Does a fat leg mean lower blood pressure?

Thursday, September 10, 2020 (HealthDay News)-People with thick legs appear less likely to have high blood pressure, a new study suggests.

Researchers suspect that measuring leg fat can guide blood pressure prevention efforts. People with thick legs don’t have to worry too much about high blood pressure-the cause of a heart attack or stroke.

“Fat distribution is a problem. I think fat is bad in all cases, but leg fat may not be as bad as we think,” said Aayush Visaria, the lead author of the study. It was He is a fourth year medical student at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Previous studies have found that excess weight near the center can increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. “Mid fat is very important because it is where all the organs, such as the liver, pancreas, and intestines, reside, and they are all affected by fat. Too much fat impairs the function of these organs. Will be done,” said Visaria.

But that doesn’t mean that people who gain more weight in their lower limbs don’t have to maintain a healthy weight either. “A lot of fat is not good, no matter where it is. Muscles are better than fats. Our research shows that when you have fats, you have more leg fats than you have in the abdomen. It is better that there are more.

Dr. Vivek Bhalla is Director of the Hypertension Center at Stanford University, California. “This study should not be construed as saying that if a patient’s leg fat is high, they do not develop hypertension.”

Barra said how the distribution of fat affects the risk of high blood pressure is still unknown. He said that fat accumulated in different areas of the body can act in different ways.

Visaria suggested that the differences may be related to triglyceride (a type of blood fat) levels. He said that people with high leg fat in the study had lower triglyceride levels.

The new study included approximately 6,000 adults who participated in the National Health Survey between 2011 and 2016. Their average age was 37. About half were women. Almost one-quarter of the group was hypertensive (defined in this study as blood pressure above 130/80 mm Hg).

Researchers used special X-ray images to measure leg fat. These measurements were compared to measurements of total body fat. Men with 34% leg fat were defined as having high leg fat. The women’s cutoff was 39%.

People with high leg fat were 61% less likely to have high blood pressure than those with thin legs. The findings were retained after researchers adjusted for factors such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, smoking, alcohol use, cholesterol levels, and waist fat levels.

The researchers said the study was not designed to prove causality. It could only show an association between higher leg fat and lower blood pressure. Visaria said more research is needed, especially for older people. He said these findings may not be generalized to people over the age of 60, as the study targets between the ages of 20 and 59.

Baller pointed out that “obesity is a major epidemic in the United States and around the world, and like many in medicine, it has a shade of gray rather than black or white.”

In addition, Rose advised. “Learn about the types of fat, the distribution of fat, the factors secreted by the type of fat, and how it affects the risk of general conditions, [including] Hypertension, Heart Disease, Diabetes-It is important to keep in mind that we need to treat patients as individuals, measure their risk and advise their patients appropriately. ”

He also said it’s important to remember what people can do now to lower blood pressure.

• Reduce salt (sodium)
• Regular exercise
• Get enough sleep
• Reduce stress
• Reduce alcohol consumption

The findings were to be announced Thursday at a virtual meeting of the American Heart Association. The findings presented at the conference should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For more information

Find out more about how your body shape affects your health risk Pen medicine..