THEthe heart in overweight people it is put to the test. Especially if the excess weight persists over time. But Visceral fat, which can be measured with the roundness index, counts more than the scalegiven by the ratio between waist size and height. The cardiologists of the hospital raised the alarm SIC Italian Society of Cardiology. Here are their recommendations.
Heart and obesity: what risks
The roundness index it could be a predictive factor of cardiovascular risk. Not only heart attack and stroke, but also heart failure and atrial fibrillation are directly dependent on extra kilos that afflict 4 out of 10 Italians who are obese or overweightoften for many years. This exposes them to a greater probability of developing cardiovascular complications for each year lived with excess weight. Obese subjects have an almost 50% higher risk of atrial fibrillation than normal weight individuals, a 64% higher risk of having a heart attack and stroke and a 30% higher risk of developing heart failure.
Heart: Italy at intermediate risk
An alarming overall picture that has pushed the European Society of Cardiology to place Italy among intermediate, rather than low, risk countries, such as France and Spainprecisely due to the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity that are higher than the European average. According to the most recent data fromHigher Institute of Health, 33% of Italians are overweight and 12%, around 6 million, are obese. To address the phenomenon, the Italian Federation of Cardiologyin collaboration with the SIC and theANMCO National Association of Hospital Cardiologistspresented a National Strategic Plan for Heart Health. This is the first ever carried out in Italy, as part of an ongoing cardiovascular health prevention action in the European Union. Among the priorities of the document is precisely the fight against obesitythrough the promotion of physical exercise in public areas of cities and nutritional education from schools to workplaces.
Cardiobesity: what it is and why it should be avoided
«Today we are now talking about cardioobesity to underline the close and dangerous link between excess weight and cardiovascular events. From this perspective Body shaming should be condemned but obesity should not be “normalised”.. It is a chronic disease in itself that causes the onset of more than half of heart diseasesas an amplifier of cardiovascular risk both in a mediated and direct way. Excess fatin fact, not only increases traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and type 2 diabetes, but it also leads to an increase in general inflammation and visceral fat with stiffening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) which can increase the risk of blood clots and cause stroke,” he said Pasquale Perrone Filardipresident of SIC and director of the School of Specialization in Diseases of the Cardiovascular System ofFederico II University of Naples.
Heart: if obesity is long-lasting the risk increases
“Also the duration of obesity weighs on the heart precisely due to progressive coronary calcification and living with excess kilos for decades, or even just a few years, can make a difference for the health of the arteries and coronaries. Indeed, for every 2 years lived in conditions of obesity, the risk and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, increases by 7%.», he underlines Ciro Indolfipast-President of the Italian Society of Cardiology and Extraordinary Professor of Cardiology atUniversity of Calabria of Cosenza.
«It is important to underline, however, that a weight loss of 1 kg in 10 is enough to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events by 21% in the following 10 years. Losing even just 10% of your weight allows those who have a few, or many, extra kilos to achieve a condition of “metabolic fitness”, that is, to improve or rebalance a whole series of alterations resulting from excess weight, such as blood sugar, triglycerides and fats in the blood which translate into a reduction in cardiovascular risk”, he continues Francesco Barillà, President of Heart Foundation is Us of the SIC. This is confirmed by a study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology conducted on approximately 5 thousand patients aged between 45 and 76 years.
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