Waist Circumference as a Significant Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease in Females

The study “Waist circumference as a significant risk factor for coronary artery disease in females’’ was a case control study with 80 female patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction, in Govt. Rajaji hospital, Madurai. Controls were devoid of hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease. Patients and controls who satisfied the inclusion criteria underwent various investigations like blood sugar, urea, creatinine, lipid profile, ECG & echocardiogram. Relationship of various anthropometric measurements like waist circumference, waist hip ratio and body mass index with the risk factors of coronary artery disease were analyzed. A high waist circumference had an important correlation with hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Females with coronary artery disease were detected to have a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Thus our study highlights the significance of a simple measurement of waist circumference in day to-day clinical practice in detecting the patients with high cardiovascular risk like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. The cut off values for waist circumference, waist hip ratio and BMI should be defined according to the different ethnic populations. This will help in early detection of the people at risk so that we can advice healthy life style and nutritional habits for the high risk group and start specific therapy when ever necessary