Obesity Affects Heart Muscle Function
Updated March 26, 2015.
By DrRich
In an article appearing in the November 1 issue of Circulation, investigators from Australia report that individuals who are obese - or merely overweight - display evidence of significant heart muscle dysfunction.
These investigators studied 69 men and 73 women whose average age was 44. None had heart disease, hypertension, or diabetes. They divided the subjects into 4 groups based on their body mass index (BMI,) which is an index reflecting the degree of obesity.
Echocardiograms then were performed to assess the function of the subjects' left ventricles.
All subjects had normal left ventricular ejection fractions, a measure of whether or not the heart fully empties itself of blood when it contracts. However, patients who were overweight or obese showed both sluggish systolic function (i.e., the heart contracted slowly) and stiffness during diastole (i.e., a reduced ability of the heart muscle to relax during ventricular filling.) Thus, they showed both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Furthermore, the greater the degree of obesity, the greater the degree of cardiac dysfunction. Even people who were only modestly overweight displayed at least some degree of cardiac dysfunction.
These changes in heart muscle function are thought to represent early, preclinical heart failure, and provide yet another reason for overweight people to lose weight.
By DrRich
In an article appearing in the November 1 issue of Circulation, investigators from Australia report that individuals who are obese - or merely overweight - display evidence of significant heart muscle dysfunction.
These investigators studied 69 men and 73 women whose average age was 44. None had heart disease, hypertension, or diabetes. They divided the subjects into 4 groups based on their body mass index (BMI,) which is an index reflecting the degree of obesity.
Echocardiograms then were performed to assess the function of the subjects' left ventricles.
All subjects had normal left ventricular ejection fractions, a measure of whether or not the heart fully empties itself of blood when it contracts. However, patients who were overweight or obese showed both sluggish systolic function (i.e., the heart contracted slowly) and stiffness during diastole (i.e., a reduced ability of the heart muscle to relax during ventricular filling.) Thus, they showed both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Furthermore, the greater the degree of obesity, the greater the degree of cardiac dysfunction. Even people who were only modestly overweight displayed at least some degree of cardiac dysfunction.
These changes in heart muscle function are thought to represent early, preclinical heart failure, and provide yet another reason for overweight people to lose weight.
Source...