Surprise Findings on Obesity and Heart Attacks

Patterns: In Studies, Surprise Findings on Obesity and Heart Attacks

Published: July 3, 2007

Two new studies shed light on the role obesity may play in causing heart attacks and, surprisingly, keeping them from being fatal.

The Impact of Obesity on Mortality in UA/non-ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (European Heart Journal)

In one study, published by the European Heart Journal, researchers followed more than 1,600 patients who were given angioplasty and, usually, stents after a type of heart attack known as unstable angina/non-ST-segment elevation. They found that the obese and very obese patients were only half as likely as those of normal weight to die in the three years after the attack.

Part of the explanation may be that obese people are more likely to have their heart problems detected by doctors and treated with medications that later help them recover from heart attacks.

Heart attack patients who are obese also tend to be younger. And other changes in the body that often occur with obesity may also help, the study said. (Of course, as the researchers noted, obesity is not desirable when it comes to heart disease; it causes medical problems that can lead to heart attacks in the first place.)

In the second study, presented at a recent meeting of the American Society of Echocardiography, researchers reported that excess weight was associated with a thickening of muscle in the left ventricle, the part of the heart that acts as a pump.

The study was led by researchers from the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.