Why Belly Fat Causes Heart Disease

Think your "spare tire" is just something you have to try to hide by the way you dress? Wrong! Scientists are learning that belly fat is much more dangerous that previously thought. Here's more from Ivanhoe.com:

A new study from the University of Michigan looked at belly fat -- also known as visceral fat -- in mice. It finds a link between inflammation around the cells of visceral fat deposits and the artery-hardening process of atherosclerosis.
Results also show a widely used diabetes drug can ease that inflammation and protect against further damage to the arteries.
Researchers looked at ApoE-negative mice -- developed to be especially prone to high cholesterol and hardened arteries. The mice were divided into three groups -- two got fat transplants from normal mice; one did not, but had the same operation that would be used to implant the fat in other mice. Some mice got visceral fat transplants, which forms around the major organs; others got transplants of subcutaneous fat, found just under the skin throughout the body.
The study found the mice that received the visceral fat transplants developed atherosclerosis at a much faster rate. Those with subcutaneous fat did not have an increase in atherosclerosis even though they had increased inflammation. And the mice that had the “sham” operations did not develop inflammation or increased atherosclerosis.

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