Heart disease: thin legs are a red flag

Larissa Melville completed her traineeship in the editorial team of .After studying biology at Ludwig Maximilians University and the Technical University of Munich, she first got to know digital media online at Focus and then decided to learn medical journalism from scratch.

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Slim does not mean healthy by a long way! Sometimes thin people are even at a significantly higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

A meta-analysis of several studies has now shown that around every fifth slim person has a disturbed metabolism. The risk of cardiovascular diseases and the risk of death are then almost three times higher than with healthy slim people. It is even above that healthy overweight person.

An examination of the data from 981 test persons showed: Around 18 percent of the slim study participants had two or more typical signs of a metabolic syndrome. These included increased fat deposits in the abdomen, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol levels, poorer insulin effectiveness, impaired glucose tolerance and a certain lipid metabolism disorder, Norbert Stefan and his colleagues from the German Center for Diabetes and the Helmholtz Center in Munich found out.

Tailor-made prevention

The researchers quickly identified another characteristic in those affected: almost all of them had little fat on their legs. The scientists therefore think it makes sense to examine slim people who have two or more characteristics of a metabolic syndrome and have little fat on their legs for possible damage to their metabolism. In this way, an impending derailment can be prevented at an early stage. Tailor-made lifestyle changes tailored to the respective type or the administration of medication are suitable.

Metabolic syndrome is a combination of various diseases and symptoms - including obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels. Everything follows a modern lifestyle with little exercise and an unhealthy diet. Today the metabolic syndrome is considered to be the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Around one in four Germans will develop it in the course of their lives.

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