Having an apple-shaped figure like Amy Schumer or Jessica Simpson could raise a woman’s risk of brain damage – but pears like Kim Kardashian are safe
- Mice who store fat around their abdomens have higher levels of inflammation
- This inflammation could reach the brain, which may trigger damage
- Apple-shaped mice are also more at risk of type 2 diabetes, expert warns
Having an apple-shaped figure may raises a woman’s risk of brain damage.
Storing fat around your abdomen, like the comedian Amy Schumer or singer Jessica Simpson, could trigger inflammation that reaches the brain and causes life-changing injuries, a US study found.
Apple figures typically cause women to carry weight around their waists, which are wider than their hips. Such physiques have been associated with excess fat storage around the internal organs.
In contrast, pear-shaped women, like TV personality Kim Kardashian, store weight on their hips, thighs or buttocks and are less at risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Lead author Professor Djurdjica Coss, from the University of California, Riverside, said: ‘My advice is: “Watch your diet!” And keep an eye on body weight, particularly around the abdomen.’
Actress and comedian Amy Schumer has an apple-shaped figure due to her carrying weight around her waist, which is wider than her hips. Such physiques have been associated with excess fat storage around the internal organs and now even brain inflammation
Pear-shaped women, like TV personality Kim Kardashian, store weight on their hips, thighs or buttocks and are less at risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease
DOES HAVING AN APPLE-SHAPED FIGURE RAISE A WOMAN’S RISK OF A HEART ATTACK?
Having an apple-shaped figure raises women’s risk of suffering a heart attack by up to 20 per cent, research suggested in February 2018.
Even among slim women, such as celebrities Elizabeth Hurley, Angelina Jolie and Tyra Banks, carrying fat around the abdomen makes them between 10 and 20 per cent more likely to suffer a cardiovascular event, a study found.
Lead author Dr Sanne Peters from Oxford University, said: ‘Our findings support the notion that having proportionally more fat around the abdomen (a characteristic of the apple shape) appears to be more hazardous than more visceral fat which is generally stored around the hips (i.e., the pear shape).’
The researchers analysed 479,610 adults aged between 40 and 69 years old who participated in the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2010.
The study’s participants’ waist and hip circumferences, as well as their height, weight and BMI were measured by trained staff.
According to the researchers, further investigation is required to determine how body shape and fat storage influence people’s heart-disease risk.
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The researchers analysed three-week-old male mice. Like men, male rodents tend to store fat around their abdomens, creating an apple shape.
They also looked at female mice, who typically deposit fat around their hips, like women.
Some of the animals were fed a high-fat diet while others had a standard eating regimen.
Blood samples were collected from all the mice to determine how their diets affected their hormone levels.
Results suggest obese male rats store fat on their abdomens, creating an apple shape.
Such rodents also have higher levels of inflammation in their brains.
Obese female rats, however, store excess fat beneath their skin and have lower amounts of inflammation.
Professor Coss said: ‘We know that abdominal fat – that is, fat around visceral organs – gets more inflamed with a fat overburden.
‘This fat then recruits immune cells from blood circulation that get activated.’
In obese male mice, these immune cells even cross the blood-brain barrier, which usually protects dangerous substances from reaching the vital organ.
Professor Coss said: ‘The brain has been considered an “immune protected site”, but we show that peripheral inflammation “spills over” into the brain, which, in turn, may cause neuronal problems’.
Long term brain inflammation has previously been associated with damage to the organ.
Singer and fashion designer Jessica Simpson also has an apple-shaped figure. The new study found that mice with the same fat storage have higher levels of inflammation, which even crosses the blood-brain barrier. This barrier is usually able to keep dangerous substance out
As well as higher levels of inflammation, obese male mice are also more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than their female counterparts.
Metabolic syndrome occurs when a person has at least three of the following: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, high amounts of fat in their blood and high cholesterol.
Professor Coss said: ‘ Mice on high-fat diet develop metabolic syndrome – a constellation of pathologies that includes Type 2 diabetes and insulin insensitivity – similarly to obese humans.
‘Obese men have lower testosterone levels, contributing to low libido, low energy, and reduced muscle strength. We see this in mice, too; obese male mice showed nearly 50 percent decreases in testosterone and sperm number.’
In addition, when female mice are fed the same high-fat diet as males, it takes them longer to gain weight.
This is thought to be due to female mice producing oestrogen, which protects them from weight gain. Many women gain weight after the menopause due to a decline in this hormone.
When the researchers removed the rodents’ ovaries to simulate menopause, the female mice did gain weight but did not experience the inflammation seen in obese males.
This suggests factors other than oestrogen may protect against the effects of obesity in female mice.
Yet, when the obese female animals continued to gain weight, their fat storage shifted on to their abdomens, making them apple shaped.
Professor Coss said: ‘While overweight, women are more protected than men where inflammation is concerned.
‘This protection is significantly curtailed when overweight women become obese and fat gathers around the waist.’
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