Two (or more) sides of a coin

There has been a lot of controversy concerning the prognostic role of obesity on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Several studies with cardiovascular patients (heart failure, coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral artery diseases, hypertension and atrial fibrillation) have reported better or similar risk of cardiovascular events and mortality among overweight and obese individuals as compared to lean ones.1 Since obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, these findings initially surprised researchers, who coined the term ‘obesity paradox’. The increasingly debated ‘metabolically healthy’ or ‘metabolically benign’ obese phenotype might be an explanation to the ‘obesity paradox’ in cardiovascular diseases. In their article, van der Leeuw and colleagues add more fuel to the discussion by investigating the influence of adiposity and cardiometabolic dysfunction on recurrent major cardiovascular events (stroke, myocardial infarction, retinal infarction and vascular mortality) and mortality in a sample of the Secondary Manifestations of ARTerial disease (SMART)...
Source: Heart - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Drugs: cardiovascular system, Hypertension, Acute coronary syndromes, Epidemiology Editorials Source Type: research