The danger of "mirror disease"
This article is an overview of key studies on the negative effects of visceral obesity in the long term. One of the main mechanisms of developing disorders is chronic inflammation associated with dysfunction of the immune system. As a result of inflammation, malfunctions of organs and tissues occur, the process of development of many age-related diseases accelerates. But this mechanism is not the only one, there are other ways of accelerated aging of the body associated with visceral obesity (visceral fat is located in the omentum, as well as around the internal organs located in the abdominal cavity).
A waist size of more than 90 cm in women and 100 cm in men is a sign of visceral obesity, that is, an excess of adipose tissue inside the abdominal cavity.
Editor's note: these figures do not take into account, for example, such a significant indicator as growth. A much more reliable criterion is the ratio of waist volume to hip volume. According to the WHO definition, abdominal obesity (excess fat deposits in the abdominal area) corresponds to a waist-to-hip ratio of over 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women.
Unlike subcutaneous fat, which apart from cosmetic and aesthetic discomfort is not particularly dangerous, visceral fat more actively interferes with metabolism and increases the risk of many diseases, including coronary heart disease, cancer and dementia. The only way to reduce this risk is to normalize weight through proper nutrition and exercise.
In fact, visceral fat is an endocrine organ that secretes hormones and other active compounds. One of them is retinol–binding protein 4 (RBP4), which was first discovered in a long-term (about 16 years) study of the effect of obesity on the risk of coronary heart disease. The increased risk was associated with the effect of RBP4 on insulin sensitivity, the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, which are risk factors for heart disease.
The "Million Women Study" conducted in the UK demonstrated a direct link between the development of coronary heart disease and an increase in waist circumference over 20 years. Even after deducting other risk factors, the likelihood of the disease in overweight women was twice as high. Every extra 5 cm at the waist increased the risk by 10%.
Visceral obesity is also associated with cancer. According to Korean scientists, the risk of colorectal cancer among postmenopausal women with visceral obesity was doubled. Last year's study conducted in the Netherlands proved the link between obesity and breast cancer: weight loss by an average of 5 kg led to a change in the levels of estrogen, leptin and inflammatory proteins in the blood, reducing the risk of cancer.
Equally important was the discovery of a link between visceral obesity and the risk of senile dementia. A study involving more than six and a half thousand participants in California showed a three-fold relationship between obesity in middle age and an increase in the risk of dementia after 30 years.
Moreover, according to a British study involving 350,000 people, a large abdominal circumference, even at normal body weight, is associated with twice the risk of premature death.
For details and links to research, see the full text of the article The Dangers of Belly Fat, published in the New York Times.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Fight Aging: A Reminder that Excess Visceral Fat is Harmful.