Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990                   TAG: 9003290636
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SLIM IS IN FOR AVOIDING HEART ATTACKS

That's the conclusion of a study released today on U.S. women and their risk of heart attack.

"Average weight is overweight when it comes to heart attack risk, and being even mildly to moderately overweight substantially increases the risk in women," said Dr. JoAnn Manson, who directed the study at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

In fact, the study blames 40 percent of all heart disease among women on the consequences of being too heavy. Carrying just a little extra weight or even being average size makes people more vulnerable to heart trouble.

Manson's findings were part of the Nurses' Health Study, an eight-year review of 115,886 healthy U.S. women, aged 30 to 55. The researchers divided the women into five weight categories and counted the number who had heart attacks or developed chest pain. The results were published in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

The leanest one-fifth of the women in the study weighed in at 5 percent or more below the 1983 Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. tables of desirable weights. A 5-foot-4 woman in this category weighed less than 125 pounds. These slim women suffered the fewest heart attacks.

Those considered in the tables to be average weight - about 130 pounds for a 5-foot-4 woman - had 30 percent more heart disease than did the thinnest women.

Mildly obese women fared substantially worse. Those who were 15 to 29 percent above their desirable weights had 80 percent more heart disease. And the heaviest women - those 30 percent or more over their ideal weights - had more than three times the lean women's risk.

Putting on weight during middle age appears to be especially risky. The study found that women who gained more than 20 pounds since age 18 doubled their risk of heart attacks.

Although the report is not the first to suggest that being chubby is bad for the heart, it suggests that the hazard may be greater than previously thought, especially for women.

"Obesity is a major cause of heart attacks in U.S. women," Manson said. "The risks of obesity have been underestimated and underappreciated."

-Associated Press