Health news from around the world
The secret to a longer life: big bottom and thighs
PEOPLE WITH fat in their thighs and backsides may live longer because the fat traps harmful fatty particles and actively secretes helpful compounds, according to a British study.
Many studies have shown that people who accumulate fat around the abdomen and stomach are more likely to die of heart disease and other causes than bottom-heavy people, but the reasons are not clear. This may be because several different mechanisms are involved, said Konstantinos Manolopoulos of Britains University of Oxford. It is the protective role of lower body, that is, gluteofemoral fat, that is striking, Manolopoulos wrote in the International journal of Obesity. The protective properties of the lower-body fat depot have been confirmed in many studies, he added.
Fat on the bottom and thighs appears to store excess fatty acids, said Manolopoulos, who reviewed published scientific studies for his report.
Pear-shaped people also appear to have lower levels of compounds called inflammatory cytokines – signalling chemicals involved in the body’s response to infection that also can play a role in heart disease and diabetes when they are inappropriately active.
New diabetics struggling to identify early symptoms
MORE THAN half (56%) of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year did not suspect they had the condition as they failed to identify its early symptoms, according to a report published yesterday.
Diabetes UK said late diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes left people at risk of developing the serious complications of the condition including stroke, heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and amputation. Half of the people with the condition showed signs of complications by the time they were diagnosed.
The majority of people were diagnosed with the condition “by accident” while undergoing routine medical tests or while being treated for other conditions or medical issues, according to the report. Only 16% of people were diagnosed after they pro-actively asked for a diabetes test.
Safety first for pre-schoolers as Peppa belts up
ANIMATED CHILDREN’S TV character Peppa Pig is to be strapped into a seatbelt from now on as a result of safety concerns.
Children’s Bafta-winning animation company Astley Baker Davies said it had considered strapping the family of pigs in when it first made the Nick Jr programme, but had felt it might limit their range of expressions.
But some parents had expressed concern that children might try to follow Peppas lead.
“Everything Peppa does reflects a child’s real world,” the animation companys co-founder Mark Baker said. “If we could turn the clock back, we would.”
The company was said to be introducing seatbelts to new episodes and re-animating scenes from the first and second series.
Aimed at children aged two and above, Peppa Pig won a children’s Bafta in 2005 for best pre-school animation.