| Vol. 2, No 3, September 2007 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Obese Men More Likely to Die of Prostate Cancer |
| Obese men may be more than twice as likely as lean men to die of prostate cancer. The journal Cancer (March 15, 2007) reports that the Fred Hutchinson Center studied 752 men, 40-64 years old, and recently diagnosed with cancer. During the nine-year study, men who were obese one year before the diagnosis were 2.6 times more likely than men with a normal BMI to die of prostate cancer. The results persisted when the researchers considered other risk factors, the prostate cancer’s stage, and prostate cancer treatment. What’s more, men who were obese in the year before diagnosis of regional prostate cancer were three times more likely to have that cancer metastasize than leaner counterparts. |
|
 |
Source:
WebMD Medical News (March 15, 2007) |
|
|
|
| Rising Surgery Risks For Obese |
 |
|
Obese people are at higher
risk of potentially deadly complications following surgery, according to a University of Michigan study. They may be at higher risk of postoperative complications, such as heart attack, wound infection, nerve injury, and urinary tract infections. What’s more, morbidly obese patients (patients more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight) were nearly twice as likely to die as a result of complications following noncardiac surgery. |
Source:
WebMD Medical News (March 14, 2007) |
|
Larger Waist Takes
Breath Away
Researchers at McGill University Health Center, Montreal found that morbidly obese men tend to have more breathing difficulties than morbidly obese women, partly because they have much larger waistlines. The publication CHEST (February 2007) reported that investigators examined the effect of the “waist-to-hip ratio” on breathing in 25 morbidly obese adults scheduled for bariatric surgery. The waist-to-hip ratio is a calculation of a person’s waist circumference divided by their hip circumference. Morbidly obese men had a larger waist-to-hip ratio compared with morbidly obese women. Men also tended to have poorer pulmonary gas exchange compared with women. Because of their larger waistlines, men experience lower blood oxygenation and higher impairment of oxygen transfer.
|
|
Source:
Reuters Health (February 16, 2007)
|
| Obesity May Lead to Irregular Heartbeat |
|
Atrial fibrillation, a rapid, irregular heartbeat that increases the risk of stroke, may be more common in people who are obese and have obstructive sleep apnea.
 |
|
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (February 6, 2007), reports that researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine conducted a study of 3542 adults who were being evaluated for sleep disturbances. During an average follow-up period of 4.7 years, 133 subjects developed atrial fibrillation. Along with other established risk factors for the irregular heartbeat, obesity strongly predicted the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.
Source:
Reuters Health (February 23, 2007) |
| Obesity Makes Asthma Worse |
|
Obese adults with asthma are more likely than their leaner counterparts to have severe, persistent disease, according to a study reported at the May 2007 American Thoracic Society’s conference held in San Francisco. Researchers at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta analyzed 3,059 adults with asthma and found that obese patients were 52% more likely to have severe persistent asthma than normal-weight counterparts. Evidence suggests the hormone leptin, which is produced by fat cells and plays a role in weight regulation and asthma-related airway inflammation, may be a factor.
|
|
Source:
Reuters Health (May 22, 2007) |
|
|
|
