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 Here’s the bad news: Overweight and obese teen-agers have greater chances of dying from heart disease as they age.
But the good news is that this risk can be eliminated if they lose weight as adults.
A team of researchers at Harvard Medical School tracked the health of almost 19,000 men for more than half a century. They obtained their data from Harvard students who had received a routine medical exam from 1916 to 1950. In the 1960’s, these men were again asked about their height, weight, lifestyle habits and medical issues. At the time of this second survey, the men were an average of 46 years old.
Recently, the researchers pulled death records from the men in this original study and found that more than 11 percent of them had died from heart disease. They concluded that being heavy both as a teen and throughout middle age increased the risk of dying from heart disease. Overweight men were 25 percent more likely to die of heart disease and obese men were 60 percent more likely.
However, a number of men in the study were overweight or obese in the original measurements, but had decreased their weight by the second time surveyed. Interestingly, these men who were at a healthy weight during middle age did not have any increased risk for heart disease even though they had been overweight or obese when they were younger.
“The number of years being fat isn't as important as being overweight at middle age," said Stephen Kritchevsky, a researcher at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. They found that even losing weight in your 50s and 60s can ease future risks of heart disease.
At Draelos Metabolic Center, we have seen many of our patients who have lost weight reap the positive health benefits of lower blood pressure, better diabetes control and more.
As we begin a New Year, what better time to focus on making important changes for your health. Don’t focus on the past, but on taking steps now to ensure a healthier future, especially with our Easy Start Weight Loss program.
For more health tips and to learn more about the various weight loss plans available at our Oklahoma Metabolic Center.
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