Those individuals measuring 10 inches from back to upper abdomen were classified to have an apple-shaped body. Researchers followed up on these individuals an average of 36 years later and found that the individuals with high belly measurements
and normal weight were 89 percent more likely to have dementia than people the body is generally associated with infection. The red area around a cut is inflammation, caused by the rush of immune cells combating harmful bacteria that is trying to get into the body. The reddened area will eventually heal and then the redness goes away. A limited amount of inflammation such as this is unlikely to do damage but chronic inflammation can eventually cause tissue damage. Chronic indicates that the inflammation is persistent and ongoing. Too much glucose in the bloodstream can cause inflammation in the body, specifi- cally in the heart.
and normal weight were 89 percent more likely to have dementia than people the body is generally associated with infection. The red area around a cut is inflammation, caused by the rush of immune cells combating harmful bacteria that is trying to get into the body. The reddened area will eventually heal and then the redness goes away. A limited amount of inflammation such as this is unlikely to do damage but chronic inflammation can eventually cause tissue damage. Chronic indicates that the inflammation is persistent and ongoing. Too much glucose in the bloodstream can cause inflammation in the body, specifi- cally in the heart.
The degree to which a person must be overweight to suf- fer from these obesity-related problems is debatable. Clearly those closer to the morbidly obese range have a much greater chance of developing these health problems than someone who has amere 20 or 30 pounds to lose. A hotly debated 2007 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion in Atlanta, Georgia, showed that people with a BMI between 25 and 30, which is considered overweight but not obese, have a lower death rate than people in the so-called normal, underweight, or obese weight ranges.2 The research- ers examined death records for 37,000 adults, along with age and weight to determine an individual’s BMI. These records were then used to track trends in death rates with BMI. This study also found that being overweight did not increase the risk of dying from heart disease or cancer. Perhaps most surprisingly, the data indicated that the overweight were less likely die from other diseases such as chronic respiratory dis- ease, Alzheimer’s, infections, and Parkinson’s. The research- ers theorized that perhaps this excess fat served as an extra reserve during periods of illness. This study challenges the traditional notion that being overweight is unhealthy and leads to obesity-related health problems. The obese did not fare as well in this study, however. When researchers looked at the death records of people with BMIs ranking them as obese, they found that this group was at a higher risk for the diseases commonly associated with obesity. This study has outraged many medical professionals such as Walter Willett, MD, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, who believes the find- ings should be completely disregarded. He argues that other studies have shown that being overweight can shorten one’s life. Other critics say that the study does not address quality of life. These overweight individuals may not have died from their excess weight, but they may have suffered along the way, with osteoarthritis, for example. Most experts agree that track- ing the impact of excess weight over a person’s lifetime is dif- ficult, and that it is particularly difficult to determine at which point certain illnesses or even death can be attributed to excess weight. It is important to realize that this is the first time in his- tory that humankind has had such a prevalence of overweight and obese individuals, and therefore there is no clear data of exactly how this health factor affects death rates.
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