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| |  AAFP: Obesity Hits Elderly Harder Than Younger Patients By Alison Palkhivala Special to DG News SAN DIEGO, CA -- October 22, 2002 -- Obesity may have a more potent negative effect on health in older individuals compared with younger patients. Experts recommend stepping up management of obesity in patients over 65. Hye Ree Lee, MD, and colleagues from the department of family medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine and National Health Insurance Corp Ilsan hospital, Seoul, Korea, examined the effect that obesity has on the health status of older and younger people. They presented their findings here this week in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Association of Family Physicians (AAFP). The investigators compared 44 individuals aged over 65 years who were obese, as defined by a body mass index (BMI) over 25, to 57 older individuals who were not obese (BMI at least 20 but under 25) and 70 individuals who were aged 20 to 39 and obese. Patients were recruited from among those who visited a health promotion center between April 2000 and July 2001. In comparing older obese individuals to older non-obese individuals, the researchers found that the obese patients had significantly (p<0.05) poorer average values with respect to systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, percent body fat, uric acid level, percent muscle mass, percent lean body mass and waist-to-hip ratio. Among men, the obese patients were more likely to be smokers and have lower high density lipid (HDL) levels. Among women, the obese patients were more likely to have elevated glucose levels. In comparing older obese individuals to younger obese patients, the investigators found that the older patients had significantly (p<0.05) worse scores with respect to systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, percent body fat, percent muscle mass, percent lean body mass and waist-to-hip ratio. Among the women, the older patients also had higher triglycerides, low density lipid (LDL) and HDL levels. Among the men, the older patients had higher blood glucose levels. The authors concluded that older obese patients have worse health profiles than both non-obese older patients and obese younger patients in terms of many parameters, including blood pressure, cholesterol and the presence of sarcopenic obesity. "New strategies are recommended for management of obesity in the elderly," they reported.
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