Heart Disease News:

Study: Location of Fat Better Than Obesity in Foretelling Heart Disease Risk in Older Women

The location of fat within the body is a better risk indicator for heart disease in older women than the level of obesity, according to a study in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Dr. Barbara Nicklas, associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and her colleagues used metabolic syndrome, a collection of five indicators, to differentiate women who were at a higher risk for subsequent cardiovascular disease.

They examined 58 obese, postmenopausal women, one-half of whom had metabolic syndrome, to determine whether four factors: aerobic fitness, body composition, body fat distribution and inflammation, differed between women with and without metabolic syndrome.

"We found that where the body fat is stored was the main determinant of who had metabolic syndrome," Nicklas said.

Nicklas and her colleagues found a dramatic difference in the percentage of visceral fat between those women with metabolic syndrome and the other women in the study.

Visceral fat is stored beneath the abdominal muscles and wrapped around the internal organs as opposed to subcutaneous fat, which is store between the skin and abdominal muscles.

"Women with metabolic syndrome had 33 percent more visceral fat, but were similar in all other respects, including waist circumference, with almost exactly the same amount of subcutaneous fat and identical fat cell size," said Nicklas.

"Our study makes it clear that all fat is not alike and points to the importance of improving our understanding of visceral fat," Nicklas said. "We need to learn what causes the fat to be stored beneath the muscles or around the internal organs and determine treatment options to reduce this visceral fat.”

Nicklas also said more studies are needed to determine whether measurement of visceral fat could be used by doctors for more accurate prediction of cardiovascular disease risk in obese individuals.

"While we need much more research to understand these risk factors, there are things people can do to reduce their risk," Nicklas said. "High intensity exercise seems to preferentially reduce visceral fat and general weight reduction helps, too."

Source: Medical Week Staff week of October 16, 2004