Stubborn Pounds: 3 Hidden Health Issues That Could Be Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Efforts

If you exercise consistently and manage your diet thoroughly, you will naturally lose weight. However, no matter how hard you try to lose weight, if your weight does not decrease or shows a tendency to gain, it may not be a simple lifestyle issue. In fact, some diseases that affect metabolism make it difficult to lose weight, and they also induce edema and an increase in body fat, making it difficult to lose weight. So, let’s find out what diseases we can suspect.

Even if you diet hard, there are cases where you cannot lose weight due to illness | Source: Getty Image Bank
3 diseases you may suspect when you cannot lose weight

1. Hypothyroidism
The thyroid gland is an important organ that secretes hormones to regulate the body’s metabolic activities and determines the body’s energy consumption. However, if you have ‘hypothyroidism’, in which the amount of hormones secreted by the thyroid gland decreases, metabolism slows down, your basal metabolic rate drops sharply, and your weight may increase by about 2 to 5 kg. At this time, weight gain is not simply caused by accumulation of body fat, but due to edema caused by excessive accumulation of water and salt in the body.

Contrary to weight gain, decreased appetite is also a characteristic symptom of hypothyroidism. As energy consumption in the body decreases, the desire to eat does not increase, but weight increases due to edema. In addition, it is often accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue, decreased concentration, dry skin, hair loss, and cold hands and feet due to hormonal abnormalities. In this case, if treatment to return hormone levels to normal is consistently performed, the gained weight can return to the normal range and the overall function of the body can be restored.

2. Cushing’s syndrome
Cushing’s syndrome is a disease that occurs when cortisol, a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, is chronically excessive in the blood. Cortisol is an important hormone that regulates the body’s stress response, but when it is secreted excessively, it can cause abnormal changes in body fat distribution and cause weight gain. The main characteristic is the phenomenon of weight gain due to fat accumulation mainly in the abdomen, face, and back of the neck, but the limbs are rather thin, showing a form of ‘central obesity’. It is also common for the face to appear swollen and round.

There is another cause of Cushing’s syndrome, and that is steroid use. Steroids are widely used to treat skin inflammation, arthritis, atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, and various autoimmune diseases. However, because the chemical structure of steroids is very similar to that of the cortisol hormone, if used or abused for a long period of time, the steroids that enter the body may act on the same receptors as cortisol, causing Cushing’s syndrome. In this case, some degree of recovery is possible if you stop taking steroids, but you must be careful because suddenly stopping the drug when the body is not ready can lead to decreased adrenal function or shock.

3. Polycystic ovary syndrome
‘Polycystic ovary syndrome’, one of the diseases that afflict women of childbearing age, is a disease that occurs when the ovaries secrete too much androgen, a male hormone, and is characterized by the creation of more holes in the ovaries than normal, making normal ovulation difficult. Although it is generally known to be a disease that occurs in obese women, on the contrary, even women of normal weight can experience weight gain if they have polycystic ovarian syndrome.

If you have polycystic ovary syndrome, female hormones are not secreted normally, insulin resistance increases, blood sugar control in the body becomes difficult, and fat accumulates more easily. In addition, as it affects metabolism, it may not be possible to lose weight even if you exercise, and it may be accompanied by abnormal symptoms such as menstruation stopping or irregular cycles. If polycystic ovary syndrome is left untreated, it can cause infertility and can also lead to symptoms such as hirsutism, worsening acne, and hair loss. Therefore, if you have any suspicious symptoms, it is important to receive appropriate treatment from an obstetrician/gynecologist.

If you have gained weight due to a disease, treatment should be a priority.
Of course, exercise and eating habits are necessary to lose weight, but if weight gain is due to a disease, the causative disease must be treated first. This is not only because you are gaining weight and not losing it easily, but if left untreated, it can lead to serious complications such as cardiovascular disease or chronic diseases. In order to find out if you have developed a disease, you must undergo regular health checkups. In addition to weight problems, if you are experiencing abnormal symptoms that you did not normally see, it is a good idea to go to the hospital and get an accurate examination.

If you have this disease, you should not lose weight by excessively controlling your diet or exercising so vigorously that it puts a strain on your body. This is because trying to lose weight in an unhealthy way can actually worsen the disease. Therefore, the most desirable method is to appropriately combine treatment with lifestyle modifications and gradually lose weight once the body has entered a certain recovery stage.

If you find it difficult to control your lifestyle habits on your own, it is a good idea to consult with a medical professional before making a decision. In particular, if you have hypothyroidism, you should not consume too much iodine, and if you have Cushing’s syndrome, you should be careful about using steroids. Each precaution is different, so be sure to know the management method appropriate for your disease and consult appropriately with your medical staff. It’s important to take care of your body.