'Pear and apple' shape a DVT risk

Women who carry excess weight on the hips and thighs, and apple-shaped men who carry it on the waist, risk dangerous blood clots, say experts. Being overweight per se is risky, but where the fat accumulates is also critical, say the Danish scientists. They tracked more than 50,000 men and women to see how many suffered a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or a clot in the lung called pulmonary embolism (PE). The findings are published in the journal Circulation. During the 10-year study, there were 641 cases of DVT or PE among the men and women. After stripping out known risk factors such as smoking, diabetes and cholesterol, a pattern between body shape and clot risk emerged, independent of body weight alone. Pear-shaped women with big hips and thighs were at higher risk of dangerous clots, even if they had an "ideal" body weight. - BBC