The role of oxidative stress in obesity: A pathway to hypertension

Obesity is a chronic disease of multifactorial origin that develops from the interaction of social, behavioral, psychological, metabolic, cellular, and molecular factors. The prevalence of obesity has become worldwide in rates increases in all ages, ethnicities, and both sexes, obesity along with overweight, extended to almost a third of the population of the world nowadays, including Iraq. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or greater. Obesity is linked with the development of several diseases such as insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart diseases, and various types of cancer. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the development of these diseases. ROS and GPx levels in normotensive and hypertensive obese female are clarified in this book, as well as the correlation of ROS (as oxidative stress parameter) with other biochemical and anthropometric parameters.