Overweight Men at Higher Risk of Heart Attack & Stroke

(December 29, 2009) - People who are overweight (Read about "Obesity") face an increased risk for a number of health problems, including diabetes. (Read about "Diabetes") A new study says overweight and obese men also increase their risk of heart attack, stroke and premature death - even if they don't have the metabolic syndrome. (Read about "Heart Attack" "Stroke" "Metabolic Syndrome")

"Previous studies have put forward the existence of a "metabolically healthy" subgroup of obese individuals who are at no increased cardiovascular risk, but if you follow them long enough, you find out there appears to be no such thing as metabolically healthy obesity," said one of the researchers, Johan Ärnlöv, M.D., Ph.D.

When previous studies have examined the occurrence of heart disease risk with obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) - a cluster of risk factors associated with the development of heart disease and diabetes - obese people without MetS have not portrayed an increased risk. However, these studies followed people for 13 years or less and it is possible that the increase in risk in the obese without the MetS becomes more evident after 10 - 15 years, Ärnlöv said.

The current 30-year study involved 1,758 men born between 1920 and 1924. Each underwent a health evaluation at age 50, and those who had diabetes or had been hospitalized for heart disease (Read about "Coronary Heart Disease") were not included.

During the follow-up, 681 suffered a cardiovascular event (death or hospitalization from heart attack, stroke or heart failure) - including 386 cardiovascular deaths. After adjusting for age, smoking and the men's levels of "bad" LDL-cholesterol (link to h06), the researchers compared men with MetS and/or high body mass index (Read about "Body Mass Index") with those of normal weight and without MetS. The researchers found that the risk of cardiovascular disease was:

• 63 percent higher in normal weight men with MetS
• 52 percent higher in overweight men without MetS
• 74 percent higher in overweight men with MetS
• 95 percent higher in obese men without MetS
• 155 percent higher in obese men with MetS

"Normal weight men with the metabolic syndrome were at increased risk, and overweight and obese men were at increased risk even if they did not have the metabolic syndrome," Ärnlöv said.