We all know that heart disease and obesity are closely related, because being overweight and obese will increase the burden on the heart, thereby increasing the risk of heart failure. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, heart disease is the second leading cause of death in my country. Compared with 2019, it has increased by 3%, which cannot be ignored. Today, this article will discuss with you how obesity affects the health of the cardiovascular system. Everyone should maintain a healthy diet, regular exercise habits, and get enough sleep.

Obesity and overweight are a global health problem

Obesity is related to cardiovascular disease. According to a study by the Department of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne in Australia, the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease has slowed down in many countries recently, especially among those aged 35 to 74. of people, and even the number of deaths is on the rise in some countries, such as the United States and Canada.

It is undeniable that obesity is one of the key causes. Taking the United States as an example, 1/3 of adults are obese, and another 1/3 are overweight. Allen. donald. Professor Alan Donald Lopez AC said that the increase in obesity over the past few decades means that the risk of cardiovascular disease will also increase.

However, with the rise of health awareness, people’s awareness of cardiovascular and heart diseases has gradually increased. Coupled with the continuous advancement of modern medical treatment, the prognosis and survival rate of cardiovascular diseases are believed to be increasingly optimistic.

Regarding the harm of obesity to heart health, there are two very important factors – cholesterol and high blood pressure, which ultimately lead to coronary artery disease and stroke. This is because when blood lipids rise, low-density cholesterol (LDL, also known as bad cholesterol) and triglycerides will also increase, thereby reducing high-density cholesterol (HDL, commonly known as good cholesterol), causing bad cholesterol to accumulate in blood vessels. Inside.

In addition, obese people need more oxygen. If excessive cholesterol and fat in blood vessels cause poor blood flow, high blood pressure and diabetes will come to their doorstep. Other risks include left ventricular hypertrophy, metabolic syndrome, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and other cancers.

Waist obesity also increases heart disease risk

In addition, don’t think that only obese patients will suffer from heart disease. According to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), abdominal obesity is also a very important indicator. In other words, a beer belly may also increase the risk of heart attack. risk. The study also found that obesity was unaffected by other risk factors and secondary preventive treatments, but the cause of recurrence of heart disease remains unknown.

Although the rate of abdominal obesity is higher in women than in men, the recurrence rate of heart disease is more significant in men. Hanieh Mohammadi, MD, Department of Clinical Sciences and Education, who participated in the study, explained that this may be due to the internal structure of men. Visceral fat is generally higher than that of women. The fat on women is mostly relatively harmless subcutaneous fat.

Therefore, in addition to paying attention to body mass index (BMI), measuring waist circumference is also the key to health, said Meghan, a cardiologist at UCLA Health. Megan Kamath suggested that measuring waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio can predict the risk of heart attack more accurately than BMI. For men, waist circumference is ≧90 cm and for women, it is ≧80 cm.