In Brief: Link found between abdominal fat and gallbladder surgery
In Brief
The researchers used two measures of abdominal fat: waist circumference (see sidebar, "Where is the waist?") and waist-to-hip ratio (waist circumference in inches divided by hip circumference in inches). They found that women with waistlines of 36 inches or more were twice as likely to require gallbladder surgery as those whose waist measurements were under 26 inches. Likewise, women with waist-to-hip ratios of 0.86 or over were 39% more likely to have the surgery than those with ratios under 0.70.
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