Why Hidden Fat, Not Weight, Predicts Heart Aging
Dato Capt. Mahesan Subramaniam, Co-Founder of United Health Tourism, shared a post on LinkedIn:
”A new study analyzed scans from over 21,000 people and found that the fat you can’t see – visceral fat around organs inside your belly – may speed up how fast your heart gets old. Scientists used imaging and artificial intelligence to compare someone’s “heart age” (how worn out their heart looks) with their real age. They discovered that more visceral fat is linked with signs of stiffening and inflammation in the heart and blood vessels.
Interestingly, body-mass index (BMI) didn’t predict heart aging as well – someone might appear slim but still carry dangerous internal fat. The study also noted differences between men and women. Men who carry fat around the belly (“apple” shape) showed more rapid heart aging. Meanwhile, for women, having more fat around the hips and thighs (“pear” shape) seemed somewhat protective. The hormone estrogen may play a role in that protection before menopause.
Even people who exercise a lot could be at risk if they have high visceral fat. The researchers suggest that targeting this hidden fat might help slow heart aging. They plan to look into medications—like some used for diabetes or weight loss—as possible ways to deal with this internal fat. (This work was done by scientists at MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, using UK Biobank data.)
Research papaer here.”
Title: Sex-specific body fat distribution predicts cardiovascular ageing
Authors: Vladimir Losev, Chang Lu, Shamin Tahasildar, Deva S Senevirathne, Paolo Inglese, Wenjia Bai, Andrew P King, Mit Shah, Antonio de Marvao, Declan P O’Regan
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