Lisa Boulton

The word aneurysm comes from a Greek word meaning ‘to dilate’ and is used to describe a widening of a blood vessel where the wall of the vessel is weakened and bulges out as blood flows through it. Aneurysms occur anywhere in the body and are more common in arteries than veins.

What exactly causes aneurysms is unclear; however some of the risk factors for an arterial aneurysm (AA) are: smoking, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, congenital weakening of the arteries and a family history of aneurysms. What sex and age you are has a bearing too. Addressing some of these factors now can help lower your risk.

Two common areas that AA’s can be found are the abdominal area and brain. Men are five times more at risk of an abdominal aortic aneurysm than women, and the older a person is, the more likely they will develop an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Whereas brain aneurysms (often called intracranial or cerebral aneurysms) affect more women than men and each year only 1 in 12,500 rupture. Interestingly, anger can be a risk factor in rupturing a brain aneurysm!

Most AA’s are symptomless unless, as they grow, they start to press on surrounding structures or rupture. See below for some possible symptoms of not ruptured and ruptured AA’s.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Not ruptured

• A vibrating feeling in your abdomen, usually near your belly button, that’s usually only noticeable when you touch it
• Pain in the abdomen, back, loin or groin
• If you are very slim you may notice an abdominal lump

Ruptured

• Pain in middle/side of abdomen, in men pain can also radiate down into the scrotum
• Dizziness
• Cold and sweaty
• Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
• Shortness of breath
• Faintness
• Loss of consciousness
• Low blood pressure

Cerebral Aneurysm

Not ruptured

• Visual disturbances, i.e. loss of vision/double vision
• Difficulties moving one of your eyes
• Pain on one side of your face or around your eye
• Inability to move some facial muscles; usually only one side of your face is affected
• Headaches
• Seizures (fits)

Ruptured

• Sudden, severe headache likened to being hit on the head
• Stiff neck
• Feeling/being sick
• Slurred speech
• Sensitivity to light
• Blurred or double vision
• Mental confusion
• Loss of consciousness
• Seizures
• Weakness/paralysis of an arm or leg

Treatment and surgery for aneurysms depend on whether the aneurysm has ruptured or not and what size and shape it is and where it is located.

Did you know that being an apple shape, having a “little bit of a tummy”, or having a “beer belly” can increase your risk of having heart disease, blood pressure, respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer?

New research shows that having a large waist, even with a healthy BMI can be a predictor of diabetes, especially in women. In a study involving men, the group with larger waist circumferences had a higher proportion of men with severe symptoms related to lower urinary tract problems as measured by the International Prostate Symptoms Score than those with smaller waists, they also had problems with sexual dysfunction.

Our bodies have various fat stores, but when someone consumes more calories or fat than they burn the result can be a build-up of a dangerous type of fat in the abdomen which also surrounds the internal organs. A person doesn’t have to be overweight to have this sort of fat surrounding their internal organs. It is thought that visceral (abdominal) fat releases proteins and hormones that can cause inflammation, which in turn damages arteries and enters the liver. It also affects how the body breaks down sugars and fats.

Even if a person is not overweight, eating healthily and exercising is important because people can be what is called a ‘TOFI’ – thin outside fat inside. A person may look slim but may be storing their fat around their internal organs without it affecting their outward appearance.

Believe it or not, 1000 people a week die of obesity related diseases and the larger the waist the higher the mortality. If you tend to gain weight around your middle it’s important to increase your level of activity and watch what you eat, to help lower the risk of health problems.

To measure your waist, find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips and measure in-between these two points (for most this is around the belly button area).

Low Risk
Men: less than 94cm (37 in)
Women: less than 80cm (32 in)

High Risk
Men: 94cm – 102cm
Women: 80- 88cm

Very High Risk
Men: over 102cm (40in)
Asian men*: Over 90cm (35.5 in)
Women: over 88cm (35in)
Asian women*: Over 80cm (31.5)

*Those with an Asian background tend to have a higher proportion of body fat to muscle than the rest of the UK and tend to carry fat around the middle.

It’s important to check with your GP before making changes to your lifestyle if you have health problems.