Duration of Obesity Linked to Heart Disease Risk

An analysis of health data regarding over 9,000 adults found that the longer an individual was overweight or obese, the more likely they were to test positive for a protein called troponin that is released when heart muscle has been damaged, such as occurs with a heart attack. Study lead author Dr. Chiadi Ndumele adds, “What our findings suggest is that even in the absence of such heart disease risk factors as high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney disease, the number of years spent obese or overweight contributes to the higher likelihood of heart damage.” Clinical Chemistry, January 2018