The Health Blog

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common causes of excess illness and death in obese people because of the potent combined effects of raised blood pressure, high cholesterol, physical inactivity and type 2 diabetes. Hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke and congestive cardiac failure are all significantly more common in obesity; left ventricular size and wall thickness increase with BMI because of increased cardiac output. As with other risk factors, abdominal or ‘android’ obesity is associated with higher risk than ‘gynoid’ obesity. The increased levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides lead to the enhanced formation of atheromatous plaques in the blood vessels; this factor, combined with the increased coagulability of the blood leads to the increased risk of arterial occlusion. There is a three-fold increase in risk of a fatal or non-fatal MI in women with BMI >29 compared with their leaner counterparts. The Nurses Health study demonstrated similar figures in women: double the risk of CHD in BMI 25-29 and 3.6 times the risk in women with BMI >29. The Framingham study confirms the link between obesity and CHD, and suggests that increasing weight during adulthood might have the greatest impact on CHD; in technical terms, it demonstrated that the risk of heart disease increases by 15% in men and 22% in women for every standard deviation increase in weight.
Although weight loss reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, the fact that plaque has already been formed and laid down within the arteries suggests that there is likely to still be an increased cardiovascular risk even after weight loss has occurred. The finding of high cholesterol levels and hypertension in obese children as young as 9 has led to the concept of childhood obesity ‘casting a shadow’ on future health, and increasing morbidity and mortality in adulthood, even if the obesity itself is remedied.
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One class of chemicals called polybrominated flame-retar- ; dants (PBDEs) used in many different types of plastics and plastic-containing products are known thyroid disrupters that are both persistent and bio-accumulative. When they leach out of the plastics they quickly find their way into the biosphere. Since the 1970s, PBDEs have increased more than fifty- J fold in breast milk.
If breast milk were regulated like infant formula, it would commonly violate FDA levels for poisonous substances in food.
In spite of the contamination of breast milk, it is still considered by scientist’s and pediatricians to be the ideal food for infants. The present theory is that higher rates of chemical exposure from breast milk are less significant than the smaller amounts that come from in utero exposure. Even though more chemicals may be transferred to the nursing infant, exposure while in the womb is considered more potentially disrupting. Studies on breast milk unanimously agree that the benefits far outweigh the risks. Don’t ever give up on Mother Nature.
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