‘Hidden fat’ raises a woman’s risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease with every extra 2.2lbs boosting her odds by seven-fold
- Scientists in Sweden estimated the visceral fat of more than 325,000 people
- Found abdominal fat raises the risk of heart disease ‘more strongly in woman’
- More than 200 genes are behind abdominal fat; many are linked to overeating
‘Hidden’ fat may raise a woman’s risk of getting type 2 diabetes and heart disease, research suggests.
Scientists estimated how much visceral fat, which surrounds the abdominal organs, is carried by more than 325,000 people.
They found the internal fat raises the risk of everything from type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure to a heart attack, especially in women.
For every additional 2.2lbs (1kg) of visceral fat a woman gains, her risk of the health complications rises by more than seven times, the study found.
This is compared to men, whose odds ‘a little more than doubles’. It is unclear why there are these differences between the sexes.
‘Hidden’ fat may raise a woman’s risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease (stock)
‘We were surprised visceral fat was more strongly linked to risk of disease in women compared to men,’ study author Dr Åsa Johansson said.
‘Adding an extra kilogram of visceral fat can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes more than seven times in women.
‘The same amount of fat accumulation only increases the risk a little more than two times in men.’
Heart disease is responsible for a quarter of all deaths in the UK and US, statistics show.
Type 2 diabetes is also a serious problem, with more than half a billion people being thought to have the condition worldwide.
Visceral fat has long been known to increase a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Also known as ‘active fat’, it can play a ‘distinctive and potentially dangerous role affecting how our hormones function’, according to Diabetes.co.uk
Visceral fat also secretes a protein called retinol-binding protein four, which may increase insulin resistance.
This occurs when cells do not respond properly to insulin and is the ‘driving factor’ for type 2 diabetes.
WHAT IS VISCERAL FAT?
Visceral fat is stored in your middle around your organs.
It is meant to ensure that there is some distance between each organ.
It is sometimes referred to as ‘active fat’ because research has shown that this type of fat affects how our hormones function.
Storing higher amounts of visceral fat is associated with a range of health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure and a raised risk of heart disease.
However, the extent of visceral fat’s harm, and the genes behind it, were less clear.
To learn more, the researchers estimated the hidden fat levels of hundreds of thousands of people. They did this by looking at the expression of genes that are known to cause heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Results – published in the journal Nature Medicine – revealed the women deemed to have high levels of visceral fat were more at risk of high blood pressure, heart attack or chest pain, type 2 diabetes and elevated blood fat levels over their life.
Perhaps surprisingly, those with small or moderate amounts of visceral fat were more at risk than those with large amounts who then gained more. It is unclear why this occurred.
The results also showed fat distribution varied between the participants. For example, those who were a healthy weight may still have accumulated dangerous amounts of hidden fat.
‘Nonlinear effects like this are very interesting to study and may help us to understand the biology behind the link between visceral fat and disease,’ lead author Dr Torgny Karlsson said.
In a second part of the experiment, the scientists examined the human genome to identify genes that affect visceral fat development. They found more than 200 genes are involved in this process.
A ‘large proportion’ of these genes are linked to behaviour. This suggests overeating, and a lazy lifestyle, are the biggest causes of visceral fat, the researchers claim.
They hope that by looking at a patient’s genes, doctors may one day be able to gauge whether a person is at risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
‘The findings of this study may enable us to simplify measurements of visceral fat, and thus more easily identify people at high risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease,’ Dr Karlsson said.
Visceral fat is currently estimated via MRI or CT scans, as well as types of X-rays. Although ‘accurate’, these are ‘costly and time consuming’, the researchers wrote.
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