Being overweight or obese can be a significant risk factor for heart disease, one of the top three causes of death in the US. But recent studies have found that just looking at overall weight may not signal every man or woman who is at risk for a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke.
A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in December of 2006 found that abdominal obesity represents a greater risk than overall obesity in terms of heart disease. And the effect is more pronounced for younger men and women than for older.
In order to determine the effect of weight gain and if it matters where the weight is carried researchers at Kaiser Permanente in California looked at information on more than 100,000 men and women who enrolled in a study in the 60's and 70's. Each person was then folllowed an average of 12 years.
Measurements of height, weight, abdominal circumferance, and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) were taken, BMI was calculated, and health outcomes (such as incidence of heart attack) were recorded.
Those men and women with the largest SAD had a significant increase in heart disease risk, 44 and 42 percent respectively when compared to those with the smallest SAD. Interestingly these numbers did not correlate with BMI, because some of those with high SAD had a normal BMI.
But as the BMI increased, so did the SAD, and so did the risk. Those with both high weight, high BMI, and high SAD had the highest risk.
The researchers also saw a trend when it came to age. Both men and women who had increased abdominal circumference as measured by the SAD had more risk if the increase in SAD occured at a younger age.
The study sheds more light on the issue of weight and heart disease. Many physicians look at BMI only, but that may not be the best means of determining if another risk factor is truely present. And young men and women should be concerned that they are at greatest risk.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on January 22, 2007 12:41 PM
