A lifetime of obesity can do serious heart damage before symptoms even occur
Older individuals who are consistently overweight for most of their lives may face a heightened risk of subclinical heart failure, according to a new study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Researchers evaluated cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels in nearly 10,000 patients who participated in the Trøndelag Health Study. Patients were tracked for decades, with the first data being collected from 1984 to 1986. The final measurements were taken from 2017 to 2019. The median participant age during that final data collection was 68.7 years old, and 59% of participants were women.
Concentrations of cTnI, “a highly sensitive index of subclinical myocardial injury,” were identified in 84.1% of participants. When an individual was consistently overweight or obese over the course of the study, they were much more likely to have concentrations of cTnI when data was collected in 2017-2019. This was true if the person had diabetes or not.
“The association of obesity with overt cardiac disease is well established, but in this study, we demonstrate that long-standing obesity is injurious to cardiac health even before symptoms occur,” lead author Magnus N. Lyngbakken, MD, PhD, of Akershus University Hospital and the University of Oslo in Norway, said in a statement. “This further underlines the importance of weight control in prevention of serious cardiac conditions such as heart failure.”
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Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.