Excess weight

Are you a heart attack waiting to happen? If heart disease, high blood pressure, or high triglycerides are in your family (or personal) history, losing weight can change that. You can greatly cut your risk of serious health problems by dropping the extra pounds.

It's created an epidemic of high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart disease, heart-related deaths -- plus strokes and diabetes. Also, many types of cancer have been linked with obesity.

Every major system in your body feels the stress of excess weight. The heart is the most obvious victim -- as cholesterol builds, blood pressure rises, and arteries get clogged. Also, the blood loses its ability to clot which increases stroke risk.

Overweight women have higher levels of male hormones, which ups their risk of heart disease. Those hormones also cause male pattern balding, some excess facial hair, and acne.
Excess weight affects another hormone -- insulin -- which leads to diabetes. Having diabetes increases your heart disease risk. It's a vicious circle.

Overweight people often suffer from sleep disorders. The most dangerous is sleep apnea. With sleep apnea, you stop breathing many times during the night. This makes your oxygen level drops-- which affects the heart, blood vessels, stroke risk, and diabetes risk.

The sheer impact of excess weight on your lower body creates lots of problems. You're at higher risk for bone-thinning osteoporosis. You develop hip and back problems. Overweight children will develop fragile bones, so they're at even higher risk for these problems.

Info from Webmd