Every now and again I report on what seems like a total, mindless waste of money. Like this study. 13 years and 15,000 people interviewed and tracked, at Gawd knows what cost. And the results?
A pot belly makes you more likely to have a heart attack and die a sudden death! What a breakthrough eh?
Still, if you haven’t got the message, it’s jolly well time you did. Belly fat kills!
A large waist-to-hip ratio matters even more than body-mass index (BMI). In fact with BMI, top athlete Michael Jordan is technically obese! So BMI means little. But shape does. If your guts are fatter than your hips, you are at serious risk.
You are more likely to get heart disease, hypertensions, stroke etc. You need to take off that excess circle of fat round the middle. Fat in the abdomen spews inflammatory substances. Inflammation is linked with heart problems, aging and an early death.
Sudden death is not nice. Sudden death is defined as death within one hour of initial symptoms. There is no warning, no time to say goodbye. No time to get on that diet and fitness program you always promised yourself. Boom, 60 minutes (or less) and you are out of here.
Need I say more?
[Heart Rhythm Society, annual meeting, May 9, 2012, Boston]
Here’s the real joke. Gov’t orders study of a study about studies…. seriously!!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/this-is-not-a-joke-government-issues-study-of-a-study-about-studies/#.T66Iwuiap5M.email