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Extra Pounds Increase Stroke Risk
(HealthScoutNews)
-- Obese, middle-age women have thicker carotid artery walls,
putting them at greater risk for stroke.
That's the disturbing conclusion of
a study in tomorrow's online issue of Stroke.
The carotid arteries are in the neck
and supply blood to the brain.
The link between obesity and thickening
of the arteries -- called atherosclerosis -- has been uncertain
and controversial, says study lead author Dr. Paolo Rubba, director
of the clinical unit for vascular medicine at Federico II University
in Naples, Italy.
He and his colleagues studied whether
overall obesity and obesity in the abdomen were associated with
carotid artery thickening.
They examined data from an ongoing
study of chronic disease in 5,000 middle-age women living in southern
Italy. People in the area have high rates of obesity and of being
overweight due to lifestyle factors that include high intake of
calories and animal fat and little exercise.
The researchers focused on a subset
of 310 people who had ultrasound tests to determine the thickness
of the intima-media, which is the lining and middle muscle layers
of the carotid artery.
The researchers also compared the
subjects' body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio -- both
of which are obesity indicators -- to carotid artery health.
The study found a significant association
between obesity and carotid artery wall thickness, even after
controlling for other risk factors such as age, blood pressure
and cholesterol levels.
Lean women (23 BMI) had an average
inter-media thickness (IMT) of 0.94 millimeters, overweight women
(27.2 BMI) had an average IMT of 0.98 mm, and obese women (33.8
BMI) had an average IMT of 1.02 mm.
The findings suggest doctors need
to encourage overweight patients to lose weight to reduce the
risk of stroke, the authors say.
More information
Learn more about stroke at the
American
Stroke Association.
Reference
Source 101
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
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