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The girth
of a person's waist and hips may be a better predictor of
the risk of strokes than the more traditional body mass index
(BMI) formula that takes into account height and weight, according
to researchers.
Waist-to-hip
ratio (WHR) is an indicator of abdominal obesity, whereas
BMI reflects a more general state of obesity. BMI has long
been considered one of the most accurate ways to determine
when extra pounds can translate into an earlier death or the
development of coronary heart disease.
But researchers
from Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York found
a paradoxical result in their study presented April 16 at
the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Denver
when it comes to whether higher BMI levels are harbingers
of strokes.
Comparing
576 stroke victims with 1,142 people who had never had a stroke,
the researchers found that stroke sufferers had a slightly
lower mean BMI than the control group, but a higher mean waist-to-hip
ratio (WHR) than their counterparts.
"What
our data outcomes indicate is that the effect of WHR on stroke
risk is independent of BMI, and may be even more relevant
among those who are in the normal and overweight categories
versus those who are obese," said study author Dr. Seung-Han
Suk. "We strongly recommend that stroke prevention programs
incorporate education about the WHR factor, in addition to
general weight management plans."
Source:
Hypertension
Week of April 21, 2002
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