Obese men face a dramatically higher risk of dying from a heart attack, regardless of whether or not they have other known risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Obese men face a dramatically higher risk of dying from a heart attack, regardless of whether or not they have other known risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The effect of body mass index (BMI) on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk is increases in the presence of other risk factors like diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol levels.
To assess any independent effects of obesity on CHD risk, researchers followed 6,082 male patients from Glasgow who were diagnosed with high cholesterol but had no history of either heart disease or diabetes for almost 15 years.
Over the study period, 214 heart disease fatalities were noted, along with another 1,027 heart attacks and/or strokes that did not result in death.
Being obese was found to be linked to a greater chance for having all of the classic risk factors linked to heart disease. Even after ruling out relevant variables such as age and smoking history, the risk of death among obese men - those with a body mass index between 30 and 39.9 kg/m2- was still 75 percent higher than it was for non-obese men.
Moreover, even after also accounting for risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes (as well as medication history), the chance of experiencing a fatal heart attack was 60 percent greater among obese men, as compared with non-obese men. The one warning: in and of itself, being obese was not linked to a higher risk of experiencing a non-fatal heart attack or stroke.
The researchers cautioned that further research is needed to confirm the findings, and to uncover the exact mechanism by which obesity itself is a risk factor for fatal heart attacks. Possible reasons include particular chemicals that the fat cells are releasing. Or perhaps it is related to the fact that obese people tend to have larger hearts to cope with the additional stress of their larger size, and this already stressed heart does not manage to continue to work during a heart attack.
The effect of body mass index (BMI) on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk is increases in the presence of other risk factors like diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol levels.
To assess any independent effects of obesity on CHD risk, researchers followed 6,082 male patients from Glasgow who were diagnosed with high cholesterol but had no history of either heart disease or diabetes for almost 15 years.
Over the study period, 214 heart disease fatalities were noted, along with another 1,027 heart attacks and/or strokes that did not result in death.
Being obese was found to be linked to a greater chance for having all of the classic risk factors linked to heart disease. Even after ruling out relevant variables such as age and smoking history, the risk of death among obese men - those with a body mass index between 30 and 39.9 kg/m2- was still 75 percent higher than it was for non-obese men.
Moreover, even after also accounting for risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes (as well as medication history), the chance of experiencing a fatal heart attack was 60 percent greater among obese men, as compared with non-obese men. The one warning: in and of itself, being obese was not linked to a higher risk of experiencing a non-fatal heart attack or stroke.
The researchers cautioned that further research is needed to confirm the findings, and to uncover the exact mechanism by which obesity itself is a risk factor for fatal heart attacks. Possible reasons include particular chemicals that the fat cells are releasing. Or perhaps it is related to the fact that obese people tend to have larger hearts to cope with the additional stress of their larger size, and this already stressed heart does not manage to continue to work during a heart attack.
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