Higher fat in muscles leads to increased risk of heart disease: Study

People with pockets of fat hidden inside their muscles are at a higher risk of dying or being hospitalized due to a heart attack or heart failure, regardless of their body mass index (BMI), according to new research.

This study is the first to comprehensively investigate the effects of fatty muscles on heart disease. The findings add evidence that existing measures, such as BMI or waist circumference, are not sufficient to accurately evaluate the risk of heart disease for everyone.

The research was led by Professor Viviany Taqueti, Director of the Cardiac Stress Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Faculty Member at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

“Obesity is now one of the biggest global threats to cardiovascular health, yet BMI—our main metric for defining obesity and thresholds for intervention—remains a controversial and flawed marker of cardiovascular prognosis. This is especially true for women, where a high BMI may reflect more ‘benign’ types of fat”, Taqueti highlighted.

“Intermuscular fat can be found in most muscles in the body, but the amount of fat varies widely between individuals. In our research, we analyze muscle and different types of fat to understand how body composition can influence the small blood vessels, or ‘microcirculation,’ of the heart, as well as the future risk of heart failure, heart attack, and death”, she added.

The study included 669 individuals being evaluated at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for chest pain and/or shortness of breath, who were found to have no evidence of obstructive coronary artery disease.

Patients were followed for approximately six years, during which researchers recorded whether any participants died or were hospitalized for a heart attack or heart failure.

The study revealed that individuals with higher amounts of fat stored in their muscles were more likely to have damage to the tiny blood vessels that supply the heart (coronary microvascular dysfunction, or CMD). They were also more likely to die or be hospitalized due to heart disease.

(ANI)