Obesity, Stroke Linked in Middle-Aged Women
A previous analysis of stroke prevalence rates in the United States from 1999 to 2004 revealed that women in their midlife years were more than twice as likely as men of similar age to report having had a stroke, said Amytis Towfighi, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
To determine if this was a new phenomenon and to explore the potential contributions of vascular risk factors to stroke prevalence rates, researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Surveys 1988-1994 (NHANES III) and 1999-2004.
Researchers found that while 1.79 percent of women ages 35 to 54 who participated in NHANES reported having stroke, only 0.63 percent of women the same ages who participated in the earlier survey (NHANES III) reported stroke.
The analysis compared medical history variables (including smoking, diabetes mellitus, heart attack, high blood pressure), medication usage and clinical markers among women in NHANES III and 1999-2004.
Clinical markers evaluated included waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol, and blood pressure.
“We did not find significant differences in presence of conventional cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL, smoking, heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes, when we compared the two groups,” said Towfighi, lead author of the study.
Instead, women in the more recent survey were more likely to be using medications to control blood pressure and cholesterol. In fact, 14.8 percent of women in NHANES 1999-2004 reported using medications to lower blood pressure, compared to 8.9 percent in the earlier survey. Nearly 4 percent of women in NHANES 1999-2004 used medications to lower cholesterol, versus 1.4 percent in NHANES III.
“Women in NHANES 1999-2004 were significantly more obese than women a decade prior, with an average BMI of 28.67 kg/m2 versus 27.11 kg/m2 the decade prior,” Towfighi said. Body mass index of 25.0 to 30.0 is considered overweight, while an index of 30.1 or more is considered obese.
“In addition, women in NHANES 1999-2004 had an average waist circumference of nearly 4 centimeters more than women in the earlier study,” Towfighi said. Women in NHANES 1999-2004 also had higher average glycated hemoglobin (an indicator of poor blood sugar control).
The researchers concluded that although key traditional risk factors, such as high blood pressure, may not be higher today than in the 1990s, obesity and blood sugar markers are on the increase.
“Abdominal obesity is a known predictor of stroke in women and may be a key factor in the midlife stroke surge in women,” Towfighi said. “This study highlights the need to intensify efforts in curbing the obesity epidemic in the United States.”
UCLA researchers Rita Engelhardt and Bruce Ovbiagele were co-authors of the study.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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