By IANS
New York : Having a pot-belly can put you at risk of getting a heart attack. A new study has found that abdominal fat is linked to heart disease.
Large waist measurements relative to hip size, were linked to early signs of heart disease, researchers from the University of Texas found after studying 2,744 people.
The researches found that the link remained strong when other risk factors such as blood pressure, diabetes and age were taken into account.
The study looked at men and women who undergone medical tests and imaging scans to identify the early signs of atherosclerosis – the narrowing and hardening of the arteries linked to the development of cardiovascular disease, reported the online edition of BBC News.
The researchers then examined the relationship between the participants’ body shapes and the presence of atherosclerosis.
They found that adding a few inches to the waist increased the risk of damage in the arteries even if body weight remained within the normal range.
The study suggests that a waist size of 32 inches (81cm) for a woman and 37 inches (94cm) for a man represents a “significant” raised risk.
The report was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology said that unlike abdominal fat, the fat around the hips doesn’t appear to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease at all.