Obesity is associated with a number of health problems, including insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and inflammation, which can all contribute to the development of CVD. Additionally, people with obesity are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, which is also a major risk factor for CVD.
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in eClinicalMedicine that people with obesity who have a genetic predisposition for high BMI have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease than people with obesity who are influenced primarily by environmental factors such as lifestyle. Over the last few years, there has been a global increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Almost one-third of the global population is now overweight or obese.
“The figure is concerning because it is well established that a high BMI in middle age increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other conditions,” says Ida Karlsson, assistant professor at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Obesity is a complex common disease that can have many different causes. Because it is so stigmatized, the findings can help us understand how its effects on health differ from person to person.
Ida Karlsson
According to this new study, the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases varies greatly among obese people. The researchers gathered information about BMI and genetic predisposition for high BMI from over 15,000 twins in the Swedish Twin Registry. They also used medical registry data to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in this group.
The researchers were able to study how overweight and obesity as a result of genetic versus environmental and lifestyle factors influenced the risk of cardiovascular disease by analyzing this data.
“The link between obesity and cardiovascular disease was twice as strong in those with a genetic predisposition to a low BMI as it was in those with obesity driven by genetic factors,” says the study’s last author Ida Karlsson.
Dr. Karlsson emphasizes the importance of living a healthy lifestyle for everyone, and that the risk of cardiovascular disease was higher in all people who were overweight or obese compared to people who were healthy weight. However, the findings suggest that obesity caused primarily by genetic factors may not have the same negative impact on health as obesity caused by other factors, such as lifestyle.
“Obesity is a complex common disease that can have many different causes,” she explains. “Because it is so stigmatized, the findings can help us understand how its effects on health differ from person to person.”
“Even though we all know that it takes more than exercise and diet to combat obesity, there is still a large stigma attached to it,” she continues. Instead of focusing solely on BMI, I believe there is much to be gained by focusing on what caused the obesity and what we can do to reduce the risk of comorbidities in each individual.”
The next step in Dr. Karlsson’s research will be to look at how individuals with overweight and obesity caused by genetic and lifestyle factors differ in terms of blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, and inflammation markers.
