TUESDAY, Sept. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Increasing adiposity decreases the age at which patients experience a first non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Also, in obese diabetics, a very-low-calorie diet may decrease myocardial triglyceride content and improve diastolic function, according to two studies published in the Sept. 16 issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
In one study, Mohan C. Madala, M.D., of the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., and colleagues studied 111,847 patients. Compared to patients with a normal body mass index (BMI), they found that those with a BMI of 25.1-30, 30.1-35, 35.1-40, and over 40 experienced a first NSTEMI 3.5, 6.8, 9.4, and 12 years earlier.
In a second study, Sebastiaan Hammer, of the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, and colleagues measured myocardial triglyceride content in 12 obese, insulin-treated diabetics before and after placing the patients on a 16-week very-low-calorie diet (450 kcal/day) to enhance weight loss. They found that myocardial triglyceride content decreased from a mean of 0.88 to 0.64 and was associated with improved diastolic function.
"Future research should aim to gain insight into the pathophysiology of obesity and the mechanisms that result in excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality but at the same time reduce the risk for other (fatal) diseases," state the authors of one of two accompanying editorials. "Particularly at older ages, enhancing moderate physical activity seems a more rewarding policy target than decreasing population BMI."
Abstract - Madala
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Editorial
Abstract - Hammer
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Editorial
