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Spinal Cord injury may not increase risk of
Heart Disease
Newswise — Americans who live with spinal
cord injury do not appear to be at greater
risk of developing carbohydrate and lipid
disorders such as insulin resistance,
diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and
high or low blood cholesterol levels – risk
factors for heart disease – than able-bodied
persons, according to a new evidence review
by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality.
More than a quarter million Americans live
with a disability due to spinal cord injury,
and 11,000 are hospitalized annually.
Spinal cord injury is usually caused by a
sudden traumatic blow to the spine such as
from accidents or violent events, including
combat.
The review’s authors, who are with the AHRQ-supported
Minnesota Evidence-Based Practice Center in
Minneapolis, caution clinicians on depending
on the Body Mass Index to assess obesity ---
a key risk factor for developing diabetes
and heart disease – in spinal cord-injured
patients because it may underestimate their
fat mass and is likely inaccurate.
Spinal cord injured persons lose muscle mass
that is replaced by fat mass
In addition, the reviewers found no
scientific support for establishing
different standards for measuring
carbohydrate and lipid disorders in spinal
cord-injured persons versus the established
ones for defining and treating these
problems in people without such injuries.
The reviewers also caution researchers
against attempting to use findings from
studies of people without spinal cord
injuries to estimate the effectiveness and
harms of interventions, such as exercise, in
spinal cord-injured people because they may
have unique physiologic differences.
The reviewers recommend further research,
including a large, prospective, multicenter
cohort study of adults with spinal cord
injury.
AHRQ’s evidence report was requested and
funded by the Paralyzed Veterans of America
Spinal Cord Medicine Consortium.
The report released today, Carbohydrate and
Lipid Disorders and Relevant Considerations
in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury is the
newest analysis from AHRQ's Evidenced-based
Practice Program. The complete report can be
found at
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/carbliptp.htm.
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