Abdominal obesity

One of my interests in this topic is my sister who died in 1996. She was an "apple" and I am a "pear." She had both breast cancer and diabetes. Note this conclusion of an article in The British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease, vol. 6, no. 2, 2006 (Available on line through Medscape.com, but may require registration)

"Abdominal obesity, particularly that due to an excess of visceral fat, is associated with an increased risk of developing insulin resistance and concomitant cardiovascular risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidaemia, inflammation a pro-coagulant state and thrombosis. Waist circumference is a useful measure of abdominal obesity and may be used, along with BMI, to identify patients most at risk of CVD. 'At risk' patients can be managed with lifestyle modifications and, if necessary, pharmacotherapy. The CB1 blocker, rimonabant, has produced clinically significant weight loss and improved some cardiometabolic parameters in clinical trials. It has been suggested that this new class of drug specifically targets intra-abdominal adiposity and may therefore offer 'added-value' in the treatment of obesity and associated cardiometabolic risk."