Overextended fat cells can trigger inflammation by leaking lipids like bursting balloons
When fat cells expand beyond their physical limits, they can undergo a process similar to a bursting balloon, leaking inflammatory lipids that trigger serious metabolic dysfunction throughout the body.
Severe obesity can cause individual fat cells, or adipocytes, to swell beyond 200 microns in size. At this extreme volume, the cells outpace their own oxygen supply, leading to cell death and a structural failure similar to a balloon popping under too much pressure.
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