Skin Complications of Obesity: Controlled Prospective Study

Introduction: Obesity is a worldwide public health burden with an increasing prevalence. It is mainly attributed to interactions between diet, sedentary life and genetic predisposition. A chronic accumulation of adipose tissue found in obesity is associated with long term consequences such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypercholesterolemia, etc. Many skin changes have been reported in obese patients.

Aim of the work: was to clarify various skin changes and diseases related to obesity.

Patients and methods: It was carried out from May 2015 to August

2016; 100 (50 males, 50 females) adult patient of age (18-60) years old with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2] and one hundred (50 males, 50 females) adult control of age (18-60) years old (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) were included in the study. Serum lipid profile, liver and renal functions, fasting and post prandial blood sugar and clinical examination were done to exclude hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

Result: significantly more skin diseases were found in obese patient than control; plantar hyperkeratosis, Acanthosis nigricans, Scalp scale (dandruff), Skin tags, Striae cutis, Intertrigo, Callosity, Candida that strongly correlated the degree of obesity. Many patients had more than two conditions. The most frequent combination observed were Acanthosis nigricans with skin tags, Striae and varicosity are significantly more among obese females than obese males.

Conclusion and recommendation: obese patients experienced more skin diseases than non-obese. Obese females have more skin diseases than obese males. Obese patients with skin diseases should reduce their weight to improve their skin lesions.