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News for Baby Boomers
Overweight Boomer Men at Higher Risk of Heart
Attack, Stroke, Premature Death
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Being heart
healthy and weighing too much are incompatible:
Overweight and obese middle-aged men are at higher risk of heart
attack and death even if they do not have the metabolic
syndrome.
Men with the
metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of heart
attack, stroke and premature death, whether or not they are
overweight. |
Previous studies suggested that obese people without
metabolic syndrome were not at risk - this contradicts that
Jan. 4, 2010 – Any way you look at it, overweight
or obese middle-aged men are at a higher risk of heart attack, stroke
and premature death, according to research reported in Circulation:
Journal of the American Heart Association. This dreadful prognosis holds
true, too, even if they don’t have the metabolic syndrome.
“Previous studies have put forward the existence
of a “metabolically healthy” subgroup of obese individuals who are at no
increased cardiovascular risk, but if you follow them long enough, you
find out there appears to be no such thing as metabolically healthy
obesity,” said Johan Ärnlöv, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of
cardiovascular epidemiology at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden.
When previous studies have examined the occurrence
of heart disease risk with obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) - a
cluster of risk factors associated with the development of heart disease
and diabetes - obese people without MetS have not portrayed an increased
risk. However, these studies followed people for 13 years or less and
it is possible that the increase in risk in the obese without the MetS
becomes more evident after 10 – 15 years, Ärnlöv said.
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New
Research Finding May Help Baby Boomers Build Better Physiques
Free radicals damage mitochondria in our
muscle cells, resulting in age-related muscle loss
Jan. 4, 2009 - If you're an
aging baby boomer hoping for a better physique, there's hope. A
team of American scientists from Texas and Michigan have made a
significant discovery about the cause of age-related muscle
atrophy that could lead to new drugs to halt this natural
process.
This research, available
online the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org),
shows that free radicals, such as reactive oxygen species,
damage mitochondria in muscle cells, leading to cell death and
muscle atrophy. Now that scientists understand the cause of
age-related muscle loss, they can begin to develop new drugs to
halt the process.
"Age-related muscle atrophy
in skeletal muscle is inevitable. However, we know it can be
slowed down or delayed," said Holly Van Remmen, Ph.D., co-author
of the study, from the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for
Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health
Science Center at San Antonio.
"Our goal is to increase our
understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying sarcopenia to
gain insight that will help us to discover therapeutic
interventions to slow or limit this process."
To make this discovery, Van
Remmen and colleagues used mice that were genetically
manipulated to prevent them from having a protective antioxidant
(CuZnSOD). As a result of not being able to produce this
antioxidant, the mice had very high levels of free radicals
(reactive oxygen species) and lost muscle mass and function at a
much faster rate than normal mice.
Additionally, the muscles of
the genetically modified mice were much smaller and weaker than
those of normal mice. Scientists believe that these findings
mimic effects of the normal aging process in humans, but at an
accelerated rate.
"I don't expect to see baby
boomers gracing the pages of body building magazines tomorrow.
But this research is important because it identifies molecules
responsible for the aging of our muscles: free radicals," said
Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal.
"Stop these from acting and we'll all look younger, stronger and
fit at any age.
The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org)
is published by the Federation of the American Societies for
Experimental Biology (FASEB). |
The current 30-year study involved 1,758 men born
between 1920 and 1924 in Uppsala. Each underwent a health evaluation at
age 50, and those who had diabetes or had been hospitalized for heart
disease were not included.
During the follow-up, 681 suffered a cardiovascular
event (death or hospitalization from heart attack, stroke or heart
failure) – including 386 cardiovascular deaths. After adjusting for
age, smoking and the men’s levels of “bad” LDL-cholesterol, the
researchers compared men with MetS and/or high body mass index (BMI)
with those of normal weight and without MetS. The researchers found
that the risk of cardiovascular disease was:
● 63 percent higher in normal weight men with
MetS;
● 52 percent higher in overweight men without
MetS;
● 74 percent higher in overweight men with MetS;
● 95 percent higher in obese men without MetS;
● 155 percent higher in obese men with MetS.
“Normal weight men with the metabolic syndrome were
at increased risk, and overweight and obese men were at increased risk
even if they did not have the metabolic syndrome,” Ärnlöv said.
“Doctors need to address a person’s total risk,
including smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure and weight. Some
researchers have suggested that a heavy person without other risk
factors didn’t need to lose weight, but our data does not support this
notion.”
Researchers classified men as having the metabolic
syndrome if they had three or more of these findings at the time of
their original exam:
● impaired ability to handle glucose [fasting
blood glucose at least 110 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL)];
● elevated blood pressure (at least 130/85mm Hg
or being treated with medication);
● high levels of the blood fats called
triglycerides (at least 150 mg/dL);
● low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol (less
than 40 mg/dL);
● BMI at least 29.4 kg/m2. A large waist,
indicating excessive fat tissue around the abdomen, is usually used in
assessing the metabolic syndrome but was not available for this group of
men.
Long-term data on these factors is not available
for women, but Ärnlöv said doctors should pay attention to women’s
weight as well as their other cardiovascular risk factors.
“I don’t think we should consider obesity without
the MetS to be benign in women just because we don’t have the data yet,”
Ärnlöv said.
The results were not surprising, according to an
American Heart Association spokesperson.
“We’ve known for years that obesity worsens or
exacerbates many risk factors,” said Barry Franklin, Ph.D, chair of the
American Heart Association’s council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and
Metabolism.
“What was interesting about this study was that the
findings differed from previous studies – which involve much shorter
follow up – that suggested that obese people without metabolic syndrome
were not at risk. This study really contradicts that and I believe it’s
in large part related to longer follow up.”
Franklin said the role of fitness in reducing
cardiovascular disease was not discussed in this study. As New Year’s
resolutions approach he urged patients to recognize that even a five to
pound weight loss can make a significant health benefit.
Co-authors are: Erik Ingelsson, M.D., Ph.D.; Johan
Sundström, M.D., Ph.D., and Lars Lind, M.D., Ph.D. Individual author
disclosures can be found on the manuscript.
>>
Click to audio comments by Dr. Barry Franklin
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| |
Watch Video -
Link in Story |
|
Obesity Linked to Large Stroke Increase Among
Middle-Aged Women
Still only about 2% have stroke buy increase
is almost four-fold
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|
About Metabolic
Syndrome
Also called: Insulin resistance
syndrome, Metabolic Syndrome X
Metabolic syndrome is a
group of conditions that put you at risk for
heart disease and
diabetes. These conditions are
●
High blood pressure
● High blood sugar levels
● High levels of
triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood
● Low levels of HDL, the good
cholesterol, in your blood
● Too much fat around your waist
Not all doctors agree on the
definition or cause of metabolic syndrome. The cause might be
insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone your body produces to
help you turn sugar from food into energy for your body. If you
are insulin resistant, too much sugar builds up in your blood,
setting the stage for disease.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and
Kidney Diseases |
Men Who are Too Fat Run Risk of Undetected Prostate
Cancer
Men with a BMI of 35+ had 11 to 21 percent lower
PSA relative to normal-weight men
Nov. 20, 2007
Being a Little Overweight May Be Best for Battling
Disease, Infection, Staying Alive
The modestly overweight have a lower risk of death
than obese and underweight
Nov. 6, 2007
Seniors Improving Heart Health but the Obese are
Sliding into Functional Disability
Exercise, lifestyle changes may help but we need a
successful public health strategy to prevent obesity, says editorial
Nov. 6, 2007
Senior Citizen Obese at 65 Will See Lifespan Shrink,
Cost Society More
Epidemic of weight-related diseases as baby boomers
become senior citizens
Oct. 26, 2007
Obesity Raises the Risk of Multiple Myeloma Found
Most Often in Senior Citizens
A Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher is
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