Heart Disease and Obesity

Men and women who carry too much WEIGHT for their body’s frame are at risk for coronary heart disease just because of the excess WEIGHT. Many physicians and other medical experts once thought that heart disease and obesity were related only indirectly. They looked at other risk factors, and related them to the person’s degree of obesity.

Heart disease and obesity are proving, however, to be more directly linked than they thought.

No Missing Link

In recent years, a growing number of studies have indicated that while obesity can have its effect on other risk factors, heart disease and obesity themselves are directly related. These studies indicate that obesity can directly predict heart disease.

One study, which lasted 14 years, involved middle aged women. This study showed that middle-aged women with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 23 and less than 25 had approximately 50 percent increase in their risk of fatal heart disease and non-fatal heart disease.

If a person carries much of the excess WEIGHT around the waist, he or she is more likely to develop coronary heart disease and stroke, even if there are no other risk factors.

Your Heart Carries the Burden

Your legs and back may remind you frequently if you are carrying too much WEIGHT. They may feel burdened by the extra pounds. It is your heart, however, that carries the real burden of obesity.

The heart is forced to work harder when you are overWEIGHT. It must pump blood through many additional yards of blood vessels. The heart muscle was not meant to carry out this extra work. When it must do so, a chain of actions is set into motion.

* The Blood Pressure is increased.
* Increased Blood Pressure narrows blood vessels.
* Narrowed blood vessels can cause coronary heart disease.

The Choice

Heart disease and obesity normally go hand-in-hand. Obesity can be “cured” more readily than heart disease. Curing obesity can be a powerful preventative toward avoiding heart disease, but you have to choose to cure obesity. Ask your physician what your ideal WEIGHT should be. If you have trouble getting down to that WEIGHT, ask him or her for help.