happy health blog 16

The findings, published online today in the journal  Menopause , show that black women who put on fat around their midsection during midlife are more likely to accumulate fat around their hearts, whereas white women's risk of fatty hearts is higher when they add weight all over. The results echo the findings of a Pitt Public Health study three years ago in men. "Excess fat around the heart, in both men and women, is an evolving risk factor for heart disease. But how can clinicians see it at a regular physical? They can't without a special heart scan," said senior author Samar El Khoudary, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health. "This study, coupled with our previous study in men, gives doctors another tool to evaluate their patients and get a better sense of their heart disease risk. It also may lead to suggestions for lifestyle modifications to help patients lessen that risk." El Khoudary and her team evaluated clini...

PCI is a non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries, improving blood flow to the heart. This study, funded by UHNM Charity, looked at data from all PCI procedures undertaken in the UK between 2005 and 2013. This research found that the BMI of patients undergoing PCI procedures has increased over time. It was also found that those patients with a higher BMI, specifically overweight patients, have far fewer complications and better clinical outcomes compared to either normal weight or underweight patients. The link between higher BMI and better clinical outcomes supports the obesity paradox. This is a medical theory whereby overweight patients tend to have better outcomes for a number of different cardiovascular conditions than either patients of a 'normal' weight or underweight patients. Prof Mamas Mamas, Consultant Cardiologist at UHNM and Professor of Cardiology at Keele University, led this research, alongside Dr Eric Holroyd, Consulta...