Controlling blood glucose levels, cholesterol, and blood pressure, could drastically reduce the risk of obesity-related heart disease.
Researchers looked at 97 prospective studies and found from across the globe and found obesity increased one's chances of having high blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose; which led to a significant increase in heart attack and stroke risk, an Imperial College London news release reported.
Global obesity rates have nearly doubled since the year 1980; today over 1.4 billion adults 20 years and older are above a healthy weight.
"Our results show that the harmful effects of being overweight or obese on heart disease and stroke partly occur by increasing blood pressure, serum cholesterol and blood glucose. Therefore, if we control these risk factors, for example through better diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, we can prevent some of the harmful effects of being overweight or obese," senior author Goodarz Danaei, HSPH assistant professor of global health, said.
Obesity and even being overweight can increase the risk of "heart disease and stroke - the leading causes of death worldwide - diabetes, and several types of cancer," the news release reported.
The researchers predicted in the past that 3.4 million deaths were associated with obesity every year.
"There has been debate over whether excess weight causes heart disease and stroke through effects on other risk factors, particularly blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, and whether treatments that address these factors can offset the risks of being overweight," the news release reported.
The team was able to pin half of all cases of increased risk of heart disease on high blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood glucose in obese people; it also made up a third of stroke risks in those above a healthy weight.
"Large, long-term population studies like this one are a very powerful tool, allowing researchers to disentangle individual factors and understand how they each contribute to our risk of disease. It's interesting that, even when blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol are brought under control, obese individuals are still at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. This suggests that other factors might be at play, which is likely to be of interest for future research into the consequences of obesity," Professor Stephen Hill, Chair of the Medical Research Council's Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board, said.
