Obese kids have prematurely aged neck arteries
Taking a pine bark extract for a few days before a long-haul flight may reduce the severity and duration of jet lag symptoms, new research shows.
The neck arteries of obese children and teens look more like those of 45-year-olds, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting. In 70 obese children aged six to 19 years, researchers at the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the neck (carotid) arteries that supply blood to the brain. Increasing carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) indicates the fatty buildup of plaque within arteries feeding the heart muscle and the brain, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. The investigators found that the children’s “vascular age”— the age at which the level of thickening would be normal for their gender and race — was about 30 years older than their actual age.