Another Reason to Watch Your Waistline “or is it”
May 20, 2009 | Posted by bryan | 0 Comments
It may seem like common sense that people with a larger waistline are more at risk of suffering heart disease.
But now the link has been confirmed, in both men and women, by researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
And the findings could have greater implications for men, as more of their male participants were seen to be overweight.
Based on a survey of participants in the study, 46 per cent of men were overweight and a further ten per cent obese.
Among female subjects, however, the figures stood at 34 and 11 per cent respectively.
Primary author of the study Emily Levitan, a research fellow at the medical centre’s cardiovascular epidemiology research unit, explains that the study was inspired by the possibility of a link between rising obesity and increased prevalence of heart disease during the 1990s.
The research revealed that, even for participants with a body mass index – or BMI – in the ‘normal’ range, increased waist size carried a greater risk of heart failure.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center explains that its 113-year history began in 1896 with the formation of Deaconess Hospital by Methodist missionaries in Boston.
In 1916, the facility was complemented with the creation of the Beth Israel Hospital by Boston’s Jewish community, with the two now working together as a single institution to resolve obstacles to effective healthcare for the city’s population.