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Obesity, heart failure and sudden death

F Contaldo1, F Pasanisi, C Finelli

  • 1Interuniversities Center for Studies and Research on Obesity and Eating Disorders (CISRO), Clinical Nutrition, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. contaldo@unina.it

Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases : NMCD
|January 8, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Obesity significantly increases cardiovascular risk, leading to heart failure. This condition, characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy, can cause systolic and diastolic dysfunction but may be reversible with weight loss.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Metabolic Diseases
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Obesity is a global epidemic and a prevalent metabolic disease.
  • It exerts direct unfavorable effects on cardiovascular health, increasing morbidity and mortality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the detrimental impact of obesity on cardiovascular outcomes.
  • To understand the mechanisms linking obesity to cardiac dysfunction.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review focusing on the physiological effects of obesity on the cardiovascular system.
  • Analysis of studies examining cardiac workload, ventricular mass, and electrical abnormalities in obese individuals.

Main Results:

  • Obesity elevates chronic cardiac workload, necessitating increased cardiac output.
  • Increased lean body mass and ventricular mass contribute to higher stroke volume and heart rate.
  • Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy due to obesity is linked to electrical abnormalities, heart failure, and sudden death.

Conclusions:

  • Obesity is a primary risk factor for heart failure.
  • Obesity-induced LV hypertrophy results in systolic and diastolic dysfunction, often subtle and difficult to detect.
  • Moderate, stable weight loss can potentially reverse these cardiac dysfunctions.
Abstract

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