Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Mar 26:6:4.
doi: 10.1186/1476-5918-6-4.

The influence of obesity on calf blood flow and vascular reactivity in older adults

Luke S Acree  1 , Philip C Comp, Thomas L Whitsett, Polly S Montgomery, Kevin J Nickel, Anette S Fjeldstad, Cecilie Fjeldstad, Andrew W Gardner
Affiliations

The influence of obesity on calf blood flow and vascular reactivity in older adults

Luke S Acree et al. Dyn Med. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether differences in vascular reactivity existed among normal weight, overweight, and obese older men and women, and to examine the association between abdominal fat distribution and vascular reactivity.

Methods: Eighty-seven individuals who were 60 years of age or older (age = 69 +/- 7 yrs; mean +/- SD) were grouped into normal weight (BMI < 25; n = 30), overweight (BMI > or = 25 and < 30; n = 28), or obese (BMI > or = 30; n = 29) categories. Calf blood flow (BF) was assessed by venous occlusion strain-gauge plethysmography at rest and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia.

Results: Post-occlusive reactive hyperemia BF was lower (p = 0.038) in the obese group (5.55 +/- 4.67%/min) than in the normal weight group (8.34 +/- 3.89%/min). Additionally, change in BF from rest to post-occlusion in the obese group (1.93 +/- 2.58%/min) was lower (p = 0.001) than in the normal weight group (5.21 +/- 3.59%/min), as well as the percentage change (75 +/- 98% vs. 202 +/- 190%, p = 0.006, respectively). After adjusting for age, prevalence in hypertension and calf skinfold thickness, change in BF values remained lower (p < 0.05) in obese subjects compared to the normal weight subjects. Lastly, the absolute and percentage change in BF were significantly related to BMI (r = -0.44, p < 0.001, and r = -0.37, p < 0.001, respectively) and to waist circumference (r = -0.36, p = 0.001, and r = -0.32, p = 0.002).

Conclusion: Obesity and abdominal adiposity impair vascular reactivity in older men and women, and these deleterious effects on vascular reactivity are independent of conventional risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The relationship between body mass index and the percentage change in calf blood flow from rest to post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (r = -0.37, p < 0.001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The relationship between waist circumference and percentage change in calf blood flow from rest to post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (r = -0.32, p = 0.002).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Andreyeva T, Sturm R, Ringel JS. Moderate and severe obesity have large differences in health care costs. Obes Res. 2004;12:1936–1943. - PubMed
    1. Sturm R. The effects of obesity, smoking, and drinking on medical problems and costs. Health Aff. 2002;21:245–254. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.21.2.245. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allison DB, Fontaine KR, Manson JE, Stevens J, VanItallie TB. Annual deaths attributable to obesity in the United States. JAMA. 1999;282:1530–1538. doi: 10.1001/jama.282.16.1530. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Daviglus ML, Liu K, Yan LL, Pirzada A, Manheim L, Manning W, Garside DB, Wang R, Dyer AR, Greenland P, Stamler J. Relation of body mass index in young adulthood and middle age to medicare expenditures in older age. JAMA. 2004;292:2743–2749. doi: 10.1001/jama.292.22.2743. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Freedman DS, Kahn LK, Serdula MK, Galuska DA, Dietz WH. Trends and Correlates of class three obesity in the United States from 1990 through 2000. JAMA. 2002;288:1758–1761. doi: 10.1001/jama.288.14.1758. - DOI - PubMed