Some obese people may be metabolically healthy, yet they have an increased cardiovascular risk compared to those who are also metabolically healthy and have a normal weight. This shows a new British scientific study - the largest of its kind to date and with the participation of a Greek scientist - which confirms similar findings of previous research.
A new study linking weight and metabolic health to the risk of heart disease shows that those who are metabolically healthy but underweight (ie underweight or very thin) and those who are normal weight are also at increased cardiovascular risk. , but also have metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and hypertension.
The researchers, led by epidemiologist Dr. Risi Kalejachetti of the University of Birmingham, who published the study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, analyzed the electronic medical records of 3,5 million people for the 1995 period. -2015. Among the scientists was the Greek endocrinologist Konstantinos Toulis of the University of Birmingham (graduate of the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).
About 15% of individuals were classified as obese without metabolic disorders.
These people, who were usually younger male smokers, were on average 49% more likely to develop coronary heart disease, 96% more likely to develop heart failure and 7% more likely to develop cerebrovascular disease (stroke, etc.) than those who did not. were metabolically healthy and had a normal weight.
On the other hand, metabolically healthy obese people have a lower risk of peripheral arterial disease. But metabolically healthy but underweight people - especially smokers - also have an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease, heart failure and peripheral arterial disease.
The researchers pointed out that, following the new findings, metabolically healthy obesity can not be considered a risk-free condition, as it increases the risk of cardiovascular events, so metabolically healthy obese can not be considered healthy.
Obesity, which is a recognized risk factor for heart disease, has been on the rise for the past 40 years worldwide. Weight is considered normal when a person has a body mass index (division of weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters) 18,5 to 25. Those with an index below 18,5 are underweight, between 25 and 30 overweight and above of 30 obese.
Source: RES - EIA