HHS HealthBeat (May 29, 2008)

Somewhat gone

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

Being overweight or obese raises a woman’s risk of a heart attack. Having the extra weight and being inactive raises it even more. But a researcher says being physically active can shave off much of that extra risk.

Amy Weinstein of Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center looked at almost 11 years of data on close to 39,000 women. Her study in Archives of Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

``When we looked at the combination of physical activity and body weight, we found that physical activity significantly reduced the risk of heart disease, but physical activity did not fully reverse the risk associated with being overweight or obese.’’ (10 seconds)

The study concludes that being physically active is good, but being active and getting weight down to where it should be is best.

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: May, 28 2008