Sagittal Abdominal Diameter

Sagittal Abdominal Diameter (SAD) is a measure of visceral obesity, the amount of fat in the gut region. SAD is the distance from the small of the back to the upper abdomen at the point midway between the top of the pelvis and the bottom of the ribs, measured while standing. SAD is a strong predictor of coronary disease, with higher values indicating increased risk independent of BMI.[1]

For persons of normal BMI, SAD should be under 25 centimetres (9.8 in). The amount this measure exceeds 30 centimetres (12 in) correlates to increased cardiovascular risk and insulin resistance.[2] SAD measure of men in their 40s, greater than 25 cm, also predicts significantly higher risk of Alzheimer's disease 30 years later.[3] An article in Annals of Neurology links visceral fat to lower brain volume.[4]

A related measurement is Supine Abdominal Height (SAH), the abdominal height as measured in the supine position.[5] The SAH method is easier for self-monitoring, but gives slightly lower results due to gravity; the values are not directly comparable.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Iribarren, Carlos; Darbinian, Jeanne A.; Lo, Joan C.; Fireman, Bruce H.; Go, Alan S. (2006). "Value of the Sagittal Abdominal Diameter in Coronary Heart Disease Risk Assessment: Cohort Study in a Large, Multiethnic Population". American Journal of Epidemiology 164 (12): 1150–9. doi:10.1093/aje/kwj341. PMID 17041127. 
  2. ^ Petersson, Helena; Daryani, Achraf; Risérus, Ulf (2007). "Sagittal abdominal diameter as a marker of inflammation and insulin resistance among immigrant women from the Middle East and native Swedish women: a cross-sectional study". Cardiovascular Diabetology 6: 10. doi:10.1186/1475-2840-6-10. PMC 1847804. PMID 17391519. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1847804. 
  3. ^ Whitmer, R. A.; Gustafson, D. R.; Barrett-Connor, E.; Haan, M. N.; Gunderson, E. P.; Yaffe, K. (2008). "Central obesity and increased risk of dementia more than three decades later". Neurology 71 (14): 1057–64. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000306313.89165.ef. PMID 18367704. 
  4. ^ Debette, Stéphanie; Beiser, Alexa; Hoffmann, Udo; Decarli, Charles; O'Donnell, Christopher J.; Massaro, Joseph M.; Au, Rhoda; Himali, Jayandra J. et al. (2010). "Visceral fat is associated with lower brain volume in healthy middle-aged adults". Annals of Neurology: 136–44. doi:10.1002/ana.22062. 
  5. ^ Riserus, Ulf; Ärnlöv, Johan; Brismar, Kerstin; Zethelius, Björn; Berglund, Lars; Vessby, Bengt (2004). "Sagittal Abdominal Diameter Is a Strong Anthropometric Marker of Insulin Resistance and Hyperproinsulinemia in Obese Men". Diabetes Care 27 (8): 2041–6. doi:10.2337/diacare.27.8.2041. PMID 15277437.