Risk to an Obese Person’s Heart Increases Each Year
It’s no secret that excess weight is bad for the body. For years, the medical community has been warning people that obesity increases their risk of high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease.
Obesity Damages Hearts
Researchers at John Hopkins released the results of their analysis of clinical data collected from more than 9,000 people. The number of years a person is overweight increases the likelihood he or she will be carrying a chemical marker for heart damage. This sounds like what we already knew – being overweight is bad for the heart – but there is a difference in these findings.
In 2014, researchers found links between carrying excessive weight and higher troponin T levels. You can measure troponin T with a blood test, and elevated levels are indicative of injured heart muscle cells.
The new information shows a correlation between the number of years a person spends obese and their risk of having heart damage. Specifically, they found that every 10 years that person’s BMI registers in the obese range, the risk of having heart disease increases by 1.5 times.
Make an Action Plan
Childhood obesity is at an all-time high. The number of overweight children in the US tripled in the past 30 years. It’s not enough to hope that these children grow into their bodies or outgrow the excessive weight. A child who is obese from age 6 to 16 will have a 1.25 times higher risk of heart damage because of those younger years spent overweight. Of course, the same is true for adults.
The real take-away from this revelation: It’s more important than ever to shed those excess pounds. If you’re a parent or there are children in your life, they will see the changes that you’re making and know that there is hope. They don’t have to accept that they will always be overweight.
Shed Weight with Bariatric Surgery
The good news is that there are more options than ever for shedding those dangerous extra pounds. If you’ve tried everything and just can’t seem to lose enough weight, you may be a candidate for bariatric surgery. Contact the office of Malladi Bariatrics and Advanced Surgery to find out if this is an appropriate option for you.
