Fatty belly can slightly increase the risk of death in people with heart disease

Image via Wikipedia
The largest of its kind, has been found that people with coronary artery disease who have even a modest beer belly or top muffin are more at risk of death for people whose fat collects in other locations. The effect was observed even in patients with a normal BMI (BMI). This analysis of the clinical results was published in the May 10 Edition, the magazine of the American College of Cardiology.

Researchers analyzed data from 15,923 people with CHD in five studies across the world. They found that those who have coronary heart disease and Central obesity, measured by the ratio of the circumference and hip size size, have twice the risk of death. It is equivalent to the risk of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and have a very high cholesterol levels, especially for men.

Results refute the paradox of obesity, a perplexing finding in many studies showing that a higher BMI and chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease patients have better chances of survival than people of normal weight.

Coutinho, MD, author "suspected the paradox of obesity was going on because the BMI is not a good measure of body fat and gives no information on the distribution of fat," said Thai major Studio and member of the clinic of Cardiology in May. "BMI is only a measure of weight in proportion to height".What appears to be the most important, this is how distributed the fat in the body.

Francisco Lopes Jimenez, MD, research project principal and Director of the cardiometabolic program at the clinic for may, explains why this type of fat may be more damaging: "visceral fat has proven to be more active metabolism." It produces changes more cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar in the blood. "However, people who are mainly elsewhere in fat in the body, specifically, the legs and buttocks, do not show this risk."

The researchers argue that physicians should inform patients of coronary artery disease who have a normal BMI to lose weight if you have a high waist circumference or size high-ratio hip. The measure is very easy to use, Dr. Coutinho, said: "enough is a minute for a doctor with a tape measure to measure the perimeter of the size and the hip of the patient."

Research topics have varied from studies in the United States (Rochester, Minnesota, and San Francisco, California), Denmark, France and Korea. The inclusion of the various ethnic groups makes the more applicable to the study of the real world, said Dr. Coutinho.

(Source: Mayo Clinic: Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

Related articles

• Belly Fat + Heart Disease Can Be Deadly (nlm.nih.gov)
• Beer belly or muffin top double mortality risk in heart disease patients (news.bioscholar.com)
• Waist fat 'increases heart risk' (bbc.co.uk)

To watch television linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and death

In an analysis data from several studies, watching TV for 2 or 3 hours per day or more was associated with a risk of type 2 diabetes, fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease and death causes, a study in JAMA on 15 June says.

Watching television (TV) is the daily activity most frequently reported in work and sleep in many populations around the world. The United States, the average number of hours of TV reported recently that 5 hours. "More than modify energy expenditure to spend the time devoted to physical activity, viewing TV is associated with unhealthy food (for example, a higher intake of fried foods, meats and drinks sweetened with sugar) and low consumption of fruit, vegetables and whole grains in children and adults," according to the information of the substance in the article. "Physical inactivity, various dietary factors and smoking are risk factors independently established for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mortality causes". Because watching television is the most common and widespread sedentary behavior, there is great interest to quantify its independent association with results for health. "However, systematic and quantitative published studies assessment is not available."

Anders Grontved, m.p.h., master of the University of South Denmark, Odense and Frank b. Hu, MD, PhD, Harvard School of public health, Boston, an analysis of the purpose of summarizing the data from the studies of prospective cohort published on the association between the display of the TV and the incidence of fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular maladies type 2 diabetes and all cause mortality. Researchers have carried out a search in the medical literatures for relevant studies in 1970 to March 2011 and identified eight studies meeting their inclusion criteria in the analysis.

Type 2 diabetes (4 studies), the total number of persons was 175,938 with 6,428 cases of incidents during an average follow-up of 8.5 years. For cardiovascular disease fatal or nonfatal (4 studies), the total number of persons was 34,253 with 1 052 cases of incidents during an average follow-up of 10.4 years; for mortality all causes (three studies), the total number of persons was 26,509 1,879 death during an average follow-up of 6.8 years.

An analysis of the data indicated that 2 hours of television seeing time per day was associated with an increased risk of 20% for type 2 diabetes; 15 percent increased risk of fatal cardiovascular disease or non-fatal; and more than 13% of all causes of mortality risk. "While time spent associating watching TV and the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes are linear, the risk of mortality of cause all appear to increase the duration of viewing TV for more than 3 hours a day,"the authors write.

Based on the rate of frequency in the United States, the estimation of the risk difference researchers all (cases per 100,000 persons per year) for 2 hours of TV per day was 176 for diabetes type 2, 38 fatal cardiovascular disease and 104 for all causes of mortality.

"It is biologically plausible that longing to see that TV is associated with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mortality causes." Many studies have reported TV partnerships with biological risk factors of these results, including obesity, levels of unwanted lipids and cardiovascular risk in a cluster. However, some studies step reported these associations. On the other hand, the associations of sedentary behaviour similar to listen to the TV (e.g., sitting at work or during driving) with type 2 diabetes, fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality have been reported in cohort studies, "the authors write.

"Further research is warranted to quantify the Ombudsman of the influence of diet and physical inactivity." "Future research should assess the Association of prolonged daily use of new devices of media in the energy balance and the risk of chronic disease".

(Source: JAMA/Archives: journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA))

Related articles

• Extensive TV watching linked with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, CVD and all-cause death (eurekalert.org)

Obesity in the form of Apple as damaging for the heart as other obesity

An international study of 220,000 people challenged the idea that obese people who have a "form of Apple" (fat deposits in the body) are at an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes than people who are obese with other types of fat distribution.


These are the conclusions of an article published online in the first place and in the journal The Lancet, with the collaboration of new risk factors, a consortium of 200 scientists from 17 countries, of the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.


Some earlier studies reported that obese people "central" (as it is being evaluated by the relationship between size-hip circumference or size "proportion at the hip") were 3 times greater risk of heart attack among the General obese (as assessed by body mass index (BMI) or the weight divided by height squared). However, these previous studies had design of important limitations.


This study included over 220,000 adults, each supervised for nearly a decade, including more than 14,000 had developed a heart attack or stroke in the watch. Researchers have confirmed that obesity is a determinant of cardiovascular disease, but that BMI (BMI), waist, and hip size ratio each has had a similar impact on the risk of further heart attack and stroke.


A finding of this study is that BMI, the circumference of the size and size-hip ratio, if assessed individually or in combination, do not improve risk prediction of cardiovascular disease among people in developed countries where additional information is available for the pressure blood systoliquehistoire of diabetes and lipid.


This result highlights the value of the blood pressure of continuous GPs and blood cholesterol. The conclusions should also help medical practitioners a practical guide in the world because the national and international guidelines have provided different recommendations about the value of clinical measures of obesity for the prediction of the risk of cardiovascular disease in primary prevention.


The authors conclude: "if assessed individually or in combination, BMI, waist and hip size ratio do not improve the prediction of the first occurrence of cardiovascular disease when there is more information about the history of diabetes", the blood pressure and cholesterol measurements... "This finding is applicable to a wide range of circumstances and relevant clinical subgroups."


But they added: "the main conclusion of this study does not, of course, diminish the importance of modifiable cardiovascular disease as determining fat."


In a related commentary, Dr. Rachel R. Huxley and Dr. David r. Jacobs Jr., school of public health, University of Minnesota, conclude: "BMI used with good clinical judgment is not very appropriate for adults, because it is so strongly associated with a risk of chronic disease", but warned that it is linked to the height in children. Many adolescents with overweight or obesity, young adults and middle-aged with few risk factors for cardiovascular disease develop this risk relatively quickly, to what BMI should be used as a warning, both for themselves and for their general practitioners. "But the specific discrimination without current overweigh the risk factors for cardiovascular disease will go to develop these risk factors and cardiovascular diseases clinical end, remains a challenge - here, the blood tests are always useful".


(Source: University of Cambridge: the Lancet)