Hello everyone!
I share something super interesting that I have found about how the body mass index (BMI) influences the risk of cardiovascular diseases, especially for people with type 2 diabetes.
It turns out that, according to biobanco data from the United Kingdom, for children under 65, it is best to maintain an BMI between 23 and 25 kg/m².But, attention!For those over 65, it seems that having a little overweight (an BMI of 26-28 kg/m²) could even be beneficial to reduce the risk of dying from these diseases.
This study is a pass because it tells us that what is considered a "healthy" BMI can change depending on our age.With more than 22,874 people with type 2 diabetes participating, the researchers noticed that, in the middle age, being in the overweight range increased the risk of cardiovascular death by 13% compared to those who had a normal BMI.But, curiously, for the elderly, being in that same overweight range decreased this risk by 18%.
And not only that, they also saw that as the perimeter of the waist increases, the risk of cardiovascular death rises.This tells us that not only weight matters, but also where fat accumulates in our body.
What flips me of these results is that they do not encourage to gain weight, but suggest that some more weight in old age might not be so bad, perhaps because it helps to have nutritional reserves and protect us against the loss of bone mass.
But, of course, how is an observational study, they cannot ensure that the BMI is the direct cause of these effects, and it must be taken cautiously.In addition, most participants were white, so we don't know if this would apply the same in all.
This opens a lot of possibilities for more personalized treatments and makes us think about how weight management can vary with age in people with type 2 diabetes.
What do you think?
Do you have any experience related to this?
Take care!
