Advantages of Being overweight

It is known for every one that being overweight can have adverse effects for our health. But can it also have positive aspects? Two new researches recommend that being overweight may in fact shield against death from cardiac causes.

With respect to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70% of grownups over the age of 20 are often overweight or obese – a statistic that has triggered concern given the health issues associated with being overweight.

In general, obesity and overweight has been connected to cardiac problems.  A more latest research identified that heart disease was a major cause of death among people with class 3 obesity – regarded as “extreme obesity.”

But these latest research, lately published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, oppose such results. They support a theory well-known as the “obesity paradox” – the thinking that being overweight may safeguard against certain medical situations; in the case of these researches, it may safeguard against adverse cardiovascular effects.

Overweight sufferers ‘had lowest all-cause and cardiovascular related death risk’

For the first research, lead by Dr. Abhishek Sharma, a cardiology fellow, with other researchers performed a meta-analysis of 36 studies that viewed at the results of sufferers with coronary artery disease (CAD) who undergo coronary revascularization processes, which includes percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).

The team identified that sufferers with a low body mass index (BMI) – described as less than 20 kg/m2 – had a 1.9- to 2.8-fold enhanced risk of heart attack and all-cause and cardiovascular death over the 1.7-year follow-up interval.

However, they identified that sufferers with the lowest cardiovascular death risk were those who were overweight – a BMI of 25-30 kg/m2. In inclusion, sufferers who were obese (a BMI of 30-35 kg/m2) had a 28% reduced risk of all-cause death than those with a normal BMI (20-25 kg/m2), while those who were drastically obese (a BMI over 35 kg/m2) had a 22% reduced risk of all-cause death.

Although the causes for these results are not clear, Dr. Sharma states that sufferers who are overweight are more probably to be recommended drugs that protect cardiovascular health – just like beta blockers and statins – which may describe the more positive cardiovascular outcomes among this people.

“Additional,” he adds, “obese and overweight sufferers have been identified to have large coronary vessel damage, which might lead to more positive outcomes. This population may have a greater metabolic reserve, which may respond protectively in serious situations like CAD. Also, there could be a distinction in the patho-physiology of cardiovascular condition in over-weight and under-weight individuals. A non modifiable genetic predisposition may also perform a role in under-weight individuals.”

However, he notices that additional researches are warranted to research the mechanisms driving the connection between overweight and obesity and better cardiovascular results.

Body composition ‘performs a significant role in obesity paradox’

For the second research, senior researcher Dr. Carl Lavie and colleagues examined how body composition – particularly lean mass index and body fat – impacted BMI and death among 47,866 people with a preserved left ventricular fraction of over 50%.

The scientists identified that entire, higher BMI was related with lower death. Those with a higher lean body mass (mass of the body-fat) had a 28% reduced risk of mortality. In inclusion, the group identified that low body fat was only related with lower mortality if no modification was made for lean body mass, which indicates that “body composition performs a critical role in the obesity paradox,” with respect to Dr. Carl Lavie.

He adds:

“Every time evaluating a potential protective effect of body fat, lean mass index – which probably shows larger skeletal muscle mass – should be regarded. At greater BMI, body fat is related with an increase in mortality.”

Leaving comments on both of these studies, Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, states that the results should not be applied to “weaken the legitimacy of the anti-obesity promotion in the best interest of public healt
h.”

“Nonetheless,” he adds, “given the variety and reliability of epidemiologic details, there must be small question that in certain communities higher BMI, which is related with higher threat of metabolic syndrome and poor cardiovascular outcomes in the long term, confers short term surviving and cardiovascular benefits.”