Study Finds Women Exercise Less and are at Higher Risk of Metabolic Syndrome
Posted by on August 8, 2012 - 9:25am

Results of a recent study in Preventive Medicine showed that compared to men, women are at greater risk for comorbid metabolic syndrome, depression and high homocysteine levels, thus prompting researchers to conclude that women must become more active in order to decrease their risk for disease.

Researchers analyzed data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included 1,146 people in various regions.  Those studied were older than 20 years old and not pregnant.  Participants wore an accelerometer (a device that measures both intensity and frequency of physical activity) for at least four days, ten hours per day to measure physical activity.  To measure depression, participants completed a survey and underwent a depression evaluation. Researchers measured homocysteine via non-fasting blood samples.  They also measured waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glucose, folate and vitamin B-12 in order to assess metabolic syndrome.

Defined by the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, patients have metabolic syndrome when diagnosed with three or more of the following: high waist circumference (≥102 cm for men, ≥88 cm for women), high levels of triglycerides (>150 mg/dL), low levels of HDL cholesterol (<40 mg/dL for men and <50 mg/dL or those taking cholesterol lowering medications), high blood pressure (≥130 mm Hg systolic or ≥85 mm Hg diastolic or those under medication lowering blood pressure) and high fasting glucose levels (≥100 mg/dL or those taking insulin or pills for diabetes).  These conditions increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.

Results of the study revealed a stronger association between physical activity and comorbid metabolic syndrome, depression and high homocysteine for women compared to men. Researchers concluded that there was an inverse association between regular exercise and the three co-morbidities. The results prompted researchers to prescribe physical activity not only to reduce the conditions involved with metabolic syndrome, but also to reduce depression, which indirectly reduces metabolic syndrome since depression can aid in forming conditions of metabolic syndrome.

According to the Illinois Women’s Health Registry, when asked how women would classify their levels of activity throughout the day, 16% reported as very active, 59% as moderately active, and 24% as sedentary. At the very minimum, the CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 21.4 min/day.  Female participants included in the study exercised 4.3 minutes less per day than recommended by the CDC, and one in four Illinois women report no exercise.  To reduce the chance of metabolic syndrome and the other co-morbidities, women must start exercising more.

Additional Sources:

Accelerometers in Obesity

CDC

More preventive health tests should be covered for women
Posted by on July 25, 2011 - 2:10pm

A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends that eight preventive health services for women be added to the services that health plans will cover at no cost to patients under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA).  The ACA requires plans to cover the services listed in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) comprehensive list of preventive services.  At the agency's request, an IOM committee identified critical gaps in preventive services for women as well as measures that will further ensure women's health and well-being.

The recommendations are based on a review of existing guidelines and an assessment of the evidence on the effectiveness of different preventive services.  The committee identified diseases and conditions that are more common or more serious in women than in men or for which women experience different outcomes or benefit from different interventions.  The report suggests the following additional services:

·                     screening for gestational diabetes
·                     human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as part of cervical cancer screening for women over 30
·                     counseling on sexually transmitted infections
·                     counseling and screening for HIV
·                     contraceptive methods and counseling to prevent unintended pregnancies
·                     lactation counseling and equipment to promote breast-feeding
·                     screening and counseling to detect and prevent interpersonal and domestic violence
·                     yearly well-woman preventive care visits to obtain recommended preventive services

"This report provides a road map for improving the health and well-being of women," said committee chair Linda Rosenstock, dean, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles.  "The eight services we identified are necessary to support women's optimal health and well-being.  Each recommendation stands on a foundation of evidence supporting its effectiveness."

Deaths from cervical cancer could be reduced by adding DNA testing for HPV, the virus that can cause this form of cancer, to the Pap smears that are part of the current guidelines for women's preventive services, the report concludes.  Cervical cancer can be prevented through vaccination, screening, and treatment of precancerous lesions and HPV testing increases the chances of identifying women at risk.

Although lactation counseling is already part of the HHS guidelines, the report recommends comprehensive support that includes coverage of breast pump rental fees as well as counseling by trained providers to help women initiate and continue breast-feeding.  Evidence links breast-feeding to lower risk for breast and ovarian cancers; it also reduces children's risk for sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, gastrointestinal infections, respiratory diseases, leukemia, ear infections, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes.

HHS should consider screening for gestational diabetes in pregnant women between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation and at the first prenatal visit for pregnant women identified to be at high risk for diabetes.  The United States has the highest rates of gestational diabetes in the world; it complicates as many as 10 percent of U.S. pregnancies each year.  Women with gestational diabetes face a 7.5-fold increased risk for the development of Type 2 diabetes after delivery and are more likely to have infants that require delivery by cesarean section and have health problems after birth.

To reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies, which accounted for almost half of pregnancies in the U.S. in 2001, the report urges that HHS consider adding the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods as well as patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.  Women with unintended pregnancies are more likely to receive delayed or no prenatal care and to smoke, consume alcohol, be depressed, and experience domestic violence during pregnancy.  Unintended pregnancy also increases the risk of babies being born preterm or at a low birth weight, both of which raise their chances of health and developmental problems.

HHS's guidelines on preventive health services for women will need to be updated routinely in light of new science.  As part of this process, HHS should establish a commission to recommend which services health plans should cover, the report says.  The commission should be separate from the groups that assess evidence of health services' effectiveness, and it should consider cost-effectiveness analyses, evidence reviews, and other information to make coverage recommendations.

The report addresses concerns that the current guidelines on preventive services contain gaps when it comes to women's needs.  Women suffer disproportionate rates of chronic disease and disability from some conditions.  Because they need to use more preventive care than men on average due to reproductive and gender-specific conditions, they face higher out-of-pocket costs, the report notes.

The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public.