Better Health: Smart Health Commentary Better Health (TM): smart health commentary

Latest Posts

Study Shows That Thin Thighs Are Associated With Heart Disease

Finally, a study that many women can like. The British Medical Journal published a study out of Denmark that looked at the association between thigh circumference and the incident of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Why anyone would even think of thigh circumference being of importance is beyond me, but the Danes seem to think it was important. They found people with thin thighs had more risk of developing heart disease or premature death.

The study looked at 1436 men and 1380 women and examined them for height, weight, hip, thigh and waist circumference. The results showed that small thigh circumference (below 60cm or 23 inches) was associated with more cardiovascular disease and mortality. They did not find the same association with waist size and the findings were independent of percentage body fat mass or obesity. Small thighs were a disadvantage to health and survival for both sexes.

Twenty three inches is not a very small thigh, and in fact, more than half of the men and women aged 35-65 have thigh circumferences below that size. Maybe it has to do with muscle mass (less exercise, less mass). I can’t imagine any other reason this strange finding should occur.

I think this study will probably not hold up to analysis and further investigation. There are just too many variables and I don’t think people with large thighs should feel they are immune to heart disease.

But the idea that, for once…the skinny models and actresses don’t have the advantage is kind of heart warming.

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

Read more »

How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

Read more »

The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

Read more »

Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

Read more »

See all book reviews »

Commented - Most Popular Articles