Abdominal obesity is an independent risk factor for the development of type II sugar and diseases of the cardiovascular system. Regardless of your weight and body mass index – if your belly is big, it can cause many health problems.

Symptoms of abdominal obesity

With abdominal obesity, the waist circumference in men is more than 94 cm, in women more than 80 cm. These criteria are applicable only for representatives of Caucasian dew. Waist circumference is measured along the mid-axillary line between the apex of the iliac prominence and the lower rib.

Abdominal obesity can also be called:

• visceral;
• android ;
• obesity of the male type.

Abdominal obesity provokes the development of arterial hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia (high cholesterol), in addition, carbohydrate metabolism (high sugar) is disturbed. With this type, fat does not accumulate under the skin, but around the internal organs.

Why visceral fat is harmful to health

Adipose tissue contributes to the formation of various substances:

• hormones – adiponectin , leptin, resistin;
• inflammatory cytokines – tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukins;
• proteins of the renin- angiotensin system, which normalizes blood pressure;
• an inhibitor involved in blood clotting – plasminogen activator –

In adipose tissue, glucocorticoids and sex hormones are produced and metabolized . With obesity, metabolic processes in the body are disrupted: the liver, heart, vascular system, eating behavior and reproductive function suffer. With abdominal obesity, the risk of developing fatty hepatosis, a metabolically associated fatty liver disease, increases ; moreover, it is one of the symptoms when diagnosing this pathology.  

What is the danger of fatty liver with abdominal obesity

Obesity of the liver can progress to severe liver inflammation – steatohepatitis , in rare cases to liver cancer – hepatocellular carcinoma. According to experts, obesity, even more than visceral fat, causes a violation of carbohydrate metabolism – insulin resistance develops. 

With fatty hepatosis, the risk of developing diseases of the cardiovascular system increases by 3.2 times and the reason for this may be:

• violation of fat metabolism – an increase in the level of total cholesterol in the blood, triglycerides and LDL;
• the rapid development of atherosclerosis – the formation of cholesterol plaques on the vessels;
• oxidative stress – damage to cells due to oxidation;
• asymptomatic (subclinical) inflammation;
• endothelial dysfunction (dysfunction of the inner layer of blood vessels);
• violation of the secretion of adiponectin , which is an anti-inflammatory hormone and prevents “clogging” of blood vessels.

How to protect yourself from fatal diseases?

To do this, you should go in for sports and lose weight. The results of studies have proven that doing sports for a duration of 30-40 minutes 3 times a week for one year makes it possible to get rid of fatty liver. Moreover, it does not depend on whether it is physical education with weights or aerobic exercise. However, most people claim that they do not have time for sports, others say that it is cold for this in winter, wet in autumn, hot in summer. A low-calorie diet (500-750 kcal per day), reducing the amount of fat consumed and increasing the amount of fish and vegetables also helps the liver to get rid of fat. However, 48% of people honestly say they refuse to diet. Therefore, with fatty hepatosis, drugs containing ursodeoxycholic acid ( ursosan ) are prescribed , with high cholesterol or dyslipidemia, statins should be taken .