[News] Visceral fat mass is a good marker of insulin resistance & metabolic disturbance

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The central issue?  Visceral fat mass is a good marker of insulin resistance 
and metabolic  disturbance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BJOG. 2006  Oct;113(10):1203-9. Epub 2006 Jun  2

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abst
ractPlus&list_uids=16753044&itool=pubmed_DocSum

"Visceral  fat" is located within the abdominal wall (i.e., beneath the wall 
of abdominal  muscle) whereas "subcutaneous fat" is located beneath the skin 
(and includes fat  that is located in the abdominal area beneath the skin but 
above the abdominal  muscle wall).  Insulin resistance showed the closest and 
strongest  correlation to visceral fat mass then to waist circumference and the 
weakest  correlation being waist:hip ratio.  There also was a statistically  
significant correlation to fasting insulin, HDL cholesterol,   triglycerides, 
sex hormone binding globulin, and luteinising hormone.   There was no 
significant correlation between testosterone and fat distribution  or metabolic 
parameters.  The study concluded that visceral fat is the most  significant variable 
correlating with metabolic dysfunction in women with  PCOS.  The data 
supports that visceral fat either causes insulin resistance  or is a very early 
effect of it.  It also implies that reducing visceral  fat should reduce insulin 
resistance which may account for the observations that  exercise and weight loss 
appear to be more effective interventions than  pharmacological treatments. 
The best anthropometric measure of insulin  resistance is waist circumference.  

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