Early atherogenesis and visceral fat in obese adolescents

 

Early atherogenesis and visceral fat in obese adolescents

A H Slyper, H Rosenberg, A Kabra, M J Weiss, B Blech, S Gensler and M Matsumura

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

 

Little information is available as to the cause of increased thickening of the intima-media of the carotid artery (cIMT) in the pediatric population. Therefore, cIMT was compared in obese adolescents and normal-weight controls, and associations between cIMT and lipid and non-lipid cardiovascular risk factors were assessed.

Subjects/Methods:

 

Subjects included 61 obese non-diabetic male and female volunteers aged 12–18 years inclusive with a body mass index (BMI) >95th percentile for age and 2-h blood glucose <200 class="mb" span=""> 

mg dl⁻¹ matched to 25 normal-weight control volunteers with normal glucose levels. Each subject underwent a 2-h glucose tolerance test and measurement of hemoglobin A1c, ultrasensitive C-reactive protein, fasting insulin, blood lipids, visceral, subcutaneous abdominal and hepatic fat, and cIMT.

Results:

 

Maximum cIMT was 0.647±0.075 mm in the obese subjects versus 0.579±0.027 mm in normal-weight controls (P<0 .001="" 2-h="" and="" assessment="" between="" bmi="" cholesterol="" cimt="" correlations="" difference="" fasting="" female="" glucose="" hdl="" high-density="" homeostasis="" in="" insulin="" ldl="" lipoprotein="" low-density="" male="" maximum="" model="" no="" significant="" sub="" subjects.="" there="" total="" very="" was="" were="" z-score="">2

cholesterol, HDL₃ cholesterol, triglycerides, remnant lipoprotein cholesterol, intermediate-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), apoprotein B100, abdominal subcutaneous fat volume, visceral fat volume and hepatic phase difference. On multiple regression analysis, visceral fat was the most significant predictor of maximum cIMT. Two-hour blood glucose, HOMA and systolic blood pressure were also significant predictors of maximum cIMT.

Conclusions:

 

cIMT was increased in the obese adolescents compared with the normal-weight-matched controls. Visceral fat was a key predictor of arterial wall thickening in these subjects. The results suggest that the focus of cardiovascular disease prevention in the adolescent obese should be visceral obesity, and not blood lipids or lipid subclasses.

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International Journal of Obesity (23 January 2014) | doi:10.1038/ijo.2014.11

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Latest Study: Cholesterol Theory is Still Rubbish - Anthony Colpo

Latest Study: Cholesterol Theory is Still Rubbish

Anthony Colpo | Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 | Comments Off

Cholesterol-lowering: Probably the biggest wank in the history of medicine.

A soon-to-be published article in the journal Atherosclerosis adds to the vast sum of research contradicting the cholesterol theory of cardiovascular disease.

In this study, researchers tracked 82,380 participants with no known history of cardiovascular disease for an average of eight years (during the period 1994–2004) as part of the Health Survey for England. Mean age of the subjects was 55.4 and the male:female ratio was 45:55.

Given that we’ve been told ad naseum cholesterol causes heart disease, you’d expect blood cholesterol to assert itself as a robust risk factor for heart disease in such a large study. With 82,380 participants followed for almost a decade, and with 806 and 1346 subsequent deaths from stroke and IHD deaths, respectively, cholesterol had every opportunity to leave its allegedly deadly mark.
But it didn’t.

Total cholesterol levels didn’t make a whit of difference to coronary heart disease risk, and were in fact associated with a lower risk of stroke[1].

Oops. Bet this study won’t be getting the extravagant media coverage given to all those shonky Big Pharma-sponsored statin studies that are prematurely ended whilst the “miracle” drug is still showing a piddling but “statistically significant” advantage…

So what factors were associated with increased stroke and heart attack risk?
Only age, smoking, systolic BP, diabetes and physical activity were predictive of stroke, while age, male gender (get those iron levels checked fellas…), smoking, systolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, diabetes, BMI, physical activity, CRP, and fibrinogen were predictive of coronary heart disease.

Bottom line: Don’t smoke, do some regular exercise, avoid high blood sugar levels, keep a healthy weight, and keep your serum ferritin between 30-75 (depending on your activity levels). And give cholesterol-phobia a good swift kick in its fraudulent backside.

References
1. Hamer M, et al. Comparison of risk factors for fatal stroke and ischemic heart disease: A prospective follow up of the health survey for England. Atherosclerosis (2011), doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2011.08.016