Health & Medicine
Study Ties Abdominal Fat to Increased Risk of Hypertension
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Sep 02, 2014 03:36 AM EDT
A team of researchers has found that people with abdominal fat are at an increased risk of developing hypertension.
A latest study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, revealed that the location of body fat can also up the risk of high blood pressure, than overall obesity. They based their finding on the evaluation of 903 patients who were a part of the Dallas Heart Study.
The growing prevalence of obesity is increasingly identified as a major risk factor for the development of hypertension and is approximately two times more prevalent in the obese people than those with normal body mass index. For at least two decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has been rising in the U.S. It has been reported that the location of body fat can trigger an increased risk of various health issues such as heart diseases and cancer. But not much is known on the association between hypertension and overall obesity versus fat on specific location.
In the current study, the researchers followed the subjects for an average of seven years to monitor the development of hypertension that is defined as systolic blood pressure of more than or equal to 140, diastolic blood pressure of more than or equal to 90 or initiation of blood pressure medications.
Apart from this, patients also received imaging of visceral fat or fat that is located deep in the abdominal cavity between the organs, subcutaneous risk or visible fat that is located all over the body and lower-body fat.
"Generally speaking, visceral fat stores correlate with the 'apple shape' as opposed to the 'pear shape,' so having centrally located fat when you look in the mirror tends to correlate with higher levels of fat inside the abdomen," said senior author Aslan T. Turer, M.D., M.H.S., a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
After the analysis, the researchers found that 25 percent of the patients had developed hypertension. On considering the abdominal fat content, overall fat content and lower-body fat content, the researchers found that higher BMI was linked with increased risk of hypertension. The association between the two factors remained same even after considering the age, gender or race.
The strongest link between abdominal fat and hypertension was seen in retroperitoneal fat, a type of visceral fat that is placed behind the abdominal cavity and mainly around the kidneys.
"The high incidence of hypertension and presence of retroperiotoneal fat could suggest that the effects from fat around the kidneys are influencing the development of hypertension," Turer said. "This link could open new avenues for the prevention and management of hypertension. The finding of the fat around the kidney is a novel one and we do not know specifically what the 'in the mirror' correlates are."
The finding was documented in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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First Posted: Sep 02, 2014 03:36 AM EDT
A team of researchers has found that people with abdominal fat are at an increased risk of developing hypertension.
A latest study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, revealed that the location of body fat can also up the risk of high blood pressure, than overall obesity. They based their finding on the evaluation of 903 patients who were a part of the Dallas Heart Study.
The growing prevalence of obesity is increasingly identified as a major risk factor for the development of hypertension and is approximately two times more prevalent in the obese people than those with normal body mass index. For at least two decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has been rising in the U.S. It has been reported that the location of body fat can trigger an increased risk of various health issues such as heart diseases and cancer. But not much is known on the association between hypertension and overall obesity versus fat on specific location.
In the current study, the researchers followed the subjects for an average of seven years to monitor the development of hypertension that is defined as systolic blood pressure of more than or equal to 140, diastolic blood pressure of more than or equal to 90 or initiation of blood pressure medications.
Apart from this, patients also received imaging of visceral fat or fat that is located deep in the abdominal cavity between the organs, subcutaneous risk or visible fat that is located all over the body and lower-body fat.
"Generally speaking, visceral fat stores correlate with the 'apple shape' as opposed to the 'pear shape,' so having centrally located fat when you look in the mirror tends to correlate with higher levels of fat inside the abdomen," said senior author Aslan T. Turer, M.D., M.H.S., a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
After the analysis, the researchers found that 25 percent of the patients had developed hypertension. On considering the abdominal fat content, overall fat content and lower-body fat content, the researchers found that higher BMI was linked with increased risk of hypertension. The association between the two factors remained same even after considering the age, gender or race.
The strongest link between abdominal fat and hypertension was seen in retroperitoneal fat, a type of visceral fat that is placed behind the abdominal cavity and mainly around the kidneys.
"The high incidence of hypertension and presence of retroperiotoneal fat could suggest that the effects from fat around the kidneys are influencing the development of hypertension," Turer said. "This link could open new avenues for the prevention and management of hypertension. The finding of the fat around the kidney is a novel one and we do not know specifically what the 'in the mirror' correlates are."
The finding was documented in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone