HHS HealthBeat (January 10, 2008)

A sign of trouble

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

For overweight teens, tiny but elevated amounts of proteins called albumin in urine tests might be another sign of trouble.

Stephanie Nguyen of the University of California, San Francisco bases that on national data on teens. Her study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Nguyen says overweight teens with what’s called microalbuminuria were more likely to have indications which could lead to heart disease. These include belly fat, high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, and cholesterol problems.

Nguyen says overweight teens can head off trouble by improving their eating and activity habits:

``The first-line therapy should always be behavioral and lifestyle modifications. And treatment should be tailored towards whatever complications they have due to their obesity.’’ (10 seconds)

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: January, 10 2008