Research Shows That Obesity Increases Risk of Death from Heart Disease by 82%

Recent research published in the British Medical Journal and carried out by scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm has shown than obesity is more dangerous to health than previously realized. The study looked at a million families and analysed the health and weight of the father and sons. The results showed a strong indication that obese sons of healthy fathers are 82% more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular disease.

The purpose of the study was to actually determine the effects of weight on the development of cancer. Results showed that contrary to the previous held idea that being underweight lead to an increased risk of cancer, that being overweight was the real problem. As people tend to lose a lot of weight when suffering from cancer, it was concluded that a low bodyweight increased risk. The reverse is true.

“Our analysis of the effects of BMI on mortality using offspring BMI as an indicator of adult BMI shows positive associations between offspring BMI and parental mortality from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers.”

What was previously understood on this topic

• A high body mass index was connected with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.
• Having a low BMI was related to increase in respiratory diseases and specifically lung cancer.
• Although there is a known connection between low BMi and incidence of lung cancer, it was not known if low BMI increased the likelihood of lung cancer, or if it was caused by the effects of the cancer.

What This Study Has Proved and Added

• Using data from father and sons they have proved that a high body mass index is linked with increased mortality form heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
• The results have shown that having a low body mass index not lead to increased risk of respiratory disease and lung cancer.
• The results have shown that having a high BMI, i.e. being very obese, leads to greater risk of serious illness than previously thought.

Reference:

• The association between BMI and mortality using offspring BMI as an indicator of own BMI: large intergenerational mortality study. George Davey Smith, professor of clinical epidemiology, Jonathan AC Sterne, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology, Abigail Fraser, Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellow in health services research and health of the public, Per Tynelius, statistician, Debbie A Lawlor, professor of epidemiology, Finn Rasmussen, professor.

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Tags: Abigail Fraser, bmi, BMJ, cancer, cardiovascular, Debbie A Lawlor, Finn Rasmussen, George Davey Smith, heart disease, Jonathan AC Sterne, lung cancer, Per Tynelius

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.