20, September 2014

Traffic pollution can make older people fat

A new study has recently associated the increased levels of obesity-related hormone leptin, among older adults, with the higher exposure to traffic related air pollution. 

Gregory A. Wellenius, ScD, of Brown University and colleagues analyzed a significant association between exposure to black carbon, a measure of fine-particle air pollution from traffic sources, and leptin levels. Researchers found that people with higher exposure to black carbon were less likely to be white, had lower incomes, and had higher rates of high blood pressure and diabetes. Higher levels of leptin, an "inflammatory cytokine," have been linked to increased rates of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. But even after adjustment for these differences, average leptin levels were 27 percent higher for older adults in the highest category of black carbon exposure. An alternative measure of exposure to traffic-related pollution,residential distance to the nearest major roadway, was unrelated to leptin levels. Study concluded the emerging evidence suggested that certain sources of traffic pollution might be associated with adverse cardiometabolic effects. The study is published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

20.09.2014

Race, ethnicity linked with heart disease risk

A man's likelihood of accumulating fat around his heart might be better determined if doctors were to consider his race and ethnicity as well as where on his body the excess fat is deposited, new research shows.

Higher volumes of fat around the heart are associated with greater risk of heart disease.

"So if you are an African-American man and carry excess weight mainly around the mid-section, then you have a higher likelihood of more fat around the heart than if you gain weight fairly evenly throughout your body," explained lead author Samar El Khoudary, an assistant professor from the University of Pittsburgh in the US.

"But the reverse is true for Koreans. Their heart disease risk is greater with overall weight gain. Knowing this can help doctors specify the right physical training for each racial, ethnic group to reduce their heart disease risk," El Khoudary noted.

For the study, researchers took a closer look at 1,199 men who were white or black from Allegheny County (south-western part of Pennsylvania), Japanese-American from Hawaii, Japanese and Korean. The study looked at the amount of fat around the heart called ectopic cardio-vascular fat.

For white men, an increase in body mass index (BMI), which is a measure of overall body fat, and abdominal fat are equally likely to indicate an increase in fat around the heart.

Black men who carry disproportionally more weight around their mid-section are at similar risk of having more fat around their hearts. Increases in BMI have lower impact.

Japanese and Japanese American men are also at similar risk of having more fat around their hearts if they have more fat in their abdomens, with BMI having less of an impact. Korean men with higher BMIs have a higher likelihood of fat around the heart, whereas abdominal fat matters less.

"What we now need to determine is whether concentrating efforts to reduce overall body fat or fat in the abdomen will actually decrease fat around the heart more in people of certain racial or ethnic groups," El Khoudary noted.

The findings appeared in the International Journal of Obesity.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

20.09.2014

Live life to express not to impress….Don’t worry about your presence…Just make your absence felt…