Body Composition Flashcards
What is Muscle?
Highly metabolically active tissue
How is BMI calculated?
Weight/(height x Height)
What is the units for BMI?
Kg/m^2
What is DEXA?
Dual Energy Xray Absorptiometry
What does DEXA do?
Mostly used to see bone density but can also see inside the body to measure composition.
What are the downsides to DEXA?
Expensive and highly complicated equipment with very few in the country
What is hydrostatic weighing?
Underwater weighing using Archimedes principle of water displacement.
What is water displacement equal to?
Volume of mass lowered into the container of known volume.
Which occupies more space, Fat or muscle?
Fat
What is the downside of Hydrostatic weighing?
Complicated equipment and needs to get wet
What is Air Displacement Plethysmography?
An equipment similar to hydrostatic weighing but using air.
What are the advantages of Air Displacement Plethysmography?
Accurate and reliable
What are the disadvantages of Air Displacement Plethysmography?
Patient needs to be naked.
Expensive and complicated equipment
What is a bioelectrical Impedance Analysis?
A piece of equipment that uses a small electric current to measure flow to measure fat.
How does a Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis work?
Uses an electrical flow that is sent through the body. Water conducts electricity and as muscle cells are wet, but fat cells are hydrophobic therefore resists the current. The more fat the higher resistance.
