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What is inflammation and why should you care?Most people realize that excess fat is unhealthy, but the key is where the fat is distributed. People with apple-shaped bodies (fattest in the abdomen) have a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than those with pear shapes (fattest in the hips, buttocks, and thighs). One way to test for inflammation is to measure levels of C-reactive protein in the blood. Elevated levels of C-reactive protein are linked with a higher than average risk of heart disease. What's interesting is that higher C-reactive protein levels are linked with body fat, especially the belly fat stored around your waist [1, 3, 4]. Several studies have found a link between abdominal fat and markers of chronic inflammation [1, 5, 6]. The research is based on a relatively new idea that fat is an “organ” that produces substances — such as leptin and cytokines — that can affect your health [2]. In other words, there's more to the fat around your waist than what the scales and mirrors reveal. Most doctors will tell you that the best way to avoid a heart attack is to lower your cholesterol. What they won't tell you is that routine cholesterol tests identify less than half of all patients who are at risk for heart disease. In other words, a patient can receive a "normal" cholesterol reading one day and still suffer a heart attack the next. The truth is that many cardiologists believe we should be looking beyond cholesterol. As scientists delve deeper into the fundamental causes of heart disease and other illnesses, they are starting to see links to an age-old defense mechanism called inflammation. This is the same biological process that causes the redness, swelling and pain if you cut a finger. Inflammation is a vital process in the first line of defense against disease. But problems begin when, for one reason or another, the inflammatory process persists. If you want to learn more, the BBC Radio 4 program Frontiers has devoted an entire episode to the topic of inflammation. You can listen to it on the Internet.
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