According to recent research, you may be able to blame your love handles or spare tire (whichever euphemism you prefer!) on the stress in your life. A new study shows that stress can actually change your nervous system and hormones in ways that encourage fat accumulation--especially around the waist. This type of excess fat can present a greater health risk than overall plumpness and has been linked to increased rates of hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.

Men whose excess pounds accumulate around the waist tend to have changes in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). The HPA is a regulatory system that links the parts of the brain that control metabolism with the adrenal gland which is responsible for producing important regulatory hormones. Researchers have found that men with excess abdominal fat also show evidence of changes in a part of the nervous system that helps keep many of the body s functions in balance. Study results suggest that these brain and hormone (or neuroendocrine) changes are the result of living with chronic stress.

Thomas Ljung, M.D., lead author of Obesity Research, thinks stress changes the neuroendocrine activity and this, in turn, causes the body to acquire excess fat in the midsection. He says these changes in neuroendocrine activity were seen in men with abdominal obesity, but not in those whose excess weight was distributed more generally.

The (abdominally obese) men are either exposed to more stress or have reduced coping mechanisms. I think that long-lasting negative stress is the starting point. Humans were not made to live under conditions of relentless stress, which many people are today, says Dr. Ljung. Under such conditions, many people will eat more and gain weight, but certain vulnerable people will have an abdominal distribution of the excess fat, and this is more dangerous than just being generally a little bit fat.

Obesity expert George A. Bray, M.D., cautions: In this day of cell phones, voice mail, pagers and e-mail, it is almost impossible for anyone who tries to keep up not to feel pressured a lot of the time. These new technologies have raised the general level of stress. I recommend a stress-reduction program for anyone who is trying to lose weight, but it might be particularly important for those with abdominal obesity.

Dr. Ljung s advice to both patients and physicians is to beware of chronic stress Stop and think about how you are living.