Health & Medicine
Big Belly Elevates Death Risk in Heart Attack Survivors: Study
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Sep 02, 2013 03:49 AM EDT
A big waistline increases the risk of death in heart attack survivors, according to a latest finding.
A lot has been written about the impact of obesity on cardiovascular health and long term mortality. Experts have also emphasized the detrimental role that abdominal obesity plays in heart attacks. Irrespective of the body weight, carrying excess fat around the abdomen is dangerous.
A study conducted earlier by researchers at the Imperial College London, revealed that every additional 2 inches on the waistline increased the death risk for men by 17 percent and 13 percent in women. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that belly bulge in older adults who aren't overweight or obese, puts them at a greater risk of death. Scientists have also revealed that muffin top around the middle, despite a normal weight, poses a greater risk of cardiac disease.
The latest study reveals that overhanging belly fat increases death risk in those who have survived heart attack.
Professor Tabassome Simon from France, the co-author of the study, said, "The impact of obesity on long term mortality and cardiovascular complications in the general population has been the object of recent debate. Much emphasis has also been given to the deleterious role of abdominal obesity. At the time of a heart attack, early mortality tends to be lower in obese patients, a phenomenon well known in critical care situations and described as the 'obesity paradox'. Little is known, however, about the potential impact of obesity and abdominal obesity on long-term outcomes in patients who have survived the acute stage of a heart attack."
In this study the researchers examined the relation between body mass index and waist circumference with 5 year mortality in patients from the FAST-MI 2005 registry that survived heart attack and were discharged after treatment.
The FAST-MI survey consisted on 3,670 patients from 223 different institutions who were admitted to the intensive care unit for acute myocardial infection at the end of 2005. Nearly 3,463 patients were discharged alive out of which the BMI of just 3,102 patients were recorded and the waist circumferences of 1,647 patients were recorded. The difference in the baseline characteristics between the various BMI groups was taken using statistical techniques. Long-term follow-up was achieved in 99.6 percent at one year, 98 percent at 3 years, and 95 percent at 5 years.
The absolute mortality after five years was highest in leanest patients with BMI less than 22kg/m2. The mortality was lowest in those patients that had BMI between 25-35 kg/m2. Those with severe obesity that had BMI more than 35 kg/m2 had a significant increased mortality after 3 years. The finding also linked severe abdominal obesity with waist circumference more than 100 cm (women) and more than 115 cm (men) with increased long term mortality.
Since the waist circumference was strongly associated with BMI, the researchers determined the upper quartile of waist circumference (quarter of the population that had highest waist circumference) within each BMI group and using both the variables they determined their role in relation with long term mortality. On doing so, the researchers noticed that lean people (BMI<22kg/m2) suffered an elevated risk of death at 5 years by 41 percent and those who were very obese (BMI>35kg/m2) had 65 percent greater risk of mortality after 5 years.
Professor Simon concluded, "High waist circumference, severe obesity and underweight are associated with the greatest risk of death in heart attack survivors. It is not good to be too lean or too fat, but it is worse still when you have a big belly. From a public health standpoint, educational messages in patients having sustained a heart attack should focus more on the most severe forms of obesity and abdominal obesity and on other risk factors (such as smoking and being sedentary), rather than on overweight and mild obesity."
The findings were presented at ESC Congress 2013 by Professor Tabassome Simon and Professor Nicolas Danchin, France.
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First Posted: Sep 02, 2013 03:49 AM EDT
A big waistline increases the risk of death in heart attack survivors, according to a latest finding.
A lot has been written about the impact of obesity on cardiovascular health and long term mortality. Experts have also emphasized the detrimental role that abdominal obesity plays in heart attacks. Irrespective of the body weight, carrying excess fat around the abdomen is dangerous.
A study conducted earlier by researchers at the Imperial College London, revealed that every additional 2 inches on the waistline increased the death risk for men by 17 percent and 13 percent in women. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that belly bulge in older adults who aren't overweight or obese, puts them at a greater risk of death. Scientists have also revealed that muffin top around the middle, despite a normal weight, poses a greater risk of cardiac disease.
The latest study reveals that overhanging belly fat increases death risk in those who have survived heart attack.
Professor Tabassome Simon from France, the co-author of the study, said, "The impact of obesity on long term mortality and cardiovascular complications in the general population has been the object of recent debate. Much emphasis has also been given to the deleterious role of abdominal obesity. At the time of a heart attack, early mortality tends to be lower in obese patients, a phenomenon well known in critical care situations and described as the 'obesity paradox'. Little is known, however, about the potential impact of obesity and abdominal obesity on long-term outcomes in patients who have survived the acute stage of a heart attack."
In this study the researchers examined the relation between body mass index and waist circumference with 5 year mortality in patients from the FAST-MI 2005 registry that survived heart attack and were discharged after treatment.
The FAST-MI survey consisted on 3,670 patients from 223 different institutions who were admitted to the intensive care unit for acute myocardial infection at the end of 2005. Nearly 3,463 patients were discharged alive out of which the BMI of just 3,102 patients were recorded and the waist circumferences of 1,647 patients were recorded. The difference in the baseline characteristics between the various BMI groups was taken using statistical techniques. Long-term follow-up was achieved in 99.6 percent at one year, 98 percent at 3 years, and 95 percent at 5 years.
The absolute mortality after five years was highest in leanest patients with BMI less than 22kg/m2. The mortality was lowest in those patients that had BMI between 25-35 kg/m2. Those with severe obesity that had BMI more than 35 kg/m2 had a significant increased mortality after 3 years. The finding also linked severe abdominal obesity with waist circumference more than 100 cm (women) and more than 115 cm (men) with increased long term mortality.
Since the waist circumference was strongly associated with BMI, the researchers determined the upper quartile of waist circumference (quarter of the population that had highest waist circumference) within each BMI group and using both the variables they determined their role in relation with long term mortality. On doing so, the researchers noticed that lean people (BMI<22kg/m2) suffered an elevated risk of death at 5 years by 41 percent and those who were very obese (BMI>35kg/m2) had 65 percent greater risk of mortality after 5 years.
Professor Simon concluded, "High waist circumference, severe obesity and underweight are associated with the greatest risk of death in heart attack survivors. It is not good to be too lean or too fat, but it is worse still when you have a big belly. From a public health standpoint, educational messages in patients having sustained a heart attack should focus more on the most severe forms of obesity and abdominal obesity and on other risk factors (such as smoking and being sedentary), rather than on overweight and mild obesity."
The findings were presented at ESC Congress 2013 by Professor Tabassome Simon and Professor Nicolas Danchin, France.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone