New Delhi, November 4 (IANS). Heart disease is one of the biggest health problems worldwide today. Many people associate it only with obesity, high cholesterol or high blood pressure, but a new research has revealed that these methods are not always correct.
Many people whose weight is normal or only slightly overweight do not see this danger. Such people may be at risk for heart disease even if their body mass index (BMI) is within the normal range.
In a study published in The Lancet Regional Health-Americas, researchers found that waist-to-height ratio may be the most reliable way to identify heart disease risk.
Researchers say that after this discovery, doctors and common people can adopt new ways to understand the risk of heart disease. This is especially important for people who do not fall into the obese category according to BMI, but may still be at risk.
“Initial analyses, BMI, waist-to-height ratio all appeared to be associated with future risk of heart disease. But when other common risk factors, such as age, sex, smoking, exercise, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol were taken into account, only waist-to-height ratio emerged as a significant predictor,” said lead author Thiago Bosco Mendes of the University of Pittsburgh in the US.
The research included data from 2,721 adults who did not have any heart disease. These people were tracked for more than five years to see which measurement most accurately identified heart disease risk. The results showed that this method works especially well in people whose BMI is less than 30. These people often don’t consider themselves at risk for obesity or heart disease, but their waist-to-height ratio can give them early warning.
BMI is calculated based only on weight and height and does not tell where fat is stored in the body. Fat accumulation around the abdomen, called central obesity, is directly linked to heart disease. The waist-to-height ratio reflects this central fat and can therefore be considered a better indicator of heart disease.
The study also revealed that people who had a BMI less than 30 but had a waist-to-height ratio greater than 0.5 had a higher risk of coronary artery calcification, i.e. calcium deposits in the heart arteries, in the future. This is a leading indicator of heart disease.
“The waist-to-height ratio can be used as a simple and effective screening tool,” said senior author Marcio Bittencourt, MD, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. That is, the risk of heart disease can also be identified in patients whose other parameters like weight, blood pressure and cholesterol appear normal. In this way, timely identification and treatment is possible, due to which the risk of serious diseases and heart attacks can be reduced.
–IANS
PK/AS
