Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
This week on Health Watch, we’re talking about the common post-holiday vow to lose weight, either for health or for appearance. While there are some surgical shortcuts that will help you look trimmer, there’s nothing like diet and exercise for improving your health.
Dr. Amit Khera, a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says liposuction may remove belly fat, which is a risk factor for heart disease, but it doesn’t lower your heart disease risk the way diet and exercise do. That’s likely because the risk for heart disease comes from fat that surrounds the internal organs, while liposuction only removes the fat just below the surface of the skin. If your concern is improving your health, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way by exercising and watching what you eat.
Visit http://www.utsouthwestern.org/heartlungvascular to learn more about
UT Southwestern’s clinical services in heart, lung and vascular.
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December 2008
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