🩺 The Invisible Fat That Makes Us Sick: What Ultrasound Reveals About Metabolic Risk

Did you know that a simple abdominal ultrasound can predict your risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, or fatty liver disease?
We’re not talking about the fat you can pinch, but a much more dangerous one: mesenteric fat, which surrounds the intestines and major blood vessels.

A study published in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences shows that measuring aortomesenteric fat thickness via ultrasound may become a simple, quick, and inexpensive way to predict metabolic disease risk in obese patients.

🔍 What Did the Researchers Find?

Led by Prof. Giuseppe Castaldo, the team evaluated 64 obese patients and found that:

The thicker the aortomesenteric fat, the higher the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Thickness correlated positively with triglycerides, insulin resistance, and blood pressure.
The measurement is done easily during a standard abdominal ultrasound.

❗ Why Does This "Invisible Fat" Matter?

Unlike subcutaneous fat, visceral fat produces inflammatory substances that disrupt the body’s metabolic balance. It’s associated with:

Type 2 diabetes
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
High blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Insulin resistance

🧭 What Can You Do?

Ask for a full abdominal ultrasound if you're overweight or carry abdominal fat.
Track your mesenteric fat thickness over time like you do with weight or blood pressure.
Adopt an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, including:
- Normoproteic ketogenic diets (like the Oloproteic Diet)
- Regular physical activity
- Good sleep and stress management
Monitor metabolic biomarkers: glucose, insulin, lipids, liver enzymes.

🧠 Conclusion

The study by Dr. Castaldo et al. highlights that metabolic diagnosis can begin with a simple ultrasound. Instead of waiting for disease, we can take early action by tracking mesenteric fat – the invisible metabolic trigger.

Read more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24366220/