BMI, Waist Size Predict Risk of CV Death

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: December 07, 2009 Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Action Points Note that the population-based study relied on measurements taken by trained staff rather than self-reports, but included only adults under age 65. Abdominal obesity and excess weight add up to major risk of cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular causes in younger adults, researchers reported. Overweight and obesity account for one in seven cases of cardiovascular disease and one-third of all cardiovascular deaths at the population level, Ineke van Dis, MSc, of the Netherlands Heart Foundation in the Hague, and colleagues estimated. In their population-based study, elevated waist circumference and obesity each were associated with three- to four-fold higher rates of cardiovascular death and nearly a doubling in nonfatal cardiovascular disease over 10 years in those under age 65, they reported in the November issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation./.../