What will they stufy next? And what more can gaining weight do to our health? Well, I never would have thought of this one!
From McLeans Magazine:
Big butts a barrier to medication
Fat gets in the way of injections into the muscles of the buttocks
Medications administered by injections into the buttocks -- such as painkillers and vaccines -- are ineffective in nearly 70 per cent of people because their behinds are getting too big. In many patients, the amount of fat tissue overlying the muscles of the buttocks now exceeds the three-centimetre length of the standard needle used for these injections, according to Irish researchers.
Medications are designed to be absorbed into the bloodstream from the muscle. Because fat has significantly fewer blood vessels, people with extra pounds are not receiving the maximum drug benefit or are receiving no benefit at all.
Furthermore, if medication is not adequately absorbed, it remains in the fatty tissue where it can cause infection or irritation.
"There is no question that obesity is the underlying cause (of insufficient absorption)," says lead study author Dr. Victoria Chan of the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin.
In particular, Chan's findings have great importance for women -- even those who are not overweight. Due to their hourglass figures, women typically have a higher amount of fat in their buttocks when compared with men, she says.
Without question, this was the case in her study, in which the success rate for injections in the buttocks was 56 per cent in men and only eight per cent in women.
Chan and her colleagues recruited 25 men and 25 women who were scheduled for computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdomen and pelvis. Before the scan, the subjects received an intramuscular injection to the buttocks with the addition of a small air bubble.
Doctors then studied the CT scans to determine whether the air bubble had reached the muscle. The injection was a success in only 32 per cent of patients -- 14 men and two women.
People who can't get an adequate injection into the buttock may need a longer needle or an injection at another site such as the upper arm or thigh.
From McLeans Magazine:
Big butts a barrier to medication
Fat gets in the way of injections into the muscles of the buttocks
Medications administered by injections into the buttocks -- such as painkillers and vaccines -- are ineffective in nearly 70 per cent of people because their behinds are getting too big. In many patients, the amount of fat tissue overlying the muscles of the buttocks now exceeds the three-centimetre length of the standard needle used for these injections, according to Irish researchers.
Medications are designed to be absorbed into the bloodstream from the muscle. Because fat has significantly fewer blood vessels, people with extra pounds are not receiving the maximum drug benefit or are receiving no benefit at all.
Furthermore, if medication is not adequately absorbed, it remains in the fatty tissue where it can cause infection or irritation.
"There is no question that obesity is the underlying cause (of insufficient absorption)," says lead study author Dr. Victoria Chan of the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin.
In particular, Chan's findings have great importance for women -- even those who are not overweight. Due to their hourglass figures, women typically have a higher amount of fat in their buttocks when compared with men, she says.
Without question, this was the case in her study, in which the success rate for injections in the buttocks was 56 per cent in men and only eight per cent in women.
Chan and her colleagues recruited 25 men and 25 women who were scheduled for computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdomen and pelvis. Before the scan, the subjects received an intramuscular injection to the buttocks with the addition of a small air bubble.
Doctors then studied the CT scans to determine whether the air bubble had reached the muscle. The injection was a success in only 32 per cent of patients -- 14 men and two women.
People who can't get an adequate injection into the buttock may need a longer needle or an injection at another site such as the upper arm or thigh.
IN SNARK WE TRUST....
