Those Extra Pounds Can Hurt Your Heart!

Scientists at the Center for Prevention and Health Services Research in the Netherlands have found that people who are overweight face higher possibility of having heart disease events such as heart attacks and strokes in comparison to people who are less bulky. The danger remains high even if they control their blood pressure and cholesterol.

Being overweight is not the only cause of heart disease; these can be several including heredity; habits such as smoking; heavy consumption of fatty foods and high blood pressure. Overweight people are however, at extremely high risk of heart disease, a condition that is the leading killer of both men and women in almost all developed and developing countries of the world.

The best option for you if you are suffering from heart disease or suspect you might have the condition is to check in with your doctor on a regular basis, regardless of the weight you are at. Keeping tabs on other possible risk factors is also advisable.

The findings of the current study are not new in the sense that several other studies have arrived at the same conclusion. However, the results arrived at by the research team are different as they are the culmination of a review of 21 studies covering nearly 303,000 adults in the US, Australia, the UK and Europe.

Led by Dr. Rik Bogers, the research team studied data on the participants including their BMI and coronary heart disease “events” such as fatal and nonfatal heart attacks, sudden death, and chest pain. Follow-up periods in the studies covered ranged from about five to 35 years.

A total of 18,000 heart disease events were recorded in all the studies. Most of these were among people who were either overweight or obese. To find a ratio, the researchers split the study population into three groups – those with normal body mass index (BMI), those who were overweight but not obese, and those who were obese.

The chances of each group of people having a coronary heart disease event were then compared. It was found that compared to people with normal BMI, obese people had 81% higher risk of having a heart disease event during the follow-up period. The risk for people who were overweight but not obese was also 32% higher.

Even when the researchers made adjustments for age, sex, level of physical activity and smoking status for all participants, the findings held true. Cholesterol and blood pressure were also not sufficient to totally explain the results.

When adjustments were made for both these factors, obese people were found to be 49% more likely while overweight but not obese people were found to be 17% more likely than normal BMI people to have a heart disease event.

Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the study did not take into account either the eating habits or family history of heart disease in the participants.

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