betweentourns t1_j66swd4 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 2:57 AM

Reply to comment by Anerky in ELI5 Why exactly does obesity by itself cause disease? by OutlandishnessPlus40

> your heart and lungs also have to work harder

Why?

justlookingforajob1 t1_j66ux8x wrote on January 28, 2023 at 3:14 AM

There's more volume to move blood through.

cervicalgrdle t1_j67b6tw wrote on January 28, 2023 at 5:46 AM

As well as a strong correlation with atherosclerosis causing potential high blood pressure

BurnOutBrighter6 t1_j67doau wrote on January 28, 2023 at 6:14 AM

Living tissue (including fat cells) need a constant supply of blood and oxygen. The bigger you are, there's just physically more flesh to keep supplied. Your heart has to push a bigger volume of blood through a longer length of tubes to reach all the parts.

It's like how if a city could only have one water-supply pump station, and could only use one diameter of pipe, as the city got bigger and added hundreds of houses further and further away, that pump would have to run more often and at higher pressure to keep up with the flow being drawn from everyone's taps.

betweentourns t1_j6bg4wi wrote on January 29, 2023 at 3:19 AM

Thanks for the analogy. Makes sense!

Anerky t1_j67bajp wrote on January 28, 2023 at 5:47 AM

There is also fat and plaque buildup on your blood vessels over time which makes the same if not more blood have to move through tighter vessels