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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Being Overweight May Independently Increase Risk for
Heart Disease
Effects on blood pressure and
cholesterol could account for about 45% of the increased risk of
coronary heart disease
Sept. 11, 2007 If you are just moderately
overweight, you have increased your risk of developing coronary heart
disease problems, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk
factors. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease by 81 percent over
those of normal weight, says an analysis of previous studies published
today in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight and
therefore at higher risk for heart disease, other illnesses and death,
according to background information in the article.
"Because of the high prevalence of overweight and
the expected future increases, it is essential to gain precise insight
into the consequences of overweight for health and into the metabolic
pathways that link the two," the authors write.
Rik P. Bogers, Ph.D., of the Centre for Prevention
and Health Services Research, National Institute for Public Health and
the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands, and colleagues combined
data from 21 previous studies of overweight and heart disease that
included a total of 302,296 participants.
A total of 18,000 heart events or deaths occurred
among these participants during the studies. After the researchers
factored in age, sex, physical activity levels and smoking, moderately
overweight individuals had a 32 percent increased risk of heart disease
compared those who were not overweight.
Obesity increased their risk 81 percent over those
of normal weight.
The researchers then adjusted the figures further
for blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This reduced the excess risk
associated with being moderately overweight by 47 percent, to 17
percent, and with obesity by 40 percent, to 49 percent.
For every five units an individuals body mass
index increased, the risk for heart disease increased 29 percent before
adjusting for blood pressure and cholesterol and 16 percent after
adjustment.
"Hence, the present study indicates that adverse
effects of overweight on blood pressure and cholesterol levels could
account for about 45 percent of the increased risk of coronary heart
disease, and that there is still a significantly increased risk of
coronary heart disease that is independent of these effects," the
authors write.
"This implies that, even under the theoretical
scenario that optimal treatment would be available against hypertension
and hypercholesterolemia in overweight persons, they would still have an
elevated risk of coronary heart disease."
They propose several other mechanisms by which
being overweight could increase the risk of heart disease, including
constant low-grade inflammation, problems with blood vessel function or
an imbalance in blood chemicals that could lead to more clotting.
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Extreme Obesity in Women Increasing, Linked to
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7/04/06
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