Bioimpedance

ANALYSIS OF BODY COMPOSITION BY BIOIMPEDANCE

The Body Composition Analysis is an indispensable part of the assessment of the nutritional status of a person since it determines the changes of the corporal composition very important in different situations; both in diseases (obesity, anorexia, AIDS, cancer, renal or cardiac failure, among others), as well as in physiological processes (adolescence, menopause, aging …).
It is not enough to just weigh ourselves and talk about ideal weight. The definition of obesity based on the Body Mass Index (BMI), which only takes into account height and weight, is insufficient as a diagnostic tool and as an evaluation element during the therapy of a weight problem. The objective is to quantify “in vivo” our bodily components, the relationships between them as well as the associated changes and other factors. Now we must determine the percentage of total and visceral fat, lean mass and body water, among other parameters.

Bioimpedance is a non-invasive, painless, effective and responsible study that is based on the application of an imperceptible alternating current, applied between the patient’s hands and feet and measures the body’s capacity to transport a certain amount of electrical energy. Since the biological tissues have different electrical properties, their behavior against the passage of this current can determine their nature and composition. The study of Body Composition based on the technique of Bioimpedance allows to establish the percentage of fat mass (adipose tissue) and lean mass or free of fat (muscles, bones, organs) of a person and then establish the need for loss or weight gain, depending on each case.

BUT, WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW MY BODY COMPOSITION?

Excess or lack of body fat or lean mass, as well as excess water, are of great help to be able to know in depth diseases such as overweight and obesity, eating disorders, problems of fluid retention in pathologies cardiac, renal or endocrinological, muscle loss with age or failures in growth and development. We can gain or lose fat and minerals from bone or muscle as a result of disease, from eating too much or too little, from high-performance sports training or from psychiatric disorders related to food. All these changes in the organism can only be detected using a valid method of measuring the Body Composition as it is the Bioimpedance together with an appropriate professional evaluation.

In malnourished people or in eating disorders such as anorexia with loss of protein component, it is important to know the measure of lean mass. Older people also tend to lose lean mass and represent a large risk group of malnutrition, so their study is essential. Determine visceral fat helps us in diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, acute myocardial infarction among others. In Pediatrics, Bioimpedance can help evaluate problems of growth disorders or help control childhood obesity.