Are you fit? Think again. You might look fit on the outside, but there could still be hidden fat insider your body. Yes, its called ‘skinny fat’, and this hiddent fat could be silently putting your heart at risk. A new study led by researchers at McMaster University has found that ‘skinny fat’ can lead to silent artery damage. The findings of the study is published in Communications Medicine.
Skinny fat – a hidden killer
The new study found that the hidden fat deep inside the abdomen and liver may quietly damage arteries. This condition is seen even in people who appear healthy. The findings of this new study challenge the long-standing reliance on body-mass index (BMI). BMI is considered as a measure of obesity, however, these findings shed fresh insight into how hidden fat contributes to heart disease. So what contributes to skinny fat? Visceral fat and hepatic fat. We know that visceral fat, which is the kind that wraps around internal organs, and hepatic fat, the fat stored in the liver is linked to increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease risk. However, the effect of skinny fat in on artery health was less known.
The study
To understand the effect of skinny fat on artery health, the researchers, analysed data from over 33,000 adults in Canada and the United Kingdom. They collected the data using MRI imaging, and found that visceral and hepatic fat are strongly linked to the thickening and clogging of carotid arteries in the neck. These arteries are crucial as they supply blood to the brain, and their narrowing is a key predictor of stroke and heart attack. “This study shows that even after accounting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors like cholesterol and blood pressure, visceral and liver fat still contribute to artery damage,” Russell de Souza, co-lead author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster, said in a statement. “The findings are a wake-up call for clinicians and the public alike,” de Souza, who is also a faculty member in the Mary Heersink School of Global Health and Social Medicine, and member of the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research (MODR) and at McMaster, added.
The study was led by de Souza led the study along with Marie Pigeyre, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster. They found that visceral fat was consistently linked to carotid plaque buildup and artery wall thickening, while liver fat showed a weaker but still significant link. The new findings also mean that clinicians need to go beyond BMI and waist circumference. They should consider imaging-based assessments of fat distribution. This also means that in middle-aged adults, this skinny fat can silently increase cardiovascular risk. “You can’t always tell by looking at someone whether they have visceral or liver fat. This kind of fat is metabolically active and dangerous; it’s linked to inflammation and artery damage even in people who aren’t visibly overweight. That’s why it’s so important to rethink how we assess obesity and cardiovascular risk,” Sonia Anand, corresponding author of the study, a vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences and professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster, added.