Gastrointestinal Complications of Obesity

Obesity is usually associated with morbidity related to diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. However, there are many gastrointestinal and hepatic diseases for which obesity is the direct cause [e.g. non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD)] or is a significant risk factor, such as reflux esophagitis and gallstones. When obesity is a risk factor, it may interact with other mechanisms and result in earlier presentation or complicated diseases. There are increased odds ratios or relative risks of several gastrointestinal complications of obesity: gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), erosive esophagitis, Barrett ’s esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma, erosive gastritis, gastric cancer, diarrhea, colonic diverticular disease, polyps, cancer, liver disease including NAFLD, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, gallstones, acute pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer.
Source: Gastroenterology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Source Type: research