Heart-disease risk not changed by liposuction.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Liposuction may not reduce risk for heart disease the way good, old-fashioned diet and exercise can. It has been shown that belly fat, or waist circumference, is more closely associated with heart disease or risk factors for heart disease than other distributions of fat. Yet, how one gets rid of fat seems to matter in terms of reducing these risks, say physicians at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

"Diet and exercise certainly can reduce abdominal fat and reduce heart-disease risk, as can surgical procedures like gastric bypass, which limits caloric intake," confirms Amit Khera, who directs a program in preventive cardiology. "Interestingly...