To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: NAMS: Modest Weight-gain Could Have Protective Benefit After Menopause URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2080DE.htm Doctor's Guide October 8, 2001
By Cameron Johnston Special to DG News
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- October 8, 2001 -- Some weight gain might not be as harmful for post-menopausal women as previously believed.
That is not to say that women should have carte blanche to gain weight, but according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), the risks that have been associated with being overweight have some limitations.
According to Dr. Pramil Singh, of the department of epidemiology at Loma Linda University Medical School, in Loma Linda, California, there might be some mechanism of action whereby a reasonable amount of weight gain -- between 10-15 kg -- actually confers a benefit on some women.
The caveat is that it does not benefit all women. Those who seem to benefit only gain the weight after menopause, and then the gain was only beneficial among women who were relatively thin before menopause.
Dr. Singh outlined the findings of a study involving 6,030 women who had never smoked and were followed from 1960 to 1988, and then were further followed up for an additional 12 years.
The study found a striking difference in weight gain between men and women that translated into a five-fold increase in risk of mortality for men over women.
"There was a striking difference among women where not only do we not see an effect of the larger weight-gain, but it also appears slightly protective," Dr. Singh said.
This was "curious and somewhat unexpected," he added.
Women in the study were stratified by age and amount of weight gained, and the pattern seemed to be that the protective effect of the weight gain was restricted entirely to the older women. Among men, the risk of mortality associated with being overweight was evident regardless of their age.
Moreover, it was found that the protective effect only seemed to be present for those who gained weight after menopause, and perhaps most important, for those who had a body mass index (BMI) of <25 before they gained weight.
"We continued to see the protective effect, but only among post-menopausal women, and then only among post-menopausal women who were lean [before menopause]," Dr. Swingh said.
Dr. Singh said a natural question to ask would be why this pattern has emerged and whether there are some biological possibilities that might explain it. One such possibility is that after menopause, adipose tissue becomes the primary source of endogenous estrogen for women, so post-menopausal women who are experiencing weight-gain might also be experiencing increases in their endogenous estrogen levels.
It has been previously reported that BMI produces a J-or U- pattern on mortality rates, so as the BMI drops, so does mortality, until one reaches a certain point after which a person can lose too much weight, or be too thin and their mortality starts to increase again.
In this study, both the heaviest and the thinnest women had the highest risk of mortality.
"Despite the fact that it appears we are saying weight gain is protective, our findings in no way suggest a permissive view of weight gain and obesity among post-menopausal women. What we found was that moderate menopausal weight gain might be well-tolerated among some women, and that this effect might be due to the fact that this weight gain is actually increasing their endogenous estrogen."
He said that ultimately, a weight gain in the order of 10-15 kg might be manageable in women whose BMI is already <25, while a weight gain of this amount if her BMI is >25, if she is still pre-menopausal would increase risk of mortality.
In conclusion, "moderate menopausal weight gain might be well-tolerated because such a minor gain might increase endogenous estrogens," he said.
Women who died during the study died primarily from heart conditions. The study was not powered to detect any significance from the number of women who died with breast cancer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.