Definition
Weight gain occurs when the calories ingested exceed the body's energy demands, which leads to an increase in the reserve fatty tissue. In this sense, weight gain can be an indication of nutritional failure or eating disorder (eg bulimia, binge eating disorder, etc.).
Excess weight does not always depend on excessive consumption of food and drink; sometimes it is caused by a series of dysfunctions and diseases.
A sudden weight gain may be due to fluid retention. Some women, for example, notice 1 to 3 kg more before menstrual flow. Weight gain, in fact, is one of the most frequent symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and is associated with painful tension in the abdomen and breast, headache, a feeling of heaviness in the lower limbs and mood swings.
In hypothyroidism, the slowing down of metabolism causes an increase in weight, despite the appetite being normal or reduced. Furthermore, weight gain is one of the symptoms that characterize the metabolic syndrome: typical is the accumulation of fat in the abdomen.
Even the increased appetite that accompanies diabetes mellitus can cause weight gain. Furthermore, this symptom can manifest itself in the presence of acromegaly, Hashimoto's disease, Cushing's syndrome, food intolerances, pre-eclampsia and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Possible Causes * of Weight Gain
- Achondroplasia
- Acromegaly
- Bulimia
- cholecystitis
- Diabetes
- Uncontrolled feeding disorder
- Pregnancy
- Heart failure
- Insulinoma
- Food intolerance
- Hypothyroidism
- Menopause
- Cushing's disease
- Hashimoto's disease
- Obesity
- Psychogenic polydipsia
- Pre-eclampsia
- Heart failure
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Prader-Willi syndrome
- Metabolic syndrome
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Pituitary tumors
