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Post # 1
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Join Date: 22 Jun 2011
Location:  KuwaitPosts: 448 |
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Taller, heavier men more likely to suffer blood clots |
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Always thought height to be all advantages? Brace yourselves, as being tall, plump and a man, is all it takes to carry high risks of blood clots.
Mathematics says a plus and a minus eventually gives back a minus, so does medical science, when it comes to men being tall plus obese. The combination proves lethal as it gives way to an increased risk for developing serious blood clots in legs and lungs, as proclaimed by Norwegian researchers. It was at the Hematological Research Group at the University of Tromsø, Norway, that senior study author, Sigrid K. Braekkan, led his team for the study. "The present study is the first to investigate the joint effects of obesity and height on the risk of venous clots," said the postdoctoral researcher. "Tall and obese men had more than a five-fold higher risk, compared to short and lean men," said Braekkan, who warns these men of immobilization of legs. 26,714 Norwegians studied The team of researchers collected data on height and weight of 26,714 individuals for an average of 12.5 years from the Tromso study in Norway. Tromso study features periodic surveys of adult health, aged 25 to 97 years. In the study, tall men meant a minimum five-feet-11 inches whereas less than five-feet-eight inches was considered short. Over five-feet-six inches defined tall women and short meant five-feet-three inches or less. A body mass index (BMI) under 25 is normal weight and one over 30 would be termed as obese. Tall, obese versus short, non-obese The investigation came to a close in 2007. It put forth 461 cases of DVT and PE. Scientists found that tall, obese men ran a risk of developing blood clots 5.28 times higher versus short, non-obese ones. Men, tall with a normal BMI, showed 2.57 times greater risk than short ones. Short but obese men were at 2.11 times more risk. Coming to women, tall and obese faced a 2.77 times higher clots risk while short and obese were at 1.83 times increased risk. No risk elevation could be found in tall women with normal BMI-s. In this case, however, height was not a factor, as tall and short women, with normal BMIs, showed the same amount of risk. Obesity was found the key villain, as all obese individuals experienced a raise in risk, irrespective of height or gender. "The risk is higher in tall, obese men than in tall, obese women," WebMD quoted Baekkan from an e-mail interview. "In men, both body height and weight are associated with increased risk of venous clots. In women, body height is not a risk factor alone. However, when combined with obesity, the risk is higher than for obesity alone." The mortal combination "yields a synergistic increase in risk in both men and women," Braekkan added. Obesity is the prime cause Now, what we need to know is the role of obesity in clot formation. Obesity is, by nature, a risk-carrier for venous clots. The clots target lower limbs causing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) as well as pulmonary embolism (PE) in blood vessels hindering blood flow to the lungs. The result is sudden death or cardiac trouble. DVT and PE together is termed venous thromboembolism (VTE). "Understanding and preventing VTE is important because even the first occurrence may be fatal. Obesity, in combination with other VTE risk factors, has been shown to substantially increase the risk, so we wanted to assess the combined effects of tall stature and obesity," he added. Researchers found other VTE risk factors like in "pregnancy, using oral contraceptives, or having a gene for an inherited predisposition to clotting (Factor V Leiden)" similar to the present case. A plausible explanation can be the assocation of clots risk with the circulatory mechanism of tall people. "The distance for blood to return to the heart and lungs is longer," Braekkan explained, "Since the blood must be pumped upwards against the force of gravity by the calf-muscle pump, the longer distance may cause reduced flow in the legs and, thereby, higher risk of clotting." Moreover, obese people experience high pressure in the abdomen which can potentially reduce the power of calf-muscle pump to send flow of blood back from the lower limbs. Obesity is a further cause of inflammations which makes blood more prone to clotting. Study limitations Since the study zeroed in on data from just one town in Norway, the results hold a limited scope and may not be universally applicable. "We believe that we observed the increased risk in tall and normal-weight men, but not women, because most women do not get sufficiently tall," Braekkan said. He continued, "The risk may be present in very tall women, but there were too few to investigate this properlyâ€. A word of advice from the author read, "Since body height is not easy to modify, the most important thing is to stay slim, especially if you are tall." The study appeared on April 28 in the journal 'Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology', of the American Heart Association. |
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Post # 2
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Join Date: 18 Jul 2010
Location: KuwaitPosts: 274 |
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RE: Taller, heavier men more likely to suffer blood clots |
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