New
Study Points To Inactivity And Troublesome Layer Of Fat
Exercise Can Reduce This Extra Layer
A
sedentary lifestyle leads to a buildup of dangerous levels of fat deep
within the belly, increasing the risk of heart disease and other conditions.
That is the conclusion of a new study by
Duke University Medical Center researchers. They say this "visceral
fat" accumulates at a surprisingly quick rate around organs and
deeper in the body than subcutaneous fat, which lies under the skin.
On the upside, the researchers found that months of
regular, moderate exercise can prevent the build-up of visceral fat,
while vigorous exercise can significantly reduce levels of such fat.
The Duke researchers
reported the study at the American College of Sports Medicine
(ACSM) annual meeting. The study is part of a five-year Duke
trial on the effects of exercise, funded by a grant from the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Study
Finds High Cost for Inactivity
Researchers followed
170 overweight men and women aged 40 to 65 for about eight months. The
researchers divided participants into four groups.
One group did no exercise. The other three groups were
classified based on a weekly exercise regimen equivalent to about 11
miles of walking, 11 miles of jogging, or 17 miles of jogging.
Lack of any exercise led to significant increases in
visceral fat, the researchers found.
"This finding emphasizes the high cost of continued
physical inactivity for sedentary, overweight adults," they wrote.
Dr. William Kraus, a Duke cardiologist who led the exercise
trial, offers simple advice to counter the buildup of visceral fat.
"Get out and do something; don't sit," says
Dr. Kraus, an associate professor at Duke's medical center. "Being
sedentary is very bad for your health."
It is even worse than researchers had previously realized,
adds Dr. Kraus. "The most striking result was how bad the sedentary
people got over eight months," he says.
Dr. Gerald Fletcher, a professor of medicine and director
of preventive cardiology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., says
the study illustrates well the "vicious syndrome" that results
from visceral abdominal fat.
Dr. Fletcher, also
a spokesman for the American Heart Association (AHA),
says visceral fat buildup increases the risk of high blood pressure,
blood clotting, elevated levels of "bad" cholesterol, and
insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.
Get
Out, Get Moving
"I'm just
hoping this study will motivate our obese public to do things we've
been preaching for years," Dr. Fletcher says. "We looked at
all ways to treat [visceral fat buildup], and the best way is physical
activity."
Even elderly patients who had been sedentary can benefit
greatly from moderate exercise, he says.
In the Duke study, for participants who did not exercise,
visceral fat increased an average of 8.6 percent. Such fat decreased
an average of 8.1 percent among those who jogged about 17 miles each
week.
Those in the two less-intensive exercise groups had
no significant increase in visceral fat, demonstrating the preventive
role of moderate exercise.
Men who did not exercise averaged a 1.5 percent overall
weight gain; women, 0.6 percent. However, women averaged an 11.6 percent
increase in visceral fat, more than twice that of men (5.7 percent).
Researchers say determining why would require further study.
Participants exercised on treadmills, elliptical trainers,
or cycle ergometers in a supervised setting, and nobody changed their
diet during the study.
Always consult your physician for a diagnosis.
Online
Resources
American
College of Sports Medicine
American
Heart Association
American
Lung Association
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
HealthierUS.Gov
National
Cancer Institute (NCI)
National
Cancer Institute (NCI) Eat 5 to 9 A Day
National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
National
Women's Health Information Center |
July 2003
In
This Issue:
New
Study Points To Inactivity And Troublesome Layer Of Fat
Study
Finds High Cost for Inactivity
Get
Out, Get Moving
Women
Benefit More from Quitting Smoking than Men
Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Quality of Life
Online
Resources
Other
Resources:
Find
a St. John's Mercy Physician
Women's
Services at St. John's Mercy
Women's
Health Information
St.
John's Mercy Classes and Programs
Women
Benefit More from Quitting Smoking than Men
New findings from the Lung Health Study (LHS) indicate
that, in general, women's lung function improves significantly more
than men's after sustained smoking cessation.
LHS
researchers previously published results showing that both men and
women benefit from smoking cessation; this new analysis indicates
that the benefits to the lungs are greater in women than in men. The
results are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Supported
by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
the study followed more than 5,300 middle-aged smokers for five years.
All
participants had mild or moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD).
In
the first year after quitting, women's lung function improved more
than twice that of the men's. Among those who quit, improved lung
function remained greater for women than for men throughout the study,
although the differences between the genders narrowed over time.
The
decline in lung function in those who continued to smoke was on average
similar for men and women.
Cigarette
smoking is a leading cause of COPD, a slowly progressive disease of
the lung that is characterized by a gradual loss of lung function.
COPD
is the fourth most common and the most rapidly increasing cause of
death in the US. Emphysema, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive
bronchitis, or a combination of emphysema and chronic bronchitis are
forms of COPD.
Always
consult your physician for a diagnosis.
Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Quality of Life
The goals
of COPD rehabilitation programs include helping a person return to
the highest level of function and independence possible, while improving
the overall quality of life - physically, emotionally, and socially.
Attaining
these goals help people with COPD live more comfortably by improving
endurance, providing relief of symptoms, and preventing progression
of the disease with minimal side effects.
In
order to reach these goals, COPD rehabilitation programs may include
the following:
-
medication
management
-
exercises to decrease respiratory symptoms and improve muscle strength
and endurance
-
respiratory treatments to improve breathing ability
-
assistance with obtaining respiratory equipment and portable oxygen
-
methods to increase independence with activities of daily living
(ADLs)
-
exercises for physical conditioning and improved endurance
-
stress management, relaxation exercises, and emotional support
-
smoking cessation programs
-
nutritional counseling
-
patient and family education and counseling
-
vocational counseling
Always consult your physician for a diagnosis.
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