderly, but it is also increasing in childrennowadays.The mechanisms behind obesity are still controversial. Obesityis often considered as a life style disease caused by overeating and/ordecreased physical activity. Obesity may result from environmental,endocrinal or genetic factors. Environmental factors include dietarychoices, socioeconomic status, behavioral factors, inactivity andsedentary life style, psychological factors and some drugs. Primaryendocrine disease (eg, Cushing’s syndrome) is rarely the cause ofobesity; however, hyperinsulinemia and diabetes are well-knownconsequences of obesity.Obesity is known to significantly affect both skin and systemicphysiology. With growing numbers of obese patients, it will beincreasingly important for dermatologists to be able to modify andadapt topical and systemic dermatologic therapies for obese patients.