My Diabetes Information Blogs
Belly Fat, Heart Disease, and Diabetes Medication
02/05/08
Research
Mice fed the diabetes drug Actos recently taught the medical community an important lesson about how belly fat might affect human hearts. If the observations prove true in humans, people with more belly fat also tend to have more hardening of the arteries that feed the heart. Actos may fight this unhealthy phenomenon.
This article from WebMD details the findings of the study that point out the link between body fat and hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis.
Belly fat is also referred to as visceral fat. Many medical experts believe that people with large amounts of visceral fat are in more danger of heart attack, stroke and other serious health conditions than people who tend to store more fat on their arms and legs.
The new study outlined in the WebMD article points out that the danger from the visceral or belly fat may come from the increased inflammation and hardening of the arteries that it causes.
It is too early to suggest that people with ample belly fat should take the diabetes medication Actos. It would require at least four more studies to measure such a theory.
However, mild to moderate exercise and improvements in diet are able to reduce inflammation, and slow hardening of the arteries. Furthermore, you don't need a prescription or a pharmacy to do more exercise and eat better. However, we do recommend consulting with your doctor before starting an exercise program or making dramatic changes to your diet.