The U.S. and the Western world are in the midst of a spreading obesity epidemic. In Western societies, obesity and heart disease are directly related to lower socioeconomic status. Now research reorts that social stress may cause the body to deposit more fat in the abdomen. This increases the harmful buildup of plaque in the blood vessels, leading to heart disease.
The animal study, published in Obesity, investigated the effects of low social status on the development of heart disease in female monkeys. Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine administered a Western-style diet containing fat and cholesterol to 41 female monkeys for 32 months. The monkeys were socially housed, naturally establishing a pecking order from dominant to subordinate. The monkeys' social behavior, ovarian function, BMI (body mass index) and SAT (subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue) were measured.
Researchers found that the subordinate monkeys with high social stress developed more fat in the viscera (abdomen). The stress of social subordination resulted in the release of stress hormones that caused the body to deposit fat in the abdomen. This can promote the buildup of plaque in blood vessels leading to heart disease. Findings also revealed that the stressed subordinate monkeys with abdominal fat produced fewer protective hormones.
"The results of this study are the first to demonstrate a relationship between coronary artery atherosclerosis (CAA) and visceral obesity, and suggest that social stress may exacerbate CAA in part by increasing the ratio of visceral:subcutaneous fat mass in selected individuals susceptible to diet-inducd CAA," the study authors write.
These findings could be an important consideration in the way the U.S. and other Western countries fight human obesity.
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