Essential
- According to the results of a study, people whose heart aging was the fastest were those who had more visceral fat.
- The abdominal fat, which touches men more, is associated with premature aging of the heart.
- Conversely, in women, fat around hips and thighs would have a protective effect on heart health.
It is less visible than love handles or the plump belly but just as dangerous. According to a new study published in the journal European Heart Journalvisceral fat would be associated with faster heart aging.
Visceral fat promotes inflammation and heart aging
Visceral fat is located around organs such as stomach, intestines or liver. It is therefore not visible and can also affect thin people. Examinations make it possible to diagnose an accumulation of visceral fat, in particular a blood test.
During their study, scientists opted for another method. They based on the data of 21,241 participants of the UK Biobanka platform that brings together health information from thousands of volunteers. And they focused on three types of medical imaging: those of the whole body of the participants (allowing to locate visceral fat), then those of the heart and blood vessels. They then provided these data to an artificial intelligence capable of detecting the signs of aging of the organs.
Participants whose heart aging – heart and blood vessels – was the fastest were those who had more visceral fat. To understand this link, the researchers studied voluntary blood analyzes. Thus, they discovered that visceral fat favored inflammation, which itself led to premature heart aging.
Heart health: differences between men and women
Weight gain does not affect both sexes in the same way … Scientists discovered that this distribution had an impact on heart health. The abdominal fat, which touches men more, is associated with premature aging of the heart. Conversely, in women, fat around hips and thighs would have a protective effect on heart health. Another advantage for the female gender: high levels of estrogen in those premenopausal could slow down the aging of the heart, suggesting a protective role of hormones.
“We have also shown that BMI was not a good indicator of heart aging, which underlines the importance of knowing the fat storage areas in the body, and not only the total body weight”Underlines Professor Declan O’Regan, one of the authors, in a communiqué. In the future, researchers intend to extend their research to combat heart aging linked to visceral fat. They envisage the use of already existing drugs, such as the analogues of GLP-1, or the development of new solutions based, perhaps, of estrogens to protect the hearts of patients.