Skip to main content

Obesity and the Heart Disease Patient: Controversies Abound

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Controversies in Obesity
  • 2203 Accesses

Abstract

Obesity rates are rising and are associated with the development of premature cardiovascular and other diseases. Obesity is often identified by measures of body mass index (BMI). BMI measurement has limitations, especially when used as a metric among children and within certain populations, such as South Asians. While there is an enthusiasm for exploring endocrine functions of visceral fat and imaging it noninvasively, the benefits of such studies may have more academic than clinical merit. Of all the controversies in obesity, the obesity paradox remains one of the most elusive to explain. Perhaps the greatest controversial challenge to improve public health will be to manipulate dietary conditions whereby energy input = energy output.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Diabetes & obesity: a heavy burden. Report from Diabetes UK. 2005;03:3–17.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lavie CJ, Milani MD, Ventura HO. Obesity and cardiovascular disease. Risk factor, paradox, and impact of weight loss. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009;53:1925–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Statistics on obesity, physical activity, and diet: England. The NHS Information Centre. 2012. Available at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/opad12.

  4. Hardoon SL, Morris RW, Whincup PH, Shipley MJ, Britton AR, Masset G, et al. Rising adiposity curbing decline in the incidence of myocardial infarction: 20-year follow-up of British men and women in the Whitehall II cohort. Eur Heart J. 2012;33:478–85.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Lavie CJ, De Schutter A, Patel DA, Romero-Corral A, Artham SM, Milani RV. Body composition and survival in stable coronary heart disease. Impact of lean mass index and body fat in the “obesity paradox”. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012;60(15):1374–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Poirier P. Cardiologists and abdominal obesity: lost in translation? Heart. 2009;95:1033–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Morrell J, Fox KAA. Prevalence of abdominal obesity in primary care: the IDEA UK study. Int J Clin Pract. 2009;63:1301–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Faeh D, Braun J, Bopp M. Body mass index vs cholesterol in cardiovascular disease risk prediction models. (Research letter). Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(22):1766–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Griffiths C, Gately P, Marchant PR, Cooke CB. Cross-sectional comparisons of BMI and waist circumference in British children: mixed public health messages. Obesity. 2012;20:1258–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gupta M, Singh N, Verma S. South Asians and cardiovascular risk. What clinicians should know. Circulation. 2006;113:e924–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpuu S, Dans T, Avezum A, Lanas F, INTERHEART Study Investigators, et al. Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case–control study. Lancet. 2004;364:937–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kumar S, Hanif W, Zaman MJ, Sattar N, Patel K, Khunti K. Lower thresholds for diagnosis and management of obesity in British South Asians. Int J Clin Pract. 2011;65:375–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wong CX, Abed HS, Molaee P, Nelson AJ, Brooks AG, Sharma G, et al. Pericardial fat is associated with atrial fibrillation severity and ablation outcome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;57:1745–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Angeras O, Albertsson P, Karason K, Råmunddal T, Matejka G, James S, et al. Evidence for obesity paradox in patients with acute coronary syndromes:a report from the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry. Eur Heart J. 2013;34(5):345–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Purcell H, Daly C, Day C, Ziso B, Wilding J. Chapter 1. Chronic non-communicable diseases: adding weight to evidence. In: Chronic non-communicable diseases: weight of evidence for an ounce of prevention. London: NSHI Publishers; 2012. p. 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henry J. Purcell MB, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Purcell, H.J. (2014). Obesity and the Heart Disease Patient: Controversies Abound. In: Haslam, D., Sharma, A., le Roux, C. (eds) Controversies in Obesity. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2834-2_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2834-2_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2833-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2834-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics