FW: Low Body Fat but High Cholesterol

[Guest guest]

This came to me but I think was meant for the group.

JSN

Hello all. New to the group and have started reading all the messages from the

beginning. The signal to noise ratio seems very good here.

I'd like a little feedback on something. I have a friend who is lean (<10%

bodyfat) and whose weight has remained stable since his highschool days. He is

49 now. He reamins ripped and muscular although he hasn't exercised since his

high school days. His weight and his physique hasn't changed for all appearances

in all these years.

His total cholesterol is 235! That's all he can recall just coming from the

doctor's office, he has no idea what the other values are for HDL and LDL. I

asked what the doctor said to him he replied " doc said to cut back on two scoops

of icecream per week. "

Like his physique, his diet has not changed either since HS days. He eats lots

of fried foods everyday like french fries, hot wings, hamburgers, pizza, lots of

meat dishes etc. He eats three " squares per day " religiously but watching him I

can say that he doesn't overeat but eats to satiety which ends up small to

normal portions.

Now, here's the question. Is it likely that he is at risk for heart disease?

Without more information I know you can't tell his specific risk but does being

predisposed to a lean muscular physique and maitaining a stable weight since

adolescence... does this impart any protective effect from CVD in these

individuals even with lousy blood lipid values?

> JAMA

> Vol. 292 No. 18, November 10, 2004

> Effect of DHEA on Abdominal Fat and Insulin Action in Elderly Women

and Men

> A Randomized Controlled Trial

>

> Dennis T. Villareal, MD; O. Holloszy, MD

>

>

> JAMA. 2004;292:2243-2248.

>

> Context Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration has been shown

to reduce accumulation of abdominal visceral fat and protect against insulin

resistance in laboratory animals, but it is not known whether DHEA decreases

abdominal obesity in humans. DHEA is widely available as a dietary supplement

without a prescription.

>

> Objective To determine whether DHEA replacement therapy decreases

abdominal fat and improves insulin action in elderly persons.

>

> Design and Setting Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled

trial conducted in a US university-based research center from June

2001 to February 2004.

>

> Participants Fifty-six elderly persons (28 women and 28 men aged 71

[range, 65-78] years) with age-related decrease in DHEA level.

>

> Intervention Participants were randomly assigned to receive 50 mg/d

of DHEA or matching placebo for 6 months.

>

> Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome measures were 6-month

change in visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat measured by magnetic resonance

imaging and glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose tolerance test

(OGTT).

>

> Results Of the 56 men and women enrolled, 52 underwent follow-up

evaluations. Compliance with the intervention was 97% in the DHEA group and 95%

in the placebo group. Based on intention-to-treat analyses, DHEA therapy

compared with placebo induced significant decreases in visceral fat area (-13

cm2 vs +3 cm2, respectively; P =

..001) and subcutaneous fat (-13 cm2 vs +2 cm2, P = .003). The insulin area under

the curve (AUC) during the OGTT was significantly reduced after 6 months of DHEA

therapy compared with placebo (-1119 µU/mL per

2 hours vs +818 µU/mL per 2 hours, P = .007). Despite the lower insulin levels,

the glucose AUC was unchanged, resulting in a significant increase in an insulin

sensitivity index in response to DHEA compared with placebo (+1.4 vs -0.7, P =

..005).

>

> Conclusion DHEA replacement could play a role in prevention and

treatment of the metabolic syndrome associated with abdominal obesity.