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15 Sep 2008
The amount of fat a person has is not as important as where on their body it is located in terms of their risk of heart disease, according to a new study.
Carried out by members of staff at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre in North Carolina in the USA, the research is published in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Multiple fat deposits were measured in 388 participants aged between 47 and 86.
It was found that the amount of fat an individual had around their organs and in between their muscles had a direct link with the amount of hard, calcified plaque they had.
Calcified plaque is associated with the presence of fatty deposits in blood vessels which can lead to a heart attack or stroke, the scientists noted
"Our hypothesis was that this kind of fat is quite different from subcutaneous fat, or fat just below the skin... Subcutaneous fat may not be as bad as having fat deposited around organs and in between muscles," comments lead researcher Jingzhong Ding.
He adds that the research could result in the need to develop ways to treat various different forms of fatty deposits.
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