Waist-to-Height Ratio Is More Predictive of Years of Life Lost than Body Mass Index

Objective: Our aim was to compare the effect of central obesity (measured by waist-to-height ratio, WHtR) and total obesity (measured by body mass index, BMI) on life expectancy expressed as years of life lost (YLL), using data on British adults. Methods: A Cox proportional hazards model was applied to data from the prospective Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS) and the cross sectional Health Survey for England (HSE). The number of years of life lost (YLL) at three ages (30, 50, 70 years) was found by comparing the life expectancies of obese lives with those of lives at optimum levels of BMI and WHtR. Results: Mortality risk associated with BMI in the British HALS survey was similar to that found in US studies. However, WHtR was a better predictor of mortality risk. For the first time, YLL have been quantified for different values of WHtR. This has been done for both sexes separately and for three representative ages. Conclusion: This study supports the simple message ‘‘Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height’’. The use of WHtR in public health screening, with appropriate action, could help add years to life

Thrombolyse pour ischémie cérébrale (comparaison "heures ouvrables" versus "heures non ouvrables")

LILLE2-BU Santé-Recherche (593502101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Isolated Subarachnoidal Hemorrhage following Carotid Endarterectomy

Cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome is a rare but well-described complication following carotid endarterectomy or stenting. Clinical signs are ipsilateral, throbbing, unilateral headache with nausea or vomiting, seizures, and neurological deficits, with or without intracerebral abnormalities on CT scan, such as brain edema or intracerebral hemorrhage. Subarachnoidal hemorrhage is rarely described especially if it occurs isolated. We describe a 74-year-old man with a history of high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, atrioventricular block with pacemaker, and ischemic cardiopathy with coronary bypass. He underwent right carotid endarterectomy for a 90% NASCET asymptomatic stenosis. Four days after surgery, he complained of unusual headaches with right, throbbing hemicrania. Nine days after surgery, he presented with left hemiplegia and a partial motor seizure. He had fluctuant altered consciousness, left hemiplegia, and left visual and sensory neglect. Brain CT showed right frontal subarachnoidal hemorrhage without parenchymal bleeding. Cerebral angiography found no cerebral aneurysm, no vascular malformation, but a vasospasm of the left middle cerebral artery. Transcranial Doppler confirmed this vasospasm. Evolution was favorable with no recurrence of seizures but with an improvement of the neurological deficits and vasospasm. Physicians should bear in mind this very rare complication of endarterectomy and immediately perform neuroimaging in case of unusual headache following endarterectomy or angioplasty