Page 24 - Seniorstoday June2023
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obesity, high cholesterol and insulin Liver disease
resistance. Together, these increase the risk Visceral fat is located near your portal
of stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. vein, which carries blood from your
Researchers suggest that even those with gastrointestinal tract to your liver for
a normal weight but more fat around processing. It transfers fatty acids,
their stomach have an almost 80 percent inflammatory proteins, and other
increased risk of problems, compared to dangerous substances to your liver.
those who don’t store weight around their As such, visceral fat is associated with liver
middle. inflammation and higher amounts of liver
Increased insulin resistance fat, which increases your risk of developing
A high amount of visceral fat is known nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
to be associated with insulin resistance,
which can lead to glucose intolerance and Heart attack and heart disease
type 2 diabetes. Researchers have found Visceral fat pumps out immune system
that visceral fat secretes a protein called chemicals called cytokines — for example,
retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), known to tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 —
increase the body’s resistance to insulin. that can increase the risk of cardiovascular
Hyperlipidemia disease.
Substances released by visceral fat, Type 2 diabetes
including free fatty acids, enter the portal Insulin resistance means that your body’s
vein and travel to the liver, where they can muscle and liver cells don’t respond
influence the production of blood lipids. adequately to normal levels of insulin, the
Visceral fat is directly linked with higher pancreatic hormone that carries glucose
levels of total cholesterol and LDL (bad) into the body’s cells. Glucose levels in the
cholesterol, as well as lower HDL (good) blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes.
cholesterol levels. Alzheimer’s disease
Hypertension Increased fat around the belly/waist
Visceral fat is known to be associated with can shrink the hippocampus area of the
increased sympathetic nervous system brain. As it shrinks, memory function
activity, which is associated with elevations can be affected and the risk of developing
in blood pressure. Moreover, VAT dementia or Alzheimer’s disease increases.
contributes free-fatty acids through the Cancers
portal vein, which may result in increased For postmenopausal women, lower
insulin resistance. Insulin resistance, in estrogen levels can change the way your
turn, can be associated with prevalent and body stores fat- more fat around the
incident hypertension abdomen than the thighs. This extra tummy
Atherosclerosis fat can disrupt your hormones and increase
Obesity is a risk factor for atherosclerosis your chances of breast and uterine cancers.
as well as its complications, such as
myocardial infarction and stroke. Recent Treatment.
studies have demonstrated that the It is important to take the necessary steps to
vascular risk associated with obesity is reduce this visceral fat-
correlated with visceral fat. Exercise
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