Obesity Increases Stroke In Middle-Aged Women
In women 35 to 54 years old, the increase in obesity over the last decade has been linked to more strokes.
This finding was reported by researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
The scientists looked at two studies from the National Health and Nutrition Surveys.
The first study occurred from 1988 to 1994; the second from 1999 to 2004. Both studies included women from 35 to 54 years old.
The earlier study showed strokes occurring in .63 percent of women, but the later study showed strokes in 1.79 percent. That’s over 2-1/2 times more strokes in the later study.
So what caused such a devastating increase in strokes among these middle-aged women?
The researchers didn’t find a significant difference between the two groups’ cholesterol levels, blood pressure levels, rates of heart disease or diabetes.
In fact, the women in the later study were more likely to use blood pressure and cholesterol medications to control unhealthy levels.
But the women in the study from 1999 to 2004 were much more obese than the women from the 1988 to 1994 study.
The average body mass index (BMI) jumped from 27.11 with the first group to 28.67 with the later group.
A BMI of 25 to 30 is considered to be overweight; a BMI of more than 30 is considered to be obese.
The women in the second study also had an average waist circumference of almost 4 centimeters more than the first group.
Plus the second group had worse blood sugar control.
The researchers came to this conclusion: although high blood pressure and other traditional risk factors haven’t changed much in the last 10 years, obesity and blood sugar levels are much higher.
Also, abdominal obesity may be a significant factor in the increase in stroke for middle-aged women.
So now it’s even more important to reverse the obesity epidemic in the United States.
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